Dictionary of all Scriptures & Myths

BIRTH OF HORUS THE CHILD, OR HARPOCRATES

A symbol of the emergence of the incarnate Self in human souls during the present process and period of evolution.

"Meanwhile Horus the younger had been born to Isis, and brought up secretly at Buto, in the marshes of the Delta, out of reach of Set." — Plutarch, *Isis and Osiris*.

Meanwhile the Christ was now born on the buddhic plane (Isis), in relation to the lower nature, and was nourished and sustained unknown to the lower self, in the “marsh,” which signifies the purified nidus wherein water (truth) is abundant, soft to higher impressions, and out of reach of the desire‑nature (Set).

"Therefore Isis perceiving that she is pregnant, ties an amulet round her neck on the 6th of the first quarter of the month Paophi, and that Harpocrates is born about the winter solstice, unfinished (or, whose lower limbs were dwarfed and stunted)." — Plutarch, *Isis and Osiris*, §65.

This is the same symbolism as that of the Christ. The “tying of the amulet” signifies the perfect junction between the higher and lower principles, necessary for the birth of the Son of God. The first quarter is a symbol of the first root‑race (astral). In the fourth root‑race (physical) Christ is born on the buddhic plane in the soul. The “winter solstice” (Christmas) signifies the deep immersion of the soul in matter. The lack of finish in the lower limbs means that the higher or potential is always relatively unmanifest, and the lower or actual is never able to express the potential.

The earlier birth of Horus (Aroueris) corresponds to the form; the latter refers to the life.

“Furthermore, Isis is said to have united with Osiris after his death, and in consequence to have brought forth Harpocrates (Horus).” — Ibid.

This signifies the process of gestation which takes place when the soul or personality is evolving upon the astral plane, and is therefore the point when the Son of Mind enters. This is the birth of the Christ in the soul on the buddhic plane.

"And as the Egyptians believe the Nile the issue of Osiris, so do they regard the earth as the body of Isis: not, indeed, the whole earth, but just as much as the Nile inundates, fecundating and mingling with it; for from the union they beget Horus. Horus is that which preserves and nourishes all things, namely the seasons and the circumambient air; and they tell that he was nursed by Leto in the marshes round Buto, because the watery and thoroughly soaked earth nurses the exhalations that quench the dryness of the air." — Ibid., §38.

The Divine Life (Nile) fertilises the productive buddhic nature (Isis) expressed upon the astral and physical planes, and brings about the gestation of the Self (Horus) in the lower nature. The Self preserves and sustains the higher qualities during the periods of emanation on the mental plane (air). The nascent Self is developed by the buddhic emotion‑nature (Leto) in the purified lower nature, receptive to truth (water) and productive of aspirations that spiritualise the mind (air).

See Also

ARCHETYPAL MAN
AROUERIS
BUTO
CHEMMIS
DELOS
DIONYSUS
EARTH (mother)
EVOLUTION
GARDEN OF REEDS
HARPOCRATES
HORBEHUDTI
HORUS
ISIS
LATONA
MARSH
NILE
OSIRIS
PEACHES
REED-PLAIN
SEA-SONS
SEKHET-AARU
SIX
VULTURE