This is a universal myth that relates to the immortality of the soul and the existence of a cosmic destiny in which man should consciously and actively participate.
The ancient Egyptian religion is one of the most comprehensive and best-known religions today, although this knowledge is superficial. However, since every historical moment has different symbolism and evaluation, instead of judging the Egyptian way of thinking, we should examine it in order to understand as many elements as possible of their enigmatic pantheon.
The West’s interest in Egypt began with Herodotus, and although he acquainted himself with Egypt when it was already in complete decadence and almost destroyed, he was amazed by what remained of the ancient beliefs and symbolism. The very name of the country was Kem or Kemi, which means the Red Land. The word Egypt, which comes from Greek, means unknown.
In the Roman period, hieroglyphs were no longer used in Egypt, but rather a more schematized, demotic script, and by then no one no longer
He was able to decipher ancient inscriptions in temples, except for the last priests of Isis from the island of Philae. With the fall of the Roman Empire, this knowledge completely disappeared until Napoleon’s troops discovered the famous Rosetta Stone.
The first excavations in the Great Pyramid were conducted by Al-Ma’mun in the Middle Ages; he informs us that he found golden coffins in which the Egyptians kept their kings.
Later, in the Renaissance, the Church conducted excavations and at that time, Egyptian obelisks, which the Romans had transferred to the capital, were found.
The pyramids were not tombs but religious monuments in which famous personalities of that time were buried.
Let’s recall the theories that exist today about Egyptian religion and magic and the traditions that stem from them. First, let’s clarify that from a symbolic and esoteric perspective, the word magic means Great Science or Great Knowledge, which referred to the knowledge that connects all things, something that is very difficult for us to understand today.
Recent research undoubtedly proves that Egyptian culture did not originate from typical Stone Age cultures. So where did it come from? We do not know for certain. There are many theories. Some believe that it originated from the legendary Atlantis, which, before sinking, sent part of its legacy to the land of Kemet. Others say it comes from India, because the Nile means blue in Sanskrit.
What do the Egyptians say about themselves? That they have inhabited this land for thousands of years and that the period we call dynastic, which begins with Menes, is just one of them. Read more than seventy thousand years ago, after kings like Horus, Scorpion, or Oxyrhynchus… listing backwards. The Egyptians undoubtedly had a unique religion. If we just remember that modern religions have undergone many changes and variations in just a few centuries, and that within a common belief there were different religious forms, depending on the circumstances in cities and periods, the same phenomenon was expected to occur in Egypt.
But Egypt had something that is difficult to find to such an extent among other peoples: it knew how to change what was changeable and maintain what was unchangeable. Namely, although they changed external forms, there was an uninterrupted thread from the beginning of history within them, like the spinal cord of the entire religious process, and in that context, we can observe the myth of Osiris.
To better understand this myth, it is important to emphasize that the Egyptians firmly believed in the existence of the soul and God, and although they were proclaimed polytheists and worshippers When it comes to animals, we shouldn’t judge them from our current standpoint but rather strive to understand their myths and symbolism, getting to know them. We can say that the Egyptians were more pantheistic than polytheistic, as they believed that the divine was everywhere, in all things, but in potential. However, in order for humans to comprehend it, they first had to undergo a series of trials.
Additionally, the Egyptians believed in reincarnation. After death, souls transitioned into an intermediate space called Duat, a kind of “purgatory”, where, no longer possessing earthly things, they found themselves in emptiness. Those who had enough spiritual strength could avoid the trials of Duat and then move on to Amenti, which meant the Land of Amon. Amenti was a place of blessed souls, paradise, and if those souls further developed their energy, they could ascend to what was called the Bark of a Million Years. For those who didn’t achieve complete liberation, there remained a return to Duat and a new descent to the physical earth. The myth of Osiris presents us with a religious-symbolic narrative. It tells the story of the existence of original humans, not primitive but ancient, and for their guidance and counsel, there existed a Divine triad emanating from other higher deities. This triad consisted of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, their son.
Once, the gathered gods realized how important Osiris was becoming and invited him to join their assembly. However, Osiris had a brother, or a negative counterpart, as is often the case in mythological tales. Osiris’ brother was Seth, depicted as a beast in the form of a crocodile. During this gathering, Seth announced that he would give a very beautiful coffin as a gift to the god who could perfectly fit inside it. No one succeeded, as there was either not enough or too much space, except for Osiris, as the coffin was made to his exact measure. When he entered, Seth took advantage of the situation, sealed the coffin with lead, and threw it into the Nile river, leaving Osiris he arrived at the Mediterranean Sea, where he stayed anchored by a tree on the coast.
Isis, his wife and a powerful sorceress, managed to use a magical mirror to discover his resting place and free him. But Seth, afraid that she might revive him, dismembered Osiris’ body into seven, fourteen, or forty-nine pieces and scattered them all over the universe.
With the help of Anubis, Isis found all the parts of Osiris’ body except the genitals and thus assembled a magical body for Osiris, bitterly regretting that she could never have a child with her husband again. However, through a magical touch, she became pregnant with a falcon and thus Horus was born. Later, Horus grows up and destroys his malicious uncle in his father’s name.
This myth is primarily associated with the resurrection of man, not crops, as is sometimes thought. It is about resurrection in an initiatory way, an inner resurrection, not the resurrection of the body. From the perspective of mysteries, people are born “dead” in spiritual plan; here they should start “living” by going through a special process (initiation) that will allow them to be reborn from their own seed. Here we can see the connection between the myth of Osiris and initiation, as well as in all Egyptian funeral rites.
In Egypt, initiation is understood as the possibility of accelerating a natural process, which is the evolution of human consciousness. The human soul, over time, undergoes a process of purification and elevation, which means that there is a certain equivalence between time and consciousness. If time can be accelerated, so can consciousness, achieving great progress in a short period of time. There is a “psychological” time, a time that is not fixed, and it includes very short hours of our joy and terribly long hours of our pain. If we were to tell someone about our own life, we would realize that we can do it in a couple of hours because we don’t remember everything, only some key moments. In their deep understanding of psychology, the Egyptians have always sought to retain the human being within the boundaries of his important moments, in order to accumulate a more intense awareness by experiencing every moment of his time.
Just as every historical period has its own fascinations, the Egyptian fascination was a longing for a greater consciousness of their own immortality. That is why they mummified their dead, not for honor or preservation of material remains, but to keep the physical part of the deceased firmly tied to the earth, thereby facilitating the ascension of the liberated soul. The liberation of the soul was exactly what they strived for and why immortality and everything eternal were their greatest preoccupation.
Today, we also possess, if not the same beliefs, then the same need to believe in something absolute, in Something that lasts beyond ourselves. By delving deeply and thoroughly into history, we could find that thread of unity and permanence that connects the past with our present moment, and with the future yet to come. Who did Ana Jončić translate before?