Egyptian Goddess Isis
She who is Great of Magic. Goddess of 10,000 Names. Au Set. IO Sothis. Ruler of Cities. The One Who Listens. Saviour of Men. Mistress of All the Gods. Lady of Life. Mother of All Nature. Queen of Souls. Second Sun. She Who Commands Life. Sovereign of the Palace. Isis Mystagogos (Isis Who Initiates into the Mysteries). Isis Potana (Winged Isis). As an all-encompassing Goddess, Isis inspires the greatest height of love and devotion from Her worshippers. ~ Kimberly Moore, 52 Goddesses
Isis is a much beloved Goddess whose worship began in Egypt, but spread to many distant lands, even to the banks of the Thames in what was, at the time, the Roman city of London. Her cults, like Her names, were varied and widespread - extending into the Hellenistic world and Roman Empire and lasting for thousands of years. The Temple of Isis at Philae in Southern Egypt was one of the last of the great Pagan temples to close about 1500 years ago. It is possible that Isis worship was the greatest of all Pagan deities in recorded history. Isis is an ancient Goddess and She is spoken of in the Pyramid Texts which are some of the oldest known religious texts in the world. The oldest of the Pyramid texts have been dated to between 2400-2300 BCE. As Her cult developed, She absorbed attributes of many other Goddesses.
Sirius (the Dog Star) was known as Soped or Sothis in the ancient world, the brightest stationary star in the night sky and it was this star that was attributed to Isis. When Sirius emerged from behind the Sun in the middle of summer, it heralded the Egyptian New Year and the first rising waters and eventual inundation of the Nile. In the agricultural calendar and the experience of the Egyptians, this inundation of the Nile brought life back to the desert; it resurrected them from near-death.
Isis came bathed in stars. As a star Goddess, Isis is the star Sirius, called Sothis and Sopdet in ancient days. The heliacal rising of Sirius occurs in midsummer (approximately July 20 in modern day Egypt) and heralds the inundation of the Nile, the return of new life and fertility to the land – Isis rising and restoring life to her people. Approximately 70 days before the rising, Sirius disappears from the sky. Isis hides her face and turns inward to focus on gathering her energies for birth, new life, and the annual inundation. From the moment that I drew her card from the Goddess box, she was whispering stories and promises of the sanctuary of her cosmic womb, the deep nourishment of her Akashic body, and the creative potential of her Self as void. Steeped in tears of joy and sorrow, Isis brings us reminders of the profound gifts that are available to us within the cycle of life. She invites us to be in each moment, especially the difficult ones, because it is in that being-ness that we celebrate what it is to be human made in the image of the Gods. Our personal myths are echoes of divine stories written individually on each of our souls. By uniting with Goddess, with Isis, she breathes remembrance into us, uniting sacred and mundane, past and present, source and soul. ~ Kimberly Moore, 52 Goddesses
O Isis, Beautiful in All Thy Names,
I call Thee with the breath of my body,
I call Thee with the beat of my heart,
I call Thee with the pulse of my life,
I call Thee with the words of my mouth,
I call Thee with the thoughts of my mind.
I call Thee Power and Life and Creation.
I call Thee, Isis, Isis, Isis!
~ M. Isidora Forrest
Her most ancient role was documented in the Pyramid Texts and it was that of Mother to Horus. It is much later that She and Osiris are associated as husband and wife. Does this indicate Her parthenogenic abilities, which were later documented as Isis conceiving Horus from a fashioned gold phallus that was attached to the resurrected Osiris? In later texts, Isis is impregnated by a flash of lightning and She "wakes pregnant with the seed of her brother Osiris" in Her womb.
Interestingly, the above image was "recreated" with the rise of Christianity with the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus on Her lap - another testament to the power and influence of the Isis cults. In the Pyramid Texts, the milk of Isis is an essential ingredient in the resuscitation of the deceased. When Isis and Her sister Nephthys are gathered to resurrect their brother, (and Isis' husband) Osiris, they are both described as suckling Osiris to bring Him back to life.Isis is also known as a great healer. She is credited with the power of speech. Her presence is required in funerary rites but also in the land of the living as a Sustainer, Protectress, and Saviour. Maternal, clever, healing, great of magic, Isis' presence in ancient texts and Her survival to present day tell the story of how beloved She truly was. The universality of Her appeal is also reflected by Her acceptance outside of Egypt and presence in many foreign lands.For those that are called into a love affair and devotion with Isis, who are drawn to Her great capacity for nurturing and protection, I encourage you to explore our resources.
No one comes away untouched by this ancient and yet palpable Goddess.
Blessings, Kimberly
Books on the Goddess ISIS
:Isis Magic by M. Isidora Forrest (highly recommended)
Offering to Isis by M. Isidora Forrest
Mysteries of Isis by DeTraci Regula
Dreams of Isis by Normandi Ellis
Awakening Osiris by Normandi Ellis
Feasts of Light by Normandi Ellis (highly recommended)
The Great Goddesses of Egypt by Barbara Lesko
The Passion of Isis and Osiris by Jean Houston
Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass) by Apuleis
This narrative is from Apuleius - The Golden Ass (c. 155 ce), the only Roman novel surviving to modern day. Apuleius offers up a prayer to Isis and then She appears and speaks to him:
‘Behold, Lucius, here I am, moved by your prayer, I, mother of all Nature and mistress of the elements, first-born of the ages and greatest of powers divine, queen of the dead, and queen of the immortals, all gods and goddesses in a single form; who with a gesture commands heaven’s glittering summit, the wholesome ocean breezes, the underworld’s mournful silence; whose sole divinity is worshipped in differing forms, with varying rites, under many names, by all the world. There, at Pessinus, the Phrygians, first-born of men, call me Cybele, Mother of the Gods; in Attica, a people sprung from their own soil name me Cecropian Minerva; in sea-girt Cyprus I am Paphian Venus; Dictynna-Diana to the Cretan archers; Stygian Proserpine to the three-tongued Sicilians; at Eleusis, ancient Ceres; Juno to some, to others Bellona, Hecate, Rhamnusia; while the races of both Ethiopias, first to be lit at dawn by the risen Sun’s divine rays, and the Egyptians too, deep in arcane lore, worship me with my own rites, and call me by my true name, royal Isis. I am here in pity for your misfortunes, I am here as friend and helper. Weep no more, end your lamentations. Banish sorrow. With my aid, your day of salvation is at hand. So listen carefully to my commands.From time immemorial the day born of this night has been dedicated to my rites: on this coming day the winter storms cease, the ocean’s stormy waves grow calm, and my priests launch an untried vessel on the now navigable waters, and dedicate it to me as the first offering of the trading season. You must await this ceremony with a mind neither anxious nor irreverent. The high-priest, at my command, will carry in procession a garland of roses fastened to the sistrum in his hand. Don’t hesitate to join the crowd and, trusting in my protection, push your way towards the priest, then as if you wished to kiss his hand pluck gently at the roses with your mouth, and so at once throw off that wretched form of the most detestable of creatures.And have faith in my power to oversee the execution of my orders, for at this very moment when I am here with you I am with my priest too telling him, in dream, what he must do. When I wish, the heaving crowd will part before you, and amidst the joyous rites and wild festivity no one will shrink from your unseemly shape, nor treat your sudden change of form as sinister and level charges at you out of spite.Remember one thing clearly though, and keep it locked deep within your heart: the life that is left to you, to the final sigh of your last breath, is pledged to me. It is right that all your days be devoted to she whose grace returns you to the world of men. Under my wing, you will live in happiness and honour, and when your span of life is complete and you descend to the shades, even there, in the sphere beneath the earth, you will see me, who am now before you, gleaming amidst the darkness of Acheron, queen of the Stygian depths; and dwelling yourself in the Elysian fields, you will endlessly adore me and I will favour you. Know too that if by sedulous obedience, dutiful service, and perfect chastity you are worthy of my divine grace, I and I alone can extend your life beyond the limits set by fate.’
by John Reinhard Weguelin
