This page
begins to focus on the deeper meanings of the allegories of Set.
The historical background of Set's battles with his brother
Osiris would appear to be based on political reality and expediency. As Set
was originally depicted as a benign God, his conversion into the embodiment
of evil would neccessarily have a factual basis. This would seem to be tied
to the 1st Dynasty pharaoh Menes's unification of Upper & Lower Egypt. The
followers of Set, doubtless concerned at the loss of their pre-eminent place
as devotees of the Lord of Upper Egypt, resisted the unification, thus marking
themselves as rebels and, in the context of the times, "evil". From this point,
the downfall of Set was a forgone conclusion.
As a result of this "fall from Grace",
Set had to be shown as the enemy of Ra, the life-giving sun, in spite of the
fact that He was acknowledged as protecting the solar God during his nightly
journey through the underworld. This is undoubtably the reason behind Set
being blamed for eclipses and the like.
Why
would Set be named as the patron God of shapeshifters? My opinion is that it
is a simple way to explain a difficult concept: the distinct personality changes
that occur when one integrates all the facets of his personality. Remember
that psychology as it is understood today was an unknown concept for the vast
majority of people in those times. To the average person, the initiate literally
became a new being. He became the God. He became a wild animal.
He came into being.
Further
food for thought about how evil Set actually was can be found in the part of
the Sethian legend where His wife Nepthys turned against Set to aid Isis in
her attempt to ressurect Osiris. Nepthys, represented as a woman in a vulture
head-dress, and occasionally as a vulture itself, was the Egyptian Goddess of
death and decay. If death or rot symbolically turned its back on Set, the implication
is that He cannot be as evil as later generations have attempted to paint him.
