A story exists in papyrus dating back to the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt, which was probably existent long before, about two brothers known as Anpu and Bata. It is a story of the betrayal of Bata by the wife of Anpu and subsequently Bata's misfortune that eventually leads to Bata becoming Pharaoh and ruling as the living Horus for thirty years. I'm interested in the name Bata, as I believe it fits into what I have tried to articulate in my blog entry "where do babies come from." Reading through the story, it is apparent Bata is the combination of the ba and ta as I have detailed in the aforementioned blog entry. It is the great ancient motif of the soul as the ancient Egyptian "ba" enjoining with matter which is "ta." The parallels in the story of Bata to Osiris are plentiful. Osiris' myth is the ancient Egyptians' story of the ba soul and its incarnation into matter. Bata's incarnation into a sacred bull with specific markings, representing the life force as "ka", is comparable to the Apis bull of Osiris. Bata's dismembering of his phallus, which is subsequently devoured by a fish, is well known in the story of Osiris. Anpu's wife's attempt to seduce Bata is a common motif concerning the virility of the ba and especially the role of Osiris who brings the abundance of life into the world. The wife of Anpu in this story is representing matter, the great harlot, and her desire to mate with the higher power Bata, who represents the immortal soul. After the incident with Anpu's wife, Bata flees to the valley of the acacia where he bides his time hunting wild beasts in the desert. Recalling Osiris and his connection to the constellation Orion in the zodiac, I'm reminded of the greatness of the hunter Orion and the many wild animals he hunts in the metaphorical wilderness of the sky. Eventually in the the story, the acacia tree in which Bata has incarnated is chopped down causing Bata to enter into the sleep of death. In the story of Osiris and Isis, we have the fragmented soul of Osiris becoming encapsulated in a tamarisk tree that is cut down and made into the great pillar of the King and Queen of Byblos. This also parallels the imagery of Osiris manifesting within the djed pillar and the importance of the raising of the djed pillar as biological life is constantly renewed.
As well, Bata incarnates into the sacred persea tree whose red heart shaped fruit is a great symbol for the heart that must be transformed in order to awaken Osiris from the sleep of death and engender a new life.
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Eventually, the persea tree is cut down; however, a chip of wood from the trunk flies into the royal wife's mouth and once again Bata incarnates through the pregnancy, this time as the heir to the throne of man. These repetitions reveal Bata is constantly becoming entombed within matter, much like Osiris, and left for dead. Through successive incarnations, Bata finally succeeds in becoming reborn as the heir to the throne and eventually he becomes Pharaoh of Egypt, ruling as the living Horus. This is the greatest parallel to the story of Osiris and the rebirth into Horus which I have detailed in previous entries of this blog space. In addition, I want to point out the successive incarnations of Bata into different life forces which were known in ancient Egypt as the "ka". Bata incarnated as the flower of the acacia, the bull, the fruit of the persea tree, and finally as the crown prince. Though Bata appears in multiple and differing manifestations, it is important to realize he is always the same essence of Bata within these differing forms. This reincarnational model illustrates the oneness of our individual ba signature, our immortal soul, and how it will repeatedly incarnate into matter, experience the joys, tribulations, and cleansing of material existence, until finally the soul becomes born again as Horus the enlightened one ruling mightily over his lower self. The quest is complete and no longer will the ba have to reincarnate!
