Prayers to Osiris for Rebirth, Justice and the Dead

Osiris was prayed to for thousands of years before most of the spiritual traditions practiced today even existed.

Ancient Egyptian hymns address him as Lord of Eternity, ruler of the dead, king and judge, while funerary texts call upon him for safe passage, justification and continued life beyond death.

His connection with vegetation and the fertility of the Nile also made him a god of regeneration in a very literal sense: what dies returns and produces life again.

Those are the aspects of Osiris I would keep in mind when praying to him today.

I would approach Osiris when something has ended and needs to be rebuilt, when justice or vindication is required, or when working with the dead. He can also be approached for stability and material growth through his agricultural aspect, although I would not reduce him to a generic prosperity god.

The first two prayers below are modernized adaptations of genuine Egyptian hymns and funerary prayers. I have rewritten them into more natural English so they can actually be used in practice, rather than simply reproduced as nineteenth-century translations. The remaining prayers are my own and are written for specific forms of work with Osiris.

They can be spoken alone, recited before an image or statue of Osiris, or used while presenting offerings. They can also be incorporated into a larger ritual when a simple prayer is not enough.

1. Ancient Prayer of Praise to Osiris

The Papyrus of Ani contains a substantial hymn and litany to Osiris. The surviving text praises him as Lord of Eternity and ruler of the hidden world, then asks him to grant the deceased a peaceful road through the afterlife.

The prayer below is my shortened and modernized adaptation of that material rather than a word-for-word translation.

Prayer

Praise to you, Osiris, Lord of Eternity and ruler of the West.

Great King whose forms are many, whose name endures among gods and men, I honor you.

You rule the hidden land and receive those who have crossed beyond the world of the living. Before you the dead rise, and through your power they are given breath again.

Isis stands beside you and clears the road before you. The righteous approach your throne without fear.

Osiris, Wennefer, Lord of everlasting life, open a peaceful road before me.

Let falsehood fall away from my path and let no deception stand against me.

May I walk in truth and arrive safely wherever fate carries me.

Let my spirit remain strong in this world and beyond it.

I give praise to you, Osiris, King of Eternity.

This is the prayer I would use when the objective is primarily contact with Osiris himself rather than asking for one narrow result. It works well as an opening prayer before an offering or longer ritual.

Bread, beer or wine can be placed before his image while the prayer is spoken. Incense also works well if the prayer is being used to begin a longer period of meditation or spirit contact.

2. Ancient Prayer to Osiris for Rebirth and a New Life

One of the greatest surviving hymns to Osiris is preserved on the eighteenth-dynasty Stela of Amenmose. The Great Hymn to Osiris has been translated and published by the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, along with other important Egyptian hymns and prayers.

The hymn praises Osiris as ruler, provider and conqueror of death, while its petitions revolve around continued life, divine favor and freedom from obstruction. The original is much longer than what follows, so I have adapted its central ideas into a prayer that can actually be used in personal work.

Prayer

Osiris, son of Nut, Lord of Eternity,

you who were struck down and yet rose again in power, hear me.

What was broken in you was restored. What seemed finished became the beginning of another form of life.

Let the same law of renewal work through me.

Take what has ended and let something stronger grow from it.

Where my road has been closed, remove the obstruction. Where my strength has failed, restore it.

Let the life that remains in me overcome what has already died.

May I rise from this period with greater strength, clearer purpose and a future that is not chained to what came before.

Osiris Wennefer, the Good Being, renew what can still live.

Let me rise again.

This is the prayer I would use after a serious setback, the collapse of an important plan, the end of a relationship or a period where life seems to have become stagnant.

Osiris is particularly appropriate here because his mythology is not about avoiding destruction. He is destroyed and nevertheless continues in another form.

That makes him useful when the old situation cannot simply be restored exactly as it was.

Sometimes the real magical objective is not getting the old life back. It is making sure the next one is better.

3. Prayer to Osiris for Justice and Vindication

Osiris was one of the central figures connected with judgment in Egyptian religion. In the funerary tradition, the deceased comes before the divine tribunal and seeks to be found justified, or true of voice. The concern is not merely punishment. It is the establishment of truth when a person’s actions are weighed and judged.

I would therefore consider Osiris when the problem involves an accusation, dispute or situation where someone’s judgment of you can materially affect your life.

Prayer

Osiris, Great Judge and Lord of the Hall of Truth,

I come before you asking that what is true be made clear.

Let lies lose their strength and let deception fail before those who must judge this matter.

Give weight to the facts that favor me and bring hidden truth into the open.

Where another has spoken falsely against me, let the weakness in their words become visible.

Where I have acted justly, let that justice be recognized.

Turn the minds of those who hold authority toward a fair judgment.

Let prejudice and confusion fall away so that this matter can be seen for what it actually is.

Osiris, you who preside over judgment, place truth on the scales.

Let me be vindicated where I am in the right, and let the final decision reflect what is just.

This prayer can be useful before legal proceedings, disputes with institutions or any situation where an authority has to decide between conflicting accounts.

I would not use it as a substitute for legal preparation or evidence. The magical objective is to make the circumstances around judgment move more favorably: the right fact is noticed, an opposing argument loses credibility, somebody in authority becomes more receptive, or information that changes the situation comes to light.

4. Prayer to Osiris for the Dead and Ancestors

Osiris became so closely connected with the Egyptian dead that the deceased themselves were commonly identified with him in funerary texts. The Egyptian Book of the Dead contains numerous prayers and formulae concerned with entering the realm of Osiris, favorable judgment and continued existence after death.

For that reason, he is one of the spirits I would consider when praying for someone who has died or when beginning ancestor work.

Prayer

Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, King of those who have passed beyond life,

I ask you to receive and protect the spirit of [name].

Let the roads of the hidden world open before them.

Keep harmful spirits and confusion away from their path, and let them find the place where they belong.

May those who came before them recognize them.

May they receive rest where rest is needed and strength where strength is required.

Preserve what is worthy in their spirit and let their memory remain alive among those who still speak their name.

If they have words for the living, allow those words to reach us clearly and without deception.

Osiris, Lord of the Dead, keep them under your authority and bring them safely through the mysteries beyond this life.

May they be at peace in your kingdom.

I would speak the person’s name aloud rather than using an impersonal formula.

A photograph can be placed near the image of Osiris, although I would keep the two distinct rather than treating the deceased as an offering to him. Bread, water, incense or something the person enjoyed during life can be given separately in their memory.

This prayer can also be adapted for more general ancestor work by replacing the individual name with your family line or ancestors.

5. Prayer to Osiris for Growth, Fertility and Prosperity

Osiris was not only a ruler of the dead. His mythology became deeply connected with vegetation, agriculture and the renewal of the land. Egyptian tradition linked him with grain, while later ritual imagery sometimes represented his body with earth and sprouting seeds.

This is one reason I think prosperity work with Osiris is legitimate, but it should be understood differently from working with a spirit whose entire office centers on wealth.

Osiris is better suited to growth from a sound foundation.

Prayer

Osiris, Green Lord whose life rises again from the earth,

turn your power of growth toward the work that sustains me.

Let what I plant produce more than what I began with.

Bring strength to my livelihood and fertility to the projects that deserve to grow.

Where my efforts have remained barren, change the conditions around them.

Let resources come at the time they are needed and let good work produce a worthwhile return.

Keep waste and decay away from what I build.

Give endurance to the sources of income and support already present in my life, and open the way for new growth where the ground is fertile.

Osiris, as seed disappears beneath the earth and returns multiplied, let my labor return to me with increase.

May what is worth preserving continue to grow.

This is not the prayer I would use if somebody simply wanted a sudden lottery-style windfall.

It makes much more sense for a business, career, long-term source of income, land, investment in something productive or any situation where the objective is fertility and increase rather than money appearing from nowhere.

A small amount of grain or bread is particularly appropriate as an offering when using this prayer.

6. Prayer to Osiris for Stability After Chaos

The Djed pillar became one of the most important symbols associated with Osiris and represented stability and enduring strength. The raising of the Djed was connected with the restoration and triumph of Osiris.

I would use that aspect when life has become unstable and the immediate objective is not dramatic transformation but getting things back under control.

Prayer

Osiris, Lord of the Djed, establish what has become unstable.

Let what is collapsing around me find firm ground again.

Strengthen the parts of my life that should remain and remove what cannot be made sound.

Bring order where events have become confused.

Let my home, work and material affairs become steady enough that I can move forward without constantly repairing another crisis behind me.

Give me the endurance to remain standing while circumstances change around me.

Where others attempt to unsettle me, let their pressure fail.

Where chance and disorder have disturbed my plans, restore a structure I can rely upon.

Osiris, whose pillar stands upright again after destruction, establish stability in my life.

Let what should endure remain standing.

I particularly like this prayer for the period after a crisis.

There are spirits I would call during open conflict or when something needs to be broken quickly. Osiris is more interesting when the destruction has already happened and the question becomes what can be restored afterward.

The aim is not merely surviving chaos.

It is returning to a position where life has structure again.

How I Use Prayers to Osiris

You do not need an elaborate temple setup simply to pray to Osiris.

I would place an image or statue of him somewhere undisturbed and light incense before it. A glass of clean water, bread, grain, beer or wine can be presented as an offering depending upon the nature of the prayer.

Then speak the prayer aloud.

I prefer saying it slowly enough that the words still mean something rather than racing through a memorized text. If one section is especially relevant to your situation, pause there and explain the matter to Osiris in your own words afterward.

Historical Egyptian prayers often praise the deity before presenting the request, and I think that remains a useful structure. You establish who you are addressing and why that particular power is relevant before asking for anything.

If you intend to use the same prayer repeatedly, doing so at the same altar can gradually make the place itself easier to enter into the right state of mind.

Historical Osiris Prayers

There is no shortage of genuine historical material connected with Osiris.

The Papyrus of Ani preserves an extensive hymn and litany in his honor, while the Stela of Amenmose preserves the Great Hymn to Osiris. Numerous Egyptian funerary texts also address Osiris directly or ask for favorable judgment and continued existence within his realm.

Older English translations can sound strange to a modern reader because they preserve nineteenth-century vocabulary and transliteration conventions. I do not think there is much benefit in pretending that repeating archaic English makes a prayer more authentically Egyptian.

If I use a historical hymn in practice, I prefer either a reliable modern translation or an adaptation that keeps the actual theology of the source intact.

That is what I have done with the first two prayers on this page.

Which Osiris Prayer Should You Use?

Choose according to the actual problem.

If you primarily want to establish contact with Osiris, start with the first prayer of praise. If something important in your life has ended and you need to rebuild, use the prayer for rebirth. For disputes and situations involving judgment, I would use the justice prayer.

The prayer for the dead is intended for deceased people and ancestor work, while the growth prayer fits situations where something needs to become more fertile and productive. The final prayer is for recovering stability after disorder.

There is nothing wrong with altering one of these prayers to fit your situation more precisely.

Keep the part that addresses Osiris and his relevant power, then state the request in language that actually describes what you need.

Prayer or Ritual?

Prayer is one of the simplest ways to begin working with Osiris.

It can also be enough when the request is relatively straightforward or when the intention is devotional rather than results-focused.

For larger objectives, I prefer a complete ritual because it gives the magician more ways to establish contact and direct the work. My guide to working with Osiris, including his powers, offerings and rituals goes into that side of the practice in greater detail.

The two approaches are not in conflict.

A prayer can open a ritual, accompany an offering or become the moment during the ceremony when the request is formally presented.

When I perform an Osiris working professionally through my Ritual for Hire service, I build the operation around the actual objective rather than reciting one general prayer regardless of the situation. Work involving a deceased person is not constructed in the same way as a ritual for justice, and a regeneration working after a major loss requires another approach again.

Final Thoughts

Osiris is sometimes reduced to the simple label “Egyptian god of the dead,” but that misses much of what made him so important.

Death is only half of his story.

The other half is what comes afterward.

Something is broken and restored. The dead are given another form of life. Grain disappears into the earth and grows again. A person comes before judgment and hopes to emerge justified.

That is the current running through most of the prayers on this page.

I would work with Osiris when something important has reached an ending but should not simply disappear with it. Sometimes the desired result is renewal. In other cases it is justice, preservation or making sure that what has value survives a period of destruction.

Those are much better reasons to call upon Osiris than simply treating him as another deity who can be asked for anything.