The ancients considered the misuse of philosophy to be dangerous, and so their philosophy was only to be given to those worthy of it; consequently, they encoded their philosophy in myth and taught it in mystery. Similar to Zen koans, these were meant to be pondered in the hearts of their students: as riddles, there is no one answer to them; there is only the answer that resonates with the individual.
In the summer of 2024, my angel asked me to devote intensive study to the myth of Isis, Osiris, and Horos. Alas, it seems that there is no comprehensive and complete version of this myth extant anywhere; so I set about to try and reconstruct the myth from the bits and pieces that have come down to us. What follows is (as of Jun 2025) my best effort at doing so, offered in the hopes it might be of use to others.
Atum masturbates, swallows the semen, and spits it back out to produce twin children, Shu and Tefnut. [Pyramid Texts 1248a–d, 1652a–3a; the Shabaka Stone; the Bremner-Rhind Papyrus.]
Shu is given the throne. Tefnut quarrels with Atum (over marrying Shu?), flees to Nubia, transforms into a lioness, and tears anyone who approaches her to pieces. Shu, with the aid of Thoth, pacifies Tefnut and coaxes her back to Egypt. Tefnut gives birth to Geb and Nut. [Papyrus Leiden 384 (see also other references at that link); Geraldine Pinch, Handbook of Egyptian Mythology “Shu and Tefnut.”]
Geb and Nut continually have intercourse, but since they remain in contact, Nut cannot give birth. At Atum’s request, Shu separates them. Geb, enraged, rebels against Shu, seizes the throne of Egypt, and marries Tefnut. [Geraldine Pinch, Handbook of Egyptian Mythology “Geb,” “Shu and Tefnut.” That Shu separates Geb and Tefnut, see Pyramid Texts 1101a–d. That Geb subdues Shu and marries Tefnut, see Naos 2248 of Ismalia.]
With her birth canal now open, Nut gives birth to Osiris, Seth (who bursts from Nut’s side rather than being born normally), Isis, and Nephthus. [Diodoros, Library of History I xiii; Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XII. Rather than incorporate Ploutarkhos’s story of Thoth cheating the Iah of his light, I have opted for the simpler explanation that Nut simply couldn’t give birth until Geb was no longer in the way, as it explains Atum’s request. I have omitted the birth of Horos the Great as an exoteric explanation of the civic holidays, and since it is not made use of elsewhere in the myth (where Horos the Great is simply Horos the Child when he is grown).]
Osiris becomes king of Egypt and civilizes it, then he travels the world and civilizes it, too. While he is away, Seth constructs a beautifully-ornamented box sized to fit Osiris exactly. When Osiris returns, Seth invites Osiris, Queen Aso of Ethiopia, and seventy-two conspirators to a feast. Seth tricks Osiris into the box, seals the box shut, throws it into the Nile, and usurps the throne. Seth’s conspirators steer the box to the sea by way of Tanis. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIII. See also the detailed account of Osiris civilizing the world given by Diodoros, Library of History I xiv–xxi.]
Pan and the satyrs learn of Osiris’s death and tell Isis. Isis grieves, cuts a lock of her hair, puts on mourning garments, and wanders in search of him. Isis meets some children, who tell her where Osiris’s box entered the sea. Isis meets Nephthus and learns that she had a son by Osiris, named Anoubis, but exposed him in fear of Seth. Isis finds Anoubis and raises him to be her attendant. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIV. For another, sparser, account of Anoubis, see Diodoros, Library of History I lxxxvii.]
The box comes to land in a patch of heather near Bublos. The heather grows to an exceptional size, enclosing the box within its stalk. King Malkander of Bublos is so impressed by the stalk that he cuts it down for a pillar in his house. Isis comes to Bublos, sits by a spring, weeps, and speaks to nobody. The maids of Malkander’s wife, Astarte, come by the spring. Isis plaits their hair and perfumes them. When the maids return, Astarte sees them beautifully made up and sends for Isis. Astarte makes Isis nurse of her son, Diktus. Isis nurses him with her finger rather than her breast, and puts him in a fire at night to burn away his mortal part. Meanwhile, she transforms into a swallow and flies around the pillar bewailing Osiris. Astarte becomes suspicious, spies Diktus burning, and cries out, which deprives Diktus of immortality. Isis explains herself and asks for the pillar. Astarte consents. Isis cuts the box out of the pillar, wraps the pillar in linen, perfumes it, entrusts it to the royal family as a relic, and laments her husband so profoundly that Astarte’s (unnamed) younger son dies. Isis takes the box and Diktus and sails from Bublos. The Phaidros river delays the journey. Isis dries it up in spite. When she is alone, Isis opens the box and grieves over Osiris. Diktus, curious, peeks into the box. Isis, enraged, gives him such an awful look that he dies of fright. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XV–XVII.]
Isis returns to Egypt by Buto and hides the box. Seth finds the box, divides Osiris into fourteen pieces, and scatters them across Egypt. A fish eats the penis. Isis searches the Nile in a papyrus boat; recovers the remaining pieces of Osiris; makes a replacement penis; reassembles him; and, using sorcery, has a son by dead Osiris, named Horos. She then institutes temples in the places where she found each part. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XVIII. See also the very different version given by Diodoros, Library of History I xxi–xxii.]
Isis and Horos go into hiding from Seth. At some point, Seth discovers their hiding place, and while Isis is out to beg for food, Seth sends a scorpion to to sting Horos. The gods notify Isis. Isis races to Horos, but he dies before she arrives. Isis grieves. Nephthus and Serket advise Isis to pray to heaven, and she does so. Thoth appears, comforts Isis by saying that heaven’s protection of Horos is absolute, uses sorcery to resurrect him, and promises Isis that he will advocate for Horos when needed. [The Metternich Stela.]
When Horos grows up, Osiris comes to him from Duat in the form of a jackal to encourage him to fight and train him. Osiris tests Horos by asking what he believes is best. Horos answers, “to avenge one’s parents for wrongdoing!” Osiris then asks what animal is most useful to a soldier. Horos answers, “a horse.” Osiris is surprised by this and asks why he wouldn’t prefer a lion to a horse. Horos answers, “A lion would be better in a pinch, but without a horse, how could you overtake and cut down a fleeing enemy?” Osiris believes that Horos is ready and rejoices. Seth’s concubine, Thoueris, defects to Horos. A serpent chases her. Horos’s men slay it. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Osiris visits in the form of a jackal, see Diodoros, Library of History I lxxxviii; J. Gwyn Griffiths, The Conflict of Horus and Seth IV ii.]
Horos and Seth engage in battle. Seth turns into a red bull and gouges out Horos’s eye. Horos cuts off Seth’s testicles. After many days, Horos defeats Seth, takes him prisoner, and delivers him to Isis. Isis releases Seth instead of executing him. Horos, enraged, beheads Isis and takes the crown for himself. Thoth replaces Isis’s head with a cow’s. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Seth turns into a red bull, see the Pyramid Texts 418a, 679d, 1543a–1550a, 1977b; Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde XLVIII p. 72. That Horos loses his eye, that Seth loses his testicles, and that they are restored after the trial, see the Pyramid Texts 36a, 39a, 65b, 95c, 418a, 535a–b, 578d, 591b, 594a, 595a–596c, 679d, 946a–c, 1614b. That Isis was beheaded, see Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XX; the Papyrus Sallier IV.]
Seth takes Horos to court over the legitimacy of his birth (and, consequently, of his claim to the throne). Thoth argues persuasively in favor of Horos. The gods find Horos to be the legitimate son of Osiris but not of Isis, stripping Horos of his mother’s part (his flesh) but leaving him his father’s part (his bones). They force Horos and Seth to restore each other’s missing parts and divide Egypt between them, making Horos king of Lower Egypt and Seth king of Upper Egypt. Horos defeats Seth in battle a second time. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Horos is stripped of his outer part after the trial, see the Papyrus Jumilhac; Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XX; Ploutarkhos on Desire and Grief VI; Ploutarkhos on the Generation of the Soul in the Timaios XXVII. That Horos and Seth’s missing parts are restored after the trial, see refs. to [8], above. That Horos is granted Lower Egypt after the trial, see the Shabaka Stone.]
Horos defeats Seth in battle a third time, becomes king of Upper Egypt (and, consequently, unifying it), and reconciles with Seth. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Horos becomes king of all Egypt, see the Turin King List; the Shabaka Stone; Herodotos, Histories II cxliv; Manetho, History of Egypt; Diodoros, Library of History I xxv; etc. That Horos and Seth reconcile, see the Pyramid Texts 390b, 678a–c, 801b–c, 971a–b, 975a–b, 1453b, 2100a–b; the Shabaka Stone; but see also the account where Seth was executed given by Diodoros, Library of History I xxi.]
No myth can be unlocked without keys. While many sets of keys may fit the myth’s lock, the ones that I have found most valuable are due to Empedokles of Akragas (see Brad Inwood, The Poem of Empedocles), the most salient of which are: Horos (“falcon”) is Light is individual consciousness (called “Child” when passive and “Great” when active); Osiris (“the seat of the eye”) is Fire is universal consciousness, the spiritual source which emits consciousness; Seth (“to oppress” or “to subdue,” cf. Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XLI) is Air is the spiritual medium which transmits consciousness (separating it from universal to individual); Nephthus (“lady of the house”) is Water is the material medium which transmits consciousness (distorting it from selfless to selfish); Isis (“the seat”) is Earth is the material medium which receives consciousness; Anoubis (“prince”) is cause-and-effect or karma (the consequences of the actions of selfish consciousness).
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