Page:Book of the Dead.djvu/42

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38
RITUAL.

which he carries and presents to Hern Set in Seventh Episode.

EPISODE SEVENTH.

Scene—Before the Council of Rameses. Persons—Heru-Set, Prophet of Thebes; TaNefer, Prophet of Horns; Rek-Mara; Selected Candidate.

Selected candidate, having found box containing lost parts, carries them, conducted by Rek-Mara, to Heru-Set, the Prophet of Thebes, seated on throne in East. Hoodwink raised.

Rek-Mara—O Heru-set, Prophet of Thebes, Ani, the Scribe, has traveled far in search of the lost parts of the great Rameses, which he brought to light in the Oasis of Bunk. Having performed this valuable service to Egypt and to our Order, he appears before you with the sacred treasure.

Heru-Set[1] (examining treasure)—Truly so! Let the sacred treasure be deposited in the canopic jars.

Ani, I desire to impress upon your mind the fact that burlesque and pantomime may often teach as true and lasting lessons for the proper guidance of our conduct, as may the reflections of a more serious nature.

The ceremonies of the Order of Rameses, we solemnly assure you, are not the playful inventions of modern times, but are an arrangement of the legend of ancient Egypt, of the death of the god Osiris, or the Sun, slain by Typhon, the Power of Evil and Darkness, who cut and dissevered his body into fourteen pieces and scattered them in all directions throughout the land. Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, also Goddess of the Earth, the Harvest, Nature, and so fourth,


  1. See footnote at end of Episode Sixth, page 37.