Practically throughout the Book of the Dead, the expression "dead king" should not be taken literally. "Dead" here means having left the left the body, performing an "astral" journey.

When the Egyptian Book of the Dead refers to the dead it means just such people, who have entered a trance so deep that it can easily be compared with death: their bodies are immobile and lifeless and their souls are away in another world. What is being described is the initiation ritual.

The most ancient of the sacred Egyptian texts, "RAU NU PERT EM HRU" - the Book of the Dead, is in its present form a mixture of works of the most varied kind, which speak of the dead and of the pseudo-dead (initiates) and the resultant confusion is inevitable. The fact that in its most ancient, genuine, undistorted form this book told of those very rites is in part demonstrated by the following passage: "This book is about the greatest of mysteries. May the gaze of not a single (uninitiated) person fall upon it - that would be bad for it. Keep its existence a secret. The Book of the Teacher of the Secret Temple is its name."

This Book is indeed a veritable mystery. Let no stranger anywhere have knowledge of it. Do not speak about it to any man. Do not repeat it. Let no [other] eye see it. Let no [other] ear hear it. Let no one see it except [thyself] and him who taught [it to thee]. Let not the multitude [know of it] (Budge's translation)

More over the deceased (in reality the initiated) in the Book of the Dead constantly prefixes his own name with that of Osiris. In the earliest versions of this ancient text, the deceased says of himself: "I am Osiris. I have moved forward, as have you. I live as the gods live!". This confirms the truth of the interpretation of the mythical death of Osiris as an initiation by passing through a comatose state that outwardly resembles death.

Вот что говорит Жан Леклан, расшифровавший тексты пирамид, объясняя их назначение:

":Тексты, найденные в пирамидах, подтверждают, что есть формула, которую можно найти во всех пирамидах. Это основной текст, который повторяется во всех пирамидах в определенном месте. Он звучит так: "О ФАРАОН, ТЫ НЕ УШЕЛ МЕРТВЫМ, ТЫ УШЕЛ ЖИВЫМ".

Назначение этого удивительного сооружения - пирамиды - объясняется одной этой фразой, выгравированной на внутренней стене камеры, вблизи саркофага. Пирамида призвана обеспечить царю вхождение в вечность. Вхождение живое, потому что он (фараон) ушел живым:"

"Пирамида - это сооружение, которое может доставить фараона в обитель богов":.

Тексты пирамид содержат такие слова:

"Для него воздвигнута лестница на небеса, дабы он мог по ней подняться на небо".

I am Osiris. I have moved forward, as have you. I live as the Gods live. The meaning of our life is to die before we die.

To die means to let go of the ego. Thus we become Osiris.