How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Your mother foresaw a great imbalance. She foresaw the day—very soon—when Ma'at would be destroyed, and chaos would reclaim all of Creation." (28.26)
Not only is it important to uphold order for its own sake (so your magic works), but also because letting chaos triumph spells the end of the world. Seems like a pretty convincing reason to us.
Quote #8
"Master," Zia pleaded, "if Ma'at is weakening, if Set is increasing chaos, perhaps that is why I could not banish Serqet." (14.87)
The thing about Ma'at (order) is that it influences everything, including a magician's ability to do magic, among other things. We've seen enough of Zia to know that she's super powerful, so it makes sense that an uptick in chaos could throw her off.
Quote #9
Zia stuck out her tongue. Right in the middle was a blue hieroglyph… "this is Ma'at, the symbolic of order and harmony. It will help you speak magic clearly." (16.26-27)
When you're speaking magic, you don't want to mess up. It seems like even magic and creativity have some order to them. If you say a spell or create something the wrong way, it either loses its power or has the wrong kind of power. It's another way in which order, magic, and creativity are linked.