Book of the Dead - Making The Transformation Into A Divine Hawk

[The Chapter] Of Making The Transformation Into A Divine Hawk

The Osiris Ani saith:- Hail, thou Great God, come thou to Tetu. Make thou ready for me the ways, and let me go round [to visit] my thrones. I have laboured. I have made myself perfect. O grant thou that I may be held in fear. Create thou awe of me. Let the gods of the Tuat be afraid of me, and let them fight for me in their halls. Permit not thou to come nigh unto me him that would attack me, or would injure me in the House of Darkness. Cover over the helpless one, hide him. Let do likewise the gods who hearken unto the word [of truth], the Khepriu gods who are in the following of Osiris. Hold ye your peace then, O ye gods, whilst the God holdeth speech with me, he who listeneth to the truth. I speak unto him my words. Osiris, grant thou that that which cometh forth from thy mouth may circulate to me. Let me see thine own Form. Let thy Souls envelop me. Grant thou that I may come forth, and that I may be master of my legs, and let me live there like Nebertcher upon his throne. Let the gods of the Tuat hold me in fear, and let them fight for me in their halls. Grant thou that I may move forward with him and with the Ariu gods, and let me be firmly stablished on my pedestal like the Lord of Life. Let me be in the company of Isis, the goddess, and let [the gods] keep me safe from him that would do an injury unto me. Let none come to see the helpless one. May I advance, and may I come to the Henti boundaries of the sky. Let me address words to Keb, and let me make supplicaion to the god Hu with Nebertcher. Let the gods of the Tuat be afraid of me, and let them fight for me in their halls. Let them see that thou hast provided me with food for the festival. I am one of those Spirit-souls who dwell in the Light-god. I have made my form in his Form, when he cometh to Tetu. I am a Spirit-body among his Spirit-bodies; he shall speak unto thee the things [which concern] me. Would that he would cause me to be held in fear! Would that he would create [in them] awe of me! Let the gods of the Tuat be afraid of me, and let them fight for me [in their halls]. I, even I, am a Spirit-soul, a dweller in the Light-god, whose form hath been created in divine flesh. I am one of those Spirit-souls who dwell in the Light-god, who were created by Tem himself, and who exist in the blossoms of his Eye. He hath made to exist, he hath made glorious, and he hath magnified their faces during their existence with him. Behold, he is Alone in Nu. They acclaim him when he cometh forth from the horizon, and the gods and the Spirit-souls who have come into being with him ascribe fear unto him.

I am one of the worms which have been created by the Eye of the Lord One. And behold, when as yet Isis had not given birth to Horus, I was flourishing, and I had waxed old, and had become pre-eminent among the Spirit-souls who had come into being with him. I rose up like a divine hawk, and Horus endowed me with a Spirit-body with his soul, so that [I] might take possession of the property of Osiris in the Tuat. He shall say to the twin Lion-gods for me, the Chief of the House of the Nemes Crown, the Dweller in his cavern: Get thee back to the heights of heaven, for behold, inasmuch as thou art a Spirit-body with the creations of Horus, the Nemes Crown shall not be to thee: [but] thou shalt have speech even to the uttermost limits of the heavens. I, the warder, took possession of the property of Horus [which belonged] to Osiris in the Tuat, and Horus repeated to me what his father Osiris had said unto him in the years [past], on the days of his burial. Give thou to me the Nemes Crown, say the twin Lion-gods for me. Advance thou, come along the road of heaven, and look upon those who dwell in the uttermost limits of the horizon. The gods of the Tuat shall hold thee in fear, and they shall fight for thee in their halls. The god Auhet belongeth to them. All the gods who guard the shrine of the Lord One are smitten with terror at [my] words.

Hail, saith the god who is exalted upon his coffer to me! He hath bound on the Nemes Crown, [by] the decree of the twin Lion-gods. The god Aahet hath made a way for me. I am exalted [on the coffer], the twin Lion-gods have bound the Nemes Crown on me and my two locks of hair are given unto me. He hath stablished for me my heart by his own flesh, and by his great, two-fold strength, and I shall not fall headlong before Shu. I am Hetep, the Lord of the two Uraei-goddesses who are to be adored. I know the Light-god, his winds are in my body. The Bull which striketh terror [into souls] shall not repulse me. I come daily into the House of the twin Lion-gods. I come forth therefrom into the House of Isis. I look upon the holy things which are hidden. I see the being who is therein. I speak to the great ones of Shu, they repulse him that is wrathful in his hour. I am Horus who dwelleth in his divine Light. I am master of his crown. I am master of his radiance. I advance towards the Henti boundaries of heaven. Horus is upon his seat. Horus is upon his thrones. My face is like that of a divine hawk. I am one who is equipped [like] his lord. I shall come forth to Tetu. I shall see Osiris. I shall live in his actual presence.... Nut. They shall see me. I shall see the gods [and] the Eye of Horus burning with fire before my eyes. They shall reach out their hands to me. I shall stand up. I shall be master of him that would subject me to restraint. They shall open the holy paths to me, they shall see my form, they shall listen to my words. [Homage] to you, O ye gods of the Tuat, whose faces are turned back, whose powers advance, conduct ye me to the Star-gods which never rest. Prepare ye for me the holy ways to the Hemat house, and to your god, the Soul, who is the mighty one of terror. Horus hath commanded me to lift up your faces; do ye look upon me. I have risen up like a divine hawk. Horus hath made me to be a Spirit-body by means of his Soul, and to take possession of the things of Osiris in the Tuat. Make ye for me a path. I have travelled and I have arrived at those who are chiefs of their caverns, and who are guardians of the House of Osiris. I speak unto them his mighty deeds. I made them to know concerning his victories. He is ready [to butt with his] two horns at Set. They know him who hath taken possession of the god Hu, and who hath taken possession of the Powers of Tem.

Travel thou on thy way safely, cry out the gods of the Tuat to me. O ye who make your names pre-eminent, who are chiefs in your shrines, and who are guardians of the House of Osiris, grant, I pray you, that I may come to you. I have bound up and I have gathered together your Powers. I have directed the Powers of the ways, the wardens of the horizon, and of the Hemat House of heaven. I have stablished their fortresses for Osiris. I have prepared the ways for him. I have performed the things which [he] hath commanded. I come forth to Tetu. I see Osiris. I speak to him concerning the matter of his Great Son, whom he loveth, and concerning [the smiting of] the heart of Set. I look upon the lord who was helpless. How shall I make them to know the plans of the gods, and that which Horus did without the knowledge of his father Osiris?

Hail, Lord, thou Soul, most awful and terrible, behold me. I have come, I make thee to be exalted! I have forced a way though the Tuat. I have opened the roads which appertain to heaven, and those which appertain to the earth, and no one hath opposed me therein. I have exalted thy face, O Lord of Eternity.

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