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Awakening Osiris: The Spiritual Keys to the Egyptian Book of the Dead
“Awakening Osiris is a perennial, a classic in the combined realm of Egyptology, spirituality, and pure literary achievement.”
—Kathleen McGowan, New York Times bestselling author of The Expected One
“Awakening Osiris is not only a translation and a book of Egyptian religion, but also a spiritual work that will serve many Pagans as a prayer book of sorts, a book of meditations—something not to be read and left on the shelf, but to return to repeatedly.”
—Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of Spirits
A beautiful and engaging rendering of The Egyptian Book of the Dead that reveals the soul and spirit of Egypt
The Egyptian Book of the Dead is one of the oldest and greatest classics of Western spirituality. With Awakening Osiris, Ellis has transformed the ancient stories told through hieroglyphs for modern readers and approaches the Book of the Dead as a profound spiritual text capable of speaking to us today. These writings suggest that the divine realm and the human realm are not altogether separate; they remind us that the natural world—the substance of our lives—is fashioned from the stuff of the gods.
This edition replaces the previous edition (ISBN 978-0933999749) and contains a new introduction and study guide by the author.
—Kathleen McGowan, New York Times bestselling author of The Expected One
“Awakening Osiris is not only a translation and a book of Egyptian religion, but also a spiritual work that will serve many Pagans as a prayer book of sorts, a book of meditations—something not to be read and left on the shelf, but to return to repeatedly.”
—Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of Spirits
A beautiful and engaging rendering of The Egyptian Book of the Dead that reveals the soul and spirit of Egypt
The Egyptian Book of the Dead is one of the oldest and greatest classics of Western spirituality. With Awakening Osiris, Ellis has transformed the ancient stories told through hieroglyphs for modern readers and approaches the Book of the Dead as a profound spiritual text capable of speaking to us today. These writings suggest that the divine realm and the human realm are not altogether separate; they remind us that the natural world—the substance of our lives—is fashioned from the stuff of the gods.
This edition replaces the previous edition (ISBN 978-0933999749) and contains a new introduction and study guide by the author.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 5, 2023
21 people are currently reading
1793 people want to read
About the author
Normandi Ellis
23 books92 followersRev. Normandi Ellis is an archpriestess of Isis through the Fellowship of Isis, is a Spiritualist minister, clairvoyant, astrologer and author of 13 books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and essay. She facilitates trips through the sites of ancient Egypt. You may contact her through her website www.normandiellis.com. Please keep checking back for further information on workshops, lectures, and publications.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
didn-t-finish
April 25, 2024I used to find a way to sit through church by mentally replacing "god" with "centipede." Centipedes move in mysterious ways, etc. When I struggled with this book I found myself using the same technique and then I thought what's the use? I'm not a god guy. Centipede made me this way.
July 10, 2025
Awakening Osiris
—
First published in 1988 the book opens with high praise for the author.
“These writings suggest that the divine realm and the human realm are not altogether separate-they remind us that the natural world, and the substance of our lives, is fashioned from the stuff of the gods.” It’s advertised to kind of be a book on what and how the Egyptians viewed their religion and its numerous texts.
After you go through the spells, at the very end there is an appendix and a small guide to help your own spiritual path. A pleasant read as you go about your days or even to have a chapter a day before sleep.
—
Passages I liked:
“Drink in the light and praise the cup of forever that spills out the threads of eternity.”
“I am blessed by mortality. I am a field enduring, growing wheat one year, barley the next, tangled flowering papyrus, a hill of sand. I am everafter, changing, while the eye of the watcher shines and takes me in.”
“Truly, I strive to carry the load without noticing the burden, to be on this hot earth a cool jug of water, to stand in the wind like sturdy sycamore branches, a place where birds rest, where cattle gather, where sap rises, wherein earth and sky are home.”
“I am like those warriors Horus and Set when my heart opposes my mind. I am like Osiris, my desires fragmented. I am the pieces of myself, a man longing for unity. I am the guardian of my creations, like Ra whose twin children were Shu and Tefnut-”
“On the other side of her teeth swelled the void, the abyss, the great nothing, and from it issued the cries of all the lost things of creation. Their voices were a wailing wind that beckoned from the darkness.”
“Ra shines from his disk in heaven. He rises up—a golden wonder, a bead on the throat of sky.”
“I see myself by the light of my becoming.”
“Though I cannot remember my birth and shall forget my death, I live in the midst of wonder.”
“I am as tied to my destiny as an ass is tied to its plow. Because the gods will it, the work is done, and our labor to become what we must is like the perfume of lotus and red sanders.”
Grant me unity of the heart, mind and spirit. Grant me love and light, an everlasting body. Grant me the words of transformation and the will of the flesh to make things happen.
but it was Anubis who spread his hands, wrenched open the chest and commanded the heart of Osiris to beat, to cleave and make way for the light that was coming.
A woman suckles her baby, while her husband drunk with meat and beer lies in the shade of a fig tree, singing praises to her inner thigh.
That is not to say that shit is not useful when buried in the wheat field. Bread made from the field tastes sweet, wine from the arbor sweetest. All things serve a purpose, but that is no reason to glorify what is abominable. A man must still watch where he walks and keep his sandals clean.
I have held my destiny in my two hands and I am the shape I made. I have suffered and loved. I have walked through fire and did not burn. I've been blown by wind and did not fall. I've walked the long road and kept to my journey though I met no other traveler. I have lost and found myself in every rock, field and tree. I know what I am and what I imagine. I know shadow and light, and I have never been satisfied with shelter and bread when the great was left unattained.
What can be named can be known, what cannot be named must be lived, believed.
When you've reached the lips of the great devourer, you are staring into the jaws of creation.
And I wept, for without love or loss or pain I would not have known this happiness.
And the quiet that settles on our skin before dawn keeps company with those whose dreams are troubled.
—
First published in 1988 the book opens with high praise for the author.
“These writings suggest that the divine realm and the human realm are not altogether separate-they remind us that the natural world, and the substance of our lives, is fashioned from the stuff of the gods.” It’s advertised to kind of be a book on what and how the Egyptians viewed their religion and its numerous texts.
After you go through the spells, at the very end there is an appendix and a small guide to help your own spiritual path. A pleasant read as you go about your days or even to have a chapter a day before sleep.
—
Passages I liked:
“Drink in the light and praise the cup of forever that spills out the threads of eternity.”
“I am blessed by mortality. I am a field enduring, growing wheat one year, barley the next, tangled flowering papyrus, a hill of sand. I am everafter, changing, while the eye of the watcher shines and takes me in.”
“Truly, I strive to carry the load without noticing the burden, to be on this hot earth a cool jug of water, to stand in the wind like sturdy sycamore branches, a place where birds rest, where cattle gather, where sap rises, wherein earth and sky are home.”
“I am like those warriors Horus and Set when my heart opposes my mind. I am like Osiris, my desires fragmented. I am the pieces of myself, a man longing for unity. I am the guardian of my creations, like Ra whose twin children were Shu and Tefnut-”
“On the other side of her teeth swelled the void, the abyss, the great nothing, and from it issued the cries of all the lost things of creation. Their voices were a wailing wind that beckoned from the darkness.”
“Ra shines from his disk in heaven. He rises up—a golden wonder, a bead on the throat of sky.”
“I see myself by the light of my becoming.”
“Though I cannot remember my birth and shall forget my death, I live in the midst of wonder.”
“I am as tied to my destiny as an ass is tied to its plow. Because the gods will it, the work is done, and our labor to become what we must is like the perfume of lotus and red sanders.”
Grant me unity of the heart, mind and spirit. Grant me love and light, an everlasting body. Grant me the words of transformation and the will of the flesh to make things happen.
but it was Anubis who spread his hands, wrenched open the chest and commanded the heart of Osiris to beat, to cleave and make way for the light that was coming.
A woman suckles her baby, while her husband drunk with meat and beer lies in the shade of a fig tree, singing praises to her inner thigh.
That is not to say that shit is not useful when buried in the wheat field. Bread made from the field tastes sweet, wine from the arbor sweetest. All things serve a purpose, but that is no reason to glorify what is abominable. A man must still watch where he walks and keep his sandals clean.
I have held my destiny in my two hands and I am the shape I made. I have suffered and loved. I have walked through fire and did not burn. I've been blown by wind and did not fall. I've walked the long road and kept to my journey though I met no other traveler. I have lost and found myself in every rock, field and tree. I know what I am and what I imagine. I know shadow and light, and I have never been satisfied with shelter and bread when the great was left unattained.
What can be named can be known, what cannot be named must be lived, believed.
When you've reached the lips of the great devourer, you are staring into the jaws of creation.
And I wept, for without love or loss or pain I would not have known this happiness.
And the quiet that settles on our skin before dawn keeps company with those whose dreams are troubled.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2024
This book reads more like a poem on spiritual awakening, healing and transformation. It was impossible to just read it, I found myself having to pause frequently to ingest and internalize every single page, almost every single line…So many highlights, I could have easily highlighted the whole book ☺️ So much of it spoke to me especially our proximity to god and universe, the power of surrendering and detaching, the need to embrace struggle and darkness, and the eternal nature of becoming a new better version of oneself with the ultimate purpose of serving as a vessel of love and light. A book I will return to many time for sure!
Unless the earth enveloped the seed struggled against the darkness, there would be no corn.
Even night and day struggle, make peace between themselves. We cal that beautiful sunset and dawn.
Unless the earth enveloped the seed struggled against the darkness, there would be no corn.
Even night and day struggle, make peace between themselves. We cal that beautiful sunset and dawn.
March 23, 2025
As a lifetime spiritual seeker this book is right up there with, and often surpasses such classics as the the Gita, the Tao Tae Ching, the Words of My Perfect Master, St. teresa. The issue is that without modern teachers the truths sometimes only reveal themselves after you’ve moved into that level of subtle knowledge which is challenging as texts like this are supposed to be guides. As we gain more teachers who can speak from such subtle levels, however, this book will return to its rightful place amongst the great spiritual texts of the world’s living and breathing spiritual traditions.
September 25, 2023
This is the most poetic rendition of The Egyptian Book of the Dead I've read! That much research, pondering, and consideration went into the translation of it is obvious. You can tell Normandi Ellis "lived" this book. So beautiful and meditative. I love her choice of words!
Want to read
June 28, 2023Woo Excited to have won a coy of this one!
September 15, 2023
I won this book on goodreads giveaways. It was a good book but not my genre i usually read.
August 31, 2024
A well written abd researched text, that ‘decodes’ the spiritual richness of Ancient Egyptian faith, without losing sight of the human nature of Egyptian spirituality. A true treasure of a book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews