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Egypt:
Egyptian Mystery: The Mysteries of Asar-Hapi
The Spiritual Bookstore Online World Religion Library
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES
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The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies
Part Two
THE MYSTERIES OF
 , ASAR-HAPI
The identity of the Greco-Egyptian Serapis (known to the Greeks as
Serapis and the Egyptians as Asar-Hapi) is shrouded by an
impenetrable veil of mystery. While this deity was a familiar figure among
the symbols of the secret Egyptian initiatory rites, his arcane nature was
revealed only to those who had fulfilled the requirements of the Serapic
cultus. Therefore, in all probability, excepting the initiated priests, the
Egyptians themselves were ignorant of his true character. So far as known,
there exists no authentic account of the rites of Serapis, but an analysis
of the deity and his accompanying symbols reveals their salient points. In
an oracle delivered to the King of Cyprus, Serapis described himself thus:
''A god I am such as I show to thee,
The Starry Heavens are my head, my trunk the sea,
Earth forms my feet, mine ears the air supplies,
The Sun's far-darting, brilliant rays, mine eyes."
Several unsatisfactory attempts have been made to etymologize the word
Serapis. Godfrey Higgins notes that Soros was the name given by
the Egyptians to a stone coffin, and Apis was Osiris incarnate in the
sacred bull. These two words combined result in Soros-Apis or
Sor-Apis, "the tomb of the bull." But it is improbable that the
Egyptians would worship a coffin in the form of a man.
Several ancient authors, including Macrobius, have affirmed that Serapis
was a name for the Sun, because his image so often had a halo of light about
its head. In his Oration Upon the Sovereign Sun, Julian speaks of the
deity in these words: "One Jove, one Pluto, one Sun is Serapis." In Hebrew,
Serapis is Saraph, meaning "to blaze out" or "to blaze up." For this
reason the Jews designated one of their hierarchies of spiritual beings,
Seraphim.
The most common theory, however, regarding the origin of the name
Serapis is that which traces its derivation from the compound
Osiris-Apis. At one time the Egyptians believed that the dead were
absorbed into the nature of Osiris, the god of the dead. While marked
similarity exists between Osiris-Apis and Serapis, the theory advanced by
Egyptologists that Serapis is merely a name given to the dead Apis, or
sacred bull of Egypt, is untenable in view of the transcendent wisdom
possessed by the Egyptian priestcraft, who, in all probability, used the god
to symbolize the soul of the world (anima mundi). The material body
of Nature was called Apis; the soul which escaped from the body at
death but was enmeshed with the form during physical life was designated
Serapis.
C. W. King believes Serapis to be a deity of Brahmanic extraction, his
name being the Grecianized form of Ser-adah or Sri-pa, two
titles ascribed to Yama, the Hindu god of death. This appears
reasonable, especially since there is a legend to the effect that Serapis,
in the form of a bull, was driven by Bacchus from India to Egypt. The
priority of the Hindu Mysteries would further substantiate such a theory.
Among other meanings suggested for the word Serapis are: "The
Sacred Bull," "The Sun in Taurus," "The Soul of Osiris," "The Sacred
Serpent," and "The Retiring of the Bull." The last appellation has reference
to the ceremony of drowning the sacred Apis in the waters of the Nile every
twenty-five years.
THE LION-FACED LIGHT-POWER.
From Montfaucon's Antiquities.
This Gnostic gem represents by its serpentine body the pathway of the Sun
and by its lion head the exaltation of the solar in the constellation of
Leo.
A SYMBOLIC LABYRINTH.
From Montfaucon's Antiquities.
Labyrinths and mazes were favored places of initiation among many ancient
cults. Remains of these mystic mazes have been found among the American
Indians, Hindus, Persians, Egyptians, and Greeks. Some of these mazes are
merely involved pathways lined with stones; others are literally miles of
gloomy caverns under temples or hollowed from the sides of mountains. The
famous labyrinth of Crete, in which roamed the bull-headed Minotaur, was
unquestionably a place of initiation into the Cretan Mysteries.
p. 27
There is considerable evidence that the famous statue of Serapis in the
Serapeum at Alexandria was originally worshiped under another name at
Sinope, from which it was brought to Alexandria. There is also a legend
which tells that Serapis was a very early king of the Egyptians, to whom
they owed the foundation of their philosophical and scientific power. After
his death this king was elevated to the estate of a god. Phylarchus declared
that the word Serapis means "the power that disposed the universe
into its present beautiful order."
In his Isis and Osiris, Plutarch gives the following account of
the origin of the magnificent statue of Serapis which stood in the Serapeum
at Alexandria:
While he was Pharaoh of Egypt, Ptolemy Soter had a strange dream in which
he beheld a tremendous statue, which came to life and ordered the Pharaoh to
bring it to Alexandria with all possible speed. Ptolemy Soter, not knowing
the whereabouts of the statue, was sorely perplexed as to how he could
discover it. While the Pharaoh was relating his dream, a great traveler by
the name of Sosibius, coming forward, declared that he had seen such an
image at Sinope. The Pharaoh immediately dispatched Soteles and Dionysius to
negotiate for the removal of the figure to Alexandria. Three years elapsed
before the image was finally obtained, the representatives of the Pharaoh
finally stealing it and concealing the theft by spreading a story that the
statue had come to life and, walking down the street leading from its
temple, had boarded the ship prepared for its transportation to Alexandria.
Upon its arrival in Egypt, the figure was brought into the presence of two
Egyptian Initiates--the Eumolpid Timotheus and Manetho the Sebennite--who,
immediately pronounced it to be Serapis. The priests then declared that it
was equipollent to Pluto. This was a masterly stroke, for in Serapis the
Greeks and Egyptians found a deity in common and thus religious unity was
consummated between the two nations.
Several figures of Serapis that stood in his various temples in Egypt and
Rome have been described by early authors. Nearly all these showed Grecian
rather than Egyptian influence. In some the body of the god was encircled by
the coils of a great serpent. Others showed him as a composite of Osiris and
Apis.
A description of the god that in all probability is reasonably accurate
is that which represents him as a tall, powerful figure, conveying the
twofold impression of manly strength and womanly grace. His face portrayed a
deeply pensive mood, the expression inclining toward sadness. His hair was
long and arranged in a somewhat feminine manner, resting in curls upon his
breast and shoulders. The face, save for its heavy beard, was also decidedly
feminine. The figure of Serapis was usually robed from head to foot in heavy
draperies, believed by initiates to conceal the fact that his body was
androgynous.
Various substances were used in making the statues of Serapis. Some
undoubtedly were carved from stone or marble by skilled craftsmen; others
may have been cast from base or precious metals. One colossus of Serapis was
composed of plates of various metals fitted together. In a labyrinth sacred
to Serapis stood a thirteen-foot statue of him reputed to have been made
from a single emerald. Modern writers, discussing this image, state that it
was made of green glass poured into a mold. According to the Egyptians,
however, it withstood all the tests of an actual emerald.
Clement of Alexandria describes a figure of Serapis compounded from the
following elements: First, filings of gold, silver, lead, and tin; second,
all manner of Egyptian stones, including sapphires, hematites, emeralds, and
topazes; all these being ground down and mixed together with the coloring
matter left over from the funeral of Osiris and Apis. The result was a rare
and curious figure, indigo in color. Some of the statues of Serapis must
have been formed of extremely hard substances, for when a Christian soldier,
carrying out the edict of Theodosius, struck the Alexandrian Serapis with
his ax, that instrument was shattered into fragments and sparks flew from
it. It is also quite probable that Serapis was worshiped in the form of a
serpent, in common with many of the higher deities of the Egyptian and Greek
pantheons.
Serapis was called Theon Heptagrammaton, or the god with the name
of seven letters. The name Serapis (like Abraxas and Mithras)
contains seven letters. In their hymns to Serapis the priests chanted the
seven vowels. Occasionally Serapis is depicted with horns or a coronet of
seven rays. These evidently represented the seven divine intelligences
manifesting through the solar light. The Encyclopædia Britannica
notes that the earliest authentic mention of Serapis is in connection with
the death of Alexander. Such was the prestige of Serapis that he alone of
the gods was consulted in behalf of the dying king.
The Egyptian secret school of philosophy was divided into the Lesser and
the Greater Mysteries, the former being sacred to Isis and the latter to
Serapis and Osiris. Wilkinson is of the opinion that only the priests were
permitted to enter the Greater Mysteries. Even the heir to the throne was
not eligible until he had been crowned Pharaoh, when, by virtue of his
kingly office, he automatically became a priest and the temporal head of the
state religion. (See Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Egyptians.)
A limited number were admitted into the Greater Mysteries: these preserved
their secrets inviolate.
Much of the information concerning the rituals of the higher degrees of
the Egyptian Mysteries has been gleaned from an examination of the chambers
and passageways in which the initiations were given. Under the temple of
Serapis destroyed by Theodosius were found strange mechanical contrivances
constructed by the priests in the subterranean crypts and caverns where the
nocturnal initiatory rites were celebrated. These machines indicate the
severe tests of moral and physical courage undergone by the candidates.
After passing through these tortuous ways, the neophytes who Survived the
ordeals were ushered into the presence of Serapis, a noble and awe-inspiring
figure illumined by unseen lights.
Labyrinths were also a striking feature in connection with the Rice of
Serapis, and E. A. Wallis Budge, in his Gods of the Egyptians,
depicts Serapis(Minotaur-like) with the body of a man and the head of a
bull. Labyrinths were symbolic of the involvements and illusions of the
lower world through which wanders the soul of man in its search for truth.
In the labyrinth dwells the lower animal man with the head of the bull, who
seeks to destroy the soul entangled in the maze of worldly ignorance. In
this relation Serapis becomes the Tryer or Adversary who tests the souls of
those seeking union with the Immortals. The maze was also doubtless used to
represent the solar system, the Bull-Man representing the sun dwelling in
the mystic maze of its planets, moons, and asteroids.
The Gnostic Mysteries were acquainted with the arcane meaning of Serapis,
and through the medium of Gnosticism this god became inextricably associated
with early Christianity. In fact, the Emperor Hadrian, while traveling in
Egypt in A.D. 24, declared in a letter to Servianus that the worshipers of
Serapis were Christians and that the Bishops of the church also worshiped at
his shrine. He even declared that the Patriarch himself, when in Egypt, was
forced to adore Serapis as well as Christ. (See Parsons' New Light on the
Great Pyramid.)
The little-suspected importance of Serapis as a prototype of Christ can
be best appreciated after a consideration of the following extract from C.
W. King's Gnostics and Their Remains: "There can be no doubt that the
head of Serapis, marked as the face is by a grave and pensive majesty,
supplied the first idea for the conventional portraits of the Saviour. The
Jewish prejudices of the first converts were so powerful that we may be sure
no attempt was made to depict His countenance until some generations after
all that had beheld it on earth had passed away."
Serapis gradually usurped the positions previously occupied by the other
Egyptian and Greek gods, and became the supreme deity of both religions. His
power continued until the fourth century of
THE ALEXANDRIAN SERAPIS.
From Mosaize Historie der Hebreeuwse
Kerke.
Serapis is often shown standing on the back of the sacred crocodile,
carrying in his left hand a rule with which to measure the inundations of
the Nile, and balancing with his right hand a curious emblem consisting of
an animal with the heads. The first head--that of a lion--signified the
present; the second head--that of a wolf--the past; and the third head--that
of a dog--the future. The body with its three heads was enveloped by the
twisted coils of a serpent. Figures of Serapis are occasionally accompanied
by Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Pluto, and--like Jupiter--carry baskets
of grain upon their heads.
p. 28
the Christian Era. In A.D. 385, Theodosius, that would-be exterminator of
pagan philosophy, issued his memorable edict De Idolo Serapidis Diruendo.
When the Christian soldiers, in obedience to this order, entered the
Serapeum at Alexandria to destroy the image of Serapis which had stood there
for centuries, so great was their veneration for the god that they dared not
touch the image lest the ground should open at their feet and engulf them.
At length, overcoming their fear, they demolished the statue, sacked the
building, and finally as a fitting climax to their offense burned the
magnificent library which was housed within the lofty apartments of the
Serapeum. Several writers have recorded the remarkable fact that Christian
symbols were found in the ruined foundations of this pagan temple. Socrates,
a church historian of the fifth century, declared that after the pious
Christians had razed the Serapeum at Alexandria and scattered the demons who
dwelt there under the guise of gods, beneath the foundations was found the
monogram of Christ!
Two quotations will further establish the relationship existing between
the Mysteries of Serapis and those of other ancient peoples. The first is
from Richard Payne Knight's Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and
Mythology: "Hence Varro [in De Lingua Latina] says that Cœlum and
Terra, that is universal mind and productive body, were the Great Gods of
the Samothracian Mysteries; and the same as the Serapis and Isis of the
later Ægyptians: the Taautos and Astarte of the Phœnicians, and the Saturn
and Ops of the Latins." The second quotation is from Albert Pike's Morals
and Dogma: "'Thee,' says Martianus Capella, in his hymn to the Sun,
'dwellers on the Nile adore as Serapis, and Memphis worships as Osiris: in
the sacred rites of Persia thou art Mithras, in Phrygia, Atys, and Libya
bows down to thee as Ammon, and Phœnician Byblos as Adonis; thus the whole
world adores thee under different names.'"
from
The Secret Teachings of All Ages
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