Growth p 307
It came from Egypt
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Below is a reading from my book THE OTHER ROAD AHEAD followed by a comment inspired by the selection.👇
One of the basic stories from ancient Egypt is the saga of Isis, Osiris, and their son Horus. Although there are several versions that have survived over the ages the primary idea is the theme of searching for and regeneration of the family. I noticed that in one of the best preserved editions there is a very strange reference to trees and their role as a source of protection and change in this venerable tale.
According to the Greek philosopher Plutarch (d.119 A.D.) after Osiris the God-King of Egypt is murdered by his wicked brother Set the body is dismembered and placed in a coffin and cast adrift sending Osiris into the darkness of the Netherworld or so Set thought. "With Osiris's corpse inside, the chest floats out into the sea, arriving at the city of Byblos [modern day Lebanon], where a tree grows around it... and the tree is cut down by the local king and made into a pillar for his palace, still with the chest [secured] inside. Isis (the grieving wife of Osiris) is made aware of this situation and must remove the chest so she had to chisel out the coffin from within the pillar in order to retrieve her husband's body and take it back home to Egypt."
The evil Set cut apart the body so it could never be revived but with the help of the her sister Nephthys and other allies they used various methods of magical technology to revive her husband: Osiris was then made whole again having been protected by a supernatural tree until he was rescued by his family. Now he could rejoin his wife Isis and soon she became pregnant having their son Horus.
Osiris had been dwelling with the dead and felt it was his duty to return and pay a debt to the heavens for his restoration. After the birth of a son Osiris returned to the Netherworld of the dead where he assists the departed in their spiritual journey. He bestowed great powers on Isis to show his compassion for her saving him from the endless sea of death. Meanwhile, his son Horus grew strong and became a great pharaoh who would be an example for all the pharaohs to come.
The relationship between trees, protection, and growth is one of the underlying motifs of this four thousand year old myth. If not for the growth of the tree to surround the chest containing Osiris and protected him from harm Isis would never have found her husband. The tree was of great value to the local king so in order to honor it the king made it into a pillar for his palace where it was safe from the evil brother Set and other intruders. The tree is a central part of this fable as the passive strength that allowed the story to unfold. In fact this very early narrative becomes the basis for all the redemption, rebirth, regeneration, and resurrection stories that follow and are the building blocks of our culture.
Growth is more than just an increase of inches on a yard stick. Growth is a symbol of thriving in times of plenty and in the periods of life when there is little to show for our efforts. It is often the slow trudging ahead through the winds that accompany a stormy passages in our journey that burnish our character. The tempest may tear at our limbs and blow through our lives but as we learn from the many setbacks we will be reborn even stronger.
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