The meteor shower season continues this week with the peak of the Orionid overnight Friday to Saturday, and since Autumn is also the season for celebrating the dead, here’s an ancient myth to keep you entertained while you’re out wishing on the falling stars.
This week’s meteor shower takes its name from the constellation Orion, which in Ancient Egypt was related to their most sacred god Osiris, God of the Dead, he who weighs the souls of human beings to determine their passage through the afterlife.
Osiris was tricked and slain by his jealous brother Typhon, who afterward committed the greatest offense by scattering the body parts of Osiris about Egypt. There is a deep mystery of community that happens in this tale, because, in order to restore peace to the soul of Osiris, his consort and queen Isis must gather up his body and place it in a single grave.
And not only that, Isis teaches ceremony where ever she goes, ceremony that is determined by which part of the sacred god’s body the town or village was home to. So for instance, the village that was home to the head of Osiris would do a ceremony specific to the head, which was different from the village that had the right leg. In this way, the different communities were joined together in the singular practice of honoring Osiris, but each had a unique and necessary role, and only through the participation of them all was a unity created and harmony restored.
When you watch for the meteor shower this week, you’ll see Orion as Osiris rising up in the east, about midnight, followed soon after by the brightest star in our sky, Sirius. For the Ancient Egyptian culture, Sirius was the ultimate resting place for the soul of Isis, consort and queen to Osiris. You can find Sirius by following the three stars of Orion’s belt down and to the left.
The meteor shower peaks around 4 am overnight Friday, and it’s a good one to watch if you’re interested in the mystery of how to restore healthy community life.