rdial eternal. It comes before the tribunal of Osiris, and
the forty-two judges of the dead. The fate of the eternal part of man
depends on the verdict of these judges. If the soul has confessed its
sins and been deemed reconciled to eternal justice, invisible powers
approach it and say: "The Osiris N. has been purified in the pool
which is south of the field of Hotep and north of the field of
Locusts, where the gods of verdure purify themselves at the fourth
hour of the night and the eighth hour of the day with the image of the
heart of the gods, passing from night to day." Thus, within the
eternal cosmic order, the eternal part of man is addressed as an
Osiris. After the name Osiris comes the deceased person's own name.
And the one who is being united with the eternal cosmic order also
calls himself "Osiris." "I am the Osiris N. Growing under the blossoms
of the fig-tree is the name of the Osiris N." Man therefore becomes an
Osiris. Being Osiris is only a perfect stage in human development. It
seems obvious that even the Osiris who is a judge within the eternal
cosmic order is nothing else but a perfect man. Between being human
and divine, there is a difference in degree and number. The mystic
view of the mystery of "number" underlies this. Osiris as a cosmic
being is One, yet on this account he exists undivided in each human
soul. Each person is an Osiris, yet the One Osiris must be
represented as a separate being. Man is in course of development; at
the end of his evolutionary career, he becomes divine. In taking this
view, we must speak of divinity, or becoming divine, rather than of a
separate divine being, complete in himself.

It cannot be doubted but that according to this view only he can
really enter upon the Osiris existence, who has reached the portals of
the eternal cosmic order as an Osiris. Thus, the highest life which
man can lead must consist in his changing himself into Osiris. Even
during mortal life, a true man will live as a perfect Osiris as far as
he can. He becomes perfect when he lives as an Osiris, when he passes
through the experiences of Osiris. In this way, we see the deeper
significance of the Osiris myth. It becomes the ideal of the man who
wishes to awaken the eternal within him.

Osiris is torn to pieces and killed by Typhon. The fragments of his
body are preserved and cared for by his consort, Isis. After his death
he let a ray of his own light fall upon her, and she bore him Horus.