Category Archives: Sothis

Celebrate the New Year with Goddess Isis

Those of you of a Kemetic bent already know that the ancient Egyptian New Year began with the predawn rising of the Star of Isis, Sirius, in mid to late summer. After a long absence, this summertime rising marked both the start of the New Year and the coming of the all-important Nile flood.

But there is another time in the year that the Beautiful Star of the Beautiful Goddess is most prominent. And I would argue that it is then that She is even more glorious than during Her summer heliacal rising.

That time is right now. At our own modern New Year.

Sirius is even more breathtaking now because we can see Her illuminating the nighttime sky for much longer. In summer, we get only a brief glimpse of Her light just before dawn—and then Her starlight disappears in the greater light of the rising sun. But now, ah now, those of us in the northern hemisphere can bathe in Her starlight all night long. (In the southern hemisphere, Sirius is best viewed in summer.)

Sirius is the bright star on the lower left; it is the heart of the constellation of Canis Major

But there’s yet another wonderful Mystery. At midnight tonight—as we ring in the New Year—Sirius reaches its highest point in the night sky. She will be high overhead at midnight on New Year’s Eve. And so we are completely justified in claiming Sirius as our star of the New Year, too, just as She was for the ancient Egyptians.

I utterly and completely love this fact.

Of course, Sirius continues to dominate the night sky throughout the winter months, so tonight isn’t your only opportunity to admire Her. As a devotee of Isis, I take it as a sacred duty to spend at least some time during the winter observing the beauty of the star of the Goddess in the night sky and offering Her the praise of my heart.

If you’d like to join me, look to the east-southeast after sunset. See that diamond-like star near the horizon? That’s Her. No other star in the belly of Nuet can match Her for brilliance (in fact, the second brightest star is only half as bright as Sirius). And of course, if you continue lifting your gaze upwards, you will see the constellation of Orion, which the Egyptians associated with Osiris, the Beloved of Isis. As the night goes on, She rises higher into the sky, until at midnight, She reaches Her highest point.

Iset-Sopdet in Her celesial boat following Usir-Sah

If you have access to a telescope, O please, please do use it to look at Her, especially when She is near the horizon. The Goddess flashes with green, blue, pink, and white starlight.

To acknowledge the Goddess’ ancient connection with Her star, some shrines and temples of Isis, including the small Isis temple at Ptolemaic-era Denderah, were oriented towards Sopdet, the Egyptian name of the star.

The location of Sirius in the Canis Major constellation, as well as Her ancient association with Anubis, connects Isis with canines. In a second-century aretalogy (self-statement) from Kyme in modern Turkey, Isis says of Herself, “I am She that riseth in the Dog Star.”

Osiris on His back (note the position of the three belt stars) with Isis-Sopdet below (framed by the trees), upraising Him

Just as Orion the hunter is inseparable from his hunting hound, so the Egyptians saw a connection between the constellation they called Sah (Orion) and the most brilliant star in the heavens, Sopdet. Sah could be identified with Osiris Himself or considered to be His Ba, or Divine manifestation, just as Sirius could be Isis’ manifestation. As Orion rises before Sirius, you can see the ancient myth of Isis searching for Her lost husband played out before you as the constellation Orion appears to move through the sky ahead of the Beautiful Star.

I hope the skies where you are are much clearer than our cloudy Portland skies. While I probably won’t be able to see Her myself tonight, that doesn’t mean She isn’t there.

She is always there. Even if we can’t always see Her.

May your New Year be prosperous, beautiful, deep, and renewing. Amma, Iset.

Isis & the Soul

What is your concept of the soul?

It’s one of those things that we often talk about, but we don’t have a firm definition of what—exactly—it is. Is it the divine part of ourselves? Is it the immortal part that survives after death? Is it some kind of “essence” of ourselves? Is it our inner life, our thoughts, feelings, passions? Do only human beings have one, or do other beings and things have one, too? Is it what animates us, what makes us alive? In Latin, the word for soul is anima and modern languages like French and Spanish have words for soul (âme and alma) that come directly from Latin.

The English word derives from Old English sawol and is related to a number of similar old-European words. Psychology, the study of the psyche—Greek for soul—thus involves the study (or literally, “speaking about,” –ology) the soul. So psychologists and psychotherapists are concerned with healing the soul.

Most people, throughout the world, have some sort of concept of something like the soul. Yes, of course, the ancient Egyptians did, too. And yes, of course, Our Lady Isis has an intimate concern with souls.

Those of you who have been reading this blog probably already know that the ancient Egyptians did things a little differently. And you may already know that they had a broader concept of what goes into making up the full nature of the human being. These are words like ka, ba, akh, khat, ren, ib, and shadow. We find these terms numbering from about five on the low end to about sixteen on the high end. Often, you will see them referred to as “components” or “parts” of the human being, both in life and afterlife. That’s not quite right, so more-modern scholars will call them “aspects” of the human being. This is much closer.

The ba-bird and the shadow of the deceased

But I just learned today, that there is an Egyptian word that is not only appropriate and which at least some learned Egyptians seem to have used as the collective term for these aspects. The word is kheperu.* It means “forms, transformations, manifestations” and oh-so-much more. It is found in the name of the Sun Scarab God, Khepri or Khepera. As a verb, it means “changing, transforming, becoming.” The root also has to do with creation, birth, and rebirth.

What I learned is that in some examples of the funerary literature, you will see a list of the familiar aspects of the human being, but with the word kheperu at the end. Scholars think that the word kheperu—transformations—at the end was meant to sum up all the preceding aspects. Why is this important? Because it confirms that the kheperu of a person should not be understood as discreet or disjointed “parts” of the human being. But rather that the ancients understood them to be forms or ways of being that the human being could transform into during different aspects of their life/afterlife journey.

Today, I’d like to focus on just one of these kheperu: the ba.

The ba hovers over the body of its deceased

We have come to use the word “soul” to translate ba because way back in the 4th century CE, a writer name Horapollo (a perfect Egypto-Greek name if ever there was one) so translated it. Horapollo was a Greco-Egyptian intellectual who wrote a book, in Greek, on the meanings of the hieroglyphs. In addition to giving us the ba = psyche equation, Horapollo also connected the ba with the heart, for, he said, the Egyptians say that the soul resides in the heart.

Here’s Horapollo’s entry on The Soul:

That the hawk is a symbol for the soul is clear from the interpretation of its name. For the hawk is called by the Egyptians Baieth. If this name is divided, it means “soul” and “heart.” For Bai is the soul and Eth is the heart. And the heart, according to the Egyptians, contains the soul. Hence the interpretation of the combined name is the “soul in the heart.” Wherefore the hawk, since it has the same character as the soul, never drinks water, but blood, on which the soul is nourished.

The Hierogliphics, Book I, entry on The Soul

We may also note that in Book II of Horapollo, the symbol for the human soul is a star—as well as a symbol for a Deity, twilight, night, and time, all of which is true enough. Remember that by the 4th century CE, a lot of the traditional knowledge about the sacred writing had been lost. So it’s likely that what Horapollo reports is what was current in his day.

The ba of Shu fills the sail of the deceased with the breath of life

Ba is an extremely complicated concept in ancient Egypt (and don’t get me started on ka!) Like so many other things, it too, changed over the millennia. Scholars are still trying to figure out precisely what it meant. But happily, we do know some things, so we’re not completely in the dark.

In the earliest Egyptian texts, the ba appears to be a Divine force. The word seems to refer to a manifested spirit, usually the manifestation of a Deity. The ba of a Deity could appear as a natural force—the wind is the ba of Shu—or in the form of a sacred animal. For instance, the Apis bull of Memphis was considered the ba of, first Ptah, then Osiris; the Hesis cow, mother of the Apis, was considered the ba of Isis. What’s more, one Deity could be the ba of another. Osiris and Heka are bas of Re; Sothis is the ba of Isis. By the end of the Old Kingdom, the concept of the ba was understood more broadly. Everybody—and some things as well—had one. Post Amarna, every Deity and everything could be considered a ba of Amun/Amun-Re.

The ba of the deceased perched on a papyrus plant; Ptolemaic era

When it comes to human beings, generally, the ba was thought to be a non-physical aspect of a person that comprised their personality or character. The impression one makes on others is because of the nature of one’s ba. The ba is also a form or manifestation—a kheper—of the human being in the spiritual realm. After death, a human being’s ba could take on super-human power; not as powerful as a Deity’s, but powerful.

In tombs, the ba of the deceased person is usually shown as a human-headed bird, often a hawk like Horapollo says. Sometimes the ba-bird also has human arms and hands. With it’s human face, it is linked to the individual human being and reflects the personality or character of the person. Yet its birdform gives it the ability to move between the worlds. And because it can enter into the spirit world, it knows things beyond normal human knowledge. Thus it can also serve as a counselor to human beings while we are still alive. We have a piece of ancient literature in which a man is in a dispute with his ba over whether or not he should commit suicide. Egyptian wisdom literature also advised people to do good in life in order to feed their bas.

A man and his ba greet and mirror each other in the underworld

Well. I see that this post has gotten a bit long and I haven’t even brought in Isis, She Who “guides my soul on the paths of the Netherworld.” So we’ll continue this soulful discussion next time and learn the may ways that Isis is connected with the powerful ba.

* In Isis Magic, I use the term Kheperu for the various forms of the Deities as well as the magical technique of “Taking on the God/dessform.”

Becoming Joined to Your Star

Perhaps it was coincidence or perhaps it was the hand of Isis, but twice in the past week, the idea of “being joined to one’s star” has been brought sharply to my attention. So today, let’s talk a bit of the Way of the Stars…and especially the way of our own personal star.

Nuet, Full of Stars

In Isis Magic, the Path of the Stars is the path of the Prophetess or Prophet of Isis. (In Egyptian, this would be Hem/et Nutjeret; the Servant of the Goddess.)

Photoshop; but beautiful

On this path, we deal with the important star Sirius (Sothis in Greek, Sopdet in Egyptian), which is the Star of Isis. The Goddess Herself may be seen in the star and sometimes the star is said to be the ba, the manifestation or soul, of the Goddess

We honor Isis in Her singular and beautiful star, but on the Path of Stars, we also work with the idea of a universe filled with millions and millions of stars—stars that are, like us, within the body of Nuet, the Sky Goddess and Mother of Isis.

In the Pyramid Texts, it is clear that the deceased king ascends to the heavens and becomes a star. This ascension also makes him Divine, a god among Gods. He takes his place in the otherworld as a star, sometimes called the Lone Star or the Morning Star.

An image from one of the shrines of Tutankhamon; these mummified Gods are joined to their stars and “receive the rays of Re”

In Utterance 245 of the Pyramid Texts, the Sky Goddess says to the deceased, “Open up your place in the sky among the stars of the sky, for you are the Lone Star, the companion of Hu…” (Hu is one of the great creative powers of Re, “Creative Utterance.” It may be that the Goddess is likening the king to Sia, “Perception,” for indeed he specifically declares himself to be Sia in Utterance 250.) Utterance 248 reiterates the king’s star-nature. He is “a star brilliant and far traveling,” and he has “come to his throne which is upon the Two Ladies [Isis and Nephthys or Wadjet and Nekhbet] and the king appears as a star.” A text from the tomb of Basa, a priest of Min and mayor of ancient Thebes, says of the deceased, “your star be in heaven, your ba upon the earth.”

While the Pyramid Texts are concerned with the king, as time went on, the Egyptian conception of the otherworld got more democratic; everyone could participate and have their own Divine stars.

But if you’ve read any of the Pyramid or Coffin Texts or the Book of the Dead, you’ll know that those sacred texts are not intended just for the dead. The texts tell us that the knowledge they impart is also beneficial for living human beings. “As for him who knows this spell on earth . . . he will proceed to a very happy old age” says one text. Another states that anyone who knows the spell will “complete 110 years of life,” while yet another explains, “it is beneficial for anyone who does it.”

This is an image I took of the same scene from a reproduction of Tut’s shrine that came through town pre-pandemic

The same thing applies to being conscious of or joined to your star. It is not solely a post mortum activity. If our “star” is our Divine Self, the one we will hopefully become after death, then to know our star in this life means that its light can serve as a guide as we move through our current earthly lives. What would my star self do in any given situation?

One of the Greco-Egyptian magical papyri even has a specific ritual for learning about “your star,” and which is referred to as “an initiation.” There are quite a number of preparations, but in short, you purify yourself for seven days while the moon is waning. On the night of the dark moon, you begin sleeping on the ground each night for seven nights, waking every morning to greet the sun and to name the Deities of the hours of the day. On the eighth night, you rise in the middle of the night, perform a series of invocations and magical acts, recite the account of creation, and call upon the Great God. When the God arrives, you avoid looking in His face and ask Him about your fate. “He will tell you even about your star and what kind of daimon [spirit] you have…” (PGM XIII 646-734)

We, the many stars in Her heaven

It is well for us to know “even about our star.” For it illuminates the individual life and spiritual path that is uniquely ours, but it also places us in the company of the Divine Ones.

I did a meditation, not too long ago, about the Child Horus in the stillness of the womb of Isis. It came to me that it may be there and then that we are first joined to our stars. But to truly benefit from this starry relationship throughout our lives, we must continually renew, strengthen, and deepen the connection so that our star’s holy light may always inspire and guide us.

We might think of our star as our Star Self or Isis Self. But, like the Goddess Herself, it has many other names as well. It can be called the Higher Self, the Augoeides (“Shining One”), the Holy Guardian Angel, the Higher and Divine Genius, Christ Consciousness, the Atman, the True Self, the Inner Teacher, and many more. And when we are joined to it, we will be our truer and more divine selves.

The Wisdom of Isis

Goddess Isis in Her temple
Sacred image of Isis in Her temple at the rising of Her star

I got up at four this morning to go to the high place where I watch Her star in its heliacal rising. Alas, Portland did its mostly cloudy thing and all I could see was an occasional glimpse of the moon and one of the stars in Orion’s belt. So I came home, went to Her temple, opened the doors and illuminated Her lamps. She shines diamond bright, even when I cannot see Her.

I know this because I have experienced it many times. Perhaps I can’t sense Her in my life at a particular moment, yet I know She is there. Just because there are obscuring clouds in my world, doesn’t mean She doesn’t shine. And this just may be a drop of wisdom, born of both knowledge and experience.

Isis reaches out to the Shen, “Eternity”

In Plutarch’s essay on Isis and Osiris, he tells us that Isis is a Goddess “exceptionally wise and a lover of wisdom.” And so our Goddess is a philosopher, a lover of wisdom, as well as being wise Herself. A Turin papyrus says, “Isis was a woman wise in speech, her heart more cunning than the millions of men, her utterance was more excellent than the millions of Gods, she was more perceptive than millions of glorified spirits. She was not ignorant of anything in heaven or earth.” Perception. Wide-ranging knowledge. Cleverness. And both wise and effective speech. In this aspect, Isis is called Rekhiet, “the Wise Woman.” One of the titles of Isis-Sothis is Rekhit, “Knowledge,” all of which easily led to Isis’ identification with Sophia (Gk. “Wisdom”).

Isis’ wisdom makes Her kind as well. She is among the Hearing Deities usually called by the epithets “Great of Hearing” and “Of Hearing Ears” and Who were perceived as being especially wise and compassionate. There is a papyrus found in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, which lists the many places around the Mediterranean where Isis was worshiped and the names and epithets by which She was known in those places (more on that here). In three of these cities, Isis was called Understanding.

Understanding is relational. One understands something or someone. In my case, and perhaps yours as well, Isis understands me. Not just how I am in the world (though She knows that, too), but why I am like that. And if I am listening, She can help me better understand…and so perhaps gain another little drop of wisdom. It’s like that. Drop by drop. Mistake and resolution. Confusion and epiphany. Isis’ deep eternal well of unfailing wisdom speaks to my gathering drops of it.

How does She speak to your wisdom?

Enjoy this lovely video of Isis as Sirius by artist Sirius Ugo Art