“Yes. It is the same. They will know we are talking, but they will not understand us.” He concentrated for a moment and then said, “It is done.”
The dark plane coupled with the fact that no one could hear us made me feel like I was trapped in an intimate little bubble with Amon, and I found I liked the feeling. “Okay, so tell me about Horus.”
Amon’s smile flashed in the dark. “Are you not tired, Lily?”
“Exhausted, but I really want to hear this.”
“Very well.” Amon paused for a moment, and then began. “Horus is the son of Amun-Ra. He was called the Golden Sun; whereas his father was the Risen Sun, Horus was the light that broke forth over the hills at the beginning of a new day, filling the world from one end to another.”
“The horizon,” I murmured. “He’s the horizon.”
Amon tilted his head, considering my words. “Yes. I believe that is an accurate definition.”
“Tell me more,” I said, and got out my notebook to draw, turning on the little overhead light so I could see. “Can you describe him?”
“In carvings, he is often represented with the head of a falcon, but as your…movies have shown, this concept is misunderstood. He does not have an actual falcon head, just as Anubis does not have a dog’s head. These animals are their companions.”
Amon peered at my sketch and continued. “The gods and goddesses were often depicted with the heads of their token animals so they could be discerned from one another and from other important leaders.”
“That makes sense. What color is Horus’s hair?”
“I have not seen Horus personally.”
“Oh. Well, just tell me what you know about him and his eyes or whatever,” I said, pencil poised to take notes.
“Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris—”
“Hold up. I thought he was the son of Amun-Ra.”
“He is.”
“How can he be the son of both?”
“I will explain. Perhaps it is better to start with Osiris. He married his sister, Isis.”
“His sister?”
“Yes.”
“Is incest common among the Egyptian gods?”
“It is, and also later, among the pharaohs.”
“Yuck, but okay…go on.”
“Osiris was a good and wise ruler of Egypt, and when it was time for him to take a wife, he found no woman he loved more than his sister, Isis. The goddess Isis was as soft and as lovely as a moonbeam, and she had a gift for magic unlike any other. Their union was happy and was celebrated by all except one—their erstwhile brother Seth.”
“Wait. Isn’t he the bad guy? The Dark One, or whoever, that you have to overcome?”
“He is the very same.”
“Interesting.” I started making a new list as Amon went on.
“The dark god Seth did not always have a heart so black, but he was jealous of his brother Osiris. Seth wanted to rule, but even more, he wanted Isis. Seth was bewitched by her beauty, and though he took many different women to be his wife, he did not think any of them as desirable as the one he couldn’t have. The need to possess his sister consumed him. In anger he turned away from all that was good and allowed the seeds of corruption, bitterness, and lust to fester in his heart.
“Isis told her husband that Seth’s advances had become more and more intolerable and that their brother had finally gone too far—he actually attempted to lay his hands upon her. Fortunately she was able to use her magic to deflect his unwanted attention. Osiris questioned Seth, but the ruler’s brother had become a smooth liar. He accused Isis of misunderstanding his intentions and assured Osiris that he was happily married to not only one wife but several. He asked, ‘What need have I to take my brother’s wife as well?’?”
“Devious,” I murmured as I made a note.
“Osiris, a good-natured man, believed the best of everyone, including his brother, and he soothed his wife, telling her she must have misunderstood. But Isis was clever. She guessed that Seth was up to something, and soon she was proved right.”