Isis and Osiris

The author of Pipers at the Gates of Dawn interviews worshipers, philosophers, historians, and psychologists worldwide to understand the tenacity and influence of the Ur myth of death and regeneration. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo.

In this exotic piece of reportage, Cott ( The Search for Omm Sety ) first retells the Egyptian myth of Isis, goddess of fertility and healing, who restored to life her murdered twin brother and lover Osiris. Cott then investigates the myth's continuing appeal to contemporary devotees, some of whom strain credulity. In Ireland he met Olivia Robertson, archpriestess and founder of the Fellowship of Isis, who, with her brother, an Anglican clergyman, performs mystery plays and rites in their castle's basement temple. In Cairo, Cott talked with Sekhmet Montu, leader of the Ammonites, a secret sect which claims to be a direct branch of ancient Egypt's religion; she maintains that her nine-year-old son Heru is an incarnation of the god-being Horus. Through interviews with Egyptologists, a New York artist steeped in Egyptian symbolism and a Canadian couple who are both psychologists and conduct Isis/Osiris workshops, Cott fathoms the myth's appeal to modern wisdom seekers. Illustrated.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rebirth of the story of Isis and Osiris in modern times: the 12th book by Cott (Wandering Ghost, 1991, etc.), a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and Parabola. Drawing on various sources, from Plutarch to Joseph Campbell to Norman Mailer's Ancient Evenings (``the most volatile and audacious version...in modern times''), Cott retells the story of Isis and Osiris, twin sister and brother, wife and husband, goddess and god--a simple story with many twists. Osiris seems to be the god of resurrection and Isis goddess of the mother principle--or, Cott says, so it seems in modern eyes. He interviews Dr. James P. Allen, a noted author of Egyptian creation myths and an associate curator of the Department of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum, who goes quite finely into family ties among the gods but thinks that the anal insemination of Set by Osiris and of Osiris by Set did not mean that sodomy was acceptable to ancient Egyptians. At Clonegal Castle, Ireland, Cott joins with Olivia Robertson and her brother Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, archpriestess and hierophant, who have their own Temple of Isis and spearhead a revival for worship of the Egyptian gods with the Fellowship of Isis, an organization of some 11,000 people living in 60 countries, including Ireland, Japan, Nigeria, the US, India, and New Zealand. Despite bad vibes in the tabloids, the 70-plus Olivia insists that ``We don't have orgies, we have ecstasies.'' Cott also visits the Ammonite Foundation in Egypt; and the Isis and Osiris Workshop in Edmonton, Canada, run by psychologists of archetypes, Evangeline Kane and her husband Franklin, who give the myth absorbing Jungian interpretations. More journalistic than inspired or in any way convincing. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Cott's investigation delves into the history of the ancient myth of Isis and Osiris, exploring its current resurgence and the influence it generates among disparate sects and individuals globally. Traveling to destinations as convenient as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and locales as distant as Ireland and Egypt, Cott interviewed present-day goddess worshipers, prominent Egyptologists, Ammonites living secretly in the Middle East, and others whose lives are profoundly connected to this myth that embraces age-old questions regarding the origin of life and the inevitability of death. Cott's stimulating and timely study encompasses the continuing impact of the Isis and Osiris myth over thousands of years. He succeeds in confirming the most affirmative aspects of its power. Alice Joyce

According to ancient Egyptian mythology, Isis and Osiris were not only wife and husband, goddess and god, but also sister and brother. In this work, Cott ( Wander ing Ghost , Random, 1991) interviews some of the people associated with the neopagan movement embracing these ancient dieties. Cott talks with Olivia Robertson and her brother Lawrence, the cofounders of the Fellowship of Isis in the Temple of Isis at Clonegal Castle, Ireland. Archpriestess Robertson leads an eclectic group of more than 11,000 members worldwide in veneration of Isis. Cott also visits with Her Grace Sekhmet Montu and her son Neb Heru, who claims to be Osiris's son Horus, and their sect, known as Ammonites. This book is more of a recruiting manual than an investigative work and overall lacks a sense of integrity. Not recommended.
- Jacqueline Garlesky, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.