The Eye of Horus

Decrepit and full of sorrow, I was brought before the village elders. My life had always been an exercise in perpetual failure. All ventures undertaken had resulted in catastrophe. Thus no one could ever depend on me. I wanted to be responsible. I wanted to pull my own weight, but something at my core had been sapping my strength, like a parasite which feeds on the roots of a tree that never flowers. The people of my village took pity upon me; for what was eating away at the foundations of my being was unknown even to me. It was time, they said, to face this demon and be free of it. To move through the world with dignity and confidence in my own ability was, to me, a lost cause, but after decades of nothing but ruin, my strength of will was utterly spent, and so I had no power to resist them.

Sitting before the elders and their camp fire I could feel their eyes gazing into my soul. “You have failed at every turn because you do not know yourself. Something has blocked you from knowing. Tonight, that block will be removed and you will see yourself for the first time,” said the head elder.

“And how might such a miracle be possible?” I asked.

“You will go down into Egypt, just as the forefather Jacob did before you. There you will find the ability to see.” And with that he held out his palm and blew a strange powder into my face. I choked and coughed on the dust. In my anger I attempted to curse the head elder with the same affliction which held me within its grip, the greatest hell I could imagine, but before the words left my mouth everything went black.

I awoke in darkness and cold. As my eyes adjusted to the void I discerned my surroundings. I lay upon a stone table, my hands crossed and resting upon my chest. Unable to move, I called out for help but no one answered. The foul stench of death reached my nostrils. I was in a tomb. Something stirred to my left. I turned my head and beheld Anubis, god of the Underworld.

“Why am I here?” I asked.

His gaze pierced me to my core. “Your soul was entombed here for safekeeping until you were ready to face the truth.”

My voice faltered. I was barely able to speak in his presence. “What truth?”

He looked deeper into my soul. “Who wanted you dead?” He glanced at my chest. My eyes shifted. There, buried to the hilt and piercing my heart, was a wicked dagger, black and cold. Engraved on its handle was the word ‘Mother.’

“I never had a good relationship with her,” I said. “Is this why I’m here?” Memories of her bombarded my mind. In the midst of the vision I finally made sense of all the hints I had not noticed before. “She didn’t want me, did she?” I said. Tears poured over my cheeks.

Anubis placed his hand on my head. “She was sick,” he said. “It happens to some mothers. They want to throw their newborns off a cliff.” The weight of the truth crushed my lifeless heart.

“She did her best to care for you, but the primal viciousness in her soul seeped into yours,” he said. “It crippled you. But the time has come to remove that which laid you low.” Anubis placed my hand around the dagger’s handle and together we lifted it from its resting place. I then took the first breath of my life. Air filled my lungs and I came back to life. Anubis helped me to sit up on the stone table. He took the dagger and laid it on a scale opposite a feather. The dagger tipped the scale and was engulfed in flames.

“Now,” said Anubis, “come with me.”

I followed him up a great stone staircase that went on forever. At last, we reached a hatch which Anubis opened. Light poured in from outside and he bayed me onward. An outstretched hand met me as I ascended. I took hold of it and was hoisted up to the surface. My eyes adjusted and I found myself standing upon a flat-topped pyramid overlooking the vast desert of Egypt. The hand which had helped me up belonged to Horus, the Falcon god and above us and the pyramid itself was his eye, a magnificent ball of pure light and power which shone across the land. Horus spoke to me but not with words. He directed me to peer out at the sands around the pyramid. There I witnessed the sand come to life in the form of men and women in conflict, fighting and dying as they made their way toward the pyramid. He explained that all of human history has been a climb back to the top after falling to this plane of existence. Those who overcome themselves realize their forgotten natures and ascend to godhood, leaving behind the myths and legends which are passed down through the ages. Horus invited me to turn and look upon his Eye. I stood in awe of its majesty and allowed its light to fill my inner recesses. I felt the symbol of the pyramid imprint upon my forehead and my third eye opened at its pinnacle. Horus then dressed me in the traditional pharaoh’s garb, cladding me in gold and silk.

Using words, he spoke to me, “No matter what happens in this world, you will always know who you are and where you should go. Even as a pharaoh, you have no need to make decrees. All is as it should be, just as you set it in motion in the beginning. To move away from this understanding is to lose your divinity. Now step out into this world anew. Be bound to your past no more.”

A rush of wind howled passed me and the golden sands of the desert retreated into blackness. The Eye of Horus burned bright within my mind. I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by the village elders who, by the light of their fires, had been watching me closely.

The head elder leaned in. “What truth have you seen with your new eye, young man?” he asked.

The Eye of Horus burned within me. I opened my mouth to speak, not knowing what words would come out. The elders fell back upon hearing the words. “Call me Pharaoh.”