Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians 7

Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians 7

Horus, having grown to mans estate, and having received from his mother

the tradition of his fathers murder, longed to avenge the evil deed. Osiris ap-

peared to his son in a vision, instructing him in the means by which he could

overcome the hosts of Typhon. We are led to infer that Horus gathered about

him an army which, meeting the hosts of Typhon, battled with them for many

days, achieving victory. Typhon was taken prisoner and turned over to the cus-

 

 

 

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4

 

 

 

THE OSIRIAN CYCLE

 

tody of Isis. She, being his sister, could not put him to death but set him at

liberty which so incensed Horus that he laid hands upon his mother and re-

moved from her head the insignia of royalty; thereupon Thoth gave her a new

helmet made in the shape of an oxs head. Typhon next accused Horus of ille-

gitimacy, but Thoth proves his royal descent. Typhon again goes into battle

against Horus, in fact, two battles are mentioned in both of which Typhon is

worsted, and Horus regains the kingdom of his father and is regarded, to at

least a certain degree, as the actual incarnation of Osiris.

 

After its resurrection in the underworld, the shade of Osiris visits Isis and

in consequence thereof she gives birth to another son, as it were, by a Holy

Ghost, for she knew no living man. This child is called Harpocratcs and

Plutarch says of him that he “came into the world before his time, and lame

in his lower limbs.” Harpocrates is usually depicted as a nude figure, his head

adorned with a single curling lock of hair on the right side, this being with

the Egyptians a symbol of youth or adolescence. He is sometimes depicted

with an elaborate plumed headdress or wearing the double crown of the

northern and southern empires. His finger is placed to his lips which Plutarch

interprets as a gesture symbolic of his childish and helpless state. The Greeks

and Romans, however, considered this gesture to be a symbol for silence and

from this has arisen the custom of placing the finger to the lips as a motion

for quietness and secrecy. Statues of the god Harpocrates were placed at the

entrances to temples and sacred retreats where the dramas of the Mysteries

were performed as a sign that silence and secrecy should be observed in the

holy places and that all Initiates were bound by vows of discretion. Har-

pocrates is sometimes shown standing, and at other times he is depicted

seated on the blossom of a lotus. Although he is usually figured with childish

immaturity of body, the imperfection of his lower limbs, as described by

Plutarch, is not apparent in the Egyptian drawings. It, therefore, seems that

the statements concerning this deformity should be more carefully examined.

Samuel Squire, whose translation of Plutarch’s Isis and Osiris, made in I 744, is

still most often quoted by Egyptologists, states definitely, “lame in his lower

limbs.” G. R. S. Mead translated the same essay much later and gives a slightly

 

 

 

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FREEMASONRY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

 

 

 

different rendering of Plutarch’s words. Mr. Mead says: “weak in his limbs

from below upwards.” This difference in wording, though slight, may have an

unexpected significance.

 

There is some general information contained in Synesiuss treatise On

Providence that should be included in this resume of the Osirian epic. Synesius

is of the opinion that Osiris should be regarded as an historical king whose

father transcending in wisdom, instructed his benevolent son in all the secrets

of the divine science of government. Synesius is moved to this conclusion by

a desire to keep all speculation within the sphere of the reasonable. The Pla-

tonist bishop seems to have derived much of his account from origins foreign

to Plutarch’s treatise, or possibly he interpreted differently the restrictions im-

posed by his vows. Synesius is a prudent and conscientious author, wary of

myths and fables, and exhibiting a truly Platonic conservativeness in his han-

dling of subject matter, yet Synesius was beyond question a deeply religious

philosopher and an Initiate of pagan Mysteries prior to his conversion to the

Christian faith. Thomas Taylor is of the mind that the treatise On Providence

was written while Synesius was still a votary of pagan Mysteries. If so, the

writing is unbiased and trustworthy and presents a fair picture of the mystical

traditions of the Egyptians interpreted in terms of Platonic metaphysics.

 

Synesius inserts into his narrative a considerable description of the virtu-

ous character of Osiris which he sharply contrasts with the vice-ridden nature

of Typhon. He also explains in detail the process of election by which Osiris

came to the throne of Egypt. The electional ceremony, as described by Syne-

sius, is evidently itself a fragment from some secret ritual relating to the in-

stallation of a hierophant of the Mysteries. Next Osiris receives from his

father an elaborate dissertation in the Platonic temper concerning the relative

power of good and evil in which he is fully warned against the machinations

of Typhon. Possibly the most important sentence in Synesiuss treatise occurs

in this dissertation. The father of Osiris is made to say to his son: "You also

have been initiated in those Mysteries in which there are two pair of eyes, and

it is requisite that the pair which are beneath should be closed when the pair

 

 

 

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THE OSIRIAN CYCLE

 

 

 

that arc above them perceive, and when the pair above are closed, those which

are beneath should be opened.”

 

These words unquestionably have an arcane meaning and arc incorporated

into the narrative that the true significance of the whole Osirian cycle might

not be entirely obscured. Synesius docs not describe the death of Osiris, but

merely reports his vanishment and final restoration to the throne. In the latter

part of the story there is also introduced “a certain philosopher, who was a

stranger in Egypt.” This philosopher predicts the fall of Typhon and is an

eyewitness to the recrowning of Osiris. Synesius says of this philosopher:

"I le. likewise, then learned some particulars about Osiris which would

shortly happen, and others which would take place at some greater distance

of time viz., when the boy Horus would choose as his associate in battle a

wolf instead of a lion. But who the wolf is, is a sacred narration, which it is

not holy to divulge, even in the form of a fable.”

 

Such is the amazing tradition of the good king Osiris, the first victim, the

Inst mummy, and the first resurrection. He dies and is born again in three

forms. First, as god of the underworld where he rules the justified dead; sec-

ond, as the younger Horus in whose form he battles for his own honor; and

i bird, as Harpocrates, the silent child. The latter two forms are regarded as in-

i .u nations or embodiments of his very self, yet he exists independent of them

as the judge of shades and the lord of the resurrection.

 

 

 

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4 .

 

♦

 

The Secret Doctrine

in Egypt

 

 

 

N early all writers attempting an interpretation of the Osirian cycle have

recourse to Plutarch. It has seemingly never occurred to Egyptologists

that this eminent priest of Delphi might have purposely confused or dis-

torted the fable, or, if not that, might certainly have misdirected the attention

of the reader from relevant to irrelevant explanations. Two factors must cer-

tainly be taken into consideration when reading Plutarch. First, he was an

ititiated priest of the Mysteries; of this there can be little doubt for he him-

self says, “For the mystic symbols are well known to us who belong to the

Brotherhood.”

 

It should be evident that, as an Initiate, Plutarch would not have unveiled

the secret meaning of the Osirian myth. No man of his priestly station or

philosophic mind, who so greatly venerated the gods as to attach himself to

their service, would have been guilty of the impiety of profaning their Mys-

teries. Furthermore, had his treatise actually exposed any of the secrets of the

rites, he would most probably have perished miserably or at least been pub-

licly disgraced. 1 hese evils, not descending upon him, we must suppose that

 

 

 

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FREEMASONRY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

 

 

 

his book was regarded as harmless and for our purpose, therefore, at least not

directly informative.

 

That Plutarch s Isis and Osiris may contain some intimations of the old

wisdom is by no means impossible, but we shall certainly find these hints ob-

scurely scattered through the work where they will be evident only to a stu-

dent already familiar with the principles of the doctrine. The astute reader

will probably notice that in no place does Plutarch actually say that any of the

interpretations which he gives are those actually affirmed by the initiated

priests. He makes such statements as, “There are some who conclude,”

“There is another interpretation” “There are others who pretend,” and so

forth. We greatly fear that for several hundred years Egyptologists have per-

mitted themselves to be led astray by Plutarch’s “opinions,” when in truth the

wise old priest actually commits neither himself nor his Brotherhood to any

of the interpretations which he advances, unless it be the last one. But even

here the matter is set forth so ambiguously that the reader is very apt to be de-

ceived. It is our opinion that while we should examine with assiduous care

every word of Plutarch s treatise, we should rather explore into his meanings than accept them upon their face value.