Wednesday 18 April 2012

The legend of Isis split in pieces




    In Egyptian mythology Osiris was the eldest son of  Geb, god of the earth, and Nut, the goddess of the daytime sky. He married his sister Isis and after slain by his brother Set, who got jealous about him because people's love and praise. First Set drowned Osiris, after split his body in fourteen pieces and scattered them up and down the whole length of Nile. Isis recovered the fragments of hers husband, gathered and rejoined them together by magic. Then hid the body in a place which she alone knew, waiting for the time when Osiris' spirit will rejoin the corpse and Osiris would return to earth once more.
    But there's a different version of this legend, written in one of the Pacomiani Copti Texts, papyrus scrolls dated back to the sixth century held at Chester Beatty Library of Dublin. This text quote an older oral tradition which says that not Osiris split in pieces by Set but Isis. Following this tradition, Isis loved Set fascinated by his dark soul. They lived far from Egypt, loving each other in a house which set built for Isis in the middle of a water garden. But Set was evil. He became jealous and imprisoned Isis because wanted her just for himself.
   After one year from the imprisonment Isis escaped from the house to Egypt, where Set reached her. He killed Isis and split her in fourteen pieces, because fourteen were months that they loved each other, scattering them up and down Nile course, to make sure no one else could have had Isis if he hadn't had her.
  When Osiris knew about the killing he started to search Isis' fragments. Slowly, piece by piece, Osiris recovered all fragments, then collect them in a secret shrine. But he found just thirteen pieces, he didn't find the earth because Set ate it to make sure having Isis' earth just for himself.
   Alone in the shrine, Osiris asked to spiders to weave the pieces together, at the moon to make her skin with its light and at the stars to give their light to be hers eyes. In the end he asked at the sun to warm her up. But even Isis body was warm, she didn't come back to life. Osiris knew she needed a heart. Then he went to Thot the Sapient, who made a heart for Isis and put it into hers chest. But Thot couldn't make a beat for the construct and told to Osiris that he had to find it into the world. Osiris thought where to find something such strong and tireless to be a goddess heart beat. He found it in the Albatross wings beat, so prayed the big and strong bird to donate its wings beat. Albatross gave it, and it is for this that from that day its fly is without a stroke.
   When the artificial heart started to beat, Isis opened her eyes and rose. Learning as much Osiris loved her, Isis reciprocated his love and married him. By this union Horus was born.
    But it couldn't last long. Set, who had planned  revenge, poisoned Isis cervogia. When she swallowed the poison, her artificial heart stopped. Osiris, finding the wife died, understood the construct heart had given up to beat. Immediately he opened his chest and took his own heart, putting it into Isis chest, replacing the still construct.
    So Osiris didn't die by Set hand, but he gave his own vital force to bring back his love to life, becoming lord of Underworld, where on a scales he weigh men egoism when they arrive to that kingdom.

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