223 THE RITUAL OF BARROWS AND CIRCLES. 



exclaimed: "To the West, to the West, O praiseworthy one, 

 to the excellent West." 



But the sun rises in the east, and to the east was turned the 

 door of the tomb ; and in Memphis there is not a single stela 

 that does not face the orient. 



Osiris was the god of the West, and Lord of Amenti, the 

 Underworld. It was of supreme importance that the spirits of 

 the dead should go down with the setting sun, should be 

 permitted to embark on the solar ship that navigated the waters 

 of Amenti. Here or there they might be left behind in one or 

 other of the twelve regions of the night, where only for a single 

 hour in the twenty-four could they enjoy the solar radiance. But 

 they were provided with pass-words and magic formulae; they 

 had learned from their priests what to say and how to behave as 

 each obstacle was encountered. And as Osiris was the god of 

 the West, so his only son Horus ruled the East. By him 

 assuredly the Gates of the Orient would some day be opened for 

 those who had followed his father and were possessed of the 

 " Word of Truth ; " Horus himself would take them by the hand 

 and lead them into the Light. 



Do not our own sacred books help us to understand this 

 longing ? " Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from 

 "the way of the east, and the earth shined with his glory."* 

 " For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even 

 " unto the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man 

 " be." f 



" Osiris est la divinite" meme, ' le seigneur au-dessus de tout,' 

 " ' 1'Unique,' dont la manifestation mate'rielle est le soleil, et 

 " dont la manifestation morale est le Bien. Le soleil meurt, mais 

 " il renait sous la forme d' Horus, fils d' Osiris ; le Bien succombe 

 " sous les coups du Mai, mais il renait sous la forme d' Horus, fils 

 " et vengeur d' Osiris. En effet, de meme qu' Osiris est le type 

 " de toute mort, Horus, fils et successeur d' Osiris, est le type de 



* Ezekiel xliii. 2. 

 t Matt. xxiv. 27. 



