ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE

The theme of the newborn savior being signaled by a star and approached by three ―kings‖ or dignitaries
has multiple mythological meanings, the prominent astrotheological one of which is summarized by
Barbara G. Walker:
Osiris‘s coming was announced by Three Wise Men: the three stars Mintaka, Anilam, and Alnitak
in the belt of Orion, which point directly to Osiris‘s star in the east, Sirius (Sothis), significator of
his birth. 59
Star in the East: To understand the ―Star in the East,‖ one first needs to recognize the significance of the
star Sirius or Sothis, as it is called in Greek. In the words of Dr. Allen:
Sothis (spdt ―Sharp‖). The morning star, Sirius, seen by the Egyptians as a goddess. In Egypt the
star disappears below the horizon once a year for a period of some seventy days; its
reappearance in midsummer marked the beginning of the annual inundation and the Egyptian
year. The star‘s rising was also seen as a harbinger of the sunrise and therefore associated with
Horus in his solar aspect, occasionally specified as Horus in Sothis (hrw jmj spdt), Sothic Horus
(hrw spdtj), or Sharp Horus (hrw spd). 60
The importance to the Egyptians of Sirius/Sothis, as well as the constellation of Orion, is further explained
by Welsh professor Dr. John Gwyn Griffiths:
...Sothis was the harbinger of the annual inundation of the Nile through her appearance with the
rising sun at the time when the inundation was due to begin. The bright star would therefore
naturally become, together with the conjoined constellation of Orion, the sign and symbol of new
vegetation which the Year then beginning would infallibly bring with it…. 61
The above birth sequence with Sirius refers not to the winter solstice (as will be discussed later) but to the
summer solstice, signaling the births of Osiris as the Nile inundation and of Horus the Elder, as well as
the Child who is the daily newborn sun. In winter, the ―Three Kings‖ in the belt of Orion pointed to Sirius at
night before the annual birth of the sun, which is also Horus, as the Child.
Three Kings: Again, the ―Three Kings‖ are the stars in Orion‘s belt: ―Mintaka,‖ ―Anilam‖ and ―Alnitak.‖
These stars, along with Sirius, are tied to the cycles of death and rebirth. In the ancient texts, Osiris is
often identified with Orion and these stars. (Remember, Osiris and Horus overlap and can sometimes be
considered one entity in certain contexts.) As Murdock states, "So interchangeable are Osiris and Horus
that there is even a hybrid god Osiris-Horus or Asar-Heru." 62
Hieroglyph for Osiris-Horus
(Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, I, 87)
In the ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (PT 442:819c-822b/P38 63 ) it reads:
―Look, he is come as Orion,‖ (they say). ―Look, Osiris is come as Orion...‖
The sky shall conceive you with Orion, the morning-star shall give you birth with Orion. Live! Live,
as the gods have commanded you live.
With Orion in the eastern arm of the sky shall you go up, with Orion in the western arm of the sky
shall you go down. Sothis, whose places are clean, is the third of you two: she is the one who will
lead you... 64
59 Walker, B., WEMS, 749.
60 Allen, J., 441.
61 Griffiths, OOHC, 157.
62 Murdock, CIE, 56.
63 This numbering method is after that devised by D.M. Murdock in Christ in Egypt. (See Murdock, CIE, p. 36,
footnote 6.)