In the days before days, when the god Re was ruler of the earth, his great wisdom told him that if the goddess Nut bore children, one of them would end his reign among men. So Re put a curse on Nut: that she should not be able to carry or birth a child on any day of the year. Full of misery, Nut begged Thoth, the great god of wisdom and magic and learning, for help. Thoth also happened to be Re’s son, and had been deeply in love with Nut as long as he could remember. Thoth went to Khonsu, the Moon-god, and challenged him to a contest at draughts. The stakes got higher and higher, eventually leading to Thoth wining much of Khonsu’s god-light. At last Khonsu would play no more. Wise Thoth gathered up the light which he had won and created with it five extra days, which evermore would sit in between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. On the first of these days Osiris, the eldest son of Nut, was born, and the second day was the birth day of Horus the Elder. On the third day came second son Set, the lord of evil. On the fourth day, her daughter Isis, and on the fifth day, her second daughter Nephthys. In this way the curse of Re was defeated. The days on which the children of Nut were born belonged to no year. When Osiris grew into a young man, he married his sister Isis, a custom which the Pharaohs of Egypt followed ever after. The second brother Set married Nephthys as he too being a god could marry only a goddess. The ideal mother & wife, Isis was patroness of nature & magic; friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, & the downtrodden; protector of the dead & goddess of children. She listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats, & rulers. Osiris, the original messiah, became ruler of Egypt and reigned on earth as Re had done before him. The people of that time were savage and beastly, fighting, killing, and eating one another. Still unknown to mortals of that time, Isis had discovered wheat and barley grains, which grew wild over the land with the other plants. Osiris taught them how to plant the seeds when the Nile tides rose above shore, and sunk again leaving fresh fertile mud over the fields. He taught the people how to tend and water the crops; how to cut the corn when it was ripe, and how to thresh the grain on the threshing floors, dry it and grind it to flour and make it into bread. He also showed them how to plant vines and make the grapes into wine. When the people of Egypt learned to make bread and cut only the flesh of such animals as he taught them were suitable, Osiris went on to teach them laws, and how to live peacefully and happily together, delighting themselves with music and poetry. Soon, Egypt was filled with peace and abundance. So Osiris set out over the world to bring his blessings upon other nations. While away, he left Isis to rule over the land which she did wisely, and the people quickly grew to love her as well. His brother, Set, was jealous of this popularity and plotted against Osiris. Instinctually feeling Set’s darkness, Isis would always worry about Osiris when he was away on on his travels. Set's plans to be rid of his brother started when he secretly got Osiris’ body measurements, and had a magnificent coffin in the form of a human shaped box made to fit Osiris perfectly. Set then organised a large feast to which Osiris and a number of others were invited. At the climax of the party, Set revealed the casket and announced that it would be gifted to whoever it fitted. All the guests tried the casket for size, but none fit, until finally Osiris stepped in. Set immediately slammed the lid shut and sealed the casket with molten lead. The sealed coffin was then thrown into the Nile. Isis was devastated at the loss of her husband and searched for the casket throughout Egypt and then overseas. She eventually found it where it had come to rest in the roots of a massive tree. Isis then returned the coffin to Egypt for a proper burial, and concealed it in the marshes beside the Nile for safe keeping. Unfortunately for Isis, Set found the casket while out hunting and was so enraged that he chopped the body of Osiris into multiple pieces, and scattered the parts throughout the land of Egypt. Poor Isis shrieked a cry of grief so loudly, it shook the heavens and earth. She then set out again looking for the parts of her husband. Eventually, she found all the parts except one and reassembled Osiris and wrapped him in bandages. Isis used all of her power to breath life back into Osiris’ body, after which their son Horus was conceived. Awakening Queen Isis within you means acknowledging that before healing or resurrection can take place, one must go through a process of grieving... the initiation into the other side. The Goddess Isis by Bob Greyvenstein
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