Reducing the measure refers to ancient trade where things were weighed on scales. This in essences means you have not cheated people in your dealings with them as a seller or a person rendering a service. You have not reduced the measure of what they receive for what they have given. It might also be interpreted as not being greedy but in some versions of the Negative Confessions there is another confession specifically about greed. The Double Lion of the Sky is Aker the double headed lion Tuau and Sef; yesterday(West) and today(East), who guard the mountain pass to the Eastern and Western horizons.
This confession also has two ways to read it. First is the straightforward idea of stealing from a temple. Though, due to how Egyptian society was structured "god's" could be read as "pharaoh's" property. If this is the way we choose to read it then it means not stealing from the government. Asyut is the Egyptian name for what the Greeks called Lycopolis. This is the city sacred to Anubis and Wepwawet, gods of death and dying as well as healing and medicine. There is some awesome mythology about wolves repelling invasions in this area and Osiris coming from the dead in the form of a "wolf shade". I have assumed that this refers to Anubis or Wepwawet. Both these deities are spoken of in reference to wolves with glowing eyes. However, I have not seen any direct evidence that He Whose Eyes are in Flame is one of these gods, merely my suspicions.
Confession 8:O Burning One who came forth backwards, I have not told lies.
An obvious confession. I have not been deceitful or lied. These are the laws of the goddess of truth, it is the one that should be expected. However, I have no idea who "Burning One" is yet. I am still researching it.
Confession 9: O Breaker of Bones who came forth from Heracleopolis, I have not stolen food.
Egypt had a sort of socialist distribution of food so stealing meant someone else would go hungry or have less to eat. I have seen this believed in many ways. Some practitioners associate it with actually stealing others see it as working the system... so something like using food stamps or food banks when you don't truly need it. Still others see it as not being wasteful with food. I think any of these would work for the idea being put forth. Heracleopolis was known as Hwt-nen-nesu (approximately: Hewet-nen-nye-soo), the house of the royal children. Given the title "Breaker of Bones" and the association with the royal children I have always associated this assessor with one of two goddesses: Sekhmet who is sometimes a protector of the royal children or Tuaret who is associated with protecting all children. Both goddesses are known for being aggressive defenders.
Confession 10: O Ordered of Flame who came forth from Memphis, I have not sullen.
Sullen in this case can be defined as one of three things: dismal, lacking hope or lazy. All of these can be seen as letting circumstances depress you into inaction. Action and taking action is seen as following the path of honesty and truth. Ordered of Flame is likely a reference to Ptah. He is god of craftsman and crafting and Memphis was his sacred city. Ordered of Flame to me has always brought about the ideas of fire being used in most of the crafts he is associated with including pottery, metal working and creating building materials. It could also be a reference to his wife Sekhmet but it seems that confession 9 may refer to her. It is unlikely that 2 confessions are given to one god.
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