Negative Affirmations

This is a new kemetic thing, not a reconstrusted one. It’s something I came up with myself. It is very loosely based on the format of the 42 negative confessions in which a soul in the hall of judgement declares innocence of a list of crimes against Ma’at. (If the negative confessions interest you, I highly encourage you to research more in depth than from a simple tourist site. I just put that one up there for ease of accessibility. I have heard from those who know better than I that Budge is a little outdated in his translations.)

Anyway, I felt a need for this exercise when I realized that I was wasting a lot on internal energy on debating with people who don’t actually exist. I was mentally running in circles trying to justify my beliefs to no one. This is a method of closing the doors to those debates, so you can turn your attention to more important things. It is a banishment of sorts.

To do the exercise, you first list an appropriate power. That power should be one that takes an interest in you and in your progress. The power should also have some relevance to the thing you are closing the door to. Secondly, you state what you are not, to put yourself beyond the reach of the thing that has been wasting your time.

Here is an example:  Hail Aset, mother of the divine child, I am not Christian.

Being Christian is not a sin, don’t get me wrong there. Some Christians do an excellent job of upholding the premise of their faith. I have a great deal of respect for those who do. However, if I openly declare that Christian is something that I am not, then I no longer feel the need to get into debates over what the bible says. It simply isn’t relevant to my religion in any way. I’m better off looking to Ma’at as a guide to good behavior.

Since I invoked a power, it is understood that that power will be paying attention to my declaration. Aset may give me the ol’ raised eyebrow if I start internally trying to justify my beliefs to some TV evangelist or fundamentalist Facebook troll. She will hold me accountable. No more flame wars. No more back and forth. There is no need to fight about it because it is not relevant to my belief system. To quote that line in Labyrinth, “You have no power over me.” Take a deep breath and let it go. Repeat the negative affirmation as needed to remind yourself.

To be fair, I have also declared that I’m not Wiccan. I’m also not Buddhist. I’m not an atheist either. It’s hard to agree to “harm none” when your primary god is well known for his fighting skills. Enlightenment can wait, and I’d rather live in a world with gods than without.

You don’t have to use negative affirmations only for religions. You can use it for anything that acts as an unnecessary drain on your attention. Try it on an ex relationship, or ex job. Just make sure it’s something you can actually accomplish. The powers will be watching you!