Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-10-24

8: !: !: !: : !: :: !: !: !: !: !: !: ; !: :
| iE-1- ~ \
ksssAH<<Ifk IN embraced my uncle, !
lNHE ~iyGlB Sepa, and with an !!
HTA0 IsfS eager heart departed |
AHlHE1W from Annu back to |
HSEA I9N Abouthis. And, to |
SA4AGY be short, thither
ky8N&SFEIN came In safety, hav- |
FI4EN9 ing been absent five
EEa or, years and a month, be-
IGx0Q-o-1l l&\ ing now no more a boy
tkAf l(Sa but a man full grown,
SN and having my mind well
5sayssSss nse---->-> stocked with the knowl.
IVA -Sjf, edge of men and the ancient
lN-A% wisdom of Egypt. And once
W. again / saw the old lands
and the known faces, though Of these
some few were wanting, having been
gathered to Osiris. Now, as I came
nigh to the temenos of the Temple, having
ridden across the well-tilled fields, the
priests and the people issued forth to bid
me welcome, and with them the old wife,
Atoua, who, but for a few added wrinkles
that Time had cut upon her forehead, was
even as she had been when she threw the
sandal after me five long years agone.
s'Lai Ia! lai'' she cried; land there thou
art my bonny lad; more bonny even than
thou werti La! what mani what shoul-
dersl and what face and formi All, it
does an old woman credit to have dandled
theel But thou art overpale; those priests
down there at Annu have starved thee,
surely? Starve not thyself; the Gods love
not skeleton. Empty stomach makes
empty head as they say at Alexandria.
But, this is glad hour; ay, a joyous hourl
Come income in! ~ and as ighted down
she embraced me.
But I thrust her aside. my fatherl
where is my father!'' cried. Il see him
aotr'
Nay, nay, have no fear," she answered;
'shis Holiness is well; he waits thee in his
chamber. There, pass on. o happy day!
o happy Abouthis!''
And SO went, or rather ran, and reached
the chamber of which have written, and
there at the table sat my father, Amen.
emhat, even the same as he had been, but
, very old; and ran to him, and kneeling
before him kissed his hand, and he blessed
ne.
"Look up, my son. he said, 'sand let my
Did eyes gaze upon thy face, that may read
| :hy heart''
So lifted up my head, and long and ear.
| aestly he looked upon me.
s'I read thee" he said at length; s'pure
| thou art and strong in wisdom; / have not
been deceived in thee. Oh, lonely have been
The years; but l did well to send thee hence.
Now, tell me, tell me Of thy life, for thy let
| ters have told me little, and thou canst not
know, my son, how hungry is fathers
! heart.''
| And so told him; far into the night we
| sat and communed with one another. And
| In the end he bade me know that I must
| now prepare me to be initiated into those
| great mysteries that are learned of the
| chosen of the Gods.
And SOFT came to pass that for space Of
three months prepared myself according
| to the holy customs. I ate no meat. was
| constant in the sanctuaries and in the study
of the secrets of the Great Sacrifice and of
the passion of the Holy Mother. Watched
| and prayed before the affairs. lifted up
| my soul to God /; ay, in dreams 1 communed
| with the Invisible, till at length earth and
earths desires seemed to pass from me.
louged no more for the glory of this world,
my heart hung above it as an eagle on his
| outstretched wings, and the voice Of the
| worlds blame could not stir it, and the
vision of its beauty brought no delight.
For above me was the vast vault of Heaven,
| where in unalterable procession the stars
pass on, drawing after them the destinies
of men; where the Holy Ones sit upon their
burning thrones and watch the chariot
wheels of Fate as they roll from sphere to
sphere. o hours of holy contemplation
| who having once tasted of your joy could
wish again to grovel on the earth2 o vile
flesh! to drag US down. I would that thou
hadst been altogether fallen from me, and
left my spirit free to seek Osiris!
The months of probation passed but too
swiftly, and now the holy day drew near
when l was in truth to be united to the
universal Mother. Never hath Night so
longed for the promise Of the Dawn; never
hath the heart of lover so passionately
desired the sweet coming of the bride; as
ionged to see Thy glorious face, o Isis
Even now that / have been faithless to
Thee, and Thou art far from me, o Divine
my soul goes out to Thee, and once more
know But as it is bidden that should
draw the vail and speak of things that have
not been told since the beginning Of this
world, let me pass on and reverently set
> down the history Of that holy morn. For
seven days had the great festival been cele.
brated, the suffering Of the Lord Osiris had
been commemorated, the passion of the
Mother Isis had been ad~red. and glory had
| been done to the memory Of the coming oil
the Divine Child Horus, the Son, the
Avenger. the God begot. All these things
had been carried out according to the
ancient rites. The boats had hoated
on the sacred lake, the priests has
scourged themselves before the sanctu
aries, and the images had been borne
through the streets at night. And now, as
the sun sank on the seventh day, once more
the great procession gathered to chant the
woes of Isis and tell how the evil was
avenged. We went in silence from the
Temple, and passed through the city ways
| First came those who clear the path, then
my father. Ameremhat, in all his priestly
robes and the wand of cedar in his hand
Then, clad in pure linen, followed I. the
neophyte, alone; and after me the white
robed priests, holding aloft banners anG
the emblems of the Gods. Next came those
who bear the sacred boat, and after then
the singers and the mourners; while
stretching as far as the eye could react
marched all the people, clad in melanchcl,
black because Osiris was no more. II
silence we went through the city streets
till at length we came to the temenos Of tht
Temple and passed in. And as my father
the High Priest, entered beneath the gate
way of the outer pylon, sweetvoicet
woman singer began to sing the Holy
Chant, and thus she sang:
"Sing we Osiris dead,
Lament the fallen head:
The light has left the world, the world 10 gray
Athwart the starry skies
The web of Darkness flies.
And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
Yourtears, ye stars, ye fres, ye rivers, shed
Weep, children OF the Nile, weep for you
Lord is deadi"
She paused in her most sweet song, and
thereon the whole multitude took mp tha
melancholy dirge;
softly we tread, our measured footsteps fallinj
Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold:
Soft on the Dead that ifyeth arc we callingi
Return. Osiris. from thy Kingdom coldi
Return TO them that worship thee of old. -
!, The chorus ceased, and once again sh'
sang:
aWtthin the court divine
The Seyenfold-sacred shrine
We pass, while echoes Of the Temple HAlfs
Repeat the long lament
The sound OF sorrow sent
, . 1Ax up within the tmperishanle halls.