Ma'at, temsikh, and isfet vaguely replicate the lawful, neutral, and chaotic alignments on a cosmic scale in the Teachings of the Prophet Bleghet (may they ever bring smiles to our face).
Ma'at, the divine order of things, roughly corresponds to a lawful alignment, being concerned with the large scale -- social rules and functioning, cosmic duties and constants (like the sun rising), and such things as those. Though an individual's actions may be in or out of line with ma'at (and, indeed, such considerations is a factor in the moral status of said action, according to the Prophet), no individual has a ma'at. In fact, 'alaskelma'at ("submission to ma'at") involves the sacrifice of one's identity and individuality to become subsumed by one's social role and place.
Though ma'at effectively represents the lawful alignments cosmically, the equation is imperfect and the wise can see that this is a very good thing, as can be seen in the person of the god Tes. Tes is an outsider god, who lives among the foreigners and in the unseen depths of the desert. He is the dry killing desert wind that blows through the dunes without warning and myths aplenty describe him in opposition to the other gods (that is, he is the "enemy" of many stories). He is also called the ma'alsak, the Slave-King, and is often described as the exemplar of the virtue 'alas in the Teachings of the Prophhet Bleghet (may they be written upon the sand by my descendants' feet); it is even he who defeats the isfeshin dragon-beast who tries to eat the sun every night (an important distinction: that Tes wins is ma'at; whether the fight is easy or hard or requires strength or cunning or any other such is temsikh).
The character of Tes reveals an ambivalence about ma'at in the Teachings of the Prophet Bleghet (may they shine like the sun). On the one hand, the Prophet (may his descendants survive until the Day of Judgment) lays down an obligation for his followers to act in accord with ma'at, for to not do so leads only to pain and suffering and the breakdown of the world in which his followers live. On the other hand, ma'at is, ultimately, a creation of the fallen Animal Neziru, who created the world as a cage for the divine souls we all have. The pharaoh, then, stands as mediator for the two, for to obey him is ma'ashin but his job is to create a space for 'alas to one's own inspiration. This last is the true virtue in the Teachings of the Prophet Bleghet (may every mouth sing their praise).
Temsikh, on the other hand, vaguely represents neutrality on a cosmic level. Small and individual and mutable, temsikh is the best translation in all the language of the Two Kingdoms for "luck". It governs the quality and results of one's actions and life, rather than determining what will occur the way ma'at does. An individual not only has a temsikh, they often rail against or celebrate it, being as it is the distinction between a had life and an easy life. OK, it's much more complex than hard v. easy, but it nonetheless manifests very similarly in the psyche of the people of the Two Kingdoms. Unlike with the impersonal ma'at, however, actions cannot be in or out of accordance with one's temsikh, which will manifest regardless (in that way, it can be considered more active than the fixed ma'at). The ancient practitioners of the religion known to modern scholars as Jadiliyya fatalism uphold 'alaskeltemsikh as one of their highest virtues, submitting to the flow of temsikh with every action.
Many things can affect one's temsikh, which changes dynamically in a changing environment. Most generally, subtly, and commonly, temsikh functions interdependently and ecologically, and can be therefore affected by other people's actions. For example, if one witnesses another making a vow, one's own temsikh becomes entwined in whether or not they follow through with that vow. It is for this reason that being allowed to witness another member of the Two Kingdoms making a vow is a great honor and a mark both respect and intimacy. This same function, or something close to it, can function more reflexively, allowing individuals to change their temsikh through individual effort, whether through great (sometimes legendary) skill or by means of acting at the right time. Combined with the development of the powerful and subtle discernment necessary to see the flow and interconnections of temsikh, this capability can be built up into the disciplines of the jadilūkeltemsikh (the ancient priests and knights of Jadiliyya fatalism). These disciplines can also exert an inexorable force upon the web of temsikh, second only to that created by means of genie wishcraft.
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