The judgement of Anubis

Jackal-headed Anubis was the Egyptian protector of the dead and supervisor of the ritual of embalming. His role was to watch over the mummification process to ensure that all was done properly, and to conduct the souls through the underworld. He placed their hearts upon the Scales of Justice: those whose hearts weighed lighter than a feather lived forever, the wicked whose hearts were heavier than a feather he fed to the demon Ammit.

Here, Anubis guards our house, and in particular this pot of Grape Hyacinths, a flower which has profound associations with my own moral development for it occasioned the one and only bare-arsed spanking I ever received from the hand of my father. I must have been around four years old when I discovered the thrill of stripping the 'grapes' from the stalks: with a satisfying ripple the little florets came away and filled my hand with blue beads - I couldn't resist ruining the whole flower bed. I clearly remember my father's bellow of rage when he found what I had done - I ran, but not fast enough, he caught me and the Scales of Justice were not needed to deem me very, very, wicked.