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Home Preface 5 Planes of Existence Introduction Five Planes of Manifestation A to Z Contact Related Information BIBLE VERSES |
VULTURE, THE BIRD OF ISISA symbol of the transmuting power of Buddhi (Isis), whereby the lower nature (flesh), or the personality (corpse), is consumed. “Isis cometh and hovereth over the city, and she goeth about seeking the secret habitations of Horus as he emergeth from his papyrus swamps, and she raiseth up his shoulder which is in evil case. He is made one of the company in the divine boat, and the sovereignty of the whole world is decreed for him.” — Budge, Egyptian Magic, p. 48. The 117th chapter of the Book of the Dead is associated with the amulet of the vulture which was placed on the neck of the mummy to be a protection. The amulet was made of gold in the form of a vulture hovering in the air with outstretched wings and holding in each talon the symbol of life. Buddhi (Isis) “hovereth over,” or descends, as it were, to the astro‑mental centre (city) and establishes relations with the hitherto latent higher qualities which contain the germ of the incarnate Self (Horus) now emerging into actuality on the astro‑mental plane (swamps). Buddhi is able, by raising the qualities, to set free the directive ability (shoulder) of the indwelling Self, for the soul in which the Divine nature is submerged is in an evil case. The incarnate Self now enters into activity amid the higher qualities in the causal body (boat), and the rule of the whole evolving nature of humanity is assigned him. The “golden amulet in the form of a vulture placed on the neck of the mummy” signifies the alliance of the buddhic function with the purified emotions (neck) in the purified personality (mummy), so that the ego may be raised to the life immortal. The symbology of the vulture explains the reason why the Parsis deliver their dead over to the vultures. The personality (corpse) must be transmuted and consumed by Buddhi (vulture) in order to liberate the ego from the lower nature and raise the consciousness to the higher planes. The Parsis devoutly regard their Divinely inspired scriptures, but they mistake the symbol for the reality, and believe they are bound by the letter of the Word. “Sorrow comes, and weariness, and broken hopes. Sorer and heavier lies the burden of life upon the shoulder, for so only can some of us be freed from that devotion to the world, that nightmare of self that sits upon the breast of aspiration; so only can we learn the hard, hard lesson that the invisible is the real, and the visible the unreal world. For in the darkness it is still God's pertinacity that is labouring for us, it is still His love which says, I will not leave you, till I have done that which I have spoken to you of. What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” — Stopford A. Brooke, Serm., Jacob's Life. |
See Also
BIRTH OF HORUS
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