Rebirth Resurrection
Something new has been brought to life within you and the old, your old self, felt it had died.
The ideas of rejuvenation and resurrection after a form of death were an important part of the beliefs of ancient societies. These convictions probably had their roots in the many examples of people suddenly reviving after they died and the stories they told of their experiences. These near death experiences, which count in hundreds of thousands, were very evident to ordinary people who witnessed them. In today’s world they are still there in the thousands but usually take place in hospitals so are not so impressive to the general public.
Also we are told again and again that nobody has ever come back from the dead and so when dead that is the end – but in fact thousands have come back and have left a wonderful body of knowledge about the immortal nature of humans. See Near Death Experiences – The Wonder of You by Lynn Russell
Of course, many authorities try to explain such experiences away if they have not experienced it themselves. But Dr Morse examined the possibilities of drugs influencing the brain, and other possibilities and found these did not apply. Again and again, people could witness and report actual happenings around them while they were apparently unconscious or without a heartbeat.
Melvin Morse, M.D., and Paul Perry in their book Closer to the Light, say that deep in a secret chamber a solemn group of men sought guidance from death. They dressed in white robes and chanted softly around a casket that is sealed with wax. One person is carefully counting to mark the time. After about eight minutes, the casket is opened, and the man who nearly suffocated inside is revived by the rush of fresh air. He tells the men around him what he saw. As he passed out from lack of oxygen, he saw a light that became brighter and larger as he sped toward it through a tunnel. From that light came a radiant person in white who delivered a message of eternal life.
This was the cult of Osiris, a small society of men who were the priests and pharaohs of ancient Egypt, one of the greatest civilizations in human history. This account of how they inspired near death is an actual description of their rites from Egyptologists who have translated their hieroglyphics.
One of the most important Egyptian rituals involved the re-enactment by their god-king of the myth of Osiris, the god who brought agriculture and civilization to the ancient Egyptians. He was the first king of Egypt who civilized his subjects and then travelled abroad to instruct others in the fine art of civilization. His enemies plotted against him. Upon his return to Egypt, he was captured and sealed in a chest. His eventual resurrection was seen as proof of life eternal.
Each new king was supposed to be a direct reincarnation of Osiris. An important part of the ceremony was to re-enact his entombment. These rituals took place in the depths of the Great Pyramid and were a prerequisite for becoming a god-king. It is my guess that many slaves perished while the Egyptians experimented to find exactly how long a person could be sealed in an airtight container and survive.
Altars can link with a place of death, but also of rebirth, and thus a meeting with the universal life of which you are a part, and a connection with it through self-sacrifice or surrender. The ‘death’ of self comes through self-sacrifice and leads to rebirth.
Example: Then I seemed to be at a slight distance watching my dead body, and I saw my father, who had died some years before, come and carry the body over a threshold into a heavenly meadow. There a resurrection took place. I was given new life. And the new life came from all that I had given to others, and all I had received from others during my life. That was my spiritual body and life. A
Example: In ancient Egypt the crocodile was worshipped as the god Sebek the crocodile-headed god, in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Osiris too was Lord of Death and Resurrection, of destruction and rebirth. It was the Egyptian symbol of a new Life and the divine within. It possibly represented the forces of the unconscious, because of the observation of the crocodile emerging from hidden depths to lay its eggs on the river bank. In this sense the crocodile or alligator in some dreams represents a personal confrontation with eternity. Mummified crocodiles in Egypt have been found with baby crocodiles in their mouths and on their backs. The crocodile – one of the few non-mammals that diligently care for their young – often transports its offspring in this manner. See Example under Alligator
Example: But love can resurrect that vital animal life and consciousness within you and the world. The following dream and commentary illustrates this.
I dreamt two great wolf like dogs were on a headland. They had to be killed for some reason. I shot them. They seemed to take a long time to die and I felt compassion for them. Now horses seemed to be lying with them. The death struggles became the horses – mares – struggles to give birth. I saw the vagina parted to show a head. Birth would follow. Nathan.
Nathan explored his dream and had the following intuitive response to it as if someone was explaining it to him: “When you were trying to murder the lower forces in yourself they would not die; they only thresh about. Try the bringing of life to them. The bringing of love is represented by your desire not to have them suffer. Great love turns the destructiveness of the lower forces into creativeness. The gun was the destructiveness of the fears and angers in you turned against yourself. The love redeemed this power, directing it in a new way. Love enables new life to emerge from the whole. The new life promises strength where there was only fear. When you love yourself, you lift parts of your being into new life.”
Useful Questions and Hints:
How did my dream mention or suggest rebirth?
Did I experience it in the dream?
How would I describe the experience?
See death and rebirth – Archetype of Rebirth – Techniques for Exploring your Dreams – Dreaming of Death