Festivals of Ancient Egypt:
Mysteries of Wesir (Gr. Osiris)
The Festival of Sokar-Wesir
This 19-day festival at the end of November is centered around the burial, and establishment of Wesir upon the throne of Amenti, the Land of the West where the Akhu (Blessed Dead) dwell. After Wesir was slain and cut into pieces by his brother Set (considered to be a mythical version of the struggle to unify Upper and Lower Egypt), Aset (Gr. Isis) and her sister Nebt-het (Gr. Nepthys) searched the land for His remains, weeping and reciting the moving verses which became the Lamentations of Aset in the ritual reinactments of the myth. The festival culminates with the joyful reunion and revification of Wesir by Aset.
This was also a time to ensure fertility in the region at a time when sowing was started. After Aset brings Wesir back to life, she couples with Him and gives birth to His son Heru (Gr. Horus) Who goes on to overthrow Set and becomes the rightful ruler of Egypt, and His father Wesir becomes the King of the Afterlife. While The Mysteries is a solemn festival, it is also a beautiful one that celebrates the Circle of Life, and also our understanding of our own mortality/immortality. In this theme, it is much like the Hispanic Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival at the beginning of November where family members and friends who have passed on are remembered with both sadness and joy—sadness for their loss in this life, and joy at the prospect of reuniting with them. A friend of mine once said to me regarding her beloved late husband, "He's keeping a seat warm for me." And so our Akhu do the same for us.
Excerpt from "The Lamentations of Aset"
I go about the earth, I go about the Nun.*
I make reckoning of the empty places of the river,
I cry in mourning.
I weep, because You have been lost,
I clothe the One Who was naked on the shore of Nedyt.
I mourned with incense up to the heavens.
I brought My Sister.
She placed Your clothing at Your side.
It was I who wove it in My time of mourning.
A jewel fills My body, placed therein by My Lord.
My Eyes weep the flood which empowers You,
Powerful One in the land of His Ka.
The Two Kites mourn You,
The Two Sisters clothe You,
Their wings are above You.
I weep, because You have been stolen.
(Translation by Rev. Tamara Siuda)*Pronounced "Noon," the place of primordial creation
