Editing Dying-and-rising god (section)

==Development==
The term "dying god" is associated with the works of [[James Frazer]],<ref name="Miles 2009, 193"/> [[Jane Ellen Harrison]], and their fellow [[Cambridge Ritualists]].<ref>Ackerman 2002, 163, lists divine kingship, taboo, and the dying god as "key concepts" of not only Frazer, but Harrison and others of the ritualist school, in contrast to differences among these scholars.</ref> At the end of the 19th century, in their ''[[The Golden Bough]]''<ref name="Miles 2009, 193"/> and ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'', Frazer and Harrison argued that all myths are echoes of rituals, and that all rituals have as their primordial purpose the manipulation of natural phenomena.<ref name="Miles 2009, 193"/>

[[File:Osiris-nepra.jpg|thumb|The [[Osiris]]-bed is where he renews the harvest cycle in Egypt.]]
Early in the 20th century, [[Gerald Massey]] argued that there are similarities between the Egyptian dying-and-rising god myths and Jesus,<ref>{{cite book | last = Massey | first = Gerald | author-link = Gerald Massey | title = Ancient Egypt, the light of the world | publisher = T. Fisher Unwin | year = 1907 | location = London | pages = 728–914 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=t00XAAAAYAAJ&q=Ancient+Egypt:+The+Light+of+the+World | isbn = 978-1-4588-1251-3 }}</ref> but Massey's factual errors often render his works mistaken. For example, Massey stated that the biblical references to [[Herod the Great]] were based on the myth of "Herrut" the evil [[Lernaean Hydra|hydra]] serpent. However, the existence of Herod the Great is well established independently of Christian sources.<ref name=Porter18>''Unmasking the Pagan Christ'' by Stanley E. Porter and Stephen J. Bedard 2006 {{ISBN|1894667719}} page 18</ref>

The Swiss [[psychoanalyst]] [[Carl Jung]] argued that [[archetype|archetypal]] processes such as death and [[resurrection]] were part of the "trans-personal symbolism" of the [[collective unconscious]], and could be utilized in the task of psychological integration.<ref name="Crowley 2000">{{Cite book |last=Crowley |first=Vivianne |title=Jung: A Journey of Transformation:Exploring His Life and Experiencing His Ideas |year=2000 |publisher=Quest Books |location=Wheaton Illinois |isbn=978-0-8356-0782-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/jung00vivi }}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2012}} He also proposed that the [[myths]] of the [[pagan]] gods who symbolically died and resurrected foreshadowed [[Christ]]'s literal/physical death and resurrection.<ref name="Crowley 2000"/>{{Page needed|date=December 2012}} The overall view of Jung regarding religious themes and stories is that they are expressions of events occurring in the unconscious of the individuals – regardless of their historicity.<ref name=Tim287/> From the symbolic perspective, Jung sees dying and rising gods as an [[archetype|archetypal]] process resonating with the [[collective unconscious]] through which the rising god becomes the greater personality in the [[Self in Jungian psychology|Jungian self]].<ref name=Bailey/> In Jung's view, a biblical story such as the [[resurrection of Jesus]] (which he saw as a case of dying and rising) may be true or not, but that has no relevance to the psychological analysis of the process, and its impact.<ref name=Tim287>''Care for the Soul: Exploring the Intersection of Psychology and Theology'' by Mark R. McMinn and Timothy R. Phillips (April 25, 2001) {{ISBN|0830815538}} Intervarsity page 287</ref>

[[File:Bronze figurine of Egyptian god Osiris.jpg|thumb|upright|Bronze figurine of [[Osiris]]]]
The analysis of [[Osiris]] permeates the later religious psychology of Carl Jung more than any other element.<ref name=Sauder>Alane Sauder-MacGuire, "Osiris and the Egyptian Religion" in the ''Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion'' by David A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden and Stanton Marlan (November 6, 2009) {{ISBN|038771801X}} Springer, pages 651-653</ref> In 1950 Jung wrote that those who partake in the [[Osiris myth]] festival and follow the ritual of his death and the scattering of his body to restart the vegetation cycle as a rebirth "experience the permanence and continuity of life which outlasts all changes of form".<ref>''The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious'' (Collected Works of C. G. Jung Vol. 9 Part 1) by C. G. Jung and R. F. C. Hull (August 1, 1981) {{ISBN|0691018332}} page 117</ref> Jung wrote that Osiris provided the key example of the rebirth process in that initially only the [[Pharaoh]]s "had an Osiris" but later other Egyptians nobles acquired it and eventually it led in the concept of [[soul]] for all individuals in Christianity.<ref>''The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious'' (Collected Works of C. G. Jung Vol. 9 Part 1) by C. G. Jung and R. F. C. Hull (August 1, 1981) {{ISBN|0691018332}} page 128</ref> Jung believed that Christianity itself derived its significance from the archetypal relationship between Osiris and Horus versus [[God the Father]] and Jesus, his son.<ref name=Sauder/> However, Jung also postulated that the rebirth applied to Osiris (the father), and not Horus, the son.<ref name=Sauder/>

The general applicability of the death and resurrection of Osiris to the dying-and-rising-god analogy has been criticized, on the grounds that it derived from the harvesting rituals that related the rising and receding waters of the [[Nile river]] and the farming cycle.<ref name=Porter24>''Unmasking the Pagan Christ'' by Stanley E. Porter and Stephen J. Bedard 2006 {{ISBN|1894667719}} page 24</ref><ref name=Pinch>''Egyptian Mythology, a Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt'' by Geraldine Pinch 2004 {{ISBN|0195170245}} Oxford University Press page 91</ref><ref>''New Testament tools and studies'', Bruce Manning Metzger, p. 19, Brill Archive, 1960</ref> The cutting down of barley and wheat was related to the death of Osiris, and the sprouting of shoots was thought to be based on the power of Osiris to resurrect the farmland.<ref name=Porter24/><ref name=Pinch/><ref name=Bunson290>''Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'' by Margaret Bunson 1999 {{ISBN|0517203804}} page 290</ref> In general rebirth analogies based on the vegetation cycle are viewed as the weakest elements in the death-rebirth analogies.<ref name=Bailey/>

In [[Greek mythology]], [[Dionysus]], the son of [[Zeus]], was a horned child who was torn to pieces by [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]]s who lured him with toys, then boiled and ate him.<ref name=Kiki71/><ref name=Anton/> Zeus then destroyed the Titans by thunderbolt as a result of their action against Dionysus and from the ashes humans were formed.<ref name=Anton/> However, Dionysus' grandmother [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] managed to put some of his pieces back together (principally from his heart that was spared) and brought him back to life. In other [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic]] tales, [[Zagreus]] is depicted as the son of [[Hades]] and [[Persephone]], and is the god of [[resurrection|rebirth]].<ref name=Kiki71>''Euripides and Alcestis'' by Kiki Gounaridou (September 3, 1998) University Press of America {{ISBN|0761812318}} page 71</ref><ref name=Anton>''The Greek World'' by Anton Powell (September 28, 1997) {{ISBN|0415170427}} page 494</ref> Scholars such as [[Barry B. Powell|Barry Powell]] have suggested Dionysus as an example of resurrection.<ref name=Barry105>''A Short Introduction to Classical Myth'' by Barry B. Powell (January 2002) {{ISBN|0130258393}} pages 105–107</ref>

The oldest known example of the "dying god rising myth" is the Sumerian myth of [[Inanna]]'s Descent to the Underworld. The Sumerian goddess Inanna travels to the [[Underworld]] to see her sister [[Ereshkigal]]. While there, she is "struck down" and turns into a corpse. For three days and three nights, Inanna is dead, until she is resurrected with the help of her father, [[Enki]], who sends the two [[gallu|galla]] to bring her back. The galla serve Inanna food and water and bring her back to life.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mark|first=Joshua J.|date=February 23, 2011|title=Inanna's Descent: A Sumerian Tale of Injustice|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/215/inannas-descent-a-sumerian-tale-of-injustice/|access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref>