Egyptian Gods as Metaphors
by John Van Auken
The gods of ancient Egypt are metaphors for key aspects of the origin and destiny of humanity. According to Edgar Cayce's discourses, the average citizen of ancient Egypt understood the hidden message better than we do today. Cayce further states that the characters and imagery in the Book of Revelation were also metaphors for hidden messages, and some disciples knew that and understood the Revelation better than we do today.
Here are brief insights into the hidden meaning of several key Egyptian gods (part 3).
ISIS, Conceiver of the Messiah
One of the greatest gods among the hosts of godlings was Isis. She was strong, enduring, and clever. She was not to follow the weaknesses of most of her fellow gods, seeking to mingle with the sons and daughters of man and their carnal sensations.
Behold, Isis was in the form of a woman, skilled in words. Her heart rebelled at the millions of men, she chose rather the millions of the gods, and she esteemed the millions of the spirits. She meditated in her heart, "Could I not be in heaven and earth like Ra, and make myself mistress of the earth and a goddess by knowing the name of the holy God?"
Isis had many adventures, but the greatest were the resurrection of Osiris, the conception and birthing of Horus, and her struggles with Set, the destroyer. The story goes like this: Isis began as a modest divinity of the Delta (Isris). Because of her intense seeking to maintain godliness in the midst of humanness, she interacted with the great god Ra. From him she cleverly gained wisdom and power (much to his surprise). After Ra returned to the heavens, the god Osiris, her elder brother in the family of gods, chose her as his consort and she shared the throne with him. She helped him, as she had Ra, civilize the earthly ones. She taught the art of curing disease, of growing corn, spinning flax and weaving cloth, and marrying to form a home in order to bring about some resemblance of heaven in this faraway place.
When Osiris went on a great journey around the earth, she remained as regent of Egypt. She ruled so wisely and well that their younger brother Set could not take over. However, Set was full of self-seeking desires and so he cunningly convinced his older and trusting brother Osiris to lie down in a coffin, whereupon he killed Osiris, sealed the coffin and cast it into the Nile, which carried it out to sea. It came to rest on a distant shore at the base of a tamarisk tree. The tree grew around the coffin, concealing it entirely within its trunk. When the tree was cut down by the king of that distant land, it gave off such an exquisite fragrance that its reputation spread around the world, eventually reaching Isis' ears. When she heard of this fragrant tree, she knew immediately that it was the essence of Osiris. When she arrived in that land, the queen, Astarte, entrusted her newborn son into Isis' care. Isis would have conferred immortality upon the child if the mother hadn't broken the spell by her anguished cries of terror when she saw Isis bathe the baby in purifying flames. In order to calm the mother, Isis reveals her true identify and intentions. The mother then convinces her husband, the king, to give the trunk of the magnificent tree to Isis.
Isis drew forth the coffin from the tree, and the body from the coffin. She bathed it in her tears and hid the body in the marshes. But Set found the body and cut it into fourteen pieces, scattering them far and wide. Isis, never discouraged, began a patient search for the precious fragments, finding all of them but the phallus, which had been eaten by a creature of the earth who is forever cursed for this crime.
In a magical, mystical intermingling with the reconstructed, reanimated body of Osiris, Isis conceives a child that will grow to be the true heir to the throne, contesting Set's claim to it. She then performs the first rites of embalming, restoring Osiris to eternal life, ruler of the netherworld. She is assisted in this rite by her sister Nephthys (who is also the wife of Set), her nephew Anubis (who appears in all death scenes to lead the deceased through the darkness), by Thoth, and even by the yet unborn Horus.
When Set hears of this, he captures her and imprisons her. With the help of Thoth, she conceals her pregnancy from Set and escapes. She hides Horus in the marshes, raising him in secret until he is strong enough to challenge Set (recalling the raising of the baby Moses, who eventually challenges Pharaoh).
However, she has no means of supporting herself and her baby, so she hides baby Horus among the reeds and goes begging all day. One day, returning from begging, she finds baby Horus writhing in pain and near death. Though unable to enter the marshes in his real form, Set had assumed the form of a serpent and bitten the baby. Isis is in despair. Now, feeling all alone in this world - her father and mother dead, her husband in the netherland, her younger brother Set attacking her at every turn, and her sister Nephthys married to Set - there appears to be no one who can help her. Isis therefore appeals to all mankind, calling on the marshdwellers and the fishermen, all of whom come immediately to her aid, weeping in sympathy, but powerless to help her against Set's magic. Horus, symbolizing the purity and innocence of the developing true heir, is now contaminated by the poison of the cunning, self-seeking Set. This is the poison that separates everyone who seeks selfs own desires without concern for God's.
Finally, Isis calls on the Most High God to intervene on behalf of everything that is pure and true. The "Boat of Millions of Years" draws level to her and interrupts its journey for her. From out of the barque (boat) descends Thoth. After expressing surprise that her magic is not able to cleanse the child of the poison, he assures her that the power of Ra is at her disposal.
Here Isis is meeting her own karma, for it was she who long ago caused a serpent to bite Ra. Now her treasured child lies poisoned and dying before her and she needs Ra's power to cure him.
Thoth tells Isis that when the barque stopped for her and Horus, the Sun stopped and darkness came over all. The darkness will not be dispelled until the barque moves again and the Sun shines again. She and Thoth realize the significance of the sun's stopping until Horus is cured: it means that if Horus dies, Ra's whole creation will be annihilated and Set, the principle of evil and the consciousness of darkness, will reign forever. Isis wishes that she were Horus herself so that she would not have to see the consequences of his death. Thoth, however, declares that the magical protection enjoyed by Horus will henceforth be equal to that of the Sun. Then, in the name of the Ra, Thoth exorcises the poison from Horus' body, saying that the boat of Ra will stand still, that there will be no food, that the temples will be closed, that misery will never depart from the world, that eternal darkness will reign, that the wells will be dry, that there will be no crops and no vegetation until Horus is cured. This powerful spell of the sun-god Ra, spoken by the moon-god Thoth, conquers the poison, and Isis and all mankind rejoice. Thoth then commends the child into their care, saying that Horus is now the responsibility of all those who live on earth.
This legend repeats the recurring theme of a great and perfect creature who is misguided into activities that lead to its loss - sometimes the loss is in the form of death, sometimes in banishment, sometimes in consciousness. Then, one who loves the creature gives all their being to rebirth or resurrect the lost one. This often takes the form of impregnating oneself with the seed of the lost one and giving birth to its heir. The young heir to the original creation is always in danger of being poisoned, imprisoned, or misguided by the forces that brought down the original creature. It takes enduring effort to bring the heir to age in one piece. Then, the heir overthrows the deceiver and rules forever - the perfect creation again, one generation removed, and presumably wiser.
This theme can be found in stories of most cultures on the earth. It is the story of the children of God, who lost their way and must, through great effort and many trials, become heirs to their previous glory and destiny.
In this specific legend, Osiris is the original perfect one. Isis is the mind and will that resurrects him in the seed of the womb of her consciousness. Horus is the heir, always symbolized in the same manner as Ra because he represents the living manifestation of Ra (as did Osiris) and the heir to Ra's creation. Set represents the deceiver, the ego, the self-seeking aspect of every person. It destroys the perfect Osiris, wrestles with the struggling Isis (the mind and will) and poisons the growing Horus. But, enduring, Horus becomes the messiah that overcomes Set's influence, forever - with a little help from heaven (in the form of Thoth/Hermes and the boat of father Ra).
Egyptian Gods As Methaphors (part 1)
Egyptian Gods As Methaphors (part 2)
Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus or Sacred Blue Lily of the Nile) was the most sacred plant of Ancient Egypt, prized above all others. Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus) was worshipped as a visionary plant and was a symbol for the origins of life. It was frequently depicted in works of art, where it is most often shown in party and other social scenes, and sometimes in scenes of sexual debauchery. The flowers were noted for their delightful perfume, suggestive of the sweat of Ra; 'A divine essence, for bringing euphoria, heightened awareness and tranquility'. The Blue Lily was also a symbol of creation, and was according to legend the first object to emerge from oceanic chaos. Though exceedingly rare in the wild today it is thought to have been widespread across Ancient Egypt, where its psychoactive properties were apparently well known.
