45.1 · From the same work: royal souls

From the same work. “And you, child of great spirit, if there is anything else you wish, ask.” Horus said, “Mother held in great honor, I wish to know: how do souls become royal?” Isis replied: “The distinction that arises concerning royal souls, my child Horus, is something of this kind.¹⁵⁹⁴

45.2 · The four regions and their rulers

For there are four regions in the universe subject to inviolable law and governance: heaven, ⟨the⟩ aether, air, and most sacred earth. [And] above, my child, gods dwell in heaven; the maker of the whole rules them, together with all other things. In the aether are stars, ruled by the great luminary, the Sun. In the air are daimonic souls, ruled by the Moon. Upon earth are human beings and the other animals, ruled by the king who comes to power at the appointed time.¹⁵⁹⁵

45.3 · Rulers as divine outflows

For the gods, my child, beget kings worthy of the earthly race, and the rulers are outflows of the King. Among them, the one nearer to him is more royal than the others. Thus the Sun, inasmuch as it is nearer to the god, is greater and more powerful than the Moon; the Moon is second to it both in rank and in power.¹⁵⁹⁶

45.4 · The king between gods and human beings

The king is last in relation to the other gods, but first among human beings. As long as he is upon earth, he is separated from true divinity; yet he possesses something exceptional beyond other human beings, something like the god. For the soul sent down into him comes from that region which lies above those from which souls are sent down into other human beings.¹⁵⁹⁷

45.5 · Two reasons for a royal embodiment

Souls are sent down from there to kingship for these two reasons, my child. Those that have run their own course well and blamelessly and are about to be made divine are sent so that, through ruling as kings, they may at least train beforehand in the authority of the gods. ⟨But⟩ some, already divine, have in some small matter transgressed the divine rule: they are sent so that they may [not] endure punishment in being embodied, ⟨but⟩, as regards dishonor and natural condition, suffer nothing like the other souls when embodied; instead, what they possessed when free they may also possess when bound.¹⁵⁹⁸

45.6 · The escort of a royal soul

The differences that arise in the characters of reigning kings, however, are not determined by a distinction between their souls, for all these souls are divine, but by the disposition of the angels and daimons that have escorted it. Souls of this kind, descending to ⟨such⟩ tasks, do not descend without an advance escort and a guard. For Justice above knows how to allot each its due honor, even when they are driven from the region of blessedness.¹⁵⁹⁹

45.7 · The influence of a warlike escort

When, then, the angels and daimons bringing her down are warlike, my child Horus, the soul holds fast to their disposition, having forgotten her own deeds, or rather remembering them only as far as what has accrued from the other company;¹⁶⁰⁰

45.8 · Peace, justice, music, and philosophy

when they are peaceful, she too makes her own course peaceful; when they are judicial, she too judges; when they are musical, she too sings; when they love truth, she too pursues philosophy. For these souls cling, as though of necessity, to the disposition of those who bring them down. Falling into humanity, they forget their own nature, insofar as they have departed far from it, but remember the disposition of those who have confined them.”¹⁶⁰¹

45.9 · How souls become noble

“All is well explained to me, mother,” Horus said, “but you have not yet told me how souls become noble.” “Just as upon earth, my child Horus, there are communities differing from one another, so it is with souls. They too have places from which they set out, and the soul that has set out from a more illustrious place is nobler than one whose situation is otherwise.¹⁶⁰²

45.10 · Free and enslaved as an analogy

For just as among human beings the free person is considered nobler than the enslaved person, since what is superior and royal in souls necessarily enslaves what is inferior, so indeed, my child, ⟨it is also with souls⟩.”¹⁶⁰³

45.11 · Souls themselves are neither male nor female

“⟨And how, mother,⟩ do souls become male and female?” “Souls, ⟨O⟩ my child Horus, share the same nature, since they come from a single region in which the creator gives them form, and they are neither male nor female. For such a condition arises in bodies, not in incorporeal things.¹⁶⁰⁴

45.12 · The body as the soul’s surrounding air

The cause of the difference whereby some are more forceful and others gentle is the air, my child Horus, in which everything comes to be. The soul’s air is the very body with which it is clothed, a mixture of the elements: earth, water, air, and fire.¹⁶⁰⁵

45.13 · Bodily mixtures and temperament

Since the female compound has an excess of moisture and cold but a deficiency of dryness and heat, the soul enclosed in such a fashioned body becomes moist through and through and tender. In males one finds the opposite occurring. In them dryness and [the] heat are in excess, while cold and moisture are deficient; therefore souls in such bodies are rough and more active.¹⁶⁰⁶

45.14 · The eye as an analogy for understanding

“How do souls become intelligent, mother?” Isis answered: “The organ of sight, my child, is clothed in coverings. When these coverings are dense and thick, the eye sees dimly; when they are loose in texture and thin, it sees with the greatest sharpness.¹⁶⁰⁷