Editing Moirai (section)

===Outside of Europe===
[[File:The Weighing of the Heart.svg|thumb|A section of the Egyptian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' showing the "Weighing of the Heart" in the [[Duat]] using the feather of [[Maat]] as the measure in balance.]]

The notion of a universal principle of natural order has been compared to similar ideas in other cultures, such as [[Asha|aša]] ([[Asha]]) in [[Avestan language|Avestan]] religion, [[Rta]] in [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]], and [[Maat]] in [[ancient Egyptian religion]].<ref>Cf. Ramakrishna (1965:153–168), James (1969:35–36)</ref>

In the [[Avestan language|Avestan]] religion and [[Zoroastrianism]], aša, is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of "truth", "righteousness", "order". Aša and its [[Vedic]] equivalent, Rta, are both derived from a [[PIE]] root meaning "properly joined, right, true". The word is the proper name of the divinity Asha, the personification of "Truth" and "Righteousness". ''Aša'' corresponds to an objective, material reality which embraces all of existence.<ref>{{citation|doi=10.1086/462470|last=Duchesne-Guillemin|first=Jacques|title=Heraclitus and Iran|journal=History of Religions|volume=3|issue=1|year=<!--(Summer,-->1963|pages=34–49| s2cid=62860085 }}</ref> This cosmic force is imbued also with morality, as verbal Truth, and Righteousness, action conforming with the moral order.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Mary|last=Boyce|title=Zoroaster the Priest|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|publisher=University of London|location=London, England|volume=33|issue=1<!-- In Honour of Sir Harold Bailey-->|date=1970|pages=22–38|doi=10.1017/S0041977X00145100| s2cid=170473160 }}</ref>

In the literature of the [[Mandaeans]], an angelic being ([[Abatur]]) has the responsibility of weighing the souls of the deceased to determine their worthiness, using a set of scales.<ref>{{cite book|first=Matthew|last=Bunson|title=Angels A to Z|publisher=Crown Publishing|location=New York City|date=1996|isbn=978-0517885376|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/angelstozwhoswho00buns}}</ref>

In the Vedic religion, Rta is an ontological principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe. The term is now interpreted abstractly as "cosmic order", or simply as "truth",<ref>Mahony (1998:3).</ref> although it was never abstract at the time.<ref>See the philological work of Own Barfield, e.g Poetic Diction or Speaker's Meaning</ref>

It seems that this idea originally arose in the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] period, from a consideration (so denoted to indicate the original meaning of communing with the star beings) of the qualities of nature which either remain constant or which occur on a regular basis.<ref name="Oldenberg1894">[[Hermann Oldenberg]] (1894). ''Die Religion des Veda''. Wilhelm Hertz, Berlin, pp. 30, 195–198.</ref>

The individuals fulfill their true natures when they follow the path set for them by the ordinances of ''Rta'', acting according to the [[Dharma]], which is related to social and moral spheres.<ref name=Brown373>Brown, W. N. (1992). "Some Ethical Concepts for the Modern World from Hindu and Indian Buddhist Tradition" in: Radhakrishnan, S. (Ed.) ''Rabindranath Tagore: A Centenary Volume 1861 – 1961''. Calcutta: Sahitya Akademi. {{ISBN|81-7201-332-9}}.</ref> The god of the waters [[Varuna]] was probably originally conceived as the personalized aspect of the otherwise impersonal ''Ṛta''.<ref>Ramakrishna, G. (1965). "Origin and Growth of the Concept of ''Ṛta'' in Vedic Literature". Doctoral Dissertation: University of Mysore Cf.</ref> The gods are never portrayed as having command over ''Ṛta'', but instead they remain subject to it like all created beings.<ref name=Brown373/>

In Egyptian religion, maat was the [[ancient Egypt]]ian concept of [[truth]], balance, order, [[law]], [[morality]], and [[justice]]. The word is the proper name of the divinity Maat, who was the goddess of harmony, justice, and truth represented as a young woman.

It was considered that she set the order of the universe from [[Chaos (cosmogony)|chaos]] at the moment of creation.<ref>Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt, Robert A. Armour, American Univ in Cairo Press, p167, 2001, {{ISBN|977-424-669-1}}</ref> Maat was the norm and basic values that formed the backdrop for the application of justice that had to be carried out in the spirit of truth and fairness.<ref>{{cite book|first=Siegfried|last=Morenz|title=Egyptian Religion|translator-first=Ann E.|translator-last=Keep|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, New York|date=1992|isbn=0-8014-8029-9|pages=117–125}}</ref>

In [[Egyptian mythology]], Maat dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld. Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully. In the famous scene of the [[Culture of Egypt|Egypt]]ian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'', [[Anubis]], using a scale, weighs the sins of a man's heart against the feather of truth, which represents maat. If man's heart weighs down, then he is devoured by a monster.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=John H.|editor-last=Taylor|title=Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the afterlife|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London, England|date=2010|isbn=978-0-7141-1989-2|pages=209, 215}}</ref>