#de iside et osiride

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Plutarco - Los Misterios de Isis y Osiris - Glosa - 1976

[elblogdelescriba]

Alimentos y su relación con los dioses egipcios

MIn, dios itifálico, representado con el falo erecto y un gorro de plumas, su santuario se hallaba en Coptos. Era uno de los dioses más antiguos, presente desde el predinástico, sobre todo en Nagada II.

Se relaciona con el Nilo, las lluvias, vinculado al dios Horus, asociado a la fertilidad de los campos, así como luego dios del desierto este de los viajeros, caravanas y caminos.

Seth, dios del desorden, de los desierto, tempestad. Antagonista de Osiris en el relato de Plutarco, De Iside et Osiride en Obras Morales y de Costumbres. Donde relata que mata a Osiris, su hermano, y lo arroja al Nilo, es encontrado por su hermana Isis (hermana y esposa de Osiris) que lo esconde, pero Seth lo vuelve a hallar y lo descuartiza repartiendo sus pedazos por todo el territorio. Finalmente, se enfrenta a Horus, hijo de Isis y Osiris, por el derecho al trono egipcio, donde es vencido tras enfrentamientos.

Este dios, tiene forma humana, pero no se puede identificar correctamente que animal es representado como su cabeza, puede ser un okapi, antílope, asno, jabalí e incluso cerdo.

Osiris, dios de los muertos, pero también de la fertilidad, vinculado a la cebada. Es el primero momificado, tras juntar las partes de su cuerpo. Suele ser representado en el Libro de los Muertos, presidiendo el juicio en el pesado del corazón de los difuntos.

Autores clásicos como Heródoto y Plutarco plantean tabús alimentarios con respecto algunas especies de peces, que eran muy raramente consumidos, como el cao del pez oxirrinco, asociados al mito de Osiris, ya que se habrían comido el falo de Osiris, tras ser descuartizado su cuerpo por Seth.

Por otra parte, la lechuga que se cultivaba en jardines, se la relacionada con MIn, se la considerada afrodisiaca y el liquido lechoso, la savia, que sale al ser cortada se la relacionaba con el semen.

A su vez, se la menciona en el enfrentamiento entre Horus y Seth, dado que era la hortaliza que comía Seth. En relación a este ultimo, también el cerdo se le asociaba, para autores clásicos era considera como animal impuro, pero en realidad era consumido por las partes mas bajas de la sociedad, lo que si no lo encontramos en las mesas de ofrendas en tumbas de reyes y nobles, pero eso no quita que pudo ser parte de la alimentación egipcia.

Finalmente, la cebada junto al trigo eran los granos fundamentales para la alimentación de los antiguos egipcios, ya que con ellos elaboraban pan y cerveza, dos alimentos básicos que toda la sociedad consumía desde el faraón en su palacio hasta el campesino en su humilde casa en el campo. La cebada era empleada fundamentalmente para la elaboración de cerveza que se podía elaborar en los hogares o a nivel mas industrial en cervecerías.

[alephskoteinos]

Some say that one of the companions of Typhon was Bebon, but Manetho says that Bebon was still another name by which Typhon was called. The name signifies "restraint" or "hindrance," as much as to say that, when things are going along in a proper way and making rapid progress towards the right end, the power of Typhon obstructs them. For this reason they assign to him the most stupid of the domesticated animals, the ass, and of the wild animals, the most savage, the crocodile and the hippopotamus.

- Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride

To me this sounds like a roundabout way of establishing Typhon (Set) as basically being The Adversary or something like that within the Greek and Roman religious contexts, not quite in the same sense that the Christian concept of The Devil might be but certainly in the sense that they regarded him an "opposer". Plutarch here even makes an etymological argument to support the idea that he was always the opponent of what might have been taken to be the rational order of things.

The fact is that the creation and constitution of this world is complex, resulting, as it does, from opposing influences, which, however, are not of equal strength, but the predominance rests with the better. Yet it is impossible for the bad to be completely eradicated, since it is innate, in large amount, in the body and likewise in the soul of the Universe, and is always fighting a hard fight against the better. So in the soul Intelligence and reason, the Ruler and Lord of all that is good, is Osiris, and in earth and wind and water and the heavens and stars that which is ordered, established, and healthy, as evidenced by season, temperatures, and cycles of revolution, is the efflux of Osiris and his reflected image. But Typhon is that part of the soul which is impressionable, impulsive, irrational and truculent, and of the bodily part the destructible, diseased and disorderly as evidenced by abnormal seasons and temperatures, and by obscurations of the sun and disappearances of the moon,​ outbursts, as it were, and unruly actions on the part of Typhon. And the name "Seth," by which they call Typhon, denotes this; it means "the overmastering" and "over­powering,"​ and it means in very many instances "turning back,"​ and again "overpassing."

[lux-vitae]

Plutarch’s argument against reductionism of the Gods from De Iside et Osiride

[rudjedet]

Hello, do you happen to know if there's any record of the Osiris Myth that specifies what pieces exactly Seth tore Osiris into? Aside from the famous d, that is.

Not really, because the ancient Egyptians themselves were never this specific (at least not that we currently know of). The most specific/detailed version of that particular myth is Plutarch's version De Iside et Osiride, and even that does not, to my knowledge, mention the specific body parts. Plutarch allegedly based himself on local oral traditions of the myth, but there is a lot of Greekification going on in the work.

The most complete Egyptian version we have is the Hymn to Osiris as preserved on the stela of the official Amenmose, who lived in the 18th Dynasty. As a hymn, however, it is less narrative and more prayer-like, meaning the pertinent passage looks like this:

His sister was his guard, She who drives off the foes, Who stops the deeds of the disturber By the power of her utterance. The clever-tongued whose speech fails not, Effective in the word of command, Mighty Isis who protected her brother, Who sought him without wearying, Who roamed the land lamenting, Not resting till she found him, Who made a shade with her plumage Created breath with her wings Who jubilated, joined her brother, Raised the weary one's inertness Received the seed, bore the heir, Raised the child in solitude, His abode unknown. Who brought him when his arm was strong Into the broad hall of Geb. (translation after M. Lichtheim, 1976)

[mivshar]

Was... Was TES IV created ‘cause there was a history nerd in Bethesda, who was reading Plutarc?!? WAS IT?

from  Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride translated by  J. Gwyn Griffiths

[rhenancarvalho]

No Império Antigo Osíris adquire a vertente de deus funerário, sendo o rei defunto identificado com ele; o rei vivo era por sua vez identificado com o seu filho, o deus Hórus. A partir do fim do Primeiro Período Intermediário e do Império Médio ocorre aquilo que se designa como "democratização" da possibilidade de uma vida no Além, ou seja, esta deixa de estar reservada ao rei para se alargar, primeiro aos altos funcionários, e depois a toda a população. Todos os homens, independentemente da sua classe social, desde que cumprissem os ritos funerários adequados, poderiam unir-se a Osíris, conquistando a imortalidade. Iconografia A representação mais antiga conhecida de Osíris data do ano de 2300 a.C.. A sua representação mais comum correspondia ao de um homem mumificado com uma barba postiça, com braços que emergem do corpo cruzados sob o peito. As suas mãos seguram o cajado hekat e o açoite nekhakha. Na cabeça Osíris apresentava a coroa atef, isto é, uma coroa branca com duas plumas de avestruz. Em algumas representações poderia ter um uraeus (serpente) sob a coroa e uns cornos de carneiro. Osíris vegetantePoderia também ser retratado como uma múmia deitada de cujo corpo emergiam espigas ("Osíris vegetante"). Esta representação está associada a um prática dos Egípcios que consistia em regar uma estátua do deus feita de terra e de trigo. Estas estátuas eram depois enterradas nas terras agrícolas, acreditando-se que seriam a garantia de uma próspera colheita. Este costume está atestado desde a Pré-História do Egito até à época ptolomaica. A pele do deus poderia ser verde ou negra, cores que os Egípcios associavam à fertilidade e ao renascimento. A representação de Osíris como um animal era rara. Quando se verificava o deus poderia surgir como um touro negro, um crocodilo ou um grande peixe. O mito de Osíris O mito de Osíris é conhecido graças a várias fontes, sendo a principal o relato de Plutarco (século I) De Iside et Osiride (Sobre Ísis e Osíris). Alguns textos egípcios, como os Textos das Pirâmides, os Textos dos Sarcófagos e Livro dos Mortos, narram vários elementos do mito, mas de uma forma fragmentária e desconexa. Osíris é apresentado como filho de Geb e Nut, tendo como irmãos Ísis, Néftis e Seth. É portanto um dos membros da Enéade de Heliópolis. Ísis não era apenas sua irmã, mas também a sua esposa. Osíris governou a terra, tendo ensinado aos seres humanos as técnicas necessárias à civilização, como a agricultura e a domesticação de animais. Foi uma era de prosperidade que contudo chegaria ao fim. O irmão de Osíris, Seth, governava apenas o deserto, situação que não lhe agradava. Movido pela inveja, decide engendrar um plano para matar o irmão. Auxiliado por setenta e dois conspiradores, Seth convidou Osíris para um banquete. No decurso do banquete, Seth apresentou uma magnífica caixa-sarcófago que prometeu entregar a quem nela coubesse. Os convidados tentaram ganhar a caixa, mas ninguém coube nela, dado que Seth a tinha preparado para as medidas de Osíris. Convidado por Seth, Osíris entra na caixa. É então que os conspiradores trancam-na e atiram-na no rio Nilo. A correnteza do rio arrasta a caixa até o mar Mediterrâneo, acabando por atingir Biblos (Fenícia). Ísis, desesperada com o sucedido, parte à procura do marido, procurando obter todo o tipo de informações dos que encontra pelo caminho. Chegada a Biblos, Ísis descobre que a caixa ficou inscrustrada numa árvore que tinha entretanto sido cortada para fazer uma coluna no palácio real. Com a ajuda da rainha, Ísis corta a coluna e consegue regressar ao Egito com o corpo do amado, que esconde numa plantação de papiros. Contudo, Seth encontrou a caixa e furioso decide esquartejá-lo em catorze pedaços que espalha o corpo por todo o Egito (em alguns textos do período ptolomaico teriam sido dezesseis ou quarenta e duas partes). Quanto ao significado destes números, deve referir-se que o catorze é número de dias que decorre entre a lua cheia e a lua nova e o quarenta era o número de províncias (ou nomos) em que o Egito se encontrava na época dividido. Ísis, auxiliada pela sua irmã Néftis, partiu à procura das partes do corpo de Osíris. Conseguiu reunir todas, com exceção do pênis, que teria sido devorado por um ou três peixes, conforme a versão. Para suprir a falta deste, Ísis criou um órgão artificial com caules vegetais. Ísis, Néftis e Anúbis procedem então à prática da primeira mumificação. Ísis transforma-se de seguida num milhafre que graças ao bater das suas asas sobre o corpo de Osíris cria uma espécie de ar mágico que acaba por ressuscitá-lo; ainda sob a forma de ave, Ísis une-se sexualmente a Osíris e desta cópula resulta um filho, o deus Hórus. Ísis deu à luz este filho numa ilha do Delta, escondida de Seth. A partir de então, Osíris passou a governar apenas o mundo dos mortos. Quanto ao seu filho, conseguiu derrubar Seth e passou a reinar sobre a terra.

[jose-a-perez]

The Divine Triad According to Robert Fludd, the Sun has 3 properties: Life, Light, and Heat. These 3 vivify and vitalize the 3 worlds: Spiritual, Intellectual, and Material. Therefore, it is said "from 1 light, 3 lights". In Kemet, they arranged their deities in Triads; the FATHER or the Spirit or Active Principle or Generative Power; the MOTHER, or Matter, or the Passive Principle, or the Conceptive Power; and the SON, Issue or Product, the Universe, proceeding from the 2 principles. These were Ausar (Osiris), Aset(Isis), and Heru (Horus). In the same way, Plato gives us Thought the Father; Primitive Matter the Mother; and Cosmos the World, the Son, the Universe animated by a Soul. Triads of the same kind are found in the Kabbalah. "The better and diviner nature consists of 3,—that which exists within the Intellect only, Matter, and that which proceeds from these, which the Greeks call Cosmos; of which 3, Plato calls the Intelligible, the 'Idea, Exemplar, and Father'; Matter, 'the Mother, the Nurse, and the place and receptacle of generation'; and the issue of these 2, 'the Offspring and Genesis,'" the Cosmos, "a word signifying equally Beauty and Order, or the Universe itself." - Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride. 🥰🤍🥰💙🥰💛🥰 https://www.instagram.com/p/CT0NieYoT1T/?utm_medium=tumblr

[blackstar-radio]

THE Egyptians of every period in which they are known to us believed that Osiris was of divine origin, that he suffered death and mutilation at the hands of the powers of evil, that after a great struggle with these powers he rose again, that he became henceforth the king of the underworld and judge of the dead, and that because he had conquered death the righteous also might conquer death; and they raised Osiris to such an exalted position in heaven that he became the equal and, in certain cases, the superior of Râ, the Sun-god, and ascribed to him the attributes which belong unto God. However far back we go, we find that these views about Osiris are assumed to be known to the reader of religious texts and accepted by him, and in the earliest funeral book the position of Osiris in respect of the other gods is identical with that which he is made to hold in the latest copies of the Book of the Dead. The first writers of the ancient hieroglyphic funeral texts and their later editors have assumed so completely that the history of Osiris was known unto all men, that none of them, as far as we know, thought it necessary to write down a connected narrative of the life and sufferings upon earth of this god, or if they did, it has not come down to us. Even in the Vth dynasty we find Osiris and the gods of his cycle, or company, occupying a peculiar and special place in the compositions written for the benefit of the dead, and the stone and other monuments which belong to still earlier periods mention ceremonies the performance of which assumed the substantial accuracy of the history of Osiris as made known to us by later writers. But we have a connected history of Osiris which, though not written in Egyptian, contains so much that is of Egyptian origin that we may be sure that its author drew his information from Egyptian sources: I refer to the work, De Iside et Osiride, of the Greek writer, Plutarch, who flourished about the middle of the first century of our era. In it, unfortunately, Plutarch identifies certain of the Egyptian gods with the gods of the Greeks, and he adds a number of statements which rest either upon his own imagination, or are the results of misinformation. The translation 1 by Squire runs as follows:--

[didanawisgi]

Horus, the God of Kings

by Jimmy Dunn

From the very earliest of times, the falcon seems to have been worshipped in Egypt as representative of the greatest cosmic powers. Many falcon gods existed throughout Egypt, though over time, a good number of these assimilated to Horus, the most important of the avian deities. Yet, from all his of many forms, it is nearly impossible to distinguish the "true" Horus. Horus is mostly a general term for a great number of falcon deities.

Horus is one of ancient Egypt's best known gods, as well as one of its oldest. His name is attested to from at least the beginning of theDynastic Period, and depictions of falcon deities on earlier artifacts, such as the Narmer Palette, probably represent this same god. The Turin Canon, which provides some of our most important information on Egypt's early history, specifically describes the Predynastic rulers of Egypt as "Followers of Horus".

The use of his name was also widespread in personal names throughout Egyptian history, and Hor, as a personal name, survives into our modern era in a number of different forms.

Forms of Horus

Horus is a complicated deity, appearing in many different forms and his mythology is one of the most extensive of all Egyptian deities. Indeed, he has so many different aspects that we must limit our discussion to those that are significant. At the same time, a judicious examination of the various Horuses and the sources relating to them supports the possibility that the roles in question are closely interrelated, and so they may be understood as different aspects of the same divine persona.

The original form of Horus was probably that of a sky god, known as "lord of the sky". The Egyptian word " her" (hor, har), from which the god's name is derived means "the one on high", or "the distant one", probably in reference to the soaring flight of the hunting falcon, if not a reference to the solar aspect of the god. Mythologically, the god was imagined as a celestial falcon, whose right eye was the sun and left eye the moon. The speckled feathers of his breast were probably considered to be the stars, while his wings were the sky that created the wind. In this form, Horus was apparently worshipped at some of Egypt's earliest shrines such as at Nekhen (Heirakonpolis), where he was assimilated with a number of other local falcon gods. In this capacity, Horus was the patron of the Nekhen monarchy that grew into the historical pharaonic state and hence, the first known national god.

A natural outgrowth of his role as "lord of the sky" was his aspect as a sun god. An ivory comb of the 1st Dynasty king Den depicts a falcon in a boat riding on outstretched wings, suggesting the falcon traversing the sky as the sun god. The early Pyramid Texts specifically refer to him in solar terms as "god of the east", and he appears in at least three forms in this guise.

As Horakhty (Harakhty), or "Horus of the two horizons", Horus was the god of the rising and setting sun, but more particularly the god of the east and the sunrise. In the Pyramid Texts, the deceased king is said to be reborn in the eastern sky as Horakhty. Eventually, Horakhty became a part of the Heliopolis sun cult and was fused with its solar god as Re-Horakhty. As Behdety, or "he of [the] behdet", Horus was the hawk-winged sun disk which seems to incorporate the idea of the passage of the sun through the sky. As Hor-em-akhet (Harmachis) or "Horus in the horizon", Horus was visualized as a sun god in falcon or leonine form.

Horus was also seen and worshipped as the male child of Osiris and Isis (Har-pa-khered, literally "Horus the Child", from which the Greeks created the name of Harpokrates), though either this god was originally a separate deity with whom the ancient falcon god was fused, or the falcon deity was incorporated into the Osirian family in very different form, because here he is depicted as a divine human infant. Another reference to him as a child of Isis is as Harsiese who, in the Pyramid Texts, performs the vital "Opening of the Mouth" ceremony on the dead king.

Horus was also directly linked with the kingship of Egypt in both his falcon aspect and as son of Isis. Both his sponsorship of the monarchy and, probably, his identification with the king were shown on early decorated monuments from Nekhen.

From the earliest Dynastic Period, the king's name was written in the rectangular device known as the serekh, which depicted a falcon perched on a stylized palace facade and which seems to indicate the king as mediator between the heavenly and earthly realms, if not the god manifest within the palace as the king himself. This was the "Horus name" of the king, who took other names in time, including a "Golden Horus" name in which a divine falcon is depicted upon the hieroglyphic sign for gold.

Many other forms of Horus also appear in one way or another. Horus the successor was also referred to as Iunmutef (Pillar of His Mother), which was used as a funerary priestly title. By the New Kingdom, the Great Sphinx of Giza, originally a representation of the4th Dynasty King Khafre (or possibly Khufu), was interpreted by the Egyptians as an image of Hor-em-akhet (Harmakhis), or "Horus in the Horizon". In the person of the Sphinx and elsewhere, Horus was also identified in the New Kingdom with the Syrian Canaanite deity, Hauron, which some regard as contributing to the choice of the Arabic name for the Sphinx, "Father of Terror".

Another of Horus is the Egyptian "Har-nedj-itef, or "Horus the savior of his father" (Greek Harendotes), which refers to the vindication of Horus' claim to succeed Osiris, rescuing his father's former earthly domain from the usurper Seth.

The Eye of Horus must also be mentioned. The injury inflicted by Seth on the eye of Horus is alluded to in the Pyramid Texts, where royal saliva is prescribed for its cure. The restored eye of Horus became the symbol for the state of soundness or perfection, known as the Udjat Eye. Used as an amulet, it became the symbol for protection and painted on the sides of rectangular coffins.

Furthermore, Horus was combined, synchronized and closely associated with deities other than the sun god Re, such as Min, Sopdu,Khonsu and Montu.

Mythology

The textual and mythological material related to Horus are very rich, comprising hymns, mortuary tests, ritual texts, dramatic/theological texts, stories and even the Old Coptic and Greek magical papyri.

Interestingly, the most complete ancient exposition of the Osiris narrative is Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride, in a Latin translation from the original Greek. Other accounts include the Memphite Theology or Shabaka Stone, the Mystery Play of the Succession, Coffin Texts Spell 148, the Great Osiris Hymn in the Louvre, the Late Egyptian Contendings of Horus and Seth, the Metternich Stela and other cippus texts, and the Ptolemaic Myth of Horus at Edfu, also known as the Triumph of Horus.

These texts take the reader, with variations and a number of contrasting perspectives, from the god's conception and birth, through his childhood hidden in the marshes (as Har-hery-wadj, or "Horus who is upon his papyrus plants"), his protection by Isis, his conflict with Seth and his followers, and his succession as legitimate king.

With the rise of the complete Horus-Osiris-Isis mythological complex, visible in the Pyramid Texts during the late Old Kingdom, the living king was identified as an earthly Horus and the dead king (his father or predecessor) as Osiris. As the son of Isis and Osiris, Horus was also the mythical heir to the kingship of Egypt, and many stories surrounding this struggle to gain and hold the kingship from the usurper Seth detail this aspect of the god's role. Harwer (Haroeris), or "Horus the Elder" was the mature god represented in these stories who battles Seth for 80 years until the tribunal of gods finally awards him his rightful place on the throne of all Egypt. Finally, as Har-Mau or Harsomptus (Horus the Uniter), Horus fulfills this role of uniting and ruling over Egypt, though he is sometimes identified as the son of Horus the Elder and Hathor in this role, for example, at Edfu and Kom Ombo, and called by the name Panebtawy "Lord of the Two Lands".

However, there was a vital relationship between Seth and Horus. Seth was the embodiment of disorder, and was predominantly seen as a rival of Horus. However, Seth was also portrayed in a balanced, complementary role to Horus, so that the pair represented a bipolar, balanced embodiment of kingship. Therefore, on the side of the throne, Horus and Seth, symmetrical and equal, tie the papyrus and lotus around the sema-sign.

Since about the turn of the twentieth century, Egyptologists have debated the issue of whether the struggle between Horus and Sethwas primarily a historical event, or purely symbolic. This issue is complicated by the geographical polarities of the two gods' cult centers. While Horus was venerated throughout Egypt, his primary cult centers were in the south, while Seth's cult centers tended to be in the north, and perhaps particularly in the Delta. According to the Turin Canon, the late predynastic rulers of Egypt were "followers of Horus". By the time of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, the ruler was Horus. On the palette in the Cairo museum that shows King Narmer, considered a candidate for the first ruler of a unified Egypt, Horus is shown holding a rope that passes through the nose of the defeated northern rival. Hence, some Egyptologists believe that the source of the mythological conflict between Horus and Seth may have been the predynastic struggle to unite Upper and Lower Egypt.

In fact, during the 2nd Dynasty, there seems to have once again been a Horus and Seth conflict, which was eventually resolved under King Khasekhemwy. While the nature of this conflict is not clear, it is reflected in the use of a Seth-name instead of the usual Horus-name by King Peribsen (Seth-Peribsen). There are indications of warfare during this period, culminating perhaps by Khasekhemwy, who combined Horus and Seth above the serekh containing his name.

Genealogy

The most common genealogy of Horus is as the son of Osiris and Isis, as the tenth member of the family tree of the Heliopolitan Ennead. However, one must remember that this god's worship spanned some three thousand years, during which time he was venerated throughout Egypt, as well as outside of Egypt. Therefore, the full picture of his genealogy is more complex. Hathor, herself sometimes identified with Isis, also appears as the mother of Horus.

Haroeris, or Horus the Elder, can appear in the Heliopolitan family tree as the brother of Osiris and the son of Geb and Nut. Osiris can also be equated with Haroeris, who in that scenario is the murdered victim of Seth. At Edfu, Horus appears as the consort of Hathor and the father of another form of himself, Harsomtus, or "Horus Uniter of the Two Lands". Horus and Seth are sometimes described as nephew and uncle, but at other times as brothers.

At Nag'el Madamud, just north of Luxor, a temple was built in honor of the god Montu, his consort Raettawy, and their son Harpokrates, the child deity more often associated with Isis.

Iconography

The roles, local cult foundations and titles or epithets of Horus are sometimes correlated with distinct or preferred forms in iconography.

The form of Horus that we are perhaps most familiar with is as a full falcon, probably the lanner (Falco biarmicus) or peregrine (Falco peregrinus). This is the original avian form of Horus, typically shown in two dimensions as a profile except for the tail feathers which were turned towards the viewer according to the canons of Egyptian composite perspective. Early examples sometimes show the falcon leaning forward in a later position but the upright stance became standard in later times. Sometimes the falcon is shown in direct association with the Seth animal or one of his symbols, particularly in the Late period, as in the nome sign of the 16th Upper Egyptian nome where the falcon is depicted with its talons sunk into the back of an Oryx. Though Seth may have typically taken the form of a canine, the Oryx was an ancient symbol of that god.

As the hawk-winged Behdety, Horus became one of the most widespread images in Egyptian art, an image perhaps foreshadowed in the time of Den, and which became virtually ubiquitous as a motif used in the decoration of temple walls and stelae throughout Egypt. In this guise, he had the epithets "Great God, Lord of heaven, Dappled of Plumage".

As Horakhty, he may appear as a falcon or sometimes even as a falcon-headed crocodile. Most often, Re-Horakhty has a sun disk on his head.

In the fully anthropomorphic form Horus appears as an adult god or more usually as a child, wearing the sidelock of youth, who is the son of Isis. Horus as a boy also appears dominating crocodiles, serpents and other noxious animals on cippi. Sometimes on cippi, the head of the child was often surmounted by a Bes-head, or perhaps a Bes mask.

Yet, it is in the combined zoo-anthropomorphic form of a falcon-headed man that the god most frequently appears, often wearing the Double Crown signifying his kingship over all Egypt.

In various forms, Horus often wore the Double Crown, as befitting his status as king of Egypt, the Atef, the triple atef and a disk with two plumes was also used.

One of the most famous kingship imagery related to Horus is found in the statue of Khafre, seated with the Horus falcon at the back of his head with the wings of the bird protectively wrapped around the king's neck.

Cult Worship

Frequently, we can identify a specific, strong cult center for an ancient Egyptian god, but because Horus was worshipped in many forms, and because he assimilated many other gods, it is difficult to summarize the sites associated with his worship. Clearly, he was associated with the area of Nekhen in southern Egypt (Greek Hierakonpolis or "City of the Hawk") from very early times. he was probably the falcon deity worshipped there since pre-dynastic times.

However, Horus was worshipped along with other deities at countless Egyptian temples and the important sites of his worship are known from one end of Egypt to the other, dating to the earliest of times to the latest periods of pre-Christian Egypt. In fact, he continued to be venerated in some Old Coptic (Christian), ritual-power or magical texts. In northern Egypt, the Horus god was particularly venerated in the Delta at the ancient site of Khem (Greek Letopolis, modern Ausim) since at least the beginning of the Old Kingdom. There, he was known as Horus Khenty-irty, or Khenty-khem, "Foremost One of Khem". Chapter 112 of the Book of the Dead tells how the Delta city of Pe (historical Buto) was given to Horus as compensation for his eye which was injured by Seth, which explains why this was such an important cult center for the god. Behdet also became a center of Horus worship in the Delta.

In the south, Horus enjoyed the attention, together with his consort Hathor, and their son Harsomptus, in the important Ptolemaic temples at Edfu and also at Kom Ombo. At Edfu, the god's many ceremonies included the annual Coronation of the Sacred Falcon at the beginning of the 5th month of the Egyptian year in which an actual falcon was selected to represent the god as king of all Egypt, thus uniting the ancient falcon god with his form as Horus son of Osiris and with the king.

Even outside of ancient Egypt proper, south in Nubia, we find temples dedicated to various forms of Horus at Quban (Horus of Baki), Buhen and Aniba (Horus of Miam), as well as the inclusion of the god in many other monuments such as Abu Simbel and elsewhere.

As the object of popular veneration throughout Egypt, Horus was often represented by amulets depicting him either in the form of a falcon or as a falcon-headed man, in both cases often wearing the Double Crown of Egypt. His widespread worship is also seen in the many healing plaques, or cippi, which aimed to utilize his power. The cippi of Horus were a common manifestation of the importance of Horus in healing rituals and popular ritual practice.

The Survival of Horus

It should be mentioned that some Egyptologists see, in the iconography of Christian art, a precursor in Horus. For example, Isis and the baby Horus are sometimes seen as the model for Mary and the infant Jesus, while Horus dominating the beats may have a counterpart in Christ Pantokrator doing the same. Horus spearing a serpent may survive in the iconography of Saint George defeating the dragon.

[sistemabibliotecariomilano]

Etimologie impossibili

Costituita nel Novecento da un’autorità laica, la Biblioteca centrale di Milano non possiede quelle opere che nell’immaginario corrispondono all’idea di manoscritto: i codici liturgici miniati. Il suo patrimonio coincide invece con la storia della stampa fin dalle sue prime testimonianze a partire dai cosiddetti incunaboli: opere tipografiche il cui prototipo è la Bibbia di Gutenberg, e la cui forma editoriale, nonostante la fondamentale innovazione tecnica, continuò a ricalcare quella del manoscritto (ad es. per la generalizzata assenza di un frontespizio) fino al 1500. L’incunabolo forse più notevole posseduto dalla Sormani è stato  stampato in una data altamente significativa: il 1492, ciononostante si tratta di un’opera storiografica ispirata a una tradizione che, malgrado la sua diffusione dall’Antichità fino alla moderna affermazione della critica delle fonti storiche, giudichiamo retrograda: quella delle” genealogie incredibili” destinate a provare le origini remotissime di qualche lignaggio e con esse il privilegio di uno status o l’esercizio di determinati diritti. Si tratta del Donati Bossi causidici et civis mediolanensis,gestorum dictorumque memorabilium et temporum ac conditionum et mutationum humanarum ab orbis initio usque ed eius tempora liber meglio noto come Chronica bossiana.

Il notaio Donato Bossi che, come il più celebre Bernardino Corio, apparteneva alla cerchia di Lodovico il Moro, scrisse questa sorta di storia universale senza brillare per acutezza di riflessione, per le età remote accettando le fonti più disparate in un continuo intreccio di elementi di storia biblica e di mitologia classica. Solo per l’epoca successiva alle invasioni barbariche la sua attenzione si focalizza su Milano e la narrazione diviene più circostanziata col ricorso, relativamente alle vicende delle famiglie dei Visconti e degli Sforza, ai documenti della Cancelleria ducale. E’ certo che uno degli scopi del cronista fosse quello di attestare l’antichità della sua famiglia a partire dalla spiegazione del bue bianco (l’etimologia di “Bossi” era ricondotta al latino bos, bovis) che compariva sullo stemma, fatto risalire niente di meno che al bianco bue Api degli Egizi, reincarnazione di Osiride. Secondo Donato, Iside, originaria dell’Ellade, vi avrebbe riportato l’insegna, della quale si sarebbero impadroniti dei non meglio precisati re di Bosnia (Bossie reges!) e quindi re Berengario che l’avrebbe trasferita in Lombardia per concederla ai Bossi autoctoni.

A scagionare il nostro notaio dall’accusa postuma di abuso di sostanze stupefacenti c’è la testimonianza coeva del frate domenicano Giovanni Nanni, più noto come Annio da Viterbo che, per la casata dei Borgia, fu il probabile ispiratore del programma affrescato dal Pinturicchio nelle stanze vaticane sullo stesso tema: Iside, Osiride e il bue Api.

In uno studio recente (F. Del Tredici, Un'altra nobiltà : storie di (in)distinzione a Milano : secoli 14.-15., Milano : Angeli, 2017) è riportata del resto l’immagine di uno schizzo in calce a un atto conservato presso l’Archivio di Stato di Milano redatto dal notaio Silvestro Bossi di Azzate nel 1403 che raffigura il solito bue. Nel saggio in questione il caso dei Bossi: un autentico clan diffuso sia a Milano che nel contado è fra le principali prove di una suggestiva ipotesi relativa alla prima codificazione di un ceto nobiliare originario avvenuta in età viscontea nel 1377 con la Matricula nobilium familiarum Mediolani, limitato a 189 famiglie, alle quali erano riservati dei privilegi onorifici non corrispondenti tuttavia a uno status e a delle funzioni socio-politiche definite. “La forza di un cognome teneva insieme grandi e piccoli, tant’è che nel corso della cerimonia più solenne di tutto il Tre-Quattrocento milanese, i funerali del duca Gian Galeazzo Visconti, sotto l’etichetta di nobiles de Vicecomitibus poterono riunirsi uomini che si situavano agli antipodi del mondo sociale: figli di duchi e tavernieri abusivi di Arsago Seprio” [Del Tredici, ibidem, p. 234].

Quando il titolo ducale di Milano fu assunto dal re di Francia (1499), con la creazione da lui voluta del Senato, organo composto quasi essenzialmente da nobili, e con la riforma in senso nobiliare anche del Consiglio generale si posero tuttavia le basi per la creazione di un patriziato che detenesse il monopolio dell’amministrazione cittadina, attraverso l’individuazione di una élite entro la nobiltà generica alla quale attribuire quasi tutti gli onori e le cariche civiche. Il governo spagnolo mantenne questi orientamenti ma decise nel 1541 al fine di rimpinguare un ceto fattosi esangue oltre che per sancire situazioni di fatto di potenza economica e politica, che la discendenza da famiglia nobile e antica fosse condizione sufficiente per ricoprire cariche pubbliche, stabilendo come unica prova di antichità ascendenti cittadini o di altra località del ducato per oltre cento anni.

Un preciso interesse muoveva dunque Giovanbattista Bossi nato in ortu solis diei Dominice, vigesimi octavii januarj anni 1624, in domo propria sita in P. N. P. Sti Prothasii ad Monachos a far precedere l’edizione della Chronica con alcune pagine manoscritte contenenti l’indice della stessa oltre al noto stemma miniato (l’immagine iniziale) che ritroviamo in un prezioso manoscritto, conservato presso la Biblioteca Nacional di Madrid. Finito di stampare con ogni probabilità negli anni Quaranta del Settecento, il Teatro genealogico delle famiglie nobili milanesi corredato di stemmi acquerellati che precedono le genealogie e arricchiscono il testo.

I progressi della critica storiografica avevano tuttavia imposto lo spostamento delle origini della famiglia dall’Egitto a Roma, presso l’antica famiglia patrizia dei Bovii. Genealogia un po’ meno incredibile alla quale si darà ancora credito a Ottocento inoltrato nelle Famiglie celebri di Pompeo Litta.

Se si pensa del resto al peso dato da storici del calibro di Tucidide o di Polibio alle genealogie eroiche e alle origini mitiche si può capire che la verità alla quale facevano riferimento non era di ordine fattuale ma allegorico o tipologico più prossima alla “verità letteraria” che al positivismo storiografico. Ma il fatto che un notaio di provincia di queste latitudini pensasse di richiamare la sua discendenza dal dio Osiride è una nota di carattere che si spiega meglio con un termine già diffuso alle medesime latitudini: bauscia.

[danielpico]

Aion-Zervan-Fanes. Mitra Leontocefalo

Mitra representado con cabeza de león, con una serpiente enroscada. Aunque se sabe que dentro de la tradición gnóstica y egipcia esta figura no era Mitra, se lo adhiere por tradición. También podría tratarse de Ahriman (un demonio del zoroastrismo), mientras otros estudiosos lo comparan como Eón (Aion) Dios del tiempo y la prosperidad.. sobre todo porque muchas veces tiene elementos de dioses romanos como lanzas de Esculapio.... otros estudiosos lo definen claramente como el Demiurgo gnóstico Yaldabaoth, por usar la cabeza del león siempre identificable como tal por los ofitas y los setianos

En principio, las representaciones de Fanes no tienen cabeza de león. Esta es de un relieve del s II, en el Museo Civico-Arquelogico de Módena. ¿Quién es Fanes? En la cosmogonía órfica, Φανης (Phanês, ‘resplandeciente’) o Πρωτογόνος, (Primogénito, 'el primero que nace') es un dios nacido del huevo cósmico engendrado por el Tiempo, y es el dios primigenio, origen de la procreación y la generación de todas las cosas; a veces se equipara a Eros, una de las divinidades primordiales según la Teogonía de Hesíodo. En algunos fragmentos órficos se lo considera hijo del Éter, y pade de la Noche (según la tradición órfica), con quien se unió para tener al Cielo y la Tierra. Fue padre también de los mares, el Sol, la Luna, las estrellas, todo desde una gruta llamada Santuario de la Noche. Otras veces se llama a Fanes el dios de las alas doradas, sobre los hombros, y cuerpo en forma de dragón, hermafrodita, y otras veces se lo describe con cuatro cabezas: de LEÓN, de cabra, de serpiente y de toro.

Fragmento de la pátera de Parabiago, tardía, del s. IV dC., hallada cerca de Milán, en cuyo museo arqueológico se encuentra hoy. Esta parte de la bandeja ceremonial de plata representa a Aion (griego: Αἰών, hispanizado “Eón”), una deidad helenística asociada con el tiempo, el orbe o círculo que rodea el universo, y el zodíaco. Figura entre las personificaciones de virtudes y conceptos, parte del discurso helénico tardío, en el que representaban "agentes creativos de los esquemas cosmológicos". La significancia de Aion descansa en su maleabilidad como "concepto fluído" a través del que varias ideas sobre el tiempo y la divnidad convergen en la era helenística, y en el contexto de tendencias monteístas. El "tiempo" representado por Aion es ilimitado, en comparración con Cronos, como el tiempo percibido dividido en pasado, presente y futuro. Es, de este modo, un dios de la eternidad, asociado a las religiones mistéricas preocupadas por la vida en el más allá, tales como los misterios de Cibeles, Dionisos, Orfeo y Mitra. En latín, el concepto de la deidad se adaptó como "Aevum" (Evo) o "Saeculum" (Siglo). Casi siempre está en compañía de la Tierra y la Diosa Madre, como Tellus o Cibeles, como en el plato de Parabiago. Aion se representa usualmente como un joven desnudo o semidesnudo, dentro de un círculo representando al zodíaco, o tiempo cíclico y eterno. Ese círculo fue adoptado por las representaciones de Fanes, como en la segunda imagen.

Una estatuilla de dios leontocéfalo, procedente de Castel Gandolfo. No sólo presenta el león en su cabeza, sino en sus rodillas, y acompañado de un cancerbero (triplicidad, el otro mundo) una serpiente (lo eterno, cuando se enrosca en círculo), y además alado. Hay sus discrepancias si asociarlo a Mitra, o también a Aion y Fanes...

Otra representación, esta en relieve, de la misma divinidad leontocéfala y alada. Y de nuevo acompañada de serpientes. Las antorchas y el soplo seguramente aluden al origen del mundo a través del fuego y o el éter, muy presentes en las cosmogonías helenísticas como la estoica (que posiblemente la tomó de la religión persa, con su culto al fuego, y de Persia procedía también Mitra),, e incluso ya hay indicios de ella en el orfismo primitivo. Es posible que también el presocrático Heráclito tomara de los persas el origen o arché en el fuego, y la lucha de contrarios

Esta estatua de marmol, encontrada alrededor del 1902, y conservada en el Museo de Mérida (H. 1.75, Inv. No. 8) muestra el mismo esquema de la serpiente enroscada, pero el león sólo aparece en el pecho, y la figura es completamente antropomorfa. Algunos la han asociado a un dios de origen persa, Zervan o Zurvan Zurvan o Zervan (del avéstico zruvan, "tiempo"). En la mitología irania, es un dios primigenio del tiempo y el destino que sería posteriormente la figura central de una variante del Mazdeísmo, el Zurvanismo. Es un dios iranio bastante arcaíco, del que ya hay testimonios escritos en el s. IV a. C., por parte del griego Eudemo de Rodas, que afirmaba que los magos llamaban al todo, uno e inteligible, a veces "Espacio" y a veces "Tiempo", del que habrían nacido Ohrmazd y Ahrimán (formas pahlavis de Ahura Mazda y Angra Mainyu) como la luz y las tinieblas, entendidas como los principios del bien y del mal, o un dios bueno y otro malo. Como ves, vamos acercándonos a Ahrimán. Probablemente, Zurvan fuera un dios celeste en su origen, fuente del tiempo y dador de la buena o mala suerte, interviniente del destino. En e texto sagradol Vendidad aparece, en su papel escatológico, como el creador del camino por donde avanzaban las almas de los justos y de los impíos, hasta el puente de Cinvat, y aparece como dos aspectos: el Tiempo sin fin ("el Señor eterno", Zurvān Akarana) y el Tiempo del largo dominio ("el Señor del mundo existente", Zurvān Dareghō-Chvadhāta). El Tiempo del largo dominio surge del Tiempo infinito y después de durar 12000 años retorna a él. Plutarco, en su "De Iside et Osiride" recoge documentos del siglo IV a. C. con elementos zoroástricos, con base all zurvanismo, aunque sin mencionar a Zurvan, donde escribe que Oromazdes, nacido de la más pura luz y Aremanos, nacido de las tinieblas, ejercían alternativamente el poder cada 3000 años y se combaten durante otros 3000 años, por lo que el mundo sólo durará 9000 años, divididos en tres períodos de 3000. Nueva referencia al dúo Ahura Mazda-Ahriman

Es posible que lo de la figura alada leontocéfala tenga raíces aún más antiguas. Un ejemplo es este conocido demonio asirio, Pazuzu, hijo de Anbi, "Señor de los Demonios del Viento del Mal", que a pesar de estos títulos tan siniestros, era benévolo, y protector de mujeres y niños frente a sus malvados siervos y su esposa Lamastu.

La leontocefalia o cabeza de león está incluso presente en la religión fenicia-cartaginesa, por ejemplo, en esta figura de la conocida diosa Tánit. Aunque es posible que en este caso la influencia sea egipcia, por la diosa Sekmet.

[indomitablekushite]

Egyptian Priests were the first genuine Priests of history., a few things from Stolen Legacy. Just not anyone could put on the Leopard Skin

The Education of the Egyptian Priests A. The Seven Liberal Arts

A.The education of the Egyptian Priests in the Seven Liberal Arts . As has already been pointed out, in connection with Plato and the Cardinal Virtues, the Egyptian Mysteries were the centre of organized culture, and the recognized source of education in the ancient world. Neophytes were graded according to their moral efficiency and intellectual competence, and had to submit to many years of tests and ordeals, in order that their eligibility for advancement might be determined. Their education included the Seven Liberal Arts, and the virtues. The virtues were not mere abstractions or ethical sentiments; but positive valours and the virility of the soul. Beyond these, the Priests entered upon a course of specialization.

B. Secret Systems of Languages and Mathematical Symbolism (i) It would appear that there were two forms of writing in use among the Egyptians:

(a) The demotic, believed to have been introduced by Pharaoh Psammitichus, for trade and commercial purposes; and

(b) The hieroglyphics of which there were two forms, i.e., the hieroglyphics proper, and the hieratic a linear form, both of which were used only by the Priests, in order to conceal the secret and mystical meaning of their doctrines.

(Clement of Alexandria: Stromata Bk. V. c. 4 p. 657; Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride Bk. II, p. 374; John Kendrick; Ancient Egypt, Bk. II, p. 84; 119, 336, and 245).

(ii) We are also informed that the mystery system of Egypt employed modes of spoken language which could be understood, only by the initiated. These consisted not only of myths and parables; but also of a secret language called Senzar.

(Ancient Mysteries: C. H. Vail, p. 23). (iii)

We also understand that the Egyptians attached numerical values both to letters of words and to geometrical figures, with the same intention as with their use of hieroglyphics, i.e., to conceal their teachings. It is further understood that the Egyptian numerical and geometrical symbolism were contained in the 42 Books of Hermes, whose system was the oldest and most elaborate repository of mathematical symbolism. Here again we are reminded of the source of the number philosophy of Pythagoras.

(Ancient Mysteries: C. H. Vail, p. 22–23; Clement of Alexandria: Stromata Book V, c. 7 and 9).

C. Magic According to Herodotus, the Egyptian Priests possessed super-natural powers, for they had been trained in the esoteric philosophy of the Greater Mysteries, and were experts in Magic. They had the power of controlling the minds of men (hypnosis), the power of predicting the future (prophecy) and the power over nature, (i.e., the power of Gods) by giving commands in the name of the Divinity and accomplishing great deeds. Herodotus also tells us that the most celebrated Oracles of the ancient world were located in Egypt: Hercules at Canopis; Apollo at Apollinopolis Magna; Minerva at Sais; Diana at Bubastis; Mars at Papremis; and Jupiter at Thebes and Ammonium; and that the Greek Oracles were Egyptian imitations. Here it might be well to mention that the Egyptian Priests were the first genuine Priests of history, who exercised control over the laws of nature. Here it might also be well to mention that the Egyptian Book of the Dead is a book of magical formulae and instructions, intended to direct the fate of the departed soul. It was the Prayer Book of the Mystery System of Egypt, and the Egyptian Priest received training in post mortem conditions and the methods of their verification. It must also be noted that Magic was applied religion, or primitive scientific method.

(The Egyptian Book of the Dead; Herodotus Bk. II 109, 177; Sandford's Mediterranean World, p. 27; 507; Definition of Magic, Frazier's Golden Bough).

THE earliest theory of salvation is the Egyptian theory The Egyptian Mystery

System had as its most important object, the deification of man, and taught that the soul of man if liberated from its bodily fetters, could enable him to become godlike and see the Gods in this life and attain the beatific vision and hold communion with the Immortals

(Ancient Mysteries, C. H. Vail, P. 25).

Plotinus defines this experience as the liberation of the mind from its finite consciousness, when it becomes one and is identified with the Infinite. This liberation was not only freedom of the soul from bodily impediments, but also from the wheel of reincarnation or rebirth. It involved a process of disciplines or purification both for the body and the soul. Since the Mystery System offered the salvation of the soul it also placed great emphasis upon its immortality. The Egyptian Mystery System, like the modern University, was the center of organized culture, and candidates entered it as the leading source of ancient culture. According to Pietschmann, the Egyptian Mysteries had three grades of students

(1) The Mortals i.e., probationary students who were being instructed, but who had not yet experienced the inner vision.

(2) The Intelligences, i.e., those who had attained the inner vision, and had received mind or nous and

(3) The Creators or Sons of Light, who had become identified with or united with the Light (i.e., true spiritual consciousness). W. Marsham Adams, in the "Book of the Master", has described those grades as the equivalents of Initiation, Illumination and Perfection. For years they underwent disciplinary intellectual exercises, and bodily asceticism with intervals of tests and ordeals to determine their fitness to proceed to the more serious, solemn and awful process of actual Initiation.

Their education consisted not only in the cultivation of the ten virtues, which were made a condition to eternal happiness, but also of the seven Liberal Arts which were intended to liberate the soul. There was also admission to the Greater Mysteries, where an esoteric philosophy was taught to those who had demonstrated their proficiency. (Ancient Mysteries C. H. Vail P. 24–25).

Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic were disciplines of moral nature by means of which the irrational tendencies of a human being were purged away, and he was trained to become a living witness of the Divine Logos.

Geometry and Arithmetic were sciences of transcendental space and numeration, the comprehension of which provided the key not only to the problems of one's being; but also to those physical ones, which are so baffling today, owing to our use of the inductive methods. Astronomy dealt with the knowledge and distribution of latent forces in man, and the destiny of individuals, laces and nations. Music (or Harmony) meant the living practice of philosophy i.e., the adjustment of human life into harmony with God, until the personal soul became identified with God, when it would hear and participate in the music of the spheres. It was therapeutic, and was used by the Egyptian Priests in the cure of diseases.

Such was the Egyptian theory of salvation, through which the individual was trained to become godlike while on earth, and at the same time qualified for everlasting happiness. This was accomplished through the efforts of the individual, through the cultivation of the Arts and Sciences on the one hand, and a life of virtue on the other. There was no mediator between man and his salvation, as we find in the Christian theory. Reference will again be made to these subjects, as part of the Curriculum of the Egyptian Mystery System.

Now that we have outlined the Egyptian theory of salvation and its purpose......

A Life of Virtue was a Condition Required by the Egyptian Mysteries as Elsewhere Mentioned . The virtues were not mere abstractions or ethical sentiments, but were positive valours and virility of the soul. Temperance meant complete control of the passional nature. Fortitude meant such courage as would not allow adversity to turn us away from our goal. Prudence meant the deep insight that befits the faculty of Seership. Justice meant the unswerving righteousness of thought and action.

In the Egyptian Mysteries the Neophyte was required to manifest the following soul attributes:—

(1) Control of thought and (2) Control of action, the combination of which, Plato called Justice (i.e., the unswerving righteousness of thought and action). (3) Steadfastness of purpose, which was equivalent to Fortitude. (4) Identity with spiritual life or the higher ideals, which was equivalent to Temperance an attribute attained when the individual had gained conquest over the passional nature. (5) Evidence of having a mission in life and (6) Evidence of a call to spiritual Orders or the Priesthood in the Mysteries: the combination of which was equivalent to Prudence or a deep insight and graveness that befitted the faculty of Seership.

Other requirements in the ethical system of the Egyptian Mysteries were:— (7) Freedom from resentment, when under the experience of persecution and wrong. This was known as courage. (8) Confidence in the power of the master (as Teacher), and (9) Confidence in one's own ability to learn; both attributes being known as Fidelity. (10) Readiness or preparedness for initiation. There has always been this principle of the Ancient Mysteries of Egypt: "When the pupil is ready, then the master will appear". This was equivalent to a condition of efficiency at all times for less than this pointed to a weakness. It is now quite clear that Plato drew the four Cardinal virtues from the Egyptian ten; also that Greek philosophy is the offspring of the Egyptian Mystery System.

The main purpose of the Egyptian Mysteries was the salvation of the human soul. The Egyptians believed the human body to be a prison house, where the soul is chained by ten fetters. This condition not only kept man separated from God, but made him subject to the wheel of re-birth or re-incarnation.

In order to escape from the effects of his condition, two requirements had to be fulfilled by the Neophyte:— (i) He must keep the Ten Commandments taught by the Mysteries, for by such a discipline, he would gain conquest over the fetters of the soul, and liberate it, so as to make its development possible, and (ii) he now being well qualified and duly prepared, must undergo a series of initiations, in order to develop his soul from the human stage to that of a God. Such a transformation was known as salvation. It placed the Neophyte in harmony with nature, man and God. It deified him, i.e., made him become godlike; and this attainment was known as the highest good. According to this theory of salvation, man is expected to work out his own salvation, without a mediator between himself and his God.

Plato defines virtue as the order or discipline of the soul. This meaning we accept, since it agrees with the purpose of the ten commandments of the Mysteries. The doctrines of the ten virtues and the ten fetters are as old as the Egyptian history itself. Each commandment or discipline represented a principle of virtue, and the function of each virtue was to remove a fetter. Hence a life of virtue was antecedent and preparatory to those further experiences, i.e., the initiations which led to gradual perfection and the divinity of the Neophyte.

Plato(falsely) is also credited with having reduced all virtues to four cardinal virtues, and with assigning the highest place among them to wisdom, as follows: wisdom, fortitude, temperance and justice. We are also informed through the history of philosophy, that Socrates, the alleged teacher of Plato, taught that wisdom was the equivalent of all virtue. This divergence of opinion between pupil and teacher is significant, since it points to the fact that both of them simply speculated about a system of Ethics which was current in the ancient world, and which neither of them had produced. This system of Ethics as has already been mentioned belonged to the Mystery System of Egypt, which required Neophytes in preparation for initiation, to keep the following ten commandments, underlying which were ten principles of virtue: The Neophyte must

(I) control his thoughts (II) control his actions (III) have devotion of purpose (IV) have faith in the ability of his master to teach him the truth (V) have faith in himself to assimilate the truth (VI) have faith in himself to wield the truth (VII) be free from resentment under the experience of persecution (VIII) be free from resentment under experience of wrong, (IX) cultivate the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and (X) cultivate the ability to distinguish between the real and the unreal (he must have a sense of values).

If we now compare the order in the above outline with the order in which the cardinal virtues are said to be arranged, we shall immediately see that the first place which wisdom occupies among the virtues was given to it by the Egyptian Mysteries, and not by Plato. Consequently in (I) and (II) from the control of thoughts and actions, we derive the virtue of wisdom; in (VI) from freedom of resentment under persecution, we derive the virtue of fortitude; in (IX) and (X) from an ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and between the real and unreal, we derive the virtues of justice and temperance.

The Soul .... the human soul is composed of the following nine inseparable parts:

(1) The Ka, which is an abstract personality of the man to whom it belongs possessing the form and attributes of a man with power of locomotion, omnipresence and ability to receive nourishment like a man. It is equivalent to (Eidolon), i.e., image.

(2) The Khat, i.e., the concrete personality, the physical body, which is mortal.

(3) The Ba, i.e., the heart-soul, which dwells in the Ka and sometimes alongside it, in order to supply it with air and food. It has the power of metamorphosis and changes its form at will.

(4) The Ab, i.e., the Heart, the animal life in man, and is rational, spiritual and ethical. It is associated with the Ba (heart-soul) and in the Egyptian Judgment Drama it undergoes examination in the presence of Osiris, the great Judge of the Unseen World.

(5) The Kaibit, i.e., shadow. It is associated with Ba (heart-soul) from whom like the Ka, it receives its nourishment. It has the power of locomotion and omnipresence.

(6) The Khu, i.e., spiritual soul, which is immortal. It is also closely associated with the Ba (heart-soul), and is an Ethereal Being.

(7) The Sahu, i.e., spiritual body, in which the Khu or spiritual soul dwells. In it all the mental and spiritual attributes of the natural body are united to the new powers of its own nature.

(8) The Sekhem, i.e., power or the spiritual personification of the vital force in a man. Its dwelling place is in the heavens with spirits or Khus.

(9) The Ren, i.e., the name, or the essential attribute for the preservation of a Being. The Egyptians believed that in the. absence of a name, an individual ceased to exist.

It must be noted that according to the Egyptian concept

(1) The soul has nine parts, whose unity is so complete, that even the Ren, i.e., the name, is an essential attribute, since without it, it cannot exist.

(2) The Ba (or heart-soul), is connected with the Ka, Kaibit and Ab (Abstract personality or Shadow and Animal life) on the one hand, and also with Khu and Sekhem (spiritual Soul and spiritual personification of vital force) on the other hand, as the power of Nourishment.

(3) The Sahu is a spiritual body which is used both by Khu and Sekhem.

(4) The Khat, i.e., the physical body, is essential to the soul while manifesting itself upon the physical plane.

(5) The soul has the additional following attributes:— (a) omnipresence (b) metamorphosis (c) locomotion (d) nutritive (e) mortality (in case of one khat) (f) immortality (g) rationality (h) spirituality (i) morality (j) ethereal (k) shadowy ****************************************************

Now you can see the difference between an African spiritual concept and a European spiritual concept. Remember Aristotle, Plato and all of the European philosophers never finished the mystery systems which was 40 years. It is impossible for the spiritual leaders to tell you that God has spoken to them or that they are giving you to spiritual knowledge without a long 40yr study in my opinion.. All these black supposedly spiritual leaders are doing is imitating the very people who are responsible for the world condition as is, they are dangerous perpetrators