The Negative Confessions

Rev. Dr. Corey Bantik has adopted a set of negative confessions from the Papyrus of Ani. He does not provide any particular interpretation or exegesis of them in the greater context of the Papyrus, but they are interesting nonetheless:

I have not turned the earth without cause.
I have not taken milk from the mouths of children.
I have not made anyone hungry by means of my greed.
I have not deprived a humble man of his property.
I have not exploited the weakness of any man.

I am pure.

I have not disturbed the air without cause.
I have not befriended evil men.
I have not demanded undo praise for my name.
I have not destroyed any just man’s work.
I have not driven any man to act against another.

I am pure.

I have not extinguished the fire in its season.
I have not done anything that is hateful in the eyes of the gods.
I have not stolen offerings from the altars of the gods.
I have not committed unclean acts in the sanctuaries of the gods.
I have not turned away from any god in fear or shame.

I am pure.

I have not held back the water in its season.
I have not caused misery to those around me.
I have not inflicted suffering or pain.
I have not made anyone weep with sorrow.
I have not committed evil against mankind.

I am pure.

Their basic structure is simple enough–they are broken into four sections based on the four cardinal elements of Western Hermeticism: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each section contains affirmations of things not done, in contrast to the Christian genre of the confessional (The Confessions of St Augustine being the most readily familiar) which confesses things done, which align with the Western attributes of the elements. The first section deals with material wants, Earth, the second with intellectual concerns, Air, the third with actions and passions, Fire, and the last with emotions, Water. What is interesting is the way they all interact with each other–by depriving others of material concerns, we are associating with evil ideas and pursuing our own passions and desires, therefore, we cause hurt and anguish. The Negative Confessions remind us that we are invoking the whole at all times in our actions.

In modern Pagan practice, we can utilize the Negative Confessions to see our position in relation to others in a holistic context. In Paganism we have no need for the confessional in the traditional sense; but perhaps there is a place for the Negative Confessional to remind ourselves that all we do has an effect in the world around us.