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Scene
Thirty-Three:
Time
for Isis to Get
With the Program
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ISIS, MA'AT, NEPHTHYS, HORUS, THOTH and ANUBIS are
assembled in a room in the palace as before, with
the winter night sky above the Space, and a stationary
KHU of SET in the center.
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| HORUS:
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Listen! The virtue of the Dog is that he's not only intelligent and brave. He's also
loyal, determined and
devoted, which are crucial in making alliances. Do you
think I will face Set without allies? Without
the help of others here?
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| ISIS:
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(After a deep
inhalation:) Please go on.
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| HORUS:
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It is time to talk about some of the realities
of statecraft in what is still the mortal realm. Lady Nephthys--
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| NEPHTHYS:
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No.
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| HORUS:
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My question, and will you agree that this question
does not count as the crucial one?
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| NEPHTHYS:
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Yes. Go on.
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| HORUS:
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Have you agreed to yield me one
secret when I most need it?
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| NEPHTHYS:
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Yes.
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| ISIS:
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What? Is
this true?
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| MA'AT:
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It is true. It is also true that I have
agreed to appear if Horus invokes me.
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| ISIS:
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I see. While
I tend to the river, the herbs,
and the wombs of the women, I do not see that my family
has become a war industry. Oh, my Lord Osiris,
I have the most pining sensation of the world colder and dryer
than it was, and never again, though its colors and sounds will
still be vibrant and gorgeous, never again a place where life will
simply surge and teem her way to survival. If I had known how
long from now we will have to work just to keep the world alive,
would I have come here? So, Thoth, what are you now? Minister of Munitions? Chief Inspector?
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| THOTH:
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My library stands ready as part of the nation's
arsenal, your Majesty.
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| ISIS:
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Oh, please.
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| THOTH:
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I am
not joking. Nothing is faster than thought. If I
am needed, I will fly around Set
fast enough to make him dizzy, then hit him in the eye with
a mudball.
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| ISIS:
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Even you.
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| THOTH:
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And if needed, even you too.
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| ISIS:
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Never.
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THOTH:
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When will you unite
with the design? Do you honestly think it is your role merely
to tell everyone else they must not fight when the Black Land
is in danger? Please look ahead. Do you want to lose the rain,
so that all our water comes only from the River? Then sit aside
and do not join us. Let Set crackle your country into dust.
Either join with us, or . . . I have not the authority to say
this.
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| HORUS:
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Get out of the way.
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| ISIS:
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You dare--
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| HORUS:
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Of
course I dare. I am your son. You
know the reality. The force of Destruction is always naturally
united for the deadliest result, while
the forces of Creation always naturally divide. To defeat Set,
we will have to unite against him.
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| THOTH:
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You've been tenacious enough, your Majesty.
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| ISIS:
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How may I contribute?
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| HORUS:
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I won't ask for your most disarming fragrance.
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| ISIS:
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Thank you for that. Using the oil I prepared to
entice Osiris into our next dance of love to turn Set's nose--oh,
forgive the thought, my love.
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HORUS:
We use what we have. I ask the help of all Neters, (To
CELEBRANTS:) and, beloved friends, while it is not yet
time to ask for your
help, believe me, we have not forgotten you. If we pause to explain, we rob you of what
you might see from watching a war council, maybe for your
first time. I haven't yet asked you to join us against Set because unless you have a firm
intention held here in your love center, you haven't got a chance
against him. He'll
scatter you like straw. For your own safety, only
those who hold intention with us will join with us against
Set. (To ISIS:) Your Majesty, your best position will be at Set's back. He
won't stay in one
spot long enough for you to aim eight full breaths of love at
his heart (SET KHU rotates rapidly), and once he
feels the love ray on him, he'll keep turning. It's a long shot--but
if he knows that you're back there ready to swing him with all
the love of Isis, then we give him one more thing to think about.
Can you make some herbal love smoke?
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ISIS:
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I've never made an incense weapon before.
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HORUS:
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Then he won't expect it. I look forward as you
do to the time when we look at the
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Map of Light in peace again,
and see its riches clear in a quiet time, especially the Seven
Sisters, here in the heart of the Cow, from where they inform
all creation with wisdom when the Kingdom is at Peace.
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| HORUS:
After a time
the world will be better than it was (To CELEBRANTS:), thanks
to you good people who thought
you came here only to watch a play. If we'd told you before we began
that you'd have to join a battle against the God of Destruction
himself, how many of you would have left then and there? You
will soon have three choices. One is the same one you've always
had, to leave at any time, get your money back, thank you, please
go lightly, in full respect for Mother Earth. Or you may join
the battle with us, but only when I ask for your help. Or you
may watch from a safe place. One way or another, you must do
something. That is the Law.. To fight, to seek shelter, to play, to
reject, to retreat, all of these are appropriate choices. In
this Play of Freedom all of them are available to you. What
will each one gain you, and cost you?
I have no wish to frighten you. That's for Set to try.
I only report what I see as I soar over this Kingdom, the red
earth and the bones, the endless dust on the green crops,
covering orchids and lotuses as the black land shrinks,
until it is a memory alongside a river that already runs low.
In summer, when the Dog's Eye Sothis comes up in the east just
before the Sun, will the flood come again in red water, only
this time with no green water following to bring our land to
life again? The Earth is in danger. This is no fiction.
Please think about what you will do. I will fight. That
is the role and the rumble given to me by the ancient ones who
see the wave and the weave, the unfolding of all things.
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