THE GARDEN OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE JOURNEY TO SPIRITUAL FULFILLMENT
Longfield Beatty
1939
Page 203
"I think that is about as far as we dare go, though additional correspondences certainly present specious credentials. But we have all the essentials and can afford to ignore the rest, even including Anubis, the "Opener of the Way," whose nature completely eludes me. Actually we only require the human equation, No.4 on the Table; and so we can leave generalities in favour of the familiar territory of the Hero. The road is plain enough, indeed the composite Osiris / Horus bears nearly all the symbols of the Christ. As in the case of Hercules) / Page 204 / it is as well to use a tabulation, chiefly so as to preserve the sense of distinct attributes.
The Symbols of Osiris / Horus.
1. Horus is conceived of the Spirit (Ra) as well as by human Father (Osiris) and a marvellous Mother (Isis). The Father is a King.
2.. The birth of the Child is miraculous. According to Plutarch the event took place out of time. His version describes Nut as giving birth to Osiris (who is here the Hero-child) on a day made beyond the year. To make this day, light had been "won" from Ra by Silene (Moon). At the time of the birth a voice was heard proclaiming: "The Lord of all the earth is born."
In a less abstract account the Child (now Horus) is conceived from the dead body of Osiris, which had been reintegrated by Isis and vivified by Thoth.
3. The Child (Horus) becomes a Warrior. He seizes the diadem from his Mother's head (overcoming the Mother. . . gaining power over matter). He is in constant battle with the enemy of his Divine Father, though destined to ultimate victory .
4. The Warrior-King (Osiris) is betrayed by Set, whose followers nail him down in a wonderful chest of wood which thus becomes his coffin. The chest is set adrift and is eventually washed ashore in a foreign land. There a tree grew round the chest, completely enclosing it. The tree, which was evidently of peculiar merit (Tree of Life) was taken to the palace of the queen of / Page 205 / the land, Atenais, who may be Istar . . . that Asiatic Mother whose most popular attribute was the annual slaughter of her lover. Indeed, it might well have been the womb (or palace) of the Destroyer which enclosed the Hero (incest), for the Destroyer is an aspect of Isis 1 in her capacity of Dual Mother. It is not surprising, therefore, that Isis found the magical tree and brought it back to Byblos in Egypt where it was at one time worshipped. It was there, presumably, that the Tree of Death became the Tree of Birth and Osiris rose from the dead to become co-equal with Ra.
5. The very important myth of the dismemberment of Osiris should be considered apart from the points just dealt with, since it represents a cosmic rather than a mystical allegory. As I see it, the scattering of the Father's members over the Earth is equivalent to the diffusion of conscious-ness, which has been recognised as the descent of Spirit into Matter. The time when the diffusion is greatest is clearly at the bottom of the descent (" fall "). Thereafter the ascent proceeds through Matter until the Triple Christ is born of a human mother; so that it might be said that the Mother reintegrated the Father so that from him she might bear the Son. The point is the most difficult one which we have yet had to consider, and I have not attempted to treat it fully, partly on that account, and partly because it is not essential to the argument. The implications of the myth in our own terms will / Page 206 / be found a few pages hence under the symbols of Midsummer (q.v.). 1 Nepthys.
From the career of the Hero as it has just been outlined, it is obvious that the peak of the whole system is that of the resurrection, necessarily an abstract and therefore difficult concept. Perhaps for that reason there is a great deal of confusion in the rituals, though beneath trivialities and inconsistencies there is a certain amount of truth which cannot be hidden. After all, it is really of no consequence if whole mountains of falsehood are found in the course of the search for truth. All falsehood together cannot stand in the way of a very little truth. That the Mysteries of Osiris, which formed in their entirety a most elaborate drama, should have included much that is primitive and gross is only to be expected, as Budge himself says:
". . . There was not the smallest action on the part of any member of the men and women who acted the Osiris Drama, and not a sentence in the liturgy which did not refer to some historical happening of vital significance to the follower of Osiris. Many of these happenings dated from the dawn of the cult of Osiris, and the Egyptians of the Dynastic period, not knowing exactly what they were, followed tradition blindly.
(Op. cit., 515.)
With that qualification, I can confidently refer the reader to the standard sources, and for the sake of encouragement will give two quotations the like of which for sheer power in the terms of their faith are scarcely to be matched even in Christianity. . . . Yet, in a real sense, this is Christianity. The first citation is from the Papyrus of Nekht (Brit. Mus. 10471) and is taken from Shorter (op. cit., p. 65)
Page 207
" ADORATION OF RA
by
the
SCRIBE
and
Royal Commander
NEKHT
"He saith, Homage to thee who art brilliant'and mighty
When thou hast dawned in the horizon of the sky there is praise of thee in the mouth of all people. Thou art become beautiful and young as a Disc in the hand of thy Mother. Dawn thou in every place, thy heart being enlarged forever!
"The divinities of the Two Lands come to thee bowing down, they give praise at thy shining forth. Thou dawnest in the horizon of the sky, thou brightenest the Two Lands with Malachite.
"Thou art the Divine Youth. the Heir of Eternity. who begat himself and brought himself forth, King of this land. ruler of the Tuat. Chief of the Districts of the Other World who came forth from the Water. who emerged from Nun. who reared himself and made splendid his children I
"Living God. Lord of Love I All folk live when thou shinest. dawning as King of the Gods. 0 Lord of the Sky. Lord of the Earth. King of Truth. Lord of Eternity. Ruler of Everlasting. Sovereign of all the Gods. Living God who made Eternity. who created the sky and established himself therein!
"The
NINE
are in jubilation at thy shining forth. the earth is in joy at beholding thy beams. the people come forth rejoicing to behold thy beauty every day."
And the next quotation is "relayed" from Budge (op. cit.. p. 52.1). having come from Papyrus No. 10188 (Brit. Mus.). There have been some omissions in order to reinforce as much as possible the particular aspect of it which is our immediate concern. To this end also notes have been added to certain passages of particular importance"
AGAIN THE WORLD LISTENS TO THAT LOUD AMEN OF THE SISTERS
"THE LAMENT OF THE SISTERS
ISIS
and
NEPTHYS
over the dead
OSIRIS
"Beautiful Youth, come to thy exalted house at once: we see thee not.
"Hail, beautiful boy, come to thy house, draw nigh after thy separation from us
"Hail Beautiful Youth, Pilot of Time, who groweth except at this hour.
"Holy image of his Father, mysterious essence proceeding from Tem.
"The Lord! How much more wonderful is he than his
Father, the first-born son of the womb of his mother.
"Come back to us in thy actual form; we will embrace
thee. Depart not from us, thou Beautiful Face, dearly beloved
one, the image of Tem, Master of Love.
"Come thou in peace, our Lord, we would see thee.
"Great Mighty One among the Gods, the road that thou
travellest cannot be described.
"The Babe, the Child at morn and at eve, except when
thou encirclest the heavens and the earth with thy bodily form.
"Come, thou Babe, growing young when setting, our
Lord, we would see thee.
"Come in peace, Great Babe of His Father, thou art
established in thy house.
"Whilst thou travellest thou art hymned by us, and
life springeth up for us out of thy nothingness. O our Lord,
come in peace, let us see thee.
"Hail Beautiful Boy, come to thy exalted house.; let thy
back be to thy house. The Gods are upon their thrones.
Hail ! come in peace, King.
"Babe! How lovely it is to see thee! Come, come to us,
O Great One, glorify our love.
"O ye gods who are in Heaven.
O ye gods who are in the Tuat.
O ye gods who are in the Abyss.
O ye gods who are in the service of the Deep.
We follow the Lord, the Lord, of Love!"
THE GARDEN OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE JOURNEY TO SPIRITUAL FULFILMENT
Longfield Beatty 1939
Page 285
"Common language derives from a common source in which is the harmony of all contradictions and the mean- / Page 286 / ing of all symbols. We have tried to demonstrate some of the intellectual fruit of such symbols, chiefly in regard to the individual; but the highest flights of language are fitted for the cosmic rather than the mystic allegory. The sublimation which from Stone made Fire, from Water, Wine, from Behemoth, Christ the King, carries humanity out of the depths of mortality into a " new heaven and a new earth."
"And he shewed me a river of water of life clear as crystal '.- proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river was there the Tree of Life. . . . And the leaves of the Tree were for the healing of nations." (Rev. xxii, 1-2.)
But why do the nations require healing and what is the nature of their wound?
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having upon his heads the name of blasphemy. . . . And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
cc And all that dwell in the earth shall worship him. . . . And no man might buy and sell save he had the mark, or the name of the beast or the number of his name. And his number is 666."
(Rev. xiii).
For the individual there is a certain "dark night," and for humanity also. The night is hideous with tempest, earthquake, terrible beasts, and fire. But after these is heard a voice, there is found a treasure, and the Golden Flower blooms in the Purple Hall of the City of Jade.
At this time also the Knight of the Quest crosses th glass drawbridge of the Castle of Souls, and is conducted to the Hall of Roses in which the Rich King Fisher and / Page287 / his company are healed by eucharistic magic and the asking of the Question.
All these ideas, however, are included in one, just as the intricate pantheon of Egypt is implicit in the One
One. For at the end of the night dawns the day" Omega" .
when the Unity itself is known.
" They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: and the earth shall be full of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
" Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped,
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
And the tongue of the dumb sing. . . .
And an highway shall be there, and a way,
And it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
The unclean shall not pass over it ;
But it shall be for those, the wayfaring men. . . ." (Isaiah.)
In that day man recognises his Father at full stature:
Thou art Ra-Herakhty, the Divine Youth, Heir of Eternity, who begat himself and brought forth himself, King of this land, ruler of the Tuat, chief of the districts of the Other World, who came forth from the water, who emerged from Nun, who reared himself and made splendid his children."
(Papyrus of Nekht, Brit. Mus., No. 10471.)
There is no longer Father and Son but undivided Unity, so that Man proclaims not only the identity of his God, but his own identity also:
" I am the God Atum, I who alone was.
I am the God Re at his first splendour.
I am the great God, self-created, God of Gods,
To whom no other God compares." /Page 288 /
I was yesterday and know to-morrow; the battle-ground of Gods was made when I spoke. . . .
My impurity is driven. away, and the sin which was in me is overcome.
I go on my way to where I wash my head in the sea of the righteous.
I arrive at this land of the glorified and enter through the splendid portal.
Thou, who standest before me, stretch out to me thy hands. It is I, I am become one of thee.
Daily I am together with my Father Atum."
(ERMAN: Aegypten, p. 4°9.)
Quoted more fully on p. 100.
To this tremendous recognition there is a response:
"And let the Spirit and the Bride say, Come.
And let him that heareth say, Come.
And let him that is athirst come.
And whosoever will, let him take of the waters of life freely." (Rev.)
THE SUPERGODS
Maurice M Cotterell 1997
"So, the clues all point to a numerical matrix the conclusion of which culminates in 9 9 9 9 9. Taking 9 each of the Maya cycles and also 9 of the 260-day Maya years we arrive at the message of the Temple of Inscriptions: 1,366,560.
The sceptic might argue that 'if we looked hard enough then all of these numbers could have been found somewhere'. The point is, firstly, that we have not looked very hard at all, and secondly, you will be hard pressed to duplicate this matrix using other references inside the pyramid. The only exception might be the 2 figurines and the 22 steps mentioned ear-lier. But, like the beads we shall account for these in due course. Finally, another clue to the matrix can be found on the outside of the steps of the pyramid which supports our analysis (see Appendix one vi).
And this is only the beginning because now we embark upon a journey inside the mind of man, through the triangular door and into the Amazing Lid of Palenque..."
THE ELEMENTS OF THE GODDESS
Caitlin Mathews
WE ARE ENTERING THE TIME OF THE NINE-POINTED STAR THE STAR OF MAKING REAL UPON EARTH THE GOLDEN DREAM OF PEACE THAT LIVES WITHIN US
BROOKE MEDICINE EAGLE
Page 72
"THE WAY OF THE DELIVERER IS THAT OF BONDAGE-BREAKER WHATEVER IS TRAPPED DENIED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT THE DELIVERER PERSONALLY SETS FREE HER METHOD OF LIBERATION IS TO GO TO THE ROOTS OF THE BLOCKAGE AND LITERALLY BLAST IT FREE IN THIS THE DELIVERER BEARS A STRONG RESEMBLANCE TO THE SHAPER OF ALL WHO IS WILLING TO BE BROKEN INTO PIECES
THE SYMBOLIC IMAGE OF THIS TRANSFORMATION IS THAT OF THE BUTTERFLY EMERGING FROM THE CHRYSALIS FROM APPARENT DEATH AND DESTRUCTION ARISES A NEW FORM OF LIFE SO ARE WE BORNE OF THE DELIVERER RESHAPED AND TRANSFORMED TO LIVE MORE EFFECTIVELY WITHIN OUR CHOSEN FIELD OF OPERATION
Page 38
THIS ENNEAD OF ASPECTS IS ENDLESSLY ADAPTABLE FOR IT IS MADE UP OF NINE THE MOST DJUSTABLE AND YET ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGING NUMBER HOWEVER ONE CHOOSES TO ADD UP MULTIPLES OF NINE FOR EXAMPLE 54 72 108 THEY ALWAYS ADD UP TO NINE"
"HOWEVER ONE CHOOSES TO ADD UP MULTIPLES OF NINE FOR EXAMPLE
54 72 108
THEY ALWAYS ADD UP TO NINE"
The elements of egyptian wisdom
naomi ozaniec 1994
Page 101
7 · THE RITES FOR THE DEAD - NETER XERT
The mummies of ancient Egypt are living symbols of the transformative process of living and dying.
Normandie Ellis, Return to Egypt
Everyone is familiar with the egyptian mummy. The word is derived from the Persian word 'moumia' meaning bitumen. A degree of desiccation naturally occurred in the hot dry sands. This simple observation was refined from the earliest primitive burials through time into the highskil1 of the embalmer's art. From ordinary and uninspiring beginnings, circular pits and preserved bodies, came the magnificant rockcut tombs and the lavish cult of the dead.
We who bury our dead quickly and with little ceremony find it difficult to comprehend the motives of a people who bestowed stich care on the dead. Contemporary funeral liturgy expresses our belief in the resurrection and the life to come. Individually we seem very uncertain about such matters. We hope for a resurrection, so we abandon the body quickly. The life of the body has finished. The Egyptians believed in the after-life but fhey could not abandon the body. It too was divine.
We cannot begin to comprehend the Egyptian cult of the / Page 102 / dead until we establish the Egyptian view of life. The funeral Cl.stoms of a nation always reflect its philosophical stance. It is in the rites for the dead that we may assess the value placed on the living. The Egyptian cult of the dead shows us complexity, beauty and total commitment towards the life to come.