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Article THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES ← Page 9 of 11 →
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The Ancient Mysteries
see her son Horns , she left the chestjiii a remote and unfrequented place . Typhon , happening to come upon it in a liunting expedition by moonlight , opened it , and recognizing the body of his old enemy , tore it into fourteen pieces , and scattered them up and down the country . When Isis discovered the outrage that had been committed , she embarked in a boat of papyrus , in order to pass the low and fenny parts of the countrv with the greater ease , and proceeded
to search for the scattered parts of the body of her husband . Whenever she was successful , she biirried on the spot the part which she found , which will account for the numerous sepulchres of Osiris in Egypt , her ^ probable object being to give to as many cities as possible an image of her husband ; so that in case Typhon shoitld overcome Horns , who now of course inherited the feud between Typhon and Osiris , he should be unable to find the tomb of Osiris . Isis found all
the parts of Osiris ' s body except one , which , having been thrown into the river , had been devoured by the lapidotus , phagrus , and oxyrhyncus fish , which have ever since been held in detestation by the Egyptians . To compensate for this loss , Isis instituted the Phallic worship , and ordained periodical festivals to the memory of Osiris , which is the origin of the mysteries above described
Soon after this a battle was fought between Horns and Typhon , in which the latter was taken prisoner . Isis , to whose custody he was committed , so far from putting him to death , set him at liberty . Horns , in anger , tore off her diadem , but Hermes gave her instead of it , a helmet shaped like the head of an ox . Typhon now accused Horns of'illegitimacy , but this question was settled by the gods in favour of Horus , and in two battles which ensued Typhon was again worsted .
Some time after the death of Osiris , Isis had borne him a posthumous child whom she named Harpocrates ; he was born before his time , lame in his lower limbs .
Such is the fable which gives the origin of the mysteries . We will now give a brief explanation of the fable , Osiris being , as we have before said , the inundation of the Nile ; and Isis , the land irrigated , Horus Avas the offspring of the union , symbolizing the just and seasonable temperature of the air , which preserves and nourishes all things . The conspiracy of Typhon would denote the power of
drought which overcomes tho moisture which causes the rising of the Nile so essential to the fertility of Egypt . His help from Aso , the queen of Ethiopia , signifies the south winds from that country , which , when they prevail against the Etesian or annual north winds , which take the clouds across Egypt towards Ethiopia , prevent the fall of rain , which swells the Nile and causes it to rise . The
confinement of Osiris within the chest points to the withdrawing of the Nile within its banks , when the Etesian winds cease in the month Athyr . At this time , from tho increasing length of the nights , and consequent shortening of the days , tho priests , or hierophants , as they are otherwise called , used to celebrate doleful rites , to commemorate the grief of the goddess . They exposed in public a gilded
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ancient Mysteries
see her son Horns , she left the chestjiii a remote and unfrequented place . Typhon , happening to come upon it in a liunting expedition by moonlight , opened it , and recognizing the body of his old enemy , tore it into fourteen pieces , and scattered them up and down the country . When Isis discovered the outrage that had been committed , she embarked in a boat of papyrus , in order to pass the low and fenny parts of the countrv with the greater ease , and proceeded
to search for the scattered parts of the body of her husband . Whenever she was successful , she biirried on the spot the part which she found , which will account for the numerous sepulchres of Osiris in Egypt , her ^ probable object being to give to as many cities as possible an image of her husband ; so that in case Typhon shoitld overcome Horns , who now of course inherited the feud between Typhon and Osiris , he should be unable to find the tomb of Osiris . Isis found all
the parts of Osiris ' s body except one , which , having been thrown into the river , had been devoured by the lapidotus , phagrus , and oxyrhyncus fish , which have ever since been held in detestation by the Egyptians . To compensate for this loss , Isis instituted the Phallic worship , and ordained periodical festivals to the memory of Osiris , which is the origin of the mysteries above described
Soon after this a battle was fought between Horns and Typhon , in which the latter was taken prisoner . Isis , to whose custody he was committed , so far from putting him to death , set him at liberty . Horns , in anger , tore off her diadem , but Hermes gave her instead of it , a helmet shaped like the head of an ox . Typhon now accused Horns of'illegitimacy , but this question was settled by the gods in favour of Horus , and in two battles which ensued Typhon was again worsted .
Some time after the death of Osiris , Isis had borne him a posthumous child whom she named Harpocrates ; he was born before his time , lame in his lower limbs .
Such is the fable which gives the origin of the mysteries . We will now give a brief explanation of the fable , Osiris being , as we have before said , the inundation of the Nile ; and Isis , the land irrigated , Horus Avas the offspring of the union , symbolizing the just and seasonable temperature of the air , which preserves and nourishes all things . The conspiracy of Typhon would denote the power of
drought which overcomes tho moisture which causes the rising of the Nile so essential to the fertility of Egypt . His help from Aso , the queen of Ethiopia , signifies the south winds from that country , which , when they prevail against the Etesian or annual north winds , which take the clouds across Egypt towards Ethiopia , prevent the fall of rain , which swells the Nile and causes it to rise . The
confinement of Osiris within the chest points to the withdrawing of the Nile within its banks , when the Etesian winds cease in the month Athyr . At this time , from tho increasing length of the nights , and consequent shortening of the days , tho priests , or hierophants , as they are otherwise called , used to celebrate doleful rites , to commemorate the grief of the goddess . They exposed in public a gilded