The Passion of Isis and Osiris - Hardcover

Houston, Jean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345397797 ISBN 13: 9780345397799

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1996

Synopsis

"The story of Isis and Osiris really begins with their conception and their siblings' conception in the belly of Nut, the great heavenly goddess. Theirs is a tale of passion, love, sorrow, betrayal, and forgiveness. The remembrance of love lost and found and lost again. It is also a story about the jealousy of brothers, the pain of death, and the transformative joy that arises unexpectedly from the bitter fruit of sorrows."
--Jean Houston
In The Passion of Isis and Osiris, Jean Houston, internationally renowned philosopher, psychologist, and explorer of world myth, takes us deep into the mysteries of Egypt, land of the ancient soul within us all. It is a culture in which every moment is filled with the interplay of human and divine.
At the very center of Egyptian life, and its most eternal legacy to the world, is hieroglyphic thinking. The Egyptians created a language and perception of reality in which many meanings dance together--mind and emotion, spirit and material, thought, word, and image all coalesce in a single vibrant synergy. Divine humans interact with living gods and guides who link the worlds of nature, humanity, and cosmic spirit.
Jean Houston brings this world to wonderful life, showing how the myth of Isis and Osiris gives modern readers a design for the marriage of body and soul, life and death, the tangible and the hidden. She shows how--in detailed exercises and dramatic enactments that can be done in groups or alone--we can identify the Isis and Osiris that are seeking reunion in each of us.
The Passion of Isis and Osiris re-creates nothing less than a moment of Egyptian magic that allows us to enter a consciousness that is the gateway to transcendent love. This story of two spiritual soulmates still has resonance for us today, whether we are seeking to join the disparate parts of self or searching for a mate to bond with, soul to soul.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

ory of Isis and Osiris really begins with their conception and their siblings' conception in the belly of Nut, the great heavenly goddess. Theirs is a tale of passion, love, sorrow, betrayal, and forgiveness. The remembrance of love lost and found and lost again. It is also a story about the jealousy of brothers, the pain of death, and the transformative joy that arises unexpectedly from the bitter fruit of sorrows."<br>--Jean Houston<br>In The Passion of Isis and Osiris, Jean Houston, internationally renowned philosopher, psychologist, and explorer of world myth, takes us deep into the mysteries of Egypt, land of the ancient soul within us all. It is a culture in which every moment is filled with the interplay of human and divine.<br>At the very center of Egyptian life, and its most eternal legacy to the world, is hieroglyphic thinking. The Egyptians created a language and perception of reality in which many meanings dance together--mind and emotion, spirit and material, thought, word,

Reviews

Well-known psychologist and author Houston begins this highly adventurous book with a poetic retelling of the Egyptian myth of nature goddess Isis and her brother and husband, Osiris, the legendary ruler and god of the underworld. She then chronicles the cult of worship of Isis and Osiris, a chief religion of the Roman Empire until around A.D. 400. Mining archetypal spirituality in the manner of Joseph Campbell, Houston sifts ancient Egyptian myths for their contemporary relevance as keys to personal transformation. Finding love amid sorrow, accepting loss and death, reconciling body and soul are among the lessons she gleans from the Isis/Osiris legend, to be achieved by "entering an Egyptian state of mind, allowing for the simultaneous existence and experience of all things in motion." To that end, she sets forth self-help exercises, including journal-keeping, dreamwork, creating sentences in hieroglyphics, body movement, meditation and sailing with Osiris into the underworld.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Houston, a philosopher, psychologist, and author of Godseed: The Journey of Christ (LJ 4/1/92), invites reader participation in a sacred journey of the mind linking the trials of the modern world with the tribulations faced by gods and goddesses in Egyptian mythology. Houston retells the ancient story of Isis and Osiris, twins borne by the heavenly goddess, Nut. In interpreting hieroglyphic thought patterns, Houston draws numerous parallels between Egyptian myths and Old and New Testament stories. Participation in the myth journey is outlined in 14 steps that "coincide with 14 scattered parts of the broken body of Osiris and are symbolic of the process an individual goes through in reclaiming and reuniting the broken, scattered parts of a lifetime." The anticipated discovery is "that their stories are our stories" and as we understand how they dealt with their lives, we gain insight into ours. Recommended for religion collections.
Betty J. Schaefer, Appleton P.L., Wis.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0345397797
• ISBN 13: 9780345397799
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 437