Category Archives: Egyptian magic

Isis & the “Magical Mindset”

Ritual is how we DO religion.

And to do ritual, we perform a set of prescribed actions and, usually, words. Our rite may be something as simple as sitting quietly and counting our breaths or lighting a candle. Or it may be something as elaborate as an initiation ritual.

Yet just doing a set of actions and reciting specific words is not enough. Another vital component must be present in order to transform the actions and words from rote performance to real participation in the sacred. There must also be an psychospiritual component to our ritual. When the transformation from performance to participation is successful, we are taking part in sacred magic—a term particularly appropriate when it comes to Isis, She Who is Goddess of Magic par excellence. And because She is Lady of Magic—in Egyptian, Iset Nebet Hekau—I consider all Isiac ritual acts to be acts of sacred magic.

This is one of the reasons I was happy—thrilled, actually—to see the recent review of Offering to Isis by Foolish Fish. I was pleased because the reviewer had noticed that I included the ritual visualizations in the dromena, that is, the part of the rite that describes the ritual actions. Dromena might include things like purifying by sprinkling water, consecration with incense, walking a protective circle around your temple, or raising your arms in the Sign of the Wings of Isis—in addition to the breath-counting or candle-lighting already mentioned.

While the physical acts of ritual are important—and sometimes taking the action itself can help trigger the magical mindset when the dromena have been practiced extensively, it is the state of our minds, souls, and spirits—the “magical mindset,” if you will—that makes the ritual work. And by work, I mean that it connects us with the spiritual world, helps us communicate that which we wish to communicate, and helps us transform ourselves and/or our world.

What “mindset” conditions facilitate successful magic? Usually, these are a bit different for each person. Yet, I do think there are commonalities to look for.

For instance, if we can increase our sense of openness, both physically and spiritually, this will help us increase our magical perception. A feeling of expansion—in the heart, in the mind, in the spirit—all help us open ourselves to the Divine. We need to “uncramp” ourselves, loosening body, soul, and spirit. (That’s why we are so often advised to leave the cares of the outside world at the door of our ritual space.) What’s more, if we can cultivate in ourselves a feeling of expectancy and anticipation, we will be helping to create the right conditions for magic to happen.

Jeszika Le Vye’s *Isis*; buy a copy here.

We have the ability to attune our hearts and minds, allowing ourselves to enter into these expanded states. And when we do, the result is often a sense of connectedness. When we can take down our walls and remove our masks, we allow ourselves to become more aware of the connections that inevitably exist—connection with the natural world around us, with the symbols of the rite, with the other people who may be in ritual with us. Importantly, we can better perceive our connection with the unseen realms—and with Isis Herself.

This can be easier to describe than to achieve.

On the other hand, I know people—adepts of one tradition or another—who can tune into their magical mindset almost instantly. That’s because they’ve been practicing for many years. Most of us, most of the time, need to work at it in order to transform our everyday mindset into the magical mindset.

One way to do this is through visualization. Visualization is “seeing with the mind’s eye.” Visualization is creative imagination. And it is a powerful magical tool. In the Hermetica, the great Hermetic teacher Hermes Trismegistos (aka the Magician God Thoth) explains, “coming to be is nothing but imagination.” And you might recall that “coming into being” is one of the most common ways ancient Egyptian texts describe the creation of something new. “And so, X came into being,” texts say.

Many people are familiar with guided meditation, in which you try to imagine or “see” the scenes your guide is describing, yet you have your own reactions and experiences within the parameters of the guided visualization. But we can guide our own visualizations, too. I don’t mean just having our own free-wheeling reactions to whatever energy we’ve invoked, but actually guiding what happens and precisely imagining the energies invoked. This is not cheating; indeed, it is a key part of creating your magical mindset.

For some, visualization can be difficult. If that is the case for you, don’t be concerned. You may sense the unmanifest realms in other ways: hearing words, sensing things or simply “having a feeling.” Practice describing your perceptions to yourself in ways that make sense to you.

Nevertheless, many, even most, of us can teach ourselves to visualize. I’m probably dating myself here, but I taught myself to visualize using a book called the Silva Mind Control Method. While there are other aspects to the Silva method, to learn visualization, for 30 days in a row, you visualize an apple, each day adding more and more “reality” and sensual perceptions to the visualization. It worked for me.

But if you’re one who simply does not work that way, I’d suggest making your rituals symbol-rich. For instance, if you’re invoking the elements, have symbols of each element in the corresponding quarter of your altar—and know what the symbols mean; study them, read about them. Instead of visualizing, you can physically see and mentally contemplate the symbol, thinking about its meaning as you call-in each element. And don’t forget that words are symbols, too. The words of the ritual, as well as evocative poetry, can help transport us into the magical mindset.

For those who do visualize or would like to, I’ll share an example of how it can be used in ritual.

Let’s say we want to create those conditions of openness, expansion, and expectancy we talked about. This is precisely the purpose of the ritual of “The Opening of the Ways” in Isis Magic. It’s an all-purpose rite intended to create sacred space for communion with the Goddess, for meditation, for offering, or for any other act of sacred magic. In this ritual, we think of our own aura as a temple into which we are inviting the Presence of Isis. We visualize opening each of the directions (or “Ways”) to Isis, so that the energy and Presence of the Goddess can enter our temple.

Here’s what I often visualize:

In each direction (east, west, south, north, above, below, and heart-center) I imagine a pair of Egyptian pillars with translucent curtains closed between them. As I open each of the Ways, I will pull aside the curtains to reveal a scene beyond them.

For instance, as my physical body stands facing east with my arms before me, palms together, I prepare to Open the Ways to Isis of the East, the Lady of the Breath of Life, by making the Sign of the Opening of the Shrine.

In my mind, I see the two sculpted, Egyptian pillars, pale-yellow, sandstone colored. I sense that if I were to really look closely at them, I would see Egyptian hieroglyphs showing sails and fans and images of Deities of the Winds. But I need not always do that; for now, I simply see the pillars and the closed curtains before me. With my physical arms in front of me, I feel a bit of tension in my shoulders and arms and know that I will expend real energy when I open those curtains.

I say, “Let the Shrine of the East be opened unto Isis, only Isis,” and I open my arms out—wide—as I vibrate Her name: Iset Nef. I am sure to make this gesture fully in the physical so that I can take a deep breath and feel the openness in my own chest. At the same time, I imagine my hands pulling the curtains to the right and left so that I can now see out to the scene that lies between them.

I “see” that I am standing on a cliff where a cool, morning breeze blows softly as the sun rises in the dawning light. I breathe deeply, understanding that Isis of the Air is entering into my temple, into me, with each breath. I breathe the breath of Isis Herself, as She comes to me, comes to me. By now, I will usually feel something in my body, a tingle of energy, as the magical connection is made and I sense the Presence of Isis of the Air, the Lady of the Winds, the Queen of the Breath of Life.

I repeat the same actions, but with different visualizations and Goddess names, at each of the Quarters, above me, below me, and at my heart. (If you want to try it, the ritual is at the link above.)

When I’ve completed these ritual actions and words, along with the visualizations, I should be well on my way to achieving my magical mindset. I will feel much more open, expanded, expectant, and connected, ready to commune with Isis or do any other work of sacred magic.

Even now, just describing it to you, I am almost, almost, almost there.

Capturing Sunlight—a Rite for Isis the Radiant One

In honor of the Summer Solstice-tide (locally, our festival was delayed until this weekend, so I’m still in solstice-mode), I bring you the rite of Capturing Sunlight, and a chant for Isis as The Radiant One, the Solar Goddess, the Golden One.

The Rite of Capturing Sunlight

Preparation for the Rite: For this rite, you’ll need a sunny day; time your rite for when the sun is high in the sky, also have some flash paper, a good-sized magnifying glass, a small brazier with very small kindling (such as wood shavings and twigs), a yellow pillar candle, and a vessel of water to douse the fire when you’re done.

Build a mound of the kindling and flash paper in the brazier so that when the flash paper ignites, it will catch the kindling on fire. Have the yellow candle ready to light from the brazier fire.

Opening

Stand fully outside in the sunlight and say,

Ritualist: What Exists LIVES when SHE shines!

Close your eyes and let the sunlight shine upon your eyelids. As the red-gold of Isis the Radiant One touches you, She sees you, recognizes you, knows you. And She coaxes you to growth in Her yellow heat. Like a lotus flower blooming, open yourself to Her, Isis the Radiant Goddess—to She Who is called the Gold and the Female Re and the Flame.

Raise your hands in the Gesture of Adoration and address the Goddess.

Ritualist: At this Summer Solstice-tide, at this hour, in the place, O Isis, Your solar fire is in its greatest strength. And so I ask a boon of the strong. I ask You to send a ray of Your soul-illuminating Light to guide me in the darkness of these times. Send Your red-gold sunlight, Goddess, and let Your magic be with me to light my way and illumine the shadows.

In Her name and by Her golden and fiery power, I invoke a ray of sunlight from the heart of the Goddess!

Invoking Her Light

Take out the magnifying glass and focus a beam of sunlight through the glass and onto the flash paper under the kindling. Chant until the flash paper ignites and the kindling catches fire.

Ritualist: (Chanting or singing softly)

Isis, I drink Your sunlight,

Radiant One, I breathe You in.

Isis, I eat Your magic,

Radiant One, take me within.

And here’s the tune.

Once the kindling is burning, light the yellow candle from the fire and keep it protected from any breezes that might extinguish it.

Closing

Ritualist: I thank You Isis for Your Light—and always for your power, wisdom, magic, and love (add your own thanks as you wish). M’den, Iset, accept it, Isis.

Put out the brazier fire and clean up as needed. Take the lit candle to your altar for meditation; you may light it any time you wish to call upon Isis’ illuminating and fiery powers. You can blow the candle out and relight it with a standard firestarter without diminishing its magic.

Isis the Rebel

Athenian grave stele with the woman in Isiac dress; note her embrace of her (I presume) husband, which is reminiscent of many Egyptian couples’ funerary images.

Dear rebels and resisters, I want you to know that Our Lady is right there with us.

It seems to be part of Her nature.

Interestingly, quite a number of ancient Athenian Isiacs—living under Roman imperialism—chose to have themselves represented on their tomb steles in Isiac dress as a way to reclaim some of their own individuality.

An article I was reading about this suggested that these people wanted to represent themselves in other than the standard Greco-Roman manner because it let them preserve some of their self definition and personal power (as well as cultic status) in an era when they felt they had little of it politically. And, of course, these people were mostly, but not all, women—people who have had little political power at the best of times, in ancient society and now in far too many places.

In other words, these people were rebelling against Roman societal rule in a way that helped them fashion new and more complex selves—and Isis helped them do it.

Oh, but it started much earlier than that.

The 1990 debut album of Lin Que, rapping under the name of Isis, was *Rebel Soul*.

Although you still see Isis described as “the ideal wife and mother”—which often has connotations of 1950s housewife—I’ve always thought of Her as quite rebellious in that She always does exactly what She wants to do, and does not let anything stop Her.

That’s why I was taken aback when a friend once remarked to me that she couldn’t get into Isis because of the subservient way She went around “picking up after Osiris.” My friend was, of course, referring to the main Isis-Osiris myth in which Isis travels the length and breadth of Egypt to find and conduct proper funeral rites over the scattered pieces of Her murdered husband’s body.

I, on the other hand, have always considered the ancient myth of Isis to be pretty darned feminist, modeling both feminine power and independence. Indeed, my own feminism is one of the reasons I began exploring Goddess in the first place.

My friend had seen the Isis-Osiris myth as just another “woman-taking-care-of-her-man” story, while I’d seen it as precisely the opposite: a tale of the reversal of stereotypes. Instead of the prince saving the princess, the princess had to save the prince, put him back together, and give him renewed life.

We were both right, of course. A myth speaks to us however it speaks to us. Nevertheless, I think that Isis and Her cycle of myths, especially when you include the important Isis & Re story, provide a proto-feminist model.

Part of the credit for this goes to ancient Egyptian society. While we should have no illusions that men and women were true equals in Egypt, still they were more equal in Egypt than in any of Egypt’s Mediterranean neighbors. In Egypt, women could hold and sell property; they were considered (at least theoretically) equal to men before the law; they could instigate lawsuits; they could lend money; and although it was unusual, a woman could live independently, without a male guardian. In contrast, Greek and Roman laws firmly relegated women to control by their husbands or male relatives and provided little economic or legal protection to women.

So when Isis’ myths depict Her acting autonomously for Her own ends or wielding power, this type of female behavior was not as strange in Egypt as it was in the rest of the Mediterranean world. Another example of Isis wielding power are the tales of Isis as warrior that we have from the tales in the Jumilac papyrus.

Even when Egypt was ruled by non-natives under the Ptolemies (from 305 to 30 BCE), the native Egyptian respect for the feminine and The Feminine seems to have crept in. By the end of the dynasty, the historian Diodorus Siculus (Diodorus of Sicily) could write that due to the success of Isis’ benevolent rule of Egypt (while Osiris was on His mission to civilize the world):

…it was ordained that the queen should have greater power and honor than the king and that among private persons the wife should enjoy authority over her husband, the husbands agreeing in the marriage contract that they will be obedient in all things to their wives.
Diodorus Siculus, Book II, section 22

This wasn’t true, but it is interesting that it would be the impression that Diodorus received when visiting Egypt and speaking to Egyptians.

The deceased lady, Djed-Khonsu-iw-es-Ankh, worships Re-Horakhty in the Otherworld

I’m also reading an article in the Journal of Hellenic Studies by Rachel Evelyn White about women in Ptolemaic Egypt that discusses the possibility that the family tomb may have been the property of a female heir, and which was likely a holdover from ancient Egyptian tradition. This is based on some Egyptian contracts of the time combined with the fact that this was specifically the case among the nearby Nabataeans. If so, this could be one of the bases for retained female power in Egypt, as well as giving women another connection with Isis as the provider of proper burial and funerary rites. It may also point to very ancient matrilineal (not matriarchal) traditions in Egypt.

We should also recall that in several of the remaining Isis aretalogies, the Goddess declares women’s equality with men. What’s more, the relationship between women and men is meant to be friendly and loving—like the relationship modeled by Isis and Osiris. The aretalogy from Maroneia states that Isis established language so that men and women, as well as all humankind, should live in mutual friendship.

In a later Hermetic text entitled Kore Kosmu, Isis explains to Horus the origin and equality of male and female souls, declaring that:

The souls, my son Horus, are all of one nature, inasmuch as they all come from one place, that place where the Maker fashioned them; and they are neither male nor female; for the difference of sex arises in bodies, and not in incorporeal beings.
Scott, Walter, Hermetica, Vol. 1 (Boulder, Colorado, Hermes House, 1982), p. 499-501.

The Oxyrhynchus Invocation of Isis states it quite plainly: “Thou [Isis] didst make the power of women equal to that of men.” I know of no other ancient texts that lay out the message of equality so strongly as is done in the Isis aretalogies and hymns.

And so, I honor Our Lady, Isis the feminist, Isis the rebel and resister. May She help and support us in this difficult time.

More from the Temple of Isis at Dendera

After a few weeks, I’m finally getting back to Dendera and some of the texts inscribed on the walls of the small Isis temple there.

As you may recall, the temple is sometimes called the Birth House of Isis, which celebrates the birth of Isis from Her mother Nuet.

One of the temple walls says explicitly, “On this beautiful day, the day of the Child in His Nest, a great festival throughout the country, Isis is given birth at Dendera by Thoueris [“The Great One;” in this case, meaning Isis’ mother Nuet] in the House of the Noble One [the Noble One is Isis], a woman with black [kemet] hair and red [desheret] skin, full of life, Whose love is sweet.” Her mother Nuet says that She “makes every person rejoice to see You [Isis].”

With Her kemet hair and desheret skin, the Goddess encompasses the Black Land and the Red Land of Egypt. You may also recall from last time that this temple is very much concerned with the sovereignty of Isis over the entire land of Egypt.

Another temple inscription says, “Destiny distinguishes Her on the birthstones. Her heart is rich in all virtue. The south is given to Her until [that is, “as far as”] the [place of the] rising of the Disk, the north until the limits of Darkness. She is mistress of the sanctuaries of Egypt with Her son and Her brother Osiris.” She is “Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt.” She is “Mistress of the cities and Sovereign of the Nomes, the Sovereign of Sanctuaries.”

As this is the temple of Isis’ birth, we have many Birth Goddesses present, including a form of Isis Herself. We find Meskhenet, the Birth Goddess Who sometimes takes the form of a personified birth brick, in four different forms. Meskhenet the Great in the Mound of Tefnut is Tefnut Herself. Meskhenet the Great in the Mound of Birth is Nuet. Meskhenet the Beautiful in the Place of Nativity is Isis. And Meskhenet the Excellent in the Temple of the Menat Necklace is Nephthys.

However, in a different part of the temple, the four Meskhenets are Djedet (Djedet is the principle Goddess of the town of Djedet, also known as Hatmehyt. Learn about Her connection with Isis here.), Nuet, Meskhenet the Beautiful in the Enclosure of Life, Who is Isis, and Meskhenet the Excellent in the Heart of the Land, Who is Nephthys; She is also called Efficient (Akh) for the Daughter of Geb (although Nephthys is Herself a Daughter of Geb, this likely means that Nephthys is akh for Isis).

And speaking of Nephthys, here are some more of Her epithets found in this Isis temple: She is The Excellent and The Efficient. She is the One Whose Breast is Shimmering. She is the One Whose Face is Beautiful, the Mistress of Adornments, and Mistress of Light in the Cavernous [Zones]. (See? Nephthys is not always the Dark One!) And both Sisters’ mother Nuet is called The Unknowable. Which I love so much. All my Goddesses are, ultimately, Unknowable.

This small temple is the source of one of the inspirations for what will be one of our ritual acts at SunFest, our local summer solstice festival in June. There is a section of a wall labeled “Spreading a dusting of gold and green earthenware on the ground at the Mound of Birth.” The Mound of Birth is the place where Isis is born. It is also the place where the entire world is born, when it first emerges from the primordial Waters. It is well to honor this sacred place within the temple. Indeed, all temples were considered to be the Primordial Mound where the world first emerged from the Waters.

What caught my eye in this case was the idea of scattering gold dust and powdered green faience in this holy place as a consecration. It reminds me of the colored powders scattered during the Indian Holi festival. During our Festival of the Return of the Wandering Goddess, we’ll be doing something similar and scattering dried flower petals in the path of the Returning Goddess to consecrate the Way of Her Return. If we happen to get some on each other in the process, oh well.

While Isis, in Her birth temple, is said to be the First One Born Among the Goddesses, nevertheless, Hathor as a Cow Goddess is there at the same time and licks the baby Goddess Isis on the day of Her birth—just as mother cows lick their calves at birth. (Of course, Nuet can also be a Cow Goddess; She is, in fact, the Cow Goddess referred to in the famous text known as The Heavenly Cow.)

At Isis’ birth Hathor sings, Khnum makes the “Divine body” of the Goddess, that is, Her sacred temple image. The ka and the hemsut (feminine fate spirits associated with the ka) rejoice as They receive Isis’ Mysterious Image, that is, Her temple statue. Nekhbet as the Uraeus vows to sit upon Her brow to protect Her. Other Goddesses also vow protection for Isis as Thoth promises that He will write Her stories.

One of the parts of the temple is called the Sanctuary of the Vase, which the king made for Isis “to protect Her body in his sanctuary in joy, to preserve Her Divine Images there.” Isis is said to enter “Her chapel in the Land of Atum, Her heart is glad to enter there.” The Sanctuary of the Vase then is the storage area for Isis’ sacred images and the Goddess is pleased with the images and so She happily enters into the image and Her sanctuary. The king has made the sanctuary for She Who is Full of Life and the images “are excellently chiseled by the work of the sculptors, enhanced with gold to perfection.”

The main sacred image in my Isis shrine is a replica of this one

Here’s another thing I found interesting. One temple text says that the bas (manifestations/powers/a mode of Divine Being) of all the Deities follow the ba of Isis and They “melt” over Their effigies on the walls in joy.

I am very much intrigued by the idea of Isis’ ba—an aspect of Her Divine energy that indwells Her sacred image—melting over the image. Sometimes the Divine ba is said to swoop down from the heavens like a bird to alight on the sacred image. But melting over and into it—infusing the image with Her ba—really catches me.

I shall definitely use that visualization the next time I invoke Her to the sacred image that dwells in my home shrine for Her. And that is something else to note. We don’t just invoke Our Divine Ones to Their sacred images and call it done. Each time we invoke Her, She comes anew. Each time we ask Isis to come to us, come to us, She once again “melts” over Her sacred image.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten in my books for now. I’ll share more of what I learn as I go along.

Isis, the Birth Goddess & Lots of Bricks

Some of Cairo’s red-brick buildings; they’re ubiquitous in Cairo—and every town and city we saw while there.

Egypt is a land of bricks. From the ancient sun-dried mudbrick temple enclosures to modern Egyptian apartments, everything was and is made of bricks. (And, modernly, supplemented by concrete.)

It’s because there never were many trees and the native ones aren’t very suitable for large building projects. Even anciently, building wood was imported.

So bricks were and are still the answer. the ancient Egyptians encountered bricks on the way into life, during life, and on the way out of life.

The ones they encountered on the way into and out of life were special. There were magical.

On the way into life, there were four bricks, stacked in pairs, that served to elevate a birthing mother so that when her child emerged beneath her, the baby could easily be caught in the hands of the midwife. (According to midwives even today, a squatting or sitting posture is preferable to the supine position in which most modern Western women give birth, generally resulting in a faster, easier delivery.)

Isis giving birth while squatting on birthing bricks and supported by Divine midwives — Giving birth while squatting on birthing bricks and supported by Divine midwives

On the way out of life, there were the four talismanic bricks that were placed in niches in the four sides of a burial chamber. These bricks were decorated with amuletic figures: in the east, the Anubis jackel; in the south, a flame; in the west, the djed pillar of Osiris; and in the north, a mummiform male figure. All of them protected the deceased.

Doubtless, the talismanic bricks that surrounded the body of the deceased in the tomb were meant to assist in rebirth into the next life, just as the birthing bricks assisted in a child’s birth into physical life.

A set of the magical bricks with the amuletic figures atop them

The Goddess most closely associated with the birthing bricks is Meskhenet, Protectress of the Birthing Place. The bricks were called meskhenut (pl.) after Her. Meskhenet is depicted either as a woman-headed birthing brick or as a woman with a distinctive curling headdress that has been identified as a stylized cow’s uterus. She protects mother and child during the dangerous process of birth, She foretells the child’s destiny as the baby is born, and She is among the Deities of rebirth Who witness the judgment of the deceased in the Otherworld.

Meskhenet as the personified birthing brick; the bricks were also called “meskhenets”

With Isis’ own connection to both birth and rebirth, you will probably not be surprised to learn that Isis is closely associated with Meskhenet. At Osiris’ temple complex at Abydos, four Meskhenets serve as assistants to Isis in the great work of rebirth done there. At Hathor’s temple complex at Denderah, a combined form of Isis and Meskhenet (Meskhenet Noferet Iset or Meskhenet the Beautiful Isis) is one of the four Birth Goddesses of Denderah. And in the famous story of the birth of three kings found in the Westcar papyrus, both Isis and Meskhenet are among the four Goddesses Who assist in the kings’ births.

Strangely, here pharaoh Seti I wears Meskhenet's distinctive headress — Strangely, here pharaoh Seti I wears Meskhenet’s distinctive headdress of the “horns” of a cow’s uterus

Both tomb bricks and birthing bricks were protective. In an inscription from the temple at Esna, Khnum, the God Who forms the child’s body and ka on His Divine potter’s wheel, places four Meskhenet Goddesses around each of His various forms “to repel the designs of evil by incantations.” As Birth Goddess, Meskhenet is associated with the ka as well. A papyrus in Berlin invokes Her to “make ka for this child, which is in the womb of this woman!”

We have a few surviving spells that were used to charge the birthing bricks. They were used to repel the attacks of enemies to the north and south of Egypt and may indicate that the birthing bricks, like the tomb bricks, were connected with the directions.

And here’s another tidbit showing parallels between the magical tomb bricks and birthing bricks. In an Egypt Exploration Society article by Ann Macy Roth and Catherine H. Roehrig, the authors point out an interesting gender-reversed aspect of these magical bricks.

Discovered in 2005, this is the only example of an ancient Egyptian birthing brick that has yet been found — Discovered in 2001, this is the only example of an ancient Egyptian birthing brick that has yet been found

You may recall that four Sons of Horus are the Gods Who protect the four canopic jars that contain the internal organs of the mummy. These four Gods are, in turn, guarded by four Goddesses. In Tutankhamun’s tomb, the Goddesses are Isis, Nephthys, Selket, and Neith. Roth and Roehrig suggest that we may be able to explain the amuletic figures associated with the tomb bricks in a similar, though opposite, manner. If the four meskhenets are personified as four Goddesses Who protect the birthing place, perhaps the four figures on the tomb bricks—the God Anubis, a mummiform male, a Divine pillar associated with Osiris, and a flame, the hieroglyph for which is rather phallic—may be considered Divine Masculine Powers Who protect the four Meskhenet Goddesses, just as four Goddesses protect the four Sons of Horus.

A recreation of the scene on the mudbrick birthing brick above

It is worth noting that these magical bricks were made in the same way as were the traditional mudbricks of Egypt. They were fashioned from the fertile Nile clay and sand, mixed with straw, which may be associated with Isis as Lady of the Fertile Earth, then they were dried in the brilliant heat of Isis-Re, the Radiant Sun Goddess. And, of course, as a Divine Mother Herself, Isis is connected with every aspect of human and animal fertility, from conception to birth, as well as the protection of the children as they grow.

As we have a south-to-north flowing river here in Portland, I might see if I can get some Portland “Nile” mud to create four miniature mudbricks. Then I could magically charge them by naming them “Meskhenet Noferet Iset” and placing them in the four quarters of the temple—or even outside, one on each side of the house. They might provide some very fine magical protection.

Two Meskhenet Goddesses as birthing bricks awaiting the judgement so that They may assist in the deceased woman's rebirth — Two Meskhenet Goddesses as birthing bricks awaiting the judgment so that They may assist in the deceased woman’s rebirth

An Egyptian Rite for Making Offering to Isis

I often find it easier to keep up my spiritual practice when I have something “set,” something specific, to do. Like a small ritual that I’ve pretty much got memorized. Is that true for you? If so, then today I’d like to share with you just such a small ritual. This one is an offering rite. It is adapted from the Daily Ritual in the Egyptian temples. (If you have your new copy of Offering to Isis, a version of it is in there. Here’s a version you can use, and of course, adapt, as you choose.)

I’ve called this one the Adma Iset, “Offering to Isis.” Adma is one of the (many) Egyptian words for an offering rite. I preferred the sound of this one compared to some of the others, so I adopted it. Based on Egyptian temple rites, this ritual is adapted for a single person instead of a temple-full of folks.

The Adma Iset

Ritual Tools: A cup or other vessel of pure water; a censer with charcoal and incense; fire starter for incense; an offering (this can be anything you choose: milk, beer, flowers, a poem, a dance); a small reed mat (such as a table place mat); a shallow tray of sand large enough to place one foot in; a bundle of fresh plants for sweeping the sand. These last two are optional, but are adapted from things they actually did in Egyptian temples. You can do this rite at your altar; I will assume you have a sacred image of Isis on your altar.

Ritual Preparation: Prepare your offering as needed; set the small reed mat on the floor before the altar; place the tray with sand and the fresh plants conveniently to the side.

Purification & Consecration

Sit comfortably before your altar, breathing slowly, clearing your mind. When you are ready, rise, approach the altar of Isis, and bow politely.

Ritualist: (Raising your hands in a gesture of adoration) Isis is all things and all things are Isis.

Take up the cup and elevate it.

Ritualist: (To the Purifying Powers) O, You Souls of Night, Water Dwellers, Purifiers, You of the Pure Water from the Sycamore Tree of Isis, I have come for you. By the Blood, by the Power, by the Magic of Isis, establish yourselves within this vessel!

Lower the cup to heart level. Visualize blue light coming into your body from above, let it move through your body into the earth, then bring it back up into your heart, then into the cup as you vibrate.

Ritualist: (Vibrating) ISET MU [EE-set MOO; Egyptian: “Isis of Water”]!

Circle your ritual space, sprinkling water, then sprinkle yourself.

Ritualist: (Speaking while walking) Isis is pure. The temple is pure. The temple is pure. I am pure. I am pure with the Purity of Isis. I am pure with the Purity of the Goddess. (Repeating until you return to the altar; then repeat as needed until you feel the truth of your statement.)

Ritualist: By the Magic of Isis, it is so!

Return cup to altar, take up censer and elevate it.

Ritualist: (To the Consecrating Powers) O, You Souls of Day, Fire Dwellers, Consecrators, You of the Pure Breath from the Mouth of Isis, I have come for you. By the Blood, by the Power, by the Magic of Isis, establish yourselves within this censer!

Lower the censer to heart level. Visualize red light coming into your body from above, let it move through your body into the earth, then bring it back up into your heart, then into the censer as you vibrate.

Ritualist: (Vibrating) ISET ASH [EE-set AHshh; Egyptian: “Isis of Fire”]!

Circle your ritual space, censing it and then yourself.

Ritualist: (Speaking while walking) Isis is consecrated. The temple is consecrated. The temple is consecrated. I am consecrated. I am consecrated with the Fire of Isis. I am consecrated with the Flame of the Goddess. (Repeating until you return to the altar; then repeat as needed until you feel the truth of your statement.)

Ritualist: By the Magic of Isis, it is so!

Entering

Face the altar and make the Gesture of Adoration.

Ritualist: Isis is upon Her Throne. The spirits awaken! They awaken in peace for they know that I have come to make offering unto this Great Goddess.

Put your palms together and extend your arms straight out in front of you. Slowly open your arms as if opening a heavy curtain. This is the gesture of Opening the Shrine. Place the tray of sand before the sacred image and step in it to leave a footprint in the sand.

Ritualist: The sacred doors are opened to me. The light goes forth. It guides me on a fair path to the place where the Great Goddess is. I approach Your shrine, O Isis.

Offering to the Uraeus Goddess

Take up the censer and elevate it.

Ritualist: (Addressing the Uraeus serpent form of Isis) The Sacred Eye is powerful. Lady of Flame, Great One Who is between the horns of the Sunshine Goddess, accept this perfume and let me enter in peace.

Place the censer in your dominant hand, resting on your upturned palm. Bring that hand to your heart. Breathe in and visualize light glowing around the censer. Slowly swing your arm outward toward the image of the Goddess. Visualize the light flowing from the incense smoke to Her sacred image. This is the Gesture of Giving. Return the censer to its place.

Invoking the Goddess

Stand before the sacred image. Place your palms together in front of you as if preparing to applaud. Bring them apart to a comfortable distance, remaining thumbs up. To make the Gesture of Invocation, move the tips of your fingers towards you in a ‘come to me’ gesture. Do this slowly and gently as you speak the invocation below.

Ritualist: Iu en-i. Iu en-i (Eeoou-en-EE; Egyptian: “Come to me”). Come to me, come to me, Beautiful, Great One—Isis of Many Names, Great of Magic, Great Mother, Great Goddess. Come to me, come to me! (Vibrating) ISIS. ISIS. ISIS.

See within your heart the light of the Goddess. Feel it glowing with sun-bright warmth and beauty.

(Speaking to the Goddess) Fair is Your coming to Your temple, Isis. Beautiful is Your appearance in my heart.

Place your hand upon your heart, breathe in, and on the out-breath, move your hand toward the altar and send that light into the sacred image of Isis.

Making Offering

You may continue to stand or be seated at this time.

Ritualist: My body being on Earth, my heart being awake, my magic being in my mouth, O Isis, I make offering unto You.

Take up your offering. With open heart, speak aloud why you have chosen to give that particular offering for the Goddess.

If your offering is physical, use the Gesture of Giving (above) to offer it to Isis. If it is not, visualize a symbol representing it in your palm as if it were physical. Breathe in, visualize light around the offering, then on the out-breath, move your hand toward the altar and see that light transfer to the sacred image of Isis. Then, if your offering is performative, perform the offering (e.g. read the poem, dance the dance).

The Reversion of Offerings (optional section)

Standing, make the Gesture of Adoration toward the sacred image of Isis. Close your eyes and visualize the Goddess tracing an ankh symbol over the offering you have given. It glows with the power of Life, the power of Her Divine Ka. She breathes a blessing into it. She breathes a blessing into you. Breathe Her breath and be blessed.

Ritualist: The offering is reverted. Its blessing comes to me. Its blessing goes out into the world. Its beauty endures forever.

Note: Offerings such as food and drink, once reverted, may be consumed by you and your household. Non-consumable offerings may be kept on Isis’ altar or kept in some other convenient place nearby.

Closing the Temple

Once again, take some time to see the light of what you have given glowing around the sacred image of Isis. Let yourself know that She has accepted your offering. Feel Her blessing upon you in return.

When you are ready, take up the bundle of plants and sweep away the footprint in the sand. Make the Gesture of the Closing of the Shrine (the opposite of Opening the Shrine above).

Ritualist: I have flourished on water. I have grown on incense. I have climbed up on sunbeams. O Isis, give me Your hand for I have made offering unto You.

Be in peace, Isis, be in peace. Amma, Iset (AH-ma, EE-set; Egyptian: “Grant that it be so, Isis”).

The Adma is finished. Exit the ritual space or remain in meditation as desired.

Isis & Her Manifestations

More from the Temple of Isis at Dendera.

In this one small, mostly destroyed temple, there are many Deities speaking.

They are everywhere, on every wall. Many are well known, like Tefnut and Hathor and Thoth; some more obscure. The king—always said to be beloved of Isis and Ptah—is ubiquitous as well as he makes many different offerings of many different kinds. And, as this is the temple of the birth of Isis, She Who is First Born Among the Goddesses, there is much rejoicing in this small temple.

For example, the Goddess Merit, the Enchantress Who is here called “Lady of the Throat,” uses Her beautiful throat and voice to arouse joy and bring intoxication; She also leads the dances for Isis. Isis Herself is Mistress of Intoxication Who Arouses joy, Whose Heart is Satisfied with Revelry. Nuet declares that She “makes every person rejoice to see You [Isis].” Hor-Ihy, a combination of Isis’ son Horus with Hathor’s son Ihy, plays the sistrum “for the Mistress of the Sistrum-Temple, Isis the Great, Mother of the God.” The Gods dance for Her. The Goddesses are joyful for Her. The women play the tambourine for Isis the Luminous One. Hathor, Mistress of the Sweet Breath, sings for Her.

A lot of what we find in this temple, as we did in Hathor’s, are the various names of the Goddess Isis in other parts of Egypt. Interestingly, an inscription on this temple is also one source for our understanding of the Goddess Bast (or Bastet) as “the soul of Isis.” It comes from one of those inscriptions where Isis is being described as a Goddess of various names in other Egyptian locales. And one of those names is

“Nbt B3st (Lady Bast or the Lady of Bubastis) is the Heliopolitan. B3 n 3st [ba or “soul” of Isis] it is said of Her name. B3t is Her name in the mouths of human beings from ancient times of the Deities until now.”

We can be pretty sure that the Egyptians were engaging in some word play here—word play that is intended to reveal mysteries. If you look at the transliteration (writing the hieroglyphs in “latin” or “roman” letters; with the addition of some special characters) of Bast’s name and Isis’ name, you will see that the letters for Isis are within the name of Bast: B3st and 3st. The “3” here does not really represent a three, but is one of those special characters; it is sometimes called aleph, from Hebrew, because it is a consonant that is also “sort of” a vowel, as aleph is in Hebrew. For simplicity’s sake, we are usually told to pronounce it like an English long “a,” (ah). But it isn’t really an a. It’s a glottal stop. Here’s how that works in Isis’ Egyptian name.

Two forms of Isis from Dendera: anthropomorphic and in Her Ba form

So, what the Egyptians were telling us is that Bast and Isis are linked because from within the name Bast, Isis is revealed. This is expressed by writing that B3 n 3st [Ba/soul of Isis] it is said of Her name.” But “ba” in Egypt isn’t really what we usually mean by “soul” though that is a conventional translation. The concept of the ba is much, much more complicated—and I’ll post on that sometime, but not today.

But in short, ba is one way that a Deity can express Themselves. Ba is an active manifestation of a Deity. So a better way to think about it would be that Bast can be a manifestation of Isis. Or that Isis can express Herself as Bast. This is very much in line with the very fluid way Egyptian Deities can flow into or become each other or express Themselves as each other.

In the final line of this section of the inscription, it says B3t, or Baet, is Her—in this case, Isis’—name “from ancient times of the Deities until now.” This is not a reference to the Cow Goddess Bat or Ba-et. Instead, it is an expression of Isis’ immense power. The ba-power of a Deity made manifest is often written in the plural, bau, though often treated as a singular. The plurality not only intensifies the power, but also recognizes that the Deity is not limited to a single manifestation of power. For example, wind is the bau of Shu. The stars are the bau of Nuet. And both have other bau as well.

Thus to be the Goddess Baet, Whose very Name—from ancient times until now—IS this ba-power, is to be powerful indeed. We learn about Isis’ bau in other inscriptions at Dendera as well. She is said to be the One “Whose bau is great.” In fact, “Her bau is greater than all the Gods.” As a Baet Goddess, She shares this great might with only few other Goddesses, such as Hathor, Neith, and Nephthys. As a Baet Goddess, She shows Her power on earth, where humankind bows to it, and in the heavens, where She is B3t em pt, the Mighty One in the Sky.

On another wall of Her temple, at least a dozen Deities “open the New Year” for the Daughter of Nuet, Isis the Goddess. We even have the founding date for the current temple: July 16, 54 BCE. That was the day of the heliacal rising of the Star of Isis, Sirius, and—the temple records—that for a brief time that morning, both moon and sun were seen in the sky. So both Re and Osiris were there to greet Isis at the foundation of Her Horizon or Akhet Temple. It is so called, no doubt, due to its orientation to the east and the rising of Her Star, as well as the regenerative power of the liminal space of the Akhet.

We also learn that,

“On this beautiful day, the Day of the Child in His Nest, [there is] a great festival throughout the country, Isis is given birth at Dendera by Thoueris [meaning the Great One, in this case, Her mother Nuet] in the temple of the Venerable [Isis].”

And that Isis was born as

“a woman with black (kemet) hair and red (desheret) skin, full of life, Whose love is sweet.”

This must also be word play, for Isis is born with the colors of the Black Land and Red Land shown forth in Her Divine form and so She rules over both; She rules over all things.

Indeed, even from before Her birth, Isis was destined to rule.

“Destiny distinguishes Her on the birthstones. Her heart is rich in all virtue. The south is given to Her until [that is, “as far as”] the [place of the] rising of the Disk, the north until the limits of Darkness. She is mistress of the sanctuaries of Egypt with Her son and Her brother Osiris.”

Isis is Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt and She rules the Two Lands “from the bricks of birth.” She is the ruler of cities and sanctuaries; indeed She is the Venerable One Without Equal, the Regent Who Governs the Universe.

Just as Isis’ own birth is celebrated in this temple, so Her birth-giving to Horus is also celebrated. Isis is called “the Primordial, the First to Give Birth Among the Goddesses, the One with the Beautiful Face, Whose Milk is Sweet.”

I’ve just scratched the surface here. There’s definitely more. Next time, we’ll look into some of the birth-associated texts and images to see what we can learn there.

‘Offering to Isis’ a look inside

I’m excited to let you know that I received my publisher’s copies of Offering to Isis. And I’m so happy; it is gorgeous. Take a look at this unboxing video to see a little of the interior. And for more details about what’s in it, here’s a post on that.

Oh, and one thing I forgot in the video is that it comes with a sewn-in ribbon to mark your place and stitched binding for durability.

If you’d like your own copy of this beautiful, numbered, limited-edition book, visit Miskatonic Books!

‘Offering to Isis’ is here

I (almost) have my author copies of Offering to Isis! It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here.

The shipment is on the way from the printer to the publisher even as you read this. So, if you pre-ordered a copy, it should be on its way to you soon. If you’d like to order a copy, it’s available from Azoth Press at the Miskatonic Books website. Here’s the direct link.

I’ll do an unboxing video when I get my copies to show you more of the book. But in the meantime, here are some pics from the publisher:

I know a lot of you are familiar with Isis Magic, but maybe you haven’t yet come across Offering to Isis. I may be a bit partial, but I really like this book a lot, too.

Offering to Isis is about how we can connect with, honor, and grow our relationship with Isis through the ancient and eternal practice of making offering. Offering is one of the most important ways we human beings have always communicated with our Deities. It was vitally important in ancient Egypt and it’s just as important for those of us interested in or devoted to Isis today.

If you’ve ever wondered exactly what sort of things to offer to Isis, Offering to Isis includes in-depth explanations of 72 sacred symbols associated with Isis—symbols that make ideal offerings to Her.

You can download a complete copy of the Table of Contents by clicking here.

We’ll also talk about the how and why of Egyptian offering practices, including the important and genuinely ancient Egyptian technique of “Invocation Offering.”

There’s information on exactly how the ka energy inherent in every offering is given to and received by Isis—and what to do with offerings once they’ve been received. You’ll also find a selection of offering rituals, from simple to complex, for a variety of purposes. Most rites are for solitary devotees, so I think you’ll find one that works just right for you.

If you’re curious and want to know exactly what’s in the book, you can download a PDF copy of the full Table of Contents by clicking on the caption under the “Contents” image.

The largest section of the book details the 72 sacred symbols of Isis. You’ll add to your knowledge of Isis and Her ancient worship by learning more about Her through Her important sacred symbols. You’ll see how each one is intimately connected with Her and how they may be used in offering rites for Her. Every entry also includes an Invocation Offering that you can use for your own offerings to Isis.

One of the things I especially like about this book is that you can just open it at random and you’ll likely find something you hadn’t known about Her, something that I hope will inspire you in your own devotions. For instance, how did the Knot of Isis come to be Her knot? What stones are associated with Her? What animals are connected with Her? Why are dreams especially important when it comes to Isis?

As it’s been a few years since this book was first published, the text has been thoroughly updated. All the hieroglyphs associated with the offerings have been re-illustrated and are much more accurate—and much more beautiful—in this new edition, too. There’s also a handy appendix in the back for quick reference in finding any offering you may need.

Oh yes, and if you’d like, you can take advantage of Miskatonic’s installment plan that lets you pay over several months so it doesn’t take a big bite out of your budget. Plus, the new hardback edition is priced A LOT lower than those overpriced, out-of-print first editions that I’ve seen out there.

When you go to the Miskatonic site, you’ll find two different Azoth Press Offering to Isis editions. For the high rollers, there will be 36 copies in a gorgeous leather-bound and numbered collector’s edition. For the rest of us, there will be 650 numbered, limited edition copies in a cloth-bound hardcover. Both editions are two-color throughout, and more than 400 pages.

Thank you so much for letting me interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post to tell you about this new edition. And would you please do me a favor and share this information with anyone who you think might be interested? Feel free to ask me any questions about Offering to Isis that you’d like, too.

I’m definitely looking forward to getting my copy of this beautiful, new edition of Offering to Isis.

And while you might think it’s strange, even though I wrote the book, I still use it for reference when I’m making offering to Isis. I use the information in it as well as the Invocation Offerings. I hope this new edition will serve you well, too.

The Temple of Isis at Dendera

I finally got my interlibrary loan of Egyptologist Silvie Cauville’s Dendara: Le temple d’Isis. And the minute I starting perusing this two-volume set, I knew I wanted to own a copy. So Adam got it for me for my birthday. Yippee!

So now I get to tell you what I’ve been learning.

The remains of the temple of Isis at Dendera

The first thing to know is that, just as Isis is very present in Hathor’s great temple, so Hathor is present in Isis’ smaller Dendera temple.

And, as with many of Egypt’s temples, the current remains sit atop older structures. What we see today at Hathor’s temple is mainly Ptolemaic, while the bulk of what remains of Isis’ temple was constructed under the Ptolemies but completed and decorated during Augustus’ Roman rule.

Hathor’s worship at Dendera is much more ancient than the Ptolemaic period. There is evidence of a temple there from about 2250 BCE, during the reign of Pepi I. There’s also evidence of an 18th-dynasty temple. The Isis temple has earlier roots, too. There are vestiges of structures from the dynastic reigns of Amenemhat I (1991-1962 BCE), Thutmose III (1479-1425 BCE), and Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE). During the reign of Nectanebo I, the temple of Isis served as a mammisi for Isis as She births Horus.

The Isis temple at Dendera with the sad stumps of a hypostyle hall

One of the interesting things about the temple of Isis at Dendera is that, due to its older substructures, its current configuration has two main axes: east-west and north-south. Thus the temple opens to all four directions. The main temple entrance and hypostyle hall align with the heliacal rising in the eastern sky of the star of Isis. Sirius’ rising marked the coming of the Inundation and initiated the Egyptian New Year. Opposite, in the west, is the point of descent for Isis’ beloved, Osiris Lord of the Westerners. The north-south axis is marked by carved Hathor heads and connects that Goddess with Her father Re at Heliopolis to the north and with Her spouse Horus at Edfu to the south.

The Isis temple is shown at the bottom of this image, behind the Hathor temple; it is labeled “Isis Birth House”

Blocks from the mammisi of Nectanebo’s time were reused in the Ptolemaic/Augustan temple that we see the remains of today. This temple celebrates the birth of Isis Herself. Her mother Nuet births Her Great Daughter upon the primal Birth Mound, the First Earth. The temple (you will sometimes see it called the Iseum) also celebrates the sovereignty of Isis.

Here then, the Goddess Whose name means “Throne” is the guardian of the throne of Egypt, protectress of the king, and is Herself the regent of all of Egypt. Her Dendera temple is also the place of Her coronation as Divine Queen of the Universe. To me, this universal rulership of Isis is echoed by the temple’s four-directional doorways. Her ruling energy radiates from Her temple out to every corner of the world, if you will. And, if you recall, we learned several weeks ago that Isis’ rulership is so potent that She ruled the Two Lands even even before She was born, from within Her Great Mother’s womb.

My Per Nu with water vessels; the Nu pot is alabaster and from Egypt; the other water bowl is by a wonderful local artist

Dendera’s temple of Isis consists of three main chambers, the Per Wer, “Great House,” the Per Nu, “House of Water,” and the Per Neser, “House of Fire.” These chambers are also found in the Hathor temple, along the north-south axis. I was familiar with the Per Nu, the water sanctuary, but the fire sanctuary—the Per Neser—was new to me. There is also an offering vestibule in front of these chambers.

It pleases me no end that in our own home shrines and altars, we can easily replicate this ancient Egyptian temple structure.

My Per Neser with charcoal and incenses; are you staring at my Isis Temple ashtray? It’s masonic and was an ebay find, long ago

The altar is our Per Wer, where the sacred image or images of our Divine Ones live and receive offerings. The Per Nu is where our purifying and libation waters, cups, and other vessels are placed (mine is to the left of the altar). The Per Neser is where the candles, incense, charcoal, and lighters are kept (right side for me). My collection of sistra is also on the Per Neser side. In the House of Isis (see Isis Magic), the sistrum corresponds to Fire because of its ability to “shake things up.” In Egyptian, to “play the sistrum” is iri sakhem, “to do power.” The sistrum is thus an energy generator; very fiery.

I love all this so much that I fully intend to call these parts of Her shrine by these names from here on out.

Since there is so little left of this temple, that about wraps up our tour of the building itself. Next time, I’ll be looking into the inscriptions to see if I can find any new and interesting epithets or lore of the Goddess that I can share with you.

What about you? Do you have a special place near your altar that serves as your Per Nu and Per Neser?

Isis & Nephthys: the Mysteries of the Kites

This is a longish post because I found out some things I didn’t know about the Kite, the Kites, and Isis and Nephthys as the Kites. I’ll bet you’ll find out something you didn’t know, too.

Now, what you may already know is that the most consistent avian form that Isis and Nephthys take is the black kite. Black kites are birds of prey. They eat carrion and they hunt live prey. And one of the things I just learned is why they are called “kites.” It’s from their characteristic hunting technique in which they hover over the prey (like a paper kite does at the end of its string) and then do a swift dive to capture it. This highly successful hunting move is called “kiting.”

Isis & Nephthys with Their kite wings in a pose of protection

So today, we’re looking into the Kites, especially (but not exclusively) the Divine Kites, the Goddess Kites. We often see Them as Isis and Nephthys at the head and foot of Osiris’ mummy bier. Sometimes They are in Their bird form, sometimes fully anthropomorphic, and sometimes combining the two forms as women with wings.

In other images, we see Isis as a kite hovering (kiting!) over the erect phallus of a mummyform Osiris in order to conceive Their child Horus. We also find the Kite/s in funerary processions and in the Opening of the Mouth ritual. The Opening of the Mouth is a funerary rite; its main purpose is enlivening. It was used to give life or renewed life to everyone and everything from the mummified king to the sacred statues and images in a temple.

The magnificent black kite; yes, it’s brown as you can see in the tomb paintings as well

Egyptologist Racheli Shalomi-Hen notes that the first appearance of a Kite or Kites is in depictions of non-royal funerary processions of the late 5th dynasty of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. We know who the Kites are in these depictions because they are labeled. In Egyptian, Kite is Djeret while the Two Kites are the Djereti.

Egyptologists usually group the Kite/s in with other professional mourners (as opposed to mourners from the family of the deceased). This is probably because, once the Kites were connected with Isis and Nephthys, They were mourning Osiris. But the Kites seem to have other functions as well.

If the Kites were professionals, it must mean that their roles required special knowledge and skills. Just speculating here, but I wonder whether they were specialized priestesses of some kind. (As an aside, the Kites were also associated with another special funerary ritualist, the Demdjet. You can read about the Demdjet here.)

Shalomi-Hen suggests that the appearance of the Kite/s in these non-royal tombs is an indication that the non-royal dead were already identified with Osiris by that time—earlier that usually thought. At that time, she says, the Kites were not associated with the Goddesses; they were human funerary ritualists.

The Kite in a non-royal funeral; her title, *Djeret*, is above her head, with kite determinative at the end

She proposes that it was only after the king wanted to be an Osiris, too, that the Kites gained Divine and mythological status—and that this was done for the first time in the Pyramid Texts.

Other Egyptologists think that the basic Egyptian myth cycles, including the Osirian, may have been formed as early as the 2nd or 3rd dynasties—though we have nothing of length written down until the Pyramid Texts.

I’m not convinced that the Osirian myth we find in the Pyramid Texts represents the first time that this myth cycle was formulated. In the Pyramid Texts, we already see the characteristic mythological allusions that assume that scribes and educated readers (such as the priesthood concerned with funerary rites) would understand the reference to the whole myth from just the allusion. If this were the first time the myth was formulated, they would not have been able to do so. Instead, this must mean that—even before such allusions were written down in the Pyramid Texts—there was an oral tradition, and that is where the Osirian cycle first emerged.

In the illustration from one of these non-royal funerals (above), you can see that there isn’t anything particularly bird-like in the Kite’s dress or implements; indeed she has no implements and wears only the usual Old Kingdom sheath dress. Yet she is called the Kite. What then is the connection between the black kite and funeral rites?

Some scholars have suggested that the cry of the black kite may have sounded to the Egyptians like mourning women. I’ve listened to a number of recordings of black kite calls and…maybe? The closest one I’ve found is the warbling call in the last part of this video. The wavering cry sounds vaguely mournful. On the other hand, the kite also has a sharp cry, which caused another Egyptologist to suggest that the kite’s cry might have been thought to wake the dead. Yet another offers that the kite’s participation in funerals may have developed from a prehistoric hunting ritual. I wanted to look into that a bit, so I dug up that article.

In it, Egyptologist Eberhard Otto notes that the Kite is also present in some versions of the Opening of the Mouth ritual—in the part where the foreleg of the bull/bull calf is being cut off and its heart cut out. Sometimes, this female ritualist is identified simply as the Kite or the Great Kite. Sometimes there are two ritualists, the Great Kite and the Small Kite, Who later were identified with Isis and Nephthys.

The Kite (right) in the butchery scene from the Opening of the Mouth

In versions of the ritual where the Kite is present, she/She whispers into the ear of the sacrificial animal, blaming it for its own death. She says, “Your two lips have done that against you.”

Egyptologist Maria Valdesogo Martín identifies the Kite in the New Kingdom scene from the Opening of the Mouth shown here specifically as a mourner. This would be consistent with the well-known functions of the Kite at that time—as well as with the identification of the Great Kite as Isis. And mourning the slain animal is certainly an improvement over victim-blaming.

Nonetheless, this incident did remind me of the myth of the Contendings of Horus and Set in which Isis, in disguise as a maiden-in-distress, tricks Set into admitting that Osiris’ kingdom should go to Horus. Significantly, She first transforms into a kite, then flies into a tree and screeches, “Ha! Your own words have condemned You!”

Otto thinks that the Opening of the Mouth scene with the Kite is the part that may have originated in a prehistoric hunting ritual. He says the Kite is a later representation of a wild kite circling the body of a slain animal. The shrieking cries of the bird may have been interpreted as speech—which in later periods developed into the Kite blaming the animal for its death and, eventually, to mourning.

We begin to see Two Kites rather than just one in depictions of private funerary processions during the 5th dynasty, with most in the 6th dynasty. In the Pyramid Texts of the 5th and 6th dynasties, decidedly royal texts, we learn that the “Djereti of Osiris,” Who can only be Isis and Nephthys, “remove the ill” from the king as part of the preparation for his ascent to the heavens. In other words, They purify the king. What the Kites are removing is said to be poison, which is envisioned as venom from the fangs of a serpent that pours into the ground as the Kites supervise the action.

The Kites also help ferry the deceased king, as Osiris, “across the Winding Waterway” to the Horizon (Akhet) and rebirth. In tomb chapels of the same period as the Pyramid Texts, Kites are shown at the bow and stern of a boat that carries the coffin. We know that they/They are mourning for they/They make known mourning gestures in some cases and protective gestures in others. In these tomb chapels, the Djereti may or may not be identified as Isis and Nephthys.

In this model, the Goddesses’ names are followed by personal human names

We also find the Djereti represented on model boats since the Kites ferry the dead to rebirth. And here’s something really interesting.

One model boat from the Middle Kingdom includes the names of the Goddesses preceding what seem to be personal names. We see “the Nephthys Hotep-Hathor, justified” and “the Isis Hetpet, justified.” When a human name is followed by maakheru or “justified,” it means that the person is dead and has passed the judgment of Osiris. Perhaps what we are seeing here is previously deceased female relatives of the newly dead person serving as Isis and Nephthys for the deceased to help their loved one cross the Winding Waterway to rebirth.

In addition, the Kites were sometimes connected with the mummy wrappings. The Goddess of Weaving, Tayet, is sometimes identified as a Kite. Isis and Nephthys, known as the Two Weavers, are also Weaving Goddesses. There are a few Old Kingdom reliefs and paintings that show pairs of women labeled as Kites carrying boxes of offerings on their heads. In one example, we learn that they are “bringing khenit-cloth.” Khenit means “yellow” and yellow is the same as gold in Egyptian color symbolism. Thus, this cloth is solar and refers to the daily solar resurrection. Here again, we have the Kites assisting in rebirth. These cloth-bringing Djereti also sometimes have personal names attached to them, indicating that they are human Kites.

By removing poisons, attending to the mummy wrappings, and bringing offerings of yellow cloth, the Kites surely were part of the magical and physical preparation of the body and the tomb, just as female relatives were and are in so many societies, ancient and modern. Perhaps the professional Kites even guided or assisted the relatives of the deceased in these tasks.

Yet so far—with the exception of the kite’s cry interpreted as speech to the sacrificial victim or the possibility that their raptor-cries sounded like mourning—there doesn’t seem to be anything very kite-like or bird-like in the funerary function of the Kites.

But then there are those wings. Those bird wings, those kite wings.

The wings of Isis and Nephthys are Their most obvious avian attributes. As birds, the Kites fly; as birds of prey, They hunt.

As far back as the Pyramid Texts, the Two Sisters are the ones Who seek—or hunt for—Their missing brother Osiris. Their wings give Them the power to search a vast territory in a shorter period of time. Their lofty vantage point and sharp birds-of-prey vision make Them successful in their hunt.

In the Pyramid Texts, Osiris has not been dismembered, only killed. Yet when His dismemberment does become part of the myth, it isn’t much of a stretch to imagine the carrion-bird Sisters scavenging for the parts of the God’s body to re-assemble Him and make Him whole.

In the Hymn to Osiris in the Book of the Dead, Isis uses Her wings to revive Osiris enough so that She can conceive Their child and heir. “She made light with Her feathers, She created air with Her wings, and She uttered the death wail for Her brother. She raised up the inactive members of Him whose heart was still, She drew from Him His essence, She made an heir…” the text tells us.

In Egyptian lore, wings are also protective. Many are the Goddesses, wings outspread, Who protect tombs, sarcophagi, doorways, and temples. There are also a number of surviving statues of a larger Isis with a smaller image of Osiris protected between Her wings.

I remain on the lookout for more about the Kite Goddesses (as well as the human Kites). But for now we can know that Their wings are protective, Their cry can be mournful or accusatory, Their wings and vision make Them successful hunters and searchers, They can purify and prepare the dead for resurrection, and They can help “ferry” the dead toward the Horizon of Rebirth.

The Kite stands 4th from the right, bottom row; perhaps another Kite is on the top row, 6th from the left; I am assuming the family of the deceased are the people in mourning disarray on the bottom left

Is Isis Calling Me?

The is one of the most popular posts on Isiopolis. I’m reposting it today as I’m totally booked—with all kinds of good things. Goddesses, magic, and wonderful people! Hope you’ll enjoy it a second time around.

One of the questions I regularly receive from folks who email me is, “how can I tell if Isis is calling me?”

It’s a very good question, if a somewhat difficult one to answer. Sometimes, people have had dreams with what they think could be Isiac imagery. Sometimes they’ve had a vision or some other experience during a ritual. Sometimes it’s a feeling, sometimes a wish or a hope.

What Do We Mean by “Calling”?

To try to unravel this, the first thing we need to figure out is what we mean by “calling?” In other words, if She were calling us, what would that mean? What kind of obligation, if any, comes with that calling? Because so many of us have Christianity in our personal backgrounds as well as Christianity being so prominent in our societies, we might automatically associate “a calling” with a vocation for the ministry or priesthood. It’s certainly possible. But there are other possibilities, too.

What calling means to us can also depend on where we are in our spiritual journey, as well as what we’ve been studying or reading or thinking.

For instance, let’s say you’re very interested in ancient Egypt, you’ve been reading about it, and you’re in a spiritual circle of some kind that regularly invokes Deities. Then one night, you have a powerful dream in which a beautiful, Egyptian woman seems to welcome you. You think She might be Isis. She might, indeed. She could also be one of any number of Egyptian Goddesses, which you would know about from your reading. What you intuit from your own dream will be very helpful here. If you think She’s Isis, you can follow that thread. We’ll talk about that shortly.

For another instance, let’s say you’ve never had any particular connection with ancient Egypt and you’re not on any specific spiritual path. Then one night, you have a powerful dream in which a beautiful, Egyptian woman seems to welcome you. You think She might be Isis. This may be just a dream. But if you find it exceptionally powerful, keep looking. A dream like that might be pointing out that your soul is yearning for some positive Mother or Divine Feminine energy in your life. That knowledge, in and of itself, is very valuable information. On the other hand, such a dream could be the impetus to set you on a spiritual journey as you seek to learn more.

And for a third instance, let’s say you have that same dream. But you don’t feel that you’re ready—or that you even want to—do anything about it. You absolutely don’t have to. If it’s an important knock on your spiritual door, She’ll knock again. And it’s okay to say no. You won’t hurt Her feelings and there are no negative consequences.

Dreams & Signs

So. Dreams are one way to hear Isis if She’s calling you. But if you, like me, are a crappy dreamer and neither remember them nor write them down, there are other ways to hear Her. There are usually signs. Signs can be tricky. In most cases, a sign is something unusual that catches your attention and relates to the particular Deity involved, in our case, Isis. Because She is a Bird Goddess, it might be wings and feathers. You may hear the sound of wings at an odd time. Or a bird swoops down immediately in your line of sight, startling you. Or a feather drops from the sky. Her symbols—like the Knot of Isis or a throne—might show up unexpectedly. Perhaps you overhear Her name in a passing conversation between strangers. This will happen, not just once, but many times. Be patient. Wait. And look and listen for the signs.

Now, if you’re actively wanting Her to be calling you, signs and synchronicities can ramp up. Does a breeze rustle the leaves of a tree as you pass, thinking of Her? It is Her breath. Have you found a piece of jewelry engraved with Her image? She confirms your Path. Did that hawk circle above you as you drive your car down a country road with Her name on your lips? She is guiding you.

Is it foolish to see these signs everywhere? Is it “just my imagination?” In some cases, sure, there will be a kind of confirmation bias. But that doesn’t matter; She’s on your mind. You’re thinking of Her. It has begun.

Sometimes, there are other ways to tell. You might have an intuition of Her presence about you. Or something weird might happen. I’ve had incense burn and disappear all by itself, strangers have given me unexpected Isis gifts, very loud disembodied voices have spoken my name. What your weird thing might be, I can’t say.

Pick Up the Phone Yourself

Now. There’s also an important secret about all this that I’d like to share with you. Two, really. The first is that if you want to connect with Isis, you don’t have to wait for Her to call you. You can call Her, too. Light a candle. Say a prayer. Ask Her to come into your life. If you like ritual, use the Opening of the Ways here.

The second is that being called by Isis doesn’t necessarily mean you are being called to a lifelong relationship with Her. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being called to serve as Her priestess, priestex, or priest. It might mean you’re being called to learn more about Her—right now and perhaps only for a while. Perhaps you’re being called to relationship. And like any relationship, that means investing time. Spend time with Her, in meditation and prayer. Read about Her in anything and everything you can get your hands on. Get to know Her. See how She feels to you. Do you like Her energy? Does it fit with yours? That’s what I mean by following the thread…and just see where it leads you.

And if you find, after time, that this is not the relationship for you, that’s perfectly okay. You will have learned. You will have grown and your spiritual world will have been expanded.

But if you find that, like me, you are a lifetime (or at least long term) devotee of Isis, then I know you will discover for yourself Her deep love, wisdom, power, and magic.

A Meditation within the Heart of Isis

The spring equinox approaches. Okay, I’m anticipating…just a tad. But winter is ending. And we continue both our work in the world and our Great Work within.

Today I’d like to share a meditation from Isis Magic, slightly modified, which I hope may offer some hope and strength. You may, as I do, find it a little challenging right now—because it opens up space for gratitude, yes, even in this terrible time.

Where to do the meditation is up to you. In front of your altar is always good or, if the weather is clement enough, outside might be even better—for we can sometimes sense Isis’ heartbeat more easily in nature.

We start with the Wings and Breath of Isis. We invoke and connect with Her as we sense Isis’ mighty heart. With our own hearts opening, opening to Her, we give voice to things for which we are grateful—anything from the warm scent of cat fur to the beauty of the day to the love of our friends and activities of our communities. And try to actually speak these gratitudes out loud if you can. The power of heka, magic, is in the word—and this is intensified when spoken.

I hope you will join me in this meditation as we begin to welcome the light of coming spring.

The Wings & Breath of Isis

Stand, with your arms at your sides, facing east. Inhale while simultaneously bringing your hands together at the level of your abdomen and cradling one palm in the other. With this breath, be aware that you are gathering strength. Exhale while simultaneously raising and spreading out your arms like wings unfurling. The arms should be slightly curved, with the palms facing out and slightly above the shoulders. With this exhalation, be aware that you are expending your personal energy to reach out to Isis. Breathe in and say:

“I am a Child of Isis. I am a Beloved of the Goddess.” (Repeat this as many times as you need in order to feel that it is so.)

Now turn your palms inward, forming a cup with your arms. Inhale and imagine you are drawing in the breath of Isis and it fills the cup of your arms. Exhale and open out your arms, allowing them to slowly arc down to your sides. As you exhale, imagine sharing the blessings of Isis with all the earth. To complete the sign, return to the first position.

Greeting the Goddess

Detail from *Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt* by Gustav Klimt

Be seated comfortably, breathe, and begin chanting Her name. You may use any of Her epithets you like. (Maybe even try some from last week’s post?) Or simply chant Her name as Isis or Iset or Ise. When you sense Her presence, stop. Breathe deeply and slowly. Know that you are breathing the breath of Isis the Goddess. Try to match your breath to Her breath.

Heart Joined to Heart

Now, begin to sense Isis’ heartbeat. It is within Her and it is all around you. Listen to Her beating heart. Her heartbeat is in all things. In the breath of the sky. In the song of birds. In the wind moving through grass and trees. In the flowing of the waters. In the thrumming of the great, deep Earth.

Listen and find the rhythm of the heartbeat of Isis, the Great Goddess. Become very aware of that rhythm.

Now, become aware of your own heart—awakened and alive and open to Her within your body. Place your finger on your pulse if need be to feel the heartbeat of your own life.

Now see if you can attune your human heart to the rhythm of Her Divine and Living Heart. Let it slow or speed to meet Hers. Attune your heart to Hers until you sense the two hearts beat in harmony.

Read the following aloud, speaking these Words of Power, and taking time to confirm the truth of these potent words in your heart:

“My Mother. My heart. My Mother. My heart.

“I am aware in my heart. I am in power in my heart. I am aware and in power in my heart, which is the heart given to me by my human mother—and by my Great Mother Isis.

“My Mother. My heart. My Mother. My heart.

A Klimt-inspired Isis work by Brightstone

“I am intelligent in my heart. I am compassionate in my heart. I am intelligent and compassionate in my heart, which is the heart which drums in rhythm with the heart of Isis, the Radiant One.

“My Mother. My heart. My Mother. My heart.

“I am alive in my heart. I am full in my heart. I am alive and full in my heart, the center of all Being, the beginning of all Becoming. I am alive and full in my heart, and my heart knows all the joys of my life.

“In the fullness of my Being, I am Becoming joy-full. The Star of Isis arises—all will be well. Isis comes—peace returns to me. I am sitting in the Throne of Abundance bathed in Her Light. Once again, I attune my human heart to Her Divine heart.”

Thanksgiving

Close your eyes and open your heart. Know you are protected by the wings and centered in the heart of Isis. Then name aloud some things you are grateful for. Don’t stress if nothing comes to mind right away. Just wait patiently. When you’re ready to name them, say:

“I am grateful for (naming as many things as you can).”

When you have completed your thanksgiving, say:

“My Mother. My heart. My Mother. My heart. I am aware in my heart and I am grateful in my heart. You have blessed me, Isis, and I am thankful, Great Goddess, in return. Amma, Iset. Grant that it ever be so.”

Complete the meditation by rising and working the Wings and Breath of Isis one more time.

Egyptian heart amulet, made of carnelian; “My Mother, My Heart”

Hymns to Isis of 10,000 Names from Denderah

One thing I learned from our Egyptian visit to the Great Temple of Hathor at Denderah, is just how very, very, very present Isis is in this entire temple complex.

Approaching the Temple of Hathor at Denderah

I knew that, just as Hathor has a small temple at Isis’ great Philae sanctuary, so Isis had a small temple at Hathor’s great sanctuary at Denderah. But I didn’t know how present Isis is within Hathor’s temple itself.

The remains of the Isis temple at Denderah

So, today I’d like to share with you some of the praises and epithets of Isis found within the great Hathor temple. They can be used and/or adapted through your own creativity for ritual use. The translations come from Egyptologist Sylvie Cauville’s Dendara: Hymnes à Hathor et à Isis. So they are my English translations (with help from Google Translate) of her French translations of the hieroglyphs. I’m awaiting an interlibrary loan of her book on all the texts from Isis’ small temple at Denderah. I’ll share those with you in the future.

But for today, let’s look at some of the ways Isis was understood at Denderah. Since most of the remains at Denderah are Ptolemaic, we won’t be surprised to find Isis expressing Herself there in many of Her ten thousand names. Here’s an example:

Isis the Great, Mother of the God, Mistress of the Birth Mound, Who takes Her place in Denderah, Lady of the Beginning of the Year, Queen of Messengers, Who appears at the New Year to open the Beautiful Year. [She is] Amunet (the Goddess counterpart of Amun) at Thebes, Menhit (a Lioness Goddess) in Heliopolis, Renpet (“Year”) is Your name in Memphis, Sothis (Sopdet, the Star Goddess) in Elephantine, Hededyt (a Scorpion Goddess) in Edfu, the Venerable Vulture (the Goddess Nekhbet), the ruler of Hierakonpolis (Nekhen), the Feminine Heliopolitan One in Denderah, Daughter of Nuet, brought into the world in the Birth Mound on the beautiful day of the Child-in-His-Nest, the One Who takes flight again towards the sky; Heqet (the Frog Goddess) in Abydos, Seshat (the Scribe Goddess) in Hermopolis, Djedet (“Word” or “Great Word,” Djedet Weret) is Your name in Busiris, the Mysterious One in Bubastis, Ipyt (a Hippopotamus Fertility Goddess) in Pe, Depet (“the One of Dep”) in Dep, Neith in Sais, Wadjet in Nebecheh (the location of a temple of Wadjet), Hathor in all the land. She is the One Who dwells in every city and in every nome with Her son Horus and Her brother Osiris.

Those of you who have seen the Oxyrhynchus aretalogy of Isis will recognize this format: give Her name and then the place in which She is called by that name (or vice versa).

“Isis of 10,000 Names” from the Isis Oracle; art by Jim Manton

On one of the pylon doorways at Denderah, where both Goddesses are invoked, we learn this of Isis’ power:

She is the Sovereign of the Palace, the Ruler, the Mistress of Writing. She announces what will happen in the future. Life is in Her hand, health is in Her fist, one does not oppose what comes from Her mouth. She takes care of the one who is not unfaithful to Her and defends the one She loves on the day of the “fight in the arena” (I assume this means during challenging times; but I supposed it could be something more specific, too). She is the irreproachable protector of those who have nothing and those who have everything. What She conceives happens forever. She comforts the unfortunate with Her word at the closing gate. She is Seshat the Great, the Primordial, the First Who Inaugurated Writing, the First Who is Brought into the World Among the Goddesses.

On the doors of the “Mysterious Corridor,” Isis is praised as the Powerful One. Re is said to shine in the horizon (akhet) when He sees Her and human beings come to Her to make Her heart joyful. In the Isis Chapel within the Hathor temple, She is called by many of the titles we have already seen, but She is also the Queen of Egypt in its Entirety, the Great One in Heaven, the Powerful One on Earth, the Primordial One Who Created the First Time (Zep Tepi) and All Good Things—which She shares with those She loves. She “dispenses the Commandments in the places of worship.” What must happen “happens when You [Isis] order it.” She is “excellent and beautiful.” She is “the Female Ibis Without Her Equal, the Mistress of Writing, the Sovereign of the Library.” She is the ruler of the orb of the sun and of the stars. As Sothis, She is the One Who Brings the Flood to “create life for the living.” She is the Eye of Re and the Unique Uraeus serpent.

Isis of Corinth by Stuart Littlejohn; purchase a copy here; I have my copy, just gotta get it framed

She is also called Horet, the Female Horus. Her favors to Her devotees are great as is Her love. She is the Hand of God with inexhaustible benevolence. And Her true name is Isis (but also The Golden). This is very reminiscent of Apuleius’ aretalogy of Isis in which the Goddess lists many of the names by which human beings know Her, but finally states that Her true name is Queen Isis.

Quite a few of the Isiac hymns in the Denderah temple repeat many of the epithets we’ve already seen, so I’m trying to pick out the ones I find interesting and that I think you may also find interesting.

For instance, epithets from the Denderah Chapel of Water and Chapel of the Crown call Isis the Great Oracle Who Arrived at the Beginning and the Oracle Who Announces What Will Happen in the Future. These would be perfect epithets to use when reading Tarot or using another divination system under Her auspices. The Chapel of Water also says that She makes the Inundation flow to “invigorate the hearts of the Guardian Gods;” so another protective function. Her Ka is praised and She is called the Living Ba. She is the Lady of East, South, West, and North.

Isis the Magician, according to WordPress AI

In the Chamber of Fabrics, Isis is identified with Tayet, the Weaving Goddess. The text says that the Divine Fabric is made for Her Ka and that She is Mistress of the White, Green, Purple/Blue, and Red fabrics.

One of the things especially celebrated at Denderah is the birth of Isis. Her birth is connected to the epagomenal days when She rises as Sirius before the sun to mark the New Year.

In the Chapel of the Sistrum, it is said that Isis “took possession of the royal office even before She left the womb; She ruled the throne from Her swaddling clothes.” I’m guessing we’ll learn more about Her birth when I get that interlibrary loan of the texts from the small Temple of Isis.

Isis the Magician, according to Roman-era Egypt

On the exterior temple walls, Isis is said to be born “in the form of a black-haired woman, full of life, Sovereign of the Ennead, Ruler of Magic.” More of Her ten thousand names are added in the pronaos of the temple: She is Amunet, Menhit, Renpet, Sothis, Nekhbet, Tanenet (a Goddess of brewing and childbirth), Isis, Seshat, Heqet, and Wadjet. She is also the One Who Loves the Embrace, the Mistress of Life, Tayet, She Who Hears Everything, the Mysterious, Pyt (possibly a variation or misspelling of Ipyt), Depet, Neith, Khensyt (a Goddess of the royal crown), and Isis in every nome. She is the Mistress of Offerings, the Feminine Disk (of the sun), Mistress of Bread, Who Prepares Beer, and Lady of Exultation and Joy. She is the One Who is Rejuvenated in the Faiyum, Mistress of Life in Metenou (couldn’t find out where that is). In Mendes, She is the One Who Speaks. In Busiris, She is the One Who Hears Everything. And She is still The Mysterious in Bubastis.

The pronaos also notes that on the birthday of Isis, joy breaks out in Denderah and in Edfu. (Remember that these two temples are connected by the love connection between Hathor and Horus.) Heavenly Nuet gives birth to Isis—the Scholar for the Ennead—so that She may give birth to Horus the Avenger. The text says that Isis “was initiated into Wisdom as the Great One” and that the Goddesses come to see Her birth, wearing the menat-necklace and bearing the sistrum, “to appease the heart of The Magician (that is, Isis).”

That’s a lot of (hopefully) new and interesting epithets to work with for today. Any one of these epithets of Isis or Her identifications with other Goddesses would be a worthy subject for invocation and meditation.

Wandering Isis

Part 3

Thoth, in the form of a baboon, lures Tefnut, in the form of a lioness, back home to Her father Re

Let’s finish up our exploration of Isis as a Wandering Goddess by looking at some additional ways Isis’ story fits in with the myth of the Wandering/Distant/Returning Goddess. Last time we saw how Isis’ lioness form and the raped-Goddess theme fit in with other Wandering and Distant Goddesses, as well as how prevalent that myth was in the Delta—the place where Isis’ worship most likely originated.

So let’s see what else we can find out.

Eye of Re

In addition to being fierce and protective Lioness Goddesses, our Wandering Goddesses are also fierce and protective Eye Goddesses. Usually, They are Solar Eyes—Daughters of Re—hence Their fiery nature—though we saw that the Lioness Goddess Mehyt may be associated with the Udjat Eye, the full Lunar Eye, which in turn connects Her with the ever-so-famous Eye of Horus, son of Isis.

Isis is Herself a Divine Eye and Daughter of the Sun God Re. She is said to “emerge” from Re or “come forth” from His body. At Her Philae temple, inscriptions say that She “appears” as the Eye of Re. (On the other hand, as a Primordial Goddess, Isis is also said to give birth to Re, so there’s that.) Isis is called Re’et, the Female Re…indeed, at Denderah She is called “the Re’et of Re’ets,” that is, “Sun Goddess of Sun Goddesses,” and She is also Queen of the Re’et Goddesses. She is the Solar Eye, “the right eye of He Who shines like gold” and She is the solar disk, the Aten Itself. Hathor and Isis are the only Goddesses Who have the distinction of being identified as the solar disk itself. At Denderah, Isis is Re’et “in the dual course of the sun and the moon,” and so She encompasses both Solar and Lunar Eyes.

Eye of Re Who has No Equal in Heaven and on Earth

The Fiery Goddess strikes fear in the heart of Her, and Re’s, enemies. Her power can cause death “in this vigorous form” and She describes Herself as “She who triumphs, the companion of Re.” As the Sacred Eye, the Goddess coils as a uraeus serpent and third eye upon the Sun God’s brow, protecting Him and fighting an ongoing cosmic battle against His great opponent, the destructive Serpent Apop (Gr. Apophis). Inscriptions from Philae call Isis “Neseret-serpent on the head of Horus-Re, Eye of Re, the Unique Goddess, Uraeus” and “Eye of Re Who has No Equal in Heaven and on Earth.”

In addition to being a Divine Eye, we can also understand Isis as having particularly keen sight due to Her sharp raptor’s eyes. Her most prominent sacred bird is the kite hawk, whose sky-high viewpoint gives it an advantage in being able to see far distances, which could easily lead to the conclusion that it was All Seeing. In later periods of Her worship, Isis was invoked not only as “all-seeing,” but “many-eyed.”

Isidorus’ Faiyum hymns to the Goddess describe Her as gazing down on the activities of humanity and noting the individual virtues of human beings. Yet the glance of Isis’ sharp eye can have dire consequences for those who oppose Her. When the Ennead of the Gods is arguing over whether Horus or Set should receive Osiris’ throne, the Deities back down in the face of the anger and flashing eyes of Isis.

The Goddess Leaves the Premises

The next few pieces of our puzzle, I admit, are not as strong as the argument to date. We just don’t have a surviving Isis myth that’s close to Tefnut’s or Hathor/Sakhmet’s angry departure and joyful return. My guess is that Isis became so strongly associated with the Osirian myth cycle—and there were so many other Goddesses associated with the Wandering Goddess cycle—that there simply wasn’t a need for people to retain that particular myth—if there originally was one, as I think there was—in relation to Isis.

Isis wanders, finds each piece, and creates a shine for Osiris

As Isis began to break away from the Goddess pack, so to speak, and Her worship spread not only throughout Egypt, but into the entire Mediterranean region and beyond, there was less and less reason to include that theme in Her worship. Instead, the very human, heart-touching emotionalism, tragedy, and eventual triumph of the Isis-Osiris-Horus myth took over…even as She was becoming, more and more, the Goddess of 10,000 Names.

And yet, Isis does wander. She wanders throughout the length and depth of Egypt searching for the pieces of Her Beloved’s body. She creates shrines in the major cities and towns of Egypt, so that Her story is known by all. The ubiquity of the Isis-Osiris myth was so prevalent that the historian Herodotus, in the 5th century BCE, had the impression that Isis and Osiris were the only two Deities universally worshiped in Egypt. Not only that, but we can imagine that Isis’ wandering is filled with grief and mourning, yes, but also with anger. If you have ever lost someone suddenly, you will understand, on a gut level, that anger is a very familiar part of mourning.

Is Induced to Return

Horus takes His rightful place as king; Isis is in joy

Rather than being coaxed into returning home, however, Isis is more self-directed. She returns when Her task of gathering Osiris is complete and She has guided His resurrection and transformation into Lord of the Dead. Her concerns at home now turn to ensuring Horus takes His rightful place as king. And here again we see Her demonstrate the fiery power and righteous anger of the Divine Eye. Remember what we saw above regarding the Ennead backing down in the face of Her anger.

Is Pacified (and Goes on a Boat Ride)

Backing down and admitting that Horus should indeed be king, the Ennead pacifies Isis. Ah, so Our Lady did need a bit of placation after all. What’s more, at Hathor’s Denderah temple, where the two Goddesses are so, so close, we even find that Isis needed an isheru to cool Her off.

See the wavy lines indicating water on three sides of Her throne? That’s the isheru.

At Denderah, Hathor and Isis often mirror each other. In the main temple, we see Hathor on Her throne on one wall and Isis on another. Beneath Hathor’s throne we see 16 vases of Inundation water, one vase for each cubit of the ideal height for the Nile flood. The king offers Her a jar of Primordial Water, while Her son Ihy plays the sistrum and rattles the menat to sooth Her anger. On another wall in the same room, we find Isis enthroned. Beneath and around Her throne are the wavy lines that indicate water in a basin shaped roughly like an isheru. The inscription identifies it as precisely that by telling us that, “Her isheru lake is all around Her.”

This same scene, the two seated Goddesses with 16 vases beneath Hathor’s throne and an isheru surrounding that of Isis, is also found in Denderah’s so-called Chapel of Purification, the Per-Nu. And yet again, the same scene of Isis alone is found on another wall in a different room of the temple. As before, the enthroned Isis is seated over an isheru-shaped basin. The inscription reads, “Isis the Great . . . is seated/pacified in the isheru that is all around Her, Who crosses the lake within Her barque.” The inscriptions go on to describe Isis’ traveling on the isheru as a meeting with Her father Nun and tell us that He enfolds Her in His arms. Both Isis and Hathor are connected with the Inundation and the Primordial Waters. The Waters are offered by the king to Hathor since She regulates the ideal Inundation, while Isis, Who brings the Inundation, is embraced by Her father Who is said to be the primordial Watery Abyss Himself.

Detail of a fresco from the Temple of Isis in Pomeii thought to refer to the Navigium Isidis, with Isis or Her priestess in the ship

The Goddesses’ ritual travel by boat upon the isheru is known to Egyptologists as a navigation. (At Denderah, there were 9 navigations, by the way: one for each place the Goddess stopped on Her way back from Nubia.)

We might remember that Isis, too, has a rather famous navigation: the Navigium Isidis (the “ship of Isis” or “sailing of Isis”). I’m still trying to confirm the Egyptian word that was used for the “navigation” in the Hathor-Isis festival. There is an Egyptian word, khenet, which is related to other words having to do with boats, sailors, and navigation—as well as a festival of Osiris that featured a procession of boats—but I’m not sure whether the same word was used for the navigation of Isis and Hathor on the isheru.

A fanciful Italian mosaic, from the Hellenistic period, showing Egypt during Inundation

Nevertheless, it is clear that at Denderah one of the things the Return of the Goddess was about was the return of the waters of the Inundation that would bring food and prosperity to Egypt. In addition, the rising river made the Nile more navigable for a wider variety of boats and ships. Just before the flood was the time of the river’s lowest, most-difficult-to-travel water levels. The Navigium Isidis (Gk: Ta Ploiaphesia; the Launching [of the Ship of Isis]), while not concerned with the water level or Inundation of the Nile, was concerned with the navigability of the Mediterranean Sea that would mark the start of the shipping season in spring.

Then Festival Ensues

The Fierce Feline Goddess, now pacified, celebrates

We now come to the final element in the Wandering Goddess myth: Her joyful return and the Festival of Drunkenness. We have already seen evidence of such festivals for Mut, Tefnut, Bastet, Nehemant, and of course, Hathor. And I’m sure that, at Denderah, with the closeness of the Goddesses, Isis devotees would have participated with Hathor devotees during the festivals held there. There certainly were joyous festivals for Isis—She is, after all, called “the Festive Goddess.” Often, these were related to the conception and birth of Horus and the birthdays of Isis and Her siblings during the epagomenal days. What’s more, She is known as a joyful Goddess; temple inscriptions call Her the Queen of Joy, Lady of Rejoicing, and Lady of Jubilation. Deities and human beings rejoice when They/they see Her. Isis is called She Whose Heart is Open and Her joy is likened to the beauty of the full moon.

Still, we don’t have solid evidence of a full-fledged Festival of Drunkenness for Isis.

And yet.

There are these two little bits of graffiti from Her temple at Philae. They’re in bad shape. They’re from a late period. But one mentions a day of singing and drunkenness, the other notes a dedication to Hathor, a “house of greeting,” and “the place of drunkenness of the people.”

Let us celebrate the Festival of Tekh (drunkenness) that we may see the Goddess

In fact, all of this makes sense. Philae was home to a temple of Hathor—just as Denderah included a temple of Isis. Philae was also Tefnut’s first stop on Her way back from Nubia.

It was at Philae that She changed from burning lioness to peaceful Goddess. So it may well be that—in that fluid way of Egyptian Goddesses and Their festivals—Isis-Hathor-Tefnut may have been celebrated with a Festival of Drunkenness at Philae, too. Since there is no temple calendar carved on the walls at Philae, we can’t be sure, but perhaps we will learn more from other discoveries as time goes on.

So, there you have it. It may have been that Our Lady Isis participated in both of the great mythic themes of ancient Egypt: the Isis & Osiris story as well as the myths of the Wandering/Distant/Returning Goddess.

Wandering Isis

Part 3

So let’s see what else we can find out.

Eye of Re

The Goddess Leaves the Premises

Is Induced to Return

Is Pacified (and Goes on a Boat Ride)

Then Festival Ensues

Still, we don’t have solid evidence of a full-fledged Festival of Drunkenness for Isis.

And yet.

In fact, all of this makes sense. Philae was home to a temple of Hathor—just as Denderah included a temple of Isis. Philae was also Tefnut’s first stop on Her way back from Nubia.

Isis as a Wandering Goddess

Part 2

Last time, we wondered whether Our Lady Isis might be one of the Wandering/Distant/Returning Goddesses of ancient Egypt. And while we don’t have myths of an angry Isian departure or a festival of drunkenness for Her, I still think there are enough traces left to connect Isis to this important Egyptian mythic theme.

Isis’ Philae temple, now on Agilika island

Let’s start at Philae, the location of Isis’ great Upper Egyptian temple, located near Egypt’s border with ancient Nubia. As you might recall, Philae was Tefnut’s first stop upon that Goddess’ return to Egypt following Her angry flight to Nubia. An inscription on Isis’ temple there says that when Tefnut arrived, there was a great flame around Her, but then She went up into the sky 10,000 cubits and immediately became peaceful.

Egyptologist Joachim Quack suggests an astronomical solution to the burning lioness’ aerial ascent: the heliacal rising of the star Sirius, which twinkles red close to the horizon, but as it rises higher takes on a calmer, blue-white color, and which—thousands of years ago—heralded the beginning of the vital Egyptian Inundation. The temple at Philae, in ancient Egypt’s far south, would have been one of the first places observers could have witnessed the heliacal return of the star.

The star’s behavior, apparently leaving the sky for a period of about 70 days each year while it is in a too-close conjunction with the greater light of the sun, works well with the myth. The Goddess disappears for a while, then returns to the rejoicing of the people, for as She returns, She brings with Her the floods that ensure the fertility of the land. What’s more, some of these festivals for the Returning Goddess seem to have taken place around the summer solstice. Depending on when in time and where on earth you were or are, the summer solstice could coincide roughly with the rise of Sirius.

Iset-Sopdet following Sah-Osiris in Their celestial boats

So…here in Isis’ temple on the border of Nubia, we have Isis’ own grandmother Tefnut, identified with the star Sirius, which is itself personified as the Goddess Sopdet, a Goddess Who has been identified with Isis since at least the time of the Pyramid Texts. If we appreciate the Sirius solution as a possible origin for the myth of the Wandering Goddess, it’s a pretty easy, pretty clean Distant/Returning Isis connection.

Of course, if you’ve looked into Egyptian myth, you know that most of it doesn’t come in clear, narrative form. The only reason we have a narrative-ish version of the Isis and Osiris story is that the Greek priest Plutarch wrote it down like that.

As a source for the story of Tefnut as the Returning Goddess, we have the Demotic and Greek versions I mentioned last time, but mostly what we have are bits and pieces from temple walls, monuments, funerary texts, and texts like the Delta and Tebtunis mythological manuals. And while the overarching theme is the same—Goddess goes, bad; Goddess returns, good—the details are different enough that no one has tried to put together any such thing as a definitive version of the myth.

So, to track down our Wandering Isis, I’ll try to pull together some of the pieces of Her story that seem to relate to the main features of the myth/s as we know them.

The Angry Goddess

One of the first things you may have noticed is that our Distant Goddesses all have a lioness form. Most people are familiar with the lioness forms of Sakhmet-Hathor and Tefnut, but the other Distant Goddesses are lionesses, too. As the pride’s main hunters, lionesses are decidedly fierce. Even lions back off in the face of an angry lioness; you’ve seen the videos.

And yes, even glittery Sopdet has a lioness form. If you’ve been following along with this blog, you already know that Isis Herself can appear as a lioness and is frequently identified with Sakhmet or Bastet, just to name two of our most prominent Feline Goddesses. Isis’ Philae temple entrance is guarded by two lion statues and She is often shown seated upon a lion-throne.

Horit (read about Her here and here) is lioness connected, too. Like Isis, She is repeatedly identified with some of our fierce feline Goddesses. One of Her children is killed by a lioness. The lioness is hunted down by Nephthys and Thoth and flayed. The remains of the child are wrapped in the lioness’ skin and the child is reborn.

Isis with the head of a lioness from the Kom Ombo temple

Another part to Horit’s myth makes Her a duplicate of Isis. One of the children She bears to Osiris is Horus of Medenu. When Osiris is killed by Seth, Horit hides Her Horus in the marshes, raising Him to be an avenger of His father Osiris—just as Isis did with Her Horus, Harsiese “Horus, son of Isis.”

Further, Horit is imprisoned in Sebennytos where She is connected with Tefnut, Sakhmet, Bastet, and Hathor. Sebennytos also had a temple of the lioness Meyht and Her consort-hunter Onuris. Just a few miles from Sebennytos is the location of the Lower Egyptian temple of Isis known (later) as Isiopolis with its focus on the resurrection of Osiris. So right here, in this part of the Egyptian Delta, we find temples and myths that incorporate both the Returning Goddess and Isis-Osiris themes. What’s more, we have a duplicate Isis—Horit—Who forms a kind of bridge between these two important motifs.

Another characteristic of our Distant Goddesses is that They are angry when They leave. In some cases, we know why; in others, we don’t. And while many people think of Isis as an exclusively kind and motherly Deity, She can also show an angry-burning-lioness side and be kick-yer-ass insistent from time to time.

Warning: discussion of rape in myth upcoming

You may recall that in several fragments of the myth, the reason Tefnut leaves in anger is that She has been raped by Her son Geb. Isis, too, suffers rape by Her son Horus. A stele from the Middle Kingdom refers to Horus violating Isis while He “inclined His heart toward Her”(!?!). From the Harris Magical Papyrus, we have this heart-rending account of Isis’ reaction:

Isis is weary on the water; Isis lifts Herself on the water; Her tears fall into the water. See, Horus violates his mother Isis and Her tears fall into the water.
Harris Magical Papyrus, VIII, 9-10

In Koptos, where Min has the epithet Bull of His Mother and is the consort of Isis, the God eventually came to be assimilated with Horus—again sexually pairing Isis and Horus. So much so, that They formed the very unusual cross-sex combination form of Isis-Horus. In a papyrus from the Ramesseum collection, another falcon God, Hemen, a form of Horus, has sex with Isis and impregnates Nephthys with a daughter, and we again have reason to think this was not consensual. Of course the Goddess is angry.

You do not want the hyt of Isis cast against you. Photo by OmarPhotos.com. See more work here.

Even in Plutarch’s rendition of the story of Isis and Osiris, Isis displays anger. As Isis is bringing Osiris’ body back to Egypt from Byblos by ship, the wind makes for rough sailing, so Isis dried up the river with an angry look. When She stopped to mourn Osiris, a prince of Byblos who had accompanied Her, became unwisely curious and observed Her in Her grief. She turned a terrible gaze upon him and he died instantly.

In Demotic (late Egyptian), we find a term hyt, that would be pronounced something like khyt, which could mean anything from divine inspiration and ecstasy to doom, fury, or curse. Interestingly, it was usually “cast” on or against someone or something—just as heka, magic, was (and is) cast. A graffito from Isis’ temple at Philae says that “the hyt of Isis is upon any man who will read these writings.” The person had written their name on the temple and was calling down the hyt of Isis on anyone who might remove the writing. A graffito at Aswan makes this clearer:

The hyt of Isis the Great, Chief of the Multitude/Army is upon every man on earth who will read these writings. Do not let [him] attack [the writings], to not let him disparage the writings. Every man on earth who will find these writings and erase or disparage the writings, Isis the Great, Chief of the Multitude/Army will decrease his lifetime because of it, while every man who will give praise and respond regarding them, [he will be praised(?)] before Isis the Great, the Great Goddess.”
Graffito Aswan 13, ll. 6-13; Appendix, no. 2, in Robert Ritner’s “An Eternal Curse upon the Reader of These Lines”

From Saqqara, a Demotic inscription forebodingly says that, “the hyt of Isis is upon you.” While Isis is not the only Deity having hyt (most did), we can at least see the fearsome power of Isis’ fury or curse. From the later Greek Magical Papyri, we still find a fierce Isis Who is called upon in an erotic spell of compulsion:

For Isis raised up a loud cry, and the world was thrown into confusion. She tosses and turns on her holy bed and its bonds and those of the daimon world are smashed to pieces because of the enmity and impiety of her, [name of the woman who does not desire the spell caster] whom [name of her mother] bore.
PGM XXXVI, 134-160

We’ve not come to the end of our exploration of Isis as a Wandering-Distant-Returning Goddess…but this post is long enough for now. So we’ll take it up again next time to see what else there might be to be seen.

For now, we know that Isis has a fierce lioness form, that She has reason to be angry in a manner similar to at least some of our Wandering Goddesses, and that, in Lower Egypt—around Her temple at Isiopolis—this myth was not only particularly important, prevalent, and widespread, but most of the Goddesses participated in some version of the myth in one way or another.

Is Isis a Wandering Goddess?

This summer, we’ll be celebrating a festival for the Wandering Goddesses, Hathor and Sakhmet. The myth of the Wandering Goddess is one of the most important myths of ancient Egypt. Almost every locality had their own version of the story and their own Wandering Goddess. So, I’m going to repost my Wandering Goddess series—while I work on new posts and attend a Board meeting today. I hope you find it interesting.

Part 1

Isis Wandering in Search of Osiris, by Louis Braquet

If your first reaction is, “Well, heck yeah; She wandered all over looking for the bits of Osiris,” you would not be wrong. But I’m thinking of a different wandering Goddess motif—and not one that is usually associated with Isis.

This mythic theme is also known as the tale of the Distant Goddess, the Wrathful Goddess, or the Returning Goddess. Most people are familiar with it from the Egyptian text known as the Book of the Heavenly Cow.

In that story, humanity has rebelled against Re and He sends Hathor—Who becomes the much-more-violent Sakhmet—to punish them. She enjoys Her work so well that Re is afraid She might wipe out all of humanity. To quell Her berserker rage, beer is colored red. Lioness Sakhmet laps it up like blood, becomes drunk…and is thus “pacified.” Egyptian festivals celebrated Her peaceful return to Her father Re with all-around drunkenness—and not a few hookups on one hand and mystical communions with the Goddess on the other.

But there are many other Goddesses Who share this mythic motif. While the details—to the extent that we have them—are different in the different tales, let’s take a brief look at Who-all-else may have been involved.

In the second most well known of these tales, it is Tefnut Who is our Wandering Goddess. We have a Demotic (late Egyptian) version of the tale and a Greek folktale-ish one. Both are spotty as the papyri are quite damaged and neither has been translated into English, so I’m working from paraphrases.

As our story begins, Tefnut—one of the Fiery Feline Goddesses of the Eye—is angry. She is the Eye of Re, Who, in this version, is Her father. We don’t know why She is angry, but She leaves, heading south, possibly to Nubia or to some other place That Is Not Here.

Without His powerful daughter, Re is vulnerable, so He sends Shu, Tefnut’s husband and brother, and Thoth, Who is particularly clever at pacifying angry Goddesses, to fetch Her back. Eventually, They track Her down. It takes some doing, but with entertaining stories, promises of offerings and festivals, jars of beer, and the wensheb, the symbol of ordered time (and general ma’et-ness), the Fiery Goddess is persuaded to return to Egypt and Her father.

The first place She stops on Her way back into Egypt is the southern Egyptian temple of Isis at Philae. There, She is purified and transforms from Her Burning Lioness form into a lovely woman. On the nearby island of Biggeh, where a tomb of Osiris and an Isis-Osiris temple were located, we find also a temple to Tefnut-Hathor, our angry/joyful Goddess. Perhaps this temple was Her starting point as She traveled from southern Egypt to northern, stopping at temples and towns along the way.

At each stop, a joyous welcome-home-and-restoration-of-order festival of music, dancing, drinking, and feasting ensues. (I am reminded that in cultures throughout the world—often—festivals of license are required in order to usher in a renewed period of order.)

Warning: references to rape in myth upcoming.

“The lance was placed in Geb’s thigh” and we all know what thigh stands in for, right?

Another of Tefnut’s Wandering Goddess myths is darker. We have bits of it from papyri found in the Faiyum and the Delta and on a naos from the 30th dynasty. From these sources, we learn that Geb has raped His mother Tefnut and taken the kingship from His father Shu, recently deceased, though we’re not sure how Shu died. Another version of the myth says Geb “hurt His father Shu as He copulated with His mother Tefnut.” In the next sentence, Tefnut leaves—surely blazing with anger, though what we have says nothing of Her state of mind. During Her absence, the text says, “the lance was placed in His [Geb’s] thigh,” in punishment. Another version has Geb taking up the royal Uraeus of Shu and placing it on His own head, but it burns Him ferociously with a wound that won’t heal. (And we recall that the royal Uraeus is yet another form of the fiery Eye Goddess.)

There are many confusing details in these myths that I won’t go into here. But I do want to again call out the reason why the outraged Goddess leaves, going as far away as She can: She has been raped by Her son.

In a different post, we looked at another raped-Goddess myth, the story of Horit. We don’t hear of Horit leaving for somewhere That Is Not Here. While being identified with Tefnut, She is instead imprisoned—in Sebennytos, the Lower Egyptian capital of the nome where Isis’ temple complex at Isiopolis was located. Eventually, She is freed. So, the Return of the Goddess, in this case, is a return from imprisonment…with the same joyous welcome from the people.

From Upper Egypt, there is the story of Mehyt and Onuris. Onuris, the desert hunter, is the consort of the Lioness Goddess Mehyt. His name means something like “Bringer of the Distant One” and Her name means something like “the Full One.” It may relate to Her identification as the Udjat Eye of Horus, that is the full Eye or the full moon. Mehyt, like all Eye Goddesses, is a protective Goddess, and protects both Osiris and Re. She is also a Fierce Goddess wielding arrows or hoards of demons as needed. As Onuris is involved in a hunt for the Eye of Horus, His heart is said to ache for the Sacred Eye, which certainly seems to make The Eye less of a thing to be procured and more of…well…a Goddess to be desired. Mehyt and Onuris were also honored in Lower Egypt; there was a temple to Them at Sebennytos.

There were many local versions of the Distant Goddess theme. Frequently, the raging Goddess goes by one name and the pacified one by another—like Sakhmet/Hathor in the Heavenly Cow. At Hermopolis, the fiery Goddess is Ai or Tai, while the peaceful one is Nehemant. Demotic inscriptions from Herakleopolis, where these Goddesses were also honored, show evidence of a festival of drunkenness for Her, as it seems there may have been for all our Returning Goddesses.

Inscriptions tell us that “when they are drunk, they will see . . . by means of the vessel” and that people make love before the Goddess and celebrate Her with feasts. From Tebtunis (in the Faiyum), Wenut (Who we met here) is the Raging Goddess and Nehemtua is the Returning One. Nehemant/Nehemtua (and other, similar renderings of Her name) is, predictably, identified with Tefnut, Horit, and Hathor.

Instead of Nubia, Nehemtua has fled to Naunet, the Great Goddess of the Hermopolitan Abyss, and settled Herself within Naunet. Here, we do know why She fled: because Set wants to possess Her, both sexually and as a symbol of His father Geb’s kingdom. So again, the Goddess is fleeing either post-rape or to prevent it. In this tale, it is Thoth and Nephthys Who go to bring the Goddess back.

Upon Her return, Nehemtua is said to have been “initiated” (bsi) to Shu (reinforcing Her connection to Tefnut) in the great (sacred) lake at Hermopolis. Frequently, water is required to cool down the fiery Goddess.

The Great Goddess Mut, Whose name means simply “mother,” is also associated with this theme. She is the Lady of the Isheru,* the crescent-shaped sacred lake in which the Raging Goddess is cooled and, no doubt, purified upon Her return. Part of Her ecstatic festival of return was called the Navigation of Mut and was enacted upon the cooling isheru. Some semi-recently come-to-light texts have made Mut’s festival of drunkenness rather famous. A very fragmentary text about these festivals refers to “the Distant One” and to pacification of the Goddess. We learn of singing, dancing, drinking, feasting, and “sexual bliss” in honor of Mut. Pharaoh Hatshepsut is recorded as having built a “portico of drunkenness” for Her.

Also of note is Mut’s ability to renew Herself; She is both mother and daughter. Her consort is Amun, Who is capable of self-renewal, too, for He bears the epithet Kamutef, Bull of His Mother. And yes, the bull part refers to sex. So we have Mut and Amun (and Re, as possessor of the Eye, is in there somewhere, too) as mother and daughter and son and father to each other. The God Min of Koptos is also called Kamutef—with Isis as His mother/sexual partner. With the Isis-Horus connection so strong, Min eventually takes on the name Horus as well.

And this is by no means the end of the Egyptian Goddesses associated with the myth of the Wandering Goddess, but it is enough to get a picture of its widespread nature. Egyptologists’ explanations for its origins include: the sun’s movement southward from summer to winter; the heliacal disappearance and return of the star Sirius to herald the Inundation; the waning and waxing of the moon during its cycle; the Inundation itself as its waters quench Egyptian fields and cool the red-hot Goddess; the hunter bringing back a tamed animal to his tribe; the maintenance of royal power; the return of ma’et after a period of disorder; and a young woman’s first menstrual period—wherein she leaves as an immature girl, but returns as a sexually mature being, a possibility I find intriguing. Oh, and let’s not forget (in some cases) rape as the reason for the Goddess’ departure and the “sorry, come back home, baby” nature of the persuasions—to put another human face on it. All of these make some sense and there doesn’t have to be just one answer.

As I said in the beginning, we don’t usually connect Isis with this myth. We have no stories left to us in which Isis rages off and has to be persuaded to return, from Nubia or anywhere else. We know of no festivals of drunkenness for Her. And yet, I feel almost certain that there used to be just such a tale. We’ll talk about that next time and I’ll lay out my case.

*As you might guess, Sakhmet and Bast, both feline Deities, were known to have isheru…but Wadjet had one, too. Usually, we think of Her in the form of the Uraeus Goddess, but She also had a lioness form—and is thus among our Fierce and Fiery Felines, too.

A Prayer to Isis in a Time of Deep Pain

“In the center is a Sanctuary and I am calling you to come inside,” the Beautiful One said in a voice soft as thought.

Outside, pale prophets spoke words of doom, contagious fear spreading from their cold lips.

“Pay it no heed,” says She. “In the Sanctuary, an Incandescent Fire resides. The helpless heart is strong.”

Her words penetrate so close to my shuttered heart that I am afraid to hope. And yet I do hope.

“Enter into Sanctuary, enter into Peace,” She says. “Pain and fear cannot exist within; they are Other. Come now, you are not abandoned.”

Fear begins to fall away into pools of light, white as lightning.

“Look,” says She, “I have woven for you a Chrysalis.”

“I know,” I say, “of Incandescent Fire, and Sanctuary is the entering within.”

The Beautiful One smiles, “Yes.”

Frankly, I do not know how we get through the Horrors with our sanity intact.

I do know that we cannot give up and we cannot give in. We must resist. And we must rest—within the wings of Our Lady Isis and in the presence of all our Divine Ones.

It is a time to take care of ourselves, both our individual selves and our community selves; to ignite and grow an inner reservoir of hope, and even joy. It is not frivolous to dance, to laugh with friends; it is soul-saving. It is powerful to make art. It is powerful to make magic. It is powerful to be in Nature, breathing the breath of the earth and the skies and the waters. It is powerful to reach out to each other, to help and to hold.

To fuel such acts of power, we stay connected—not only with ourselves and our communities, but also with the Divine. We envelop ourselves in that chrysalis of incandescent fire that She has woven from Her own wing feathers for us. It is made of transformations and miracles and strength.

And yes, we must take action. Join groups. Give money if we can. Write letters and call. Nagging can be powerful, too.

As those of you who have been following along with this blog know, its purpose has never been political. And it is not my intention for it to veer off in that direction.

So next time, we’ll return to our regular topics. I am always searching for information about Our Lady that I want to share with you. As well as new ways that we can open ourselves fully to Her, so that She—and we—may discover, nurture, and empower our Isis Hearts within. These are ways we stay in connection with Her.

Her wings uphold us. Her wings enfold us. Now in this time of pain in the presence of evil, and forever.

Isis & the Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Did you know that the famous tale of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice is an Isis story?

Yep. And She is in Her guise as Great Magician—and a teacher of magicians.

The version you may be familiar with is Disney’s retelling of the tale with Mickey as the apprentice from the animated movie Fantasia. Before that, it was popularized by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in a 14-stanza poem called Der Zauberlehrling.

But that’s not where it originates. The oldest-known version of this tale is from a 2nd-century CE book by Lucian of Samosatos, a Hellenized Syrian known for his satires, rhetoric, pamphlets—and his snarky style. His snark is on full display in his book of dialogs called Philopseudes, or “Lover of Lies,” in which we find the tale of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

The book begins with the character Tychiades asking why people are so fond of “lies.” (Tychiades means “son of Tyche;” Tyche is the Goddess of Fate and Fortune and She was assimilated with Isis in this time period; there is even an Isityche.) The lies to which he refers are the “superstitious” remedies people are suggesting for a mutual friend, Eukrates, who has fallen ill. This situation serves as a framing story for ten tales of magic and the miraculous that the gathered friends, many philosophers, tell in order to convince Tychiades that the supernatural is not a lie.

Lucian seems to have favored the tale of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice as he gave it the most space of any of the included ten tales, and he placed it last to serve as the climax of the entire book. This story Tychiades hears from Eukrates himself.

Eukrates explains that the events he is about to relate are his very own experiences and that when Tychiades hears him out, he will be persuaded of the truth of the tale.

Eukrates story takes place in Egypt, as many ancient tales of magic did. As a young man, Eukrates has been sent on the Grand Tour throughout the Mediterranean world by his father to further his education. He is traveling up the Nile on his way to Koptos, and from there he intends to travel to the Colossoi of Memnon. Ahh, but he never makes it there.

For during his Nile travels, he meets a learned Egyptian scribe. I’ll quote the book now, because this is the part where we find Isis.

“We happened to be accompanied on the voyage up the Nile by a man of Memphis, one of the sacred scribes. His wisdom was marvelous and he had had the full Egyptian training. It was said that he had lived underground for twenty-three years in crypts while being trained in magic by Isis.”

“You’re speaking of Pankrates,” said Arignotus, “He was my teacher: a holy man, always shaven, thoughtful, speaking his Greek with a heavy accent, long and thin, snub-nosed, with protruding lips and rather skinny legs.”

“Yes, that’s Pankrates!” he said. “At first I didn’t know who he was, but when I saw him performing all sorts of miracles every time we put to, most notably riding on crocodiles and swimming with the animals, whilst they fawned upon him and wagged their tails, I realized that he was a holy man, and by being nice to him I became a friend and comrade by gradual and imperceptible stages. As a result, he shared all his secrets with me. Eventually he persuaded me to leave all my servants behind in Memphis, and to accompany him, the two of us on our own. For, he explained, we would not want for attendants. This is how we lived thenceforth.”

And so we learn that the great holy man, Pankrates, was a fully trained Egyptian scribe magician—and trained by our Lady of Magic Herself. Thus, he is capable of all the classic Egyptian magician feats, from riding crocodiles to taming wild beasts. He could probably understand the language of animals, too.

As it turned out, it was quite true that Pankrates and Eukrates did not need any servants. For anytime a task needed doing, Pankrates would take a broom or pestle, bring it to life, and it would do the task perfectly. Interestingly, Eukrates notes that the transformed broom “would look human to everyone else;” something Disney left out because living brooms were way more fun to animate, no doubt.

Of course, the power to create magical servants (ushabtis?) was the power Eukrates most craved and it was the one thing Pankrates withheld. But one night, Eukrates eavesdropped on his master and overheard the first part of the incantation—the part that could turn a broom into a person. But he never learned the second part: how to turn the servant back into a broom.

You know the rest of the story. Water, water, everywhere.

In the end, the holy man returns, restores order, then promptly disappears—giving the hapless Eukrates no further information or instruction.

At the conclusion of his tale, one of Eukrates’ friends asks whether he can still conjure magical servants. Oh yes, indeed, Eukrates answers. But he still doesn’t have the off-button and so he’d wreck his home if he actually did the magic.

In an article I’m reading about this, the author compares the story of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice with a number of other magical tales. Some are Greek, some Egyptian. All share an Egyptian setting, an ambitious young man, a search for magical knowledge, a venerable magician-priest, and often a magical book. You can read about just such an Egyptian tale here and here.

The point he makes is that the Sorcerer’s Apprentice isn’t an outlier tale as some scholars of Lucian have long suggested. Instead, it fits well within a genre of Egyptian-magic-focused tales that were very popular at the time. This is also the time period during which the worship of Isis had spread widely throughout the Mediterranean world.

For me, the enduring popularity of this tale is just another example of the extremely significant influence ancient Egypt—and our Lady Isis (for Who else could be the Great Teacher of Magicians?)—had upon their neighbors.

Isis & My ‘Epagomenal’ Days

This year, the holidays have not touched me.

Not Thanksgiving. Not Yule. Not any of the beautiful winter holidays of Light. I am just not feeling festive. I am too deeply concerned about my own country and much of the world. I am too deeply concerned about my community and many of the individual friends and loved ones who are a part of it.

Yet today, out of nowhere—while on a simple errand—I finally felt something. I felt the epagomenal days. I sensed myself existing in a time-out-of-time, in a strange unreality. Sound seemed dampened as a soft quietness fell over everything.

And I realized that my own feeling of unfestive unease may mirror the feelings that many ancient Egyptians would have had during their own epagomenal days.

The Great Mother Nuet; artwork from the Damanhur Community, Italy

For them, the epagomenal days were the five days before the summer rising of the Star of Isis, Sopdet (Sothis in Greek, Sirius in Latin). With the rising of Her Star, the New Year began.

(The Egyptian year had 360 days, but the solar year has 365.25. So the Egyptians made up the difference by adding five epagomenal—intercalary or “inserted into the calendar”—days at the end of the year.)

These days were also considered the birthdays of Osiris, Haroeris (Horus the Elder), Set, Isis, and Nephthys. So, you would think these would have been positive days for the Egyptians. But without the protection of the confines of the calendar, the Egyptian epagomenal days were thought to be a quite dangerous time. People wore special amulets and priests might perform the ritual of Sehotep Sakhmet, or “Pacifying/Satisfying Sakhmet,” because the demonic, disease-bringing hoards of the fierce Goddess were particularly rampant at the end of the year. (See more about epagomenal amulets here.)

The beautiful Star of Isis, Sirius (Sopdet in Egyptian, Sothis in Greek) is directly overhead at the New Year

Our December is most definitely not the time of the ancient Egyptian end-of-the-year epagomenal days. However, from winter solstice to the New Year is the time I consider to be my epagomenal days, for they are the end-of-year days in our modern calendar. And they, too, are the lead-in to a little miracle that involves the Star of Isis. More on that below.

So let’s talk a bit about the epagomenal days, including some ways to celebrate our own end of the year with Isis.

Epagomenal days as birthdays of the Deities

As early as the Middle Kingdom (2050-1650 BCE), these five extra days were associated with the Divine birthdays. Birthday festivals for each of these Deities were duly celebrated during each epagomenal day. The time between the winter solstice and our New Year is longer than the Egyptian period, but if you’d like to celebrate the birthdays of the Deities, one every other day rather than one per day would work out fairly well.

An ancient Egyptian calendar from the temple of Karnak

On the other hand, if you wish to be more Isis-centric in your worship, you could consider the entire period as holy days of the Goddess as the miracle of Her star approaches.

We can look to some ancient calendrical inscriptions for the day of Isis’ birthday to give us clues about options for honoring Her at this time. In a papyrus known as Leyden I, She is called “The Great One, Daughter of Nuet.” She is said to be “in Khemmis,” that is, in a particular city in the delta, and She is invoked particularly for protection.

In another papyrus, Leyden II, the fourth day is said to be named “the Pure One Who is in His Field.” The masculine pronoun would seem to exclude Isis. It could allude to Osiris—or it could be a scribal error. If it should have been the Pure One Who is in Her Field, it would make a good deal of sense in connection with Isis since She was closely associated with the pure new plants that would soon be coming forth from the Egyptian fields in the New Year.

In 1943, a papyrus was purchased by the Cairo museum from an antiquities dealer. It turned out to be three ‘books’ about the Egyptian calendar. Two were extremely damaged and hard to read. The third has become known as the Cairo Calendar and includes information on which days of the year were considered auspicious and which were not. Of course, it includes the epagomenal days. In it, the fourth epagomenal day, Isis’ birthday, is said to be named “He Who Makes Terror.” It includes a formula to be recited on that day:

“O, this Isis, Daughter of Nuet, the Eldest, Mistress of Magic, Provider of the Book, Mistress Who Appeases the Two Lords, Her Face is Glorious. I am the brother and the sister. The name of this day is He Who Makes Terror.”

Another calendar notes that the fourth day is called, “the Child Who is in His Nest; the Birth of Isis.” And you’ll remember from several weeks ago that at Denderah, the child in His nest is Re, Whose rising, after the rising of Isis’ star, marks the first day of the New Year. In fact, the Denderah temples include numerous references to Isis’ connection with the New Year and the important renewal it brings. There is some evidence that Isis’ temple at Philae may have been dedicated to Her on the 4th epagomenal day as a birthday present. We also have evidence of a lamp festival for Isis on Her birthday, which you can read about here.

Thoth purifying the pharaoh from Isis' temple at Philae — Thoth purifying the pharaoh from Isis’ temple at Philae

Despite its preceding dangers, the ancient Egyptian New Year itself was a time of joy, rebirth, and renewal. Our own New Year can be the same for us. The ancient Egyptian themes are, after all, entirely in harmony with our modern New Year celebrations.

Like they did, we begin again.

We start over. We rededicate ourselves. We make resolutions to do things better. Purification is often associated with such reboots and so the epagomenal days would be a perfect time for purification prior to entering into the New Year. People participating in “Dry January” are undertaking a purification from alcohol. Lots of people start New Year’s diets then, too. We might also purify ourselves by bathing, fasting, purchasing new clothing, or purifying our sacred spaces by cleaning and straightening up our shrines—all the while invoking Isis to surround us with Her mighty wings, encircling us with Her protection.

Epagomenal days as the time of the Star of Isis

During our winter epagomenal days, we don’t witness the heliacal rising of the Star of Isis as the ancient Egyptians did. However, there is something very special that happens at this time of year for those of us in the northern hemisphere: Sirius reaches its zenith, its highest point in the night sky.

The beautiful, glittering star of Isis ascends high into the starry belly of Her mother Nuet at the stroke of midnight on January 1st—and She can be seen shimmering in that position for about the first week of January. And this year, there’s a bonus: we’ll also see Jupiter and Mars nearby and shining extra brilliantly as well.

So, just as the heliacal rising of Sirius heralded the ancient Egyptian New Year, the beautiful Star of Isis reaching its highest point in the sky can serve as a marker for our own modern New Year’s celebrations. You’ll find a small rite for celebrating here.

For me, here in Portland, it is likely that our cloudy skies will obscure the brilliance of the celestial show above, as they so often do. Nevertheless, I will be purifying myself, asking Isis for protection and growth, and using the small ritual at the link above to welcome in the renewal of the New Year.

Do you have anything special you’ll be doing?

More Epithets of Isis

*Parsifal* by Jean Delville, but it definitely gives ‘mysteries’

Most of you reading this blog are well aware of the many epithets of Isis, Our Lady of 10,000 Names. In general, epithets are descriptions attached to the Goddess’ name that help us know more about Her. Very often, you’ll see people note that epithets are especially important in Deity invocations because they help us tune into the specific aspect of Their natures that we wish to connect with.

And that’s true.

Yet, I like to think of epithets as little Mysteries.

Each epithet of the Goddess has the possibility of revealing to us a Mystery—something about Isis we might not have known, or might not have known as deeply. In a post a couple weeks ago, one of the things we learned from the ancient Greek novel Aitheopika was that initiates of Her Mysteries called Isis the Earth and Osiris the Nile. I would not be at all surprised to learn that the revealing of additional epithets of the Goddess was a regular part of Her—and other Deities’—Mysteries. A Mystery initiation gave you insider knowledge about the Mystery Deity. Discovering new aspects of the Goddess through additional names and epithets would be some pretty solid insider information.

You’ll find epithets of Isis scattered throughout this blog. For instance, here are names and epithets honoring Isis from all over the Mediterranean world. Here are some of Her secret names from the magical papyri. There are about two hundred of Isis’ epithets listed in the appendix in Isis Magic. And Offering to Isis includes several epithets appropriate to each of the offerings—sacred symbols of the Goddess—as part of the invocation offerings.

Today, I’d like to share a few more epithets of Isis, some of which may be new to you. If you’d like to delve into the little Mysteries of these epithets for yourself, try this: Pick out a few that call to you. Open your shrine or temple in whatever manner you usually do. Invoke Isis using the epithet you chose. You can sing or chant the epithet as you call out to Her. When you sense Her presence, ask Her to reveal to you some of the Mysteries of that epithet. Then open your heart, open yourself, as you experience/intuit what She communicates to you. (Even better, jot down the things that come to your mind about that epithet for later reference. Visionary work sometimes fades rather quickly.)

In no particular order, here are some epithets of our Goddess from various parts of Egypt:

Isis, She Who Loves the Red Cloth; Iset Meret Ines—this epithet of Isis is found at Dendara. Interestingly enough, in representations of Isis, red is the most common color of Her clothing. The famous Knot of Isis is also usually made of red stone or painted red—and it may be meant to represent a knot tied in cloth. The ancient Egyptians associated red with fire, blood, and the sun. It could be a color of destructive power and associated with anger as well. We are used to Sakhmet being associated with red, but it turns out Isis is a Red Goddess, too.

Isis the Great Golden One; Iset Nebut Weret—while we are familiar with Isis being called, like Hathor, the Golden One, here She is the Great Golden One, an epithet She shares only with the Creator Goddess Neith. Gold is associated with the sun and Divinity. What does it mean that She is not only the Golden One, but the Great Golden One?

Isis, She of the Beautiful/Good/Perfect Face in the Barque of Eternity; Iset Noferet Hor em Wia Heh—the Barque of Eternity if the boat that travels into the Otherworld, both the underworld and the heavens. What does it mean that Isis is the beautiful-good-perfect face in that holy boat?

Isis the Lady of Awfulness; Iset Nebet Neru—this is the literal meaning of awful, as in “full of awe,” but also a designation of Her great, and sometimes scary, power. See more about this one here.

Isis the Great One in the Beginning; Iset Weret em Hat—this epithet is from Her temple at Philae and is another epithet Isis shares only with the Creator Goddess Neith. This is Isis as a Primeval Goddess, the First Goddess. Similarly, She is called the Great Goddess “of the coming into being” and is the Great Goddess “in the First Time,” the Zep Tepi. We also have inscriptions calling Isis Sha’et, “She Who Was First,” from a number of places, including Philae, Dendara, and Edfu.

Isis the Great in the Place of Her Heart; Iset Weret em Set Ib-Es—this one is from the Horus temple at Edfu. What do you think ‘the place of Her heart’ is?

Isis, Her Years are Eternity and Everlastingness; Iset, Renput-s Neheh Djet—learn more about Neheh and Djet here and here.

Isis the Perfect Musician; Iset Khunet Noferet—from Dendara. Isis is also called “the Musician of the Spoken Words” and the Shemayet, the “Chantress.” The Chantress was a high-ranking priestess in ancient Egypt. Read more about AE priestesses and the Chantress here.

Isis and the pharaoh raising the djed pillar

Isis, She Who Makes Shadow with Her Feathers; Iset Iret Shut em Shuut-Es—from a stele now in the Louvre. We know about Her wing symbolism, but what about the shadow of Her wings?

Isis the Djed Pillar; Iset Djedet—now isn’t this interesting? Osiris is usually associated with the djed pillar. But here we have Isis as the female djed pillar. The djed represents stability, so that is likely the meaning here: Isis is strong, stable, dependable.

On the other hand, She also personifies Her own symbol, and is called Isis the Excellent Isis Knot (Iset Tiet Menkhet)…for Isis is All Things and All Things are Isis.

There are so many more, but that’s enough for now.

If, in your connections with Isis, you discover any of the Mysteries of these epithets, I hope you’ll share them here, on Facebook, or on BlueSky.

The Seshed Band of Isis

Isis leading Nefertari into the afterlife

I have a new Isis accoutrement for you.

I love it when I find out new things—or new things about an old thing. This one is sort of an expansion on a previous thing.

Many of you may already be familiar with what are known as “black Isis bands,” which are needed in a number of rites in the Greco-Egyptian Magical Papyri (aka Papyri Graecae Magicae or PGM).

We can’t be sure, but I’ve theorized that these were made from the black cloth that had previously been used to clothe the sacred images of Isis, once the older robes had been replaced. Since the fabric was black, it would have been from Hellenized images of the Goddess. Egyptians did use cloth, both as offerings and to adorn their sacred images, but black cloth was not among the colors they generally favored.

What I’d like to share with you today is a different type of Isis band, an entirely Egyptian one. This band was given to Isis as an offering (see Offering to Isis, “Black Isis Bands”), and it was also worn by Her as part of one of Her various crowns. The information I’m working from is a dissertation by Barbara Ann Richter on The Theology of Hathor of Dendera. At Dendera, Isis is almost as prominent as Hathor. (And you’ll recall that Isis’ sanctuary at Philae also has a Temple of Hathor. Sisters!)

Isis from Dendera with Double Crown and seshed (the black squiggle at the base of the crown)

On the walls at Dendera, we see scenes with Isis wearing this particular crown, which consists of the Egyptian red and white Double Crown, one or two ostrich feathers, and the “seshed” band, which is wrapped around the base of the red crown—or sometimes around the headdress of Isis.

We even have a 3D image of what this crown with its seshed band may have been like. Near the sacred lake at the Dendera temple, archeologists found a cache of ritual items including a cult statue of Isis with the double crown and seshed band—except in this case, the seshed is around the Goddess’ wig rather than around the base of the crown. (Although, in this picture, it looks to me like there is something—possibly multiple serpents?—around the base of the crown.) There are also two holes in the white crown, which Richter suggests may have been meant to hold real (or separate) ostrich feathers.

Isis with the Double Crown and seshed band with serpent, holes possibly held real or separate ostrich feathers

The crowns and headdresses that the Egyptians represented the Deities wearing have specific meanings. The Double Crown represents rulership over the Two Lands, that is, Lower and Upper Egypt. The ostrich feather is the shut, the symbol of Ma’et—that which is Right, True, and Just. The seshed band is entwined by a uraeus serpent that is both protective and unifying, like the Double Crown.

In the Temple of Birth at Dendera (which I think is the Temple of the Birth of Isis), the king presents this crown to Isis and says, “Take for Yourself the seshed band. It has encircled Your forehead. The uraeus is united with Your head. The red crown and the white crown—they join together on Your forehead, the two feathers united beside them.” This crown emphasizes the unification of the land of Egypt as well as the powerful protection of the uraeus serpent. Since the crown is united with the Goddess, She embodies these qualities. And, of course, the Goddess bestows these same powers on the king in return, so we find the king wearing the seshed band at times, too.

A picture of the whole statue of Isis with crown and seshed

The feathers “united beside them” allude to Isis’ description as “Lady of Ma’et, the uraeus on Her forehead, appearing with Ma’et every day.” In this inscription, however, the word translated as “uraeus” isn’t “uraeus.” It’s Mehenet, which is the feminine version of the protective serpent Mehen, meaning “the Coiled One.” Mehen protects the God Re by encircling Him as He travels through the underworld; He also protects Osiris. Since Isis is a Goddess, She is united with the feminine serpent Mehenet. As a fiery Uraeus Goddess Herself, Isis protects Re and She is also the foremost protectress of Her husband Osiris as well as Her son Horus (and thus, the king). Mehen and Mehenet are sometimes shown with Their tails in Their mouths, making Them the prototype of the ‘serpent biting its own tail’ and later known as the oroboros.

In some of the Coffin Texts spells, Mehen is closely connected to Re. Coffin Text 760 tells us that after Isis brings Mehen, the Coiled One, to Her son Horus, Horus becomes “the double of the Lord of All,” that is, the Sun God Re. The serpents Mehen and Mehenet are solar powers and Their coiling and encircling protects.

Osiris protected by the Coiled One biting His tail

There was a tradition at Dendera that Dendera is the birthplace of Isis. An inscription in the sanctuary there says that Isis’ “mother bore Her on earth in Iatdi [that is, the Temple of the Birth of Isis at Dendera; also another name for Dendera as a whole] the day of the night of the infant in His nest.* She is the Unique Uraeus . . . Sothis in the Sky, [female] Ruler of the Stars, Who Decrees Words in the Circuit of the Sun Disk.” Since Isis is also Sopdet/Sothis/Sirius, the heliacal rising of the Goddess in Her star, just before sunrise, is Her “birth.” Her birth precedes the rebirth of the falcon Re—”the infant in His nest”—as He rises in the sun on the first day of the New Year.

The birth of Isis is also connected with the seshed band. We learn that the “Ritual of Presenting the Seshed Band” takes place on “the Day of the Night of the Child in His Nest.” These seshed bands, presented to Isis for a happy New Year, included inscriptions like “A beautiful year—a million and a hundred-thousand times” and “A happy year, year of joy, year of health, eternal year, infinite year.” In addition to offering the seshed band on Isis’ birthday, it was also given on the first day of the New Year.

The seshed band must have been—at least originally—a fabric band, for it was tied around the head and knotted with the two long ends of the band hanging down in back. The knot at the back was surely intended to be magical, emphasizing the ability of magical knots to secure and protect, while the band itself surrounds and protects like Mehenet.

I don’t know whether this is actually a seshed, but the metal headband with streamers down the back looks like it may have been intended to mimic knotted fabric. This was on the head of Tutankhamun’s mummy.

The Pyramid Texts mention a powerful red headband with which the deceased identifies. Another Pyramid Text mentions a red and green headband that was woven from the Eye of Horus. While some Egyptologists connect these headbands with the seshed, I can’t be sure because I’m only looking at the English translation of the texts.

However, from Dendera, we do have an inscription that specifically describes a seshed band made of electrum. It is also possible that the fabric headbands had metal pieces, suitable for engraving with blessings, attached to them. It seems likely that the serpent that entwined the seshed would have been made of metal.

Egyptian Egyptologist Zeinab El-Kordy suggests that the word seshed is the active participle of shed, meaning “to draw or pull out” or “to cause to come.” She therefore connects it with drawing the Inundation out from its source and causing the flood to come. This could mean that the seshed band, especially when offered at the birth of Isis and the New Year, is a magical tool for helping to bring the much-desired Nile flood.

The seshed band protects and unifies. It is given as a talisman for New Year’s prosperity—which I think we can easily extend to good luck and blessings in general. And it is associated with rebirth and renewal. We also have scenes that connect it with birth as well as rebirth. They show the birthing mother, her midwives, and protective Birth Goddesses like Isis, Taweret, and Hathor, all wearing seshed bands.

Egyptian woman giving birth assisted by Hathoru; crowns, but no seshed bands

Given this, I would suggest that if we are working with Isis in any of these areas—protection, unification, birth, rebirth, renewal, and even good fortune and good outcomes in general—we would be eligible to wear the seshed as part of our ritual gear. Although a custom-made uraeus serpent is probably out of reach for most of us, a fabric band in red (power and protection) or green (growth, change, benevolence) with a piece of inexpensive serpent jewelry attached to it, would be a perfectly serviceable seshed band for our work with Isis.

* Sources such as the Cairo Calendar connect the Night of the Child in His Nest with the 5th epagomenal day and the birth of Nephthys, while Isis’ birth is on the 4th epagomenal day. But at Dendera, Isis must have been considered to have been born on the 5th and last epagomenal day, rising as Sothis just before the sun. When the sun rises, the 5th epagomenal day officially ends and the new day and New Year begins. As is so often the case with Egypt, the myths and traditions could vary from place to place.

Offering to Isis Now Available for Pre-Order

Dear friends and fellow Isians,

I’m very—very!—excited to let you know that Offering to Isis, Knowing the Goddess through Her Sacred Symbols is available for pre-order from Azoth Press at the Miskatonic Books website right now. If you’d like to go directly there, here’s the link.

I know a lot of you are familiar with Isis Magic, but maybe you haven’t yet come across Offering to Isis. I may be a tad bit partial, but I really like this book a lot, too.

We’ll also talk about the how and why of Egyptian offering practices, including the important and genuinely ancient Egyptian technique of “Invocation Offering.” There’s information on exactly how the ka energy inherent in every offering is given to and received by Isis—and what to do with offerings once they’ve been received. You’ll also find a selection of offering rituals, from simple to complex, for a variety of purposes. Most rites are for solitary devotees, so I think you’ll find one that works just right for you.

If you’re curious and want to know exactly what’s in the book, you can download a PDF copy of the full Table of Contents by clicking on the caption under the “Contents” image.

As it’s been a few years since this book was first published, the text has been thoroughly updated. All the hieroglyphs associated with the offerings have been re-illustrated and are much more accurate—and much more beautiful, if I may say so—in this new edition, too. There’s also a handy appendix in the back for quick reference in finding any offering you may need.

This is what a typical page in the sacred symbols section looks like.

This new Azoth Press edition can be purchased only through the Miskatonic Books website. (If you go to Amazon, you will be ordering a 20-year-old paperback edition published by Llewellyn in 2005, which people are trying to sell at very inflated prices.) Oh yes, and if you’d like, you can take advantage of Miskatonic’s installment plan that lets you pay over several months so it doesn’t take a big bite out of your budget. Plus, the new hardback edition is priced A LOT lower than those overpriced, out-of-print first editions that I’ve seen out there.

When you go to the Miskatonic site, you’ll see two different Azoth Press Offering to Isis editions. For the high rollers, there will be 36 copies in a gorgeous leather-bound and numbered collector’s edition. For the rest of us, there will be 650 numbered, limited edition copies in a cloth-bound hardcover. Both editions are two-color throughout, and more than 400 pages.

Thank you so much for letting me tell you about this new edition. And would you please do me a favor and share this information with anyone who you think might be interested? And please feel free to ask me any questions about Offering to Isis that you’d like.

I’m looking forward to getting my own copy of this beautiful, new edition of Offering to Isis. And while you might think it’s strange, even though I wrote the book, I still use it for reference when I’m making offering to Isis. I hope this new edition will serve you well, too.

Under Her Wings,

Isidora

Isis on the First Day

Do you remember the first time Isis made Herself—really important—in your life?

For me, it’s been a long time. In fact, I can tell you that I have been Her devotee for most of my life now. And I have been Her dedicated priestess for decades.

Of course, even before any formal declarations, I’d been dancing with Her for a while. I would often find myself reading about Her, looking at images of Her, wondering about Her.

And the crazy thing was that, at the time, I was actually looking for a Divine relationship; I was looking for my Goddess. But in my youthful rebelliousness, I thought a more obscure Goddess would be more appropriate for the uniqueness—okay, weirdness—that is me. Isis, I thought, was way too ordinary; everybody knows Isis. At least Her more mysterious Dark Sister Nephthys should be my Goddess. I must have closed the door in Isis’ face half a dozen different times. You’re cringing; so am I.

But Isis is a Goddess and I am only a thick-skulled human. My lack of commitment did not put Her off at all. She simply kept coming back and tapping on my shoulder (this is Her way; please see Isis the Ass-Kicker for more on that).

Alas, the story I’m telling now has no riveting suspense. Eventually, She just wore me down and I began preparing to dedicate myself to Her.

I did my research. I wrote my ritual. I made my purifications and prayers. On the appointed day, I began the rite. But about halfway through, I began to feel very faint. VERY faint. (You see, in those long ago days, this often happened to me in the presence of magical energy; I’d go very pale and start to pass out. Many is the time when my fellow ritualists had to stop mid-rite and prop me up for a while.)

Isis of Coptos, now in the Turin Egyptian Museum

Nonetheless, I was determined to finish the ritual and did so while sitting on the floor in front of the altar. Part of the rite involved formally asking the Goddess to accept me as Her priestess. The short answer I got was, “No.” But the longer answer was, “Go study and come back in a year.”

So, that’s exactly what I did. A year later, I reworked the same ritual, didn’t faint, and was accepted. Not long after that, I got a strange and wonderful confirmation of Her acceptance, too. A woman I barely knew came to me on a mission from the Goddess. I think she was as confused by it as I was. She’d had a dream of Isis that was so strong that she simply had to act on it. In the dream, Isis told her to come to me and give me a gift of earrings in the form of a Winged Isis. She did—and I knew that Isis had truly claimed me.

The path of devotion to Isis isn’t always what we expect. In fact, I don’t think it should always be what we expect. When things take an odd turn, I usually consider it a sign that I’m in contact with true Divine energy. If things go exactly as I thought they would, it can mean that I’m merely fulfilling my own expectations. While that’s not always true, it is indeed something to be aware of—a warning that we may be talking to ourselves rather than talking to Isis.

It is good to remember how it was on that First Day. To remember the circumstances again. To feel the feelings again. As you likely know, the idea of the First Day was extremely important to the ancient Egyptians. The renewal and re-creation of the First Day, the First Time, the First Occasion, the Zep Tepi in Egyptian, was the magic they were continually Working. Every temple was the place of the First Day, every day. Every ritual reenacted the First Day, every time.

I don’t know about you, but I am feeling the need for the renewal of that First Day right now. And so, I will do as the ancients did. I will tend the shrine. I will work the rituals. I will make offering. I will go back to the beginning and do the rites and meditations I did when I was first coming to know Her—the ones you will find in Isis Magic and Offering to Isis. I know they will different for me this time. And yet, I know they will still take me back to that First Day. And I will hope to be, like Osiris, renewed and reborn under the Wings of Isis. Amma, Iset. Grant that it be so.

Is Isis a Moon Goddess?

Last night, we held our All-Hallows Eve rite (a bit early, I know). As we welcomed our Honored Dead in the presence of the Dark Ones, many of us were very aware of the bright moon shining above, just two days past a full Hunters’ Moon.

The moon, the moon, the moon. And I am thinking now of the moon and Our Lady Isis.

When we first encounter Isis, we often first discover Her as a lunar Goddess, a Goddess of the Moon. But is She?

A lovely lunar Isis; you can purchase a copy of your own here

Well, that really kind of depends on when you ask.

If we’re asking for today, for now, then yes, She is. And She has been for more than a millennium. But She took a rather circuitous route to get there. So let’s follow that trail a bit and see how it happened.

Early in Egyptian history, Isis was firmly associated with the heavens—with the star Sirius in particular, and with the sun, too—but She was not considered a Moon Goddess.

Moon Gods were the norm for Egypt—Iah, Thoth, Khonsu, and Osiris are among the most prominent and the moon’s phases were quite important to the ancient Egyptians. Scholars generally agree that the first Egyptian calendars, like those of so many ancient people, were lunar based. The temples marked the moon’s changes and especially celebrated its waxing and full phases. But the face the Egyptians saw in the moon was masculine rather than feminine.

For example, the waning and waxing of the moon could be associated with the wounding and healing of the Eye of Horus. So, perhaps we can think of Isis as the Mother of the Moon. Indeed, She was called “Isis, Who Creates the Moon Eye of Horus by Her Heart.” In some myths, Isis is the one Who heals Horus’ Eye, in others, it is Thoth or Hathor and we see this reflected in Isis’ epithet as She “Who Heals the Left Eye.”

By the time of the New Kingdom, the beloved of Isis, Osiris, becomes prominent as a lunar God. We have a number of examples of statuettes of Osiris-Iah—Osiris assimilated with Iah, a Moon God—or simply as Osiris the Moon. So in this case, Isis is married to the Moon. But She’s not really a Moon Goddess Herself.

On the other hand, the Greeks and the Romans were all about the Moon Goddess. In fact, the moon itself was simply called “the Goddess.” People spoke of doing something “when the Goddess rises.” They would kiss their hands, extending them toward the rising moon, “to greet the Goddess.” Magical texts give instructions for performing a certain ritual “on the first of the Goddess,” meaning at the new moon. When they saw Isis with Her horns-and-disk crown, they saw a Moon Goddess.

And because we have so much information about Isis from these Moon Goddess-loving people, today when many people think of Isis, the moon is one of the first things they associate with Her. Yet, interestingly, it seems to have been a third century BCE Egyptian priest named Manetho who first connected Isis with the moon. By the following century, when Plutarch recorded the most complete version of the Isis-Osiris myth we have, the tradition of Isis as a Goddess of the Moon was firmly established—even in Egypt.

Of course, it was easy to associate the fertility-bringing moon with the fertile Mother Isis. The ancient world also associated love affairs with the moon (the romance of moonlight, you know) and, in Her passion for Osiris, Isis was a famous lover.

Of course, the moon and the obscuring darkness of night were connected with magic, too—and Isis was one of Egypt’s Mightiest Magicians from the beginning. She was called Lady of the Night. One Egyptian story told how a particular magical scroll—which the tale calls a “mystery of the Goddess Isis”—was discovered when a moonbeam fell upon its hiding place, enabling a lector priest in Isis’ temple to find it.

Today, we also connect the moon with emotions, the deep, the waters, the feminine (taking our cue from the ancient Greeks and Romans), the home, Mystery, and change (to name but a few). And Isis can definitely be associated with all of these things—from the emotional passion of Her myths to Her ancient Mysteries and Her enduring role as the Goddess of Regeneration and Transformation.

This beautiful lunar Isis is by Reinhard Schmid. You can see his work here

So is Isis a Moon Goddess? She certainly has been for a very, very long time. Whether we choose to honor Her in this form has more to do with us than with Her. Many contemporary Pagans will probably be quite comfortable working with Isis as a Moon Goddess; a strict Kemetic Reconstructionist, not so much. But Isis is a Great Goddess; She is All, and so, for me, She is unquestionably to be found in the deep and holy Mysteries of the Moon.

And yet, and just for myself, while I do find Her in the moon, I resonate most strongly with Isis of the Stars and Isis of the Eternities of Space and Isis the Radiant Sun Goddess. Nevertheless, I still feel the call to explore Her important lunar aspects. What about you?

Isis and…Samhain? Really?

We gazed at the waning light of the moon last night.

Its cool, pale light was beautiful, and yet sad. That’s often how this time of year feels. Beautiful. And sad. For at this time of year, many of us remember our Beloved and Honored Dead.

Some of us might celebrate the solemn rites of Samhain—from a quite different culture than that of ancient Egypt. (In my community, we’ll celebrate our rites next weekend.)

Now, of course you’re quite right that the ancient Egyptians did not celebrate Samhain. Yet we know they honored their dead. Indeed, their dead could be very, very present for them, as transfigured spirits, akhu, who could help them in their day-to-day lives—or cause them trouble.

But for Isis devotees seeking a more Egyptian way to mark this time of year, I’d like to introduce you to the Isia.

A festival called the Isia is found in a calendar from 354 CE that was commissioned by a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus from a prominent, also-Christian scribe named Philocalus. The Calendar of Philocalus is famous because it contains the first known reference to the Christian holiday of Christmas as an annual festival of the birth of the Christ on December 25th. (There are earlier references to that date, but not as an annual festival.)

An illustration of November from Philocalus’ 354 CE calendar; note the sistrum and Anubis head

But for Isiacs, the calendar is important for its inclusion of a different festival: the Isia. Philocalus records the dates of the Isia as October 28th-November 1st. Some scholars also include the days until November 3rd as part of the Isia. That’s because Philocalus’ calendar has what was known as an “Egyptian Day” on November 2nd and a Hilaria on November 3rd, both of which may have been included in the Isia.

Let me explain: to the Romans, an “Egyptian Day” was a bad luck day. There were three in January and two in every other month. The first Egyptian Day in November fell right after the Isia, on November 2nd. These days were inappropriate for public festivals, sacrifices, and were generally stay-in-your-house-and-do-nothing days. The bad luck of the Egyptian Days continued on into medieval Christian calendars.

Why were they called “Egyptian” days? No one knows for certain. However, Egyptian calendars (for example, the famous New Kingdom Cairo Calendar) often list festivals along with auspicious and inauspicious days. So it may well be that Romans simply picked up these genuinely Egyptian bad luck days and put them into their own calendar. (This tells you how influential the worship of The Egyptian Gods—mostly Isis and Sarapis—were.) Later on, the name was taken to refer to the ten biblical plagues of Egypt to better harmonize these pagan-y days with scripture.

From Pompeii: Making offering before the sarcophagus of Osiris

As for the Hilaria, there are two shown on Philocalus’ calendar, one on March 25th, at the end of a lengthy festival of Magna Mater/Kybele in which the death of Attis is mourned. The preceding day (the 24th) was the Day of Blood, on which flagellation and self-castration might take place, and it was also an Egyptian Day. The Hilaria was what it sounds like: a day of joy. People played games and feasted. Some scholars think that the spring Hilaria could be the origin of our April Fool’s Day.

So clearly, it was not absolutely unheard of to have a festival on an Egyptian Day…of course in the case of the Kybele festival, it was the (yikes!) Day of Blood. There is nothing else listed in Philocalus’ calendar for the Egyptian Day following the Isia. The November Hilaria is shown as the day after that, on the 3rd.

Yet in both cases, we have a Great Goddess with a partner to be mourned, followed by a Day of Joy. This makes very good sense from a psychological standpoint; we need relief after mourning. So it may be that we should include the Egyptian Day and the Hilaria following the Isia as part of the Isia festival after all. Which would mean that (here in the northern hemisphere) we’re approaching the festival right now. So there’s time to prepare should you choose to celebrate your own Isia.

Artist’s depiction of ceremonies at the Temple of Isis, Pompeii. Click to see it larger.

We know little else about the Roman Isia. On one hand, this frees us to create our own Isia. Given the time of year, we might choose to connect the Isia with the modern festival of Halloween. Isis is, after all, a Goddess of the Dead par excellence. There is much we could do with an Isia in which we remembered our own Honored Dead, for example by speaking their names and making offering in the ancient Egyptian tradition.

On the other hand, there is an appropriate Egyptian option for the celebration of the Isia and—and given the timing and the resonant subject matter—it is a likely candidate for the basis of the Roman Isia.

Though perhaps it should more rightly be called the Osiria. For at about this same time of year, in the Egyptian month of Khoiak, the ancients held a festival for Osiris that remembered His conflict with His brother Set, His death, and His resurrection through the holy magic of Isis. We know of this festival from the period of the Middle Kingdom and have a decent record of it from the great Osirian sanctuary of Abydos. We also know of it from the Osiris chapel in Hathor’s Ptolemaic sanctuary at Denderah.

The festival re-enacted the central Isis-Osiris myth (I won’t recount it here; you all know the story.) The Egyptians molded images of Osiris from Nile mud, special spices, talismanic stones, and seeds. The images were watered so that the grain sprouted, a fitting symbol of new life. (We should also know that this was about the time of year when the Nile flood was receding so that the fields could be planted with new crops.) The festival ended with the raising of the Djed pillar, symbol of the resurrection of the God Himself as Lord of the Otherworld.

If you are so inclined, now is a perfect time to re-enact that core Isiac myth—if on a smaller and more personal scale. And should you do so from Isis’ point of view, it would be a true Isia, indeed.

Watering the grain in the sacred image of Osiris

I have done my own private Isia like this: I shuffle and deal out 14 Tarot cards, representing the 14 parts of the body of Osiris. I place or “hide” the cards in a circle around my temple. Then, during the several days of the festival, I ritually circle the temple, “finding” some of the cards until I have “found” them all. Then I assemble them into a roughly human-shaped, stick-figure Osiris. (This is a fairly large spread, so I place it in the middle of the floor of my temple.) On the last day of the festival, I turn over the cards, revealing them, and read them as an omen for the coming season and coming year. Naturally—to expand the rite and get myself in the proper magical frame of time, I use temple openings and closings of my choice from Isis Magic. (The Opening of the Ways works quite well; if you haven’t got your own copy of Isis Magic, you’ll find the ritual here.)

Should you decide to honor the Isia this year—in this way or some other—I would love to know about your experience. Whether you choose to connect your Isia with the ancient Khoiak festivals of Isis and Osiris, create a Day-of-the-Dead-type Isia, or celebrate some other way entirely, I wish you much depth and beauty in this darkening season of sad, sweet remembrance. May She embrace you always.

Isis and the pharaoh raise the Djed pillar, the symbol of the resurrection of Osiris

The Magical Hair of Isis

We are not immune to the charms of a beautiful head of hair—and the ancient Egyptians weren’t either.

But they took appreciation for hair, especially feminine hair, to a whole new level of magnitude. For them, hair was magical. And, of course, Who would have the most magical hair of all? The Goddess of Magic: Isis Herself.

A beautiful woman with beautiful hair — The charm of beautiful hair

I have always understood that the long hair of Isis in Egyptian tradition—disarrayed and covering Her face in mourning or falling in heavy, dark locks over Her shoulders—to be the predecessor of the famous Veil of Isis of later tradition. Ah, but there is so much more.

In ancient Egypt, it was a mourning custom for Egyptian women to dishevel their hair. They wore it long and unkempt, letting it fall across their tear-stained faces, blinding them in sympathy with the blindness first experienced by the dead. As the Ultimate Divine Mourner, this was particularly true of Isis. At Koptos, where Isis was notably worshipped as a Mourning Goddess, a healing prayer made “near the hair at Koptos” is recorded. Scholars consider this a reference to Mourning Isis with Her disheveled and powerfully magical hair.

Mourners use various mourning gestures and dishevel their hair

It is in Her disheveled, mourning state, that Isis finally finds Osiris. She reassembles Him, fans life into Him, and makes love with Him. As She mounts His prone form, Her long hair falls over Their faces, concealing Them like a veil and providing at least some perceived privacy for Their final lovemaking. As the Goddess and God make love, the meaning of Isis’ hair turns from death to life. It becomes sexy—remember those big-haired “paddle doll” fertility symbols?

A mourning woman with her hair over her face from the tomb of Minnakht

This pairing of love and death is both natural and eternal. How many stories have you heard—or perhaps you have a personal one—about couples making love after a funeral? It’s so common that it’s cliché. But it makes perfect sense: in the face of death, we human beings must affirm life. We do so through the mutual pleasure of sex and, for some couples, the possibility of engendering new life that sex provides. The lovemaking of Isis and Osiris is the ultimate expression of this. Chapter 17 of the Book of Coming Forth by Day (aka the Book of the Dead), describes the disheveled hair of Isis when She comes to Osiris:

“I am Isis, you found me when I had my hair disordered over my face, and my crown was disheveled. I have conceived as Isis, I have procreated as Nephthys.” (Chapter 17; translation by Rosa Valdesogo Martín, who has extensively studied the connection of hair to funerary customs in ancient Egypt.)

There is also a variant of this chapter that has Isis apparently straightening up Her “bed head” following lovemaking:

“Isis dispels my bothers (?) [The Allen translation has “Isis does away with my guard; Nephthys puts an end to my troubles.]. My crown is disheveled; Isis has been over her secret, she has stood up and has cleaned her hair.” (Chapter 17 variant, translation by Martín, above.)

This lovemaking of Goddess and God has cosmic implications for its result is a powerful and important new life: Horus. As the new pharaoh, Horus restores order to both kingdom and cosmos following the chaos brought on by the death of the old pharaoh, Osiris.

Not only is hair symbolic of the blindness of death and the new life of lovemaking; the hair of the Goddesses is actually part of the magic of rebirth. Isis and Her sister, Nephthys, are specifically called the Two Long Haired Ones. The long hair of the Goddesses is associated with the knotting, tying, wrapping, weaving, knitting, and general assembling necessary to bring about the great Mystery of rebirth. Hair-like threads of magic are woven about the deceased who has returned to the womb of the Great Mother. The Coffin Texts give the name of part of the sacred boat of the deceased (itself a symbolic womb) as the Braided Tress of Isis.

Mourners, probably Isis and Nephthys, throw Their hair over the Osiris

In some Egyptian iconography, we see mourning women, as well as the Goddesses Isis and Nephthys, with hair thrown forward in what is known as the nwn gesture. Sometimes they/They actually pull a lock of hair forward, especially toward the deceased, which is called the nwn m gesture. It may be that this gesture, especially when done by Goddesses, is meant to transfer new life to the deceased, just as Isis’ bed-head hair brought new life to Osiris. It is interesting to note that the Egyptians called vegetation “the hair of the earth” and that bare land was called “bald” land, which simply reiterates the idea of hair is an expression of life.

Spell 562 of the Coffin Texts notes the ability of the hair of Isis and Nephthys to unite things, saying that the hair of the Goddesses is knotted together and that the deceased wishes to “be joined to the Two Sisters and be merged in the Two Sisters, for they will never die.”

Isis and Nephthys pull a lock of hair toward the deceased

The Pyramid Texts instruct the resurrected dead to loosen their bonds, “for they are not bonds, they are the tresses of Nephthys.” Thus the magical hair of the Goddesses is only an illusory bond. Their hair is not a bond of restraint but rather the bonding agent needed for rebirth. Like the placenta that contains and feeds the child but is no longer necessary when the child is born, the reborn one throws off the tresses of the Goddesses that had previously wrapped her or him in safety.

The Egyptian idea of Isis as the Long-Haired One carried over into Her later Roman cult, too. In Apuleius’ account of the Mysteries of Isis, he describes the Goddess as having long and beautiful hair. Her statues often show Her with long hair, and Her priestesses were known to wear their hair long in honor of their Goddess.

This is sketched from a coffin from Gebelein, 13th dynasty where either a long-haired female image or a long-haired female is spreading her hair over the deceased.

This little bit of research has inspired me to want experiment with the magic of hair in ritual. In Isis Magic, the binding and unbinding of the hair is part of the “Lamentations of Isis” rite (where it is very powerful, I can tell you from experience), but I want to try using it in some solitary ritual, too. I have longish hair, so that will work, but if you don’t and are, like me, inspired to experiment, try using a veil. It is most certainly in Her tradition. (See “Veil” in my Offering to Isis.)

If you want to learn more about the traditions around hair and death, please visit Rosa Valdesogo Martín’s amazing and extensive site here. That’s where most of these images come from…many of which I had not seen before. Thank you, Rosa!

I have her book on the subject on order, but the publisher has postponed its release several times. Here’s hoping it arrives sometime soonish.

Happy Autumnal Equinox 2024!

Turquoise and carnelian—perfect Egyptian colors for fall.

Here at the 45th parallel on the west coast of the US, we are perfectly situated to experience the turning of the seasons in a nearly archetypal form. Very often, the first day of autumn or winter or spring or summer turns out to be a ideal expression of the forthcoming season. Today, the first day of fall, is sunny, warmish but not hot, and the air shines with the gold that only autumn can bring. And it’s harvest time.

The crops are a bit late this year due to our weather; nonetheless, winter squash are in the farmer’s market and we’re just a few weeks away from our annual Dionysian Grape Stomp and Bacchanal, when we harvest the grapes in our own vineyard, dance them to juice, then feast and trance the night away.

Yet here, halfway from the equator to the top of the world, the seasons bear no relation to the seasons in ancient Egypt. For them, this would have been the second month of Inundation, when the Nile rose to cover the land, bringing its rich silt to Egyptian fields. Harvest time wasn’t until early Spring.

What’s an Isiac to do?

The Two Sisters, here with symbols of the Two Lands

For me, the answer is simple: when it comes to seasonal things, I celebrate locally. I am not trying to recreate the worship of Isis as it was in ancient Egypt; instead, I am inspired by those ancient roots of Her worship and yet feel perfectly free to grow from those beautiful, deep, and ancient roots new living plants. The seasons of the ancient Egyptians are not my seasons. And though this Egyptian Goddess is my Goddess, I cannot help but experience Her through my own modern cultural—and seasonal—lenses.

Thus, while the rite I will be participating in tonight, on this equinoctial evening, is not an ancient Egyptian rite, it honors one of the most important themes in ancient Egyptian life and spirit: duality. For tonight I shall make offering to the Two Sisters. Bright Isis and Dark Nephthys Who, when joined hand in hand, are an expression of the sacred magic of the equinox—the harmonious balance of light and dark, day and night.

Isis & Nephthys as sisters. See more illustrations of this artist’s work here.

The two Goddesses compliment each other in the light and dark children They bear to the same God. Osiris fathered the bright God, Horus, with Isis while with Nephthys, He fathered the dark God, Anubis. The Two Goddesses also manifest their Divine power differently. While Isis guides and sheds light on the hidden paths of the Otherworld, the Coffin Texts tell us that Nephthys speaks and they are obscured: “Hidden are the ways for those who pass by; light is perished and darkness comes into being, so says Nephthys.” While Isis summons the Barque of the Day, Nephthys is “a possessor of life in the Night-barque.”

And yet, Isis and Nephthys are also and importantly twins. They are the Two Ladies, the Two Women, the Two Goddesses of the Hall of Truth, the Two Long-Haired Ones, the Two Uraeus Serpents, the Two Spirits, the Two Nurses, the Two Weavers, the Two Feathers, the Two Birds, the Two Cows, the Two Kites, the Two Divine Mothers, the Two Eyes of God, the Two Women, the Two Wise Ones, the Two Weepers, the Two Great, Great Ones, and ultimately, the Two Uniters. The essential balance and unity of Isis and Nephthys is expressed in the Graeco-Egyptian magical papyri by the name Isenephthys or Isis-Nephthys.

And so, in this time of perfect balance, I dance between the equal poles of night and day, teetering on the scales of Libra, and I honor the Two Ladies.

Blessed be the Ladies. Amma, Isenephthys.

“Isis & Nephthys work magic for You with knotted cords”

I think I mentioned that Isis took, as an offering from me, a silver Knot of Isis when I visited Her Philae temple earlier this year. I had it on a chain around my neck when we took the boat over to the temple…and it was simply gone when we came back. It made me smile.

The Knot of Isis is often of red material, but here’s a green one, the color of all good things in ancient Egypt

Knots are important symbols for Isis and of Her. Most of us are very familiar with the Knot of Isis, the knot amulet that resembles an ankh, but with the “arms” folded down. Learn more about it here. But there’s another reason Isis is connected with knots. And that’s because She is the Goddess of Magic—heka, in Egyptian—and very often, heka was and still is worked by the tying of knots.

Ancient Egyptian texts often describe working heka as weaving or knitting, which is just another form of knotting. The deceased person is said to be “knit together in the egg” prior to rebirth. Some texts say that the head of the deceased is “knit on.” The concept of weaving, knitting, or knotting magic—bringing the strands of magic together to create or preserve or repel—makes complete and utter sense to me. There is a delicacy and precision that the many types of knotting require that speaks to me as a very viable way to work magic.

Note the knots in the straps of the Goddess' garment as well as the little loop between Her breasts. — Note the knots in the straps of the Goddess’ garment as well as the little loop between Her breasts.

The basic idea is simple enough: tied knots bind and untied knots release. Beyond that, knots can unite opposites and—since a knot secures things—protect.

Knot magic was well known in Egypt from an early period; an inscription in one of the pyramids says that Isis and Nephthys work magic for Osiris “with knotted cords.”

The Book of Coming Forth by Day (aka Book of the Dead) also gives several examples of the magical power of the knot. In one, knots are tied around the deceased to help them come into the presence of the Deities: “The four knots are tied about me by the guardian of the sky [. . .] the knot was tied about me by Nuet, when I first saw Ma’et, when the gods and the sacred images had not yet been born. I am heaven born, I am in the presence of the Great Gods.”

A *tjes* knot as part of a necklace and the Goddess Bat or Hathor; surely this beautiful piece of jewelry was also protective

In addition to these four knots, another text talks about seven knots, or tesut, that were tied about the deceased to protect them.

The power of the magical knot is in its ability to both unite and “surround” things. The tied knot is a symbol of the coming together of two things in perfect wholeness, a condition that promotes a positive outcome.

A passage in the Coffin Texts says that when the hair of Isis is knotted to the hair of Nephthys, the Two River Banks (that is, the land of the living and the land of the dead) are united. Tying a knot could also refer to sexuality; the perfect coming together of two people in an act of creation. We still “tie the knot” when we get married.

Hapi using a knot to unite the Two Lands — Hapi “tying the knot” to unite the Two Lands

Furthermore, because the two ends of the cord used in tying a magical knot symbolically go all the way around something, they “surround” that thing. Thus knot magic could be used to surround” or bind an enemy—or even tie a curse to them.

In Spell 42 in Budge’s translation of the Book of the Dead, the knot appears as a kind of seed. The deceased is said to be “the knot within the tamarisk tree, beautiful of splendor more than yesterday.” This surely refers to Osiris within the tree prior to His resurrection.

And, of course, as you already know, the famous Knot of Isis is a very magical knot. In most cases, it is protective and associated with renewal and resurrection. As time passed, it became a must-have amulet for all mummies and was usually placed on the upper torso.

If you’d like to work some protective knot magic for yourself, here’s a ritual, slightly adapted, from my Isis Magic (new edition coming in spring of 2026 from REDFeather Publishing!! Yay!) that you can use to do so.

In this rite, we are using the knots to surround with protection. We call upon Isis primarily, but also Nephthys, Neith, and Selket as the four Goddesses often found guarding the four corners of a shrine as well as the four Sons of Horus, Who in turn protect the canopic jars.

The Rite of the Tiet (the Knot of Isis)

About the Rite: In this ritual, you will magically tie a protective knot around yourself, or around anything or anyone you wish to protect. The ritual draws upon sources in the Book of Coming Forth by Day and is, in part, adapted from an ancient rite for consecrating the Tiet amulet.

Temple Arrangement: Altar at center; all tools on altar.

Ritual Tools: Nile water in Lotus Cup; flower petals from lotus, lily, or rose; Isis incense in censer; six pieces of fairly substantial red cord, each approximately one foot long (if you can’t find red cord that is thick enough, use white rope).

Opening

Purify and consecrate the temple and yourself according to the formulae of the House of Isis or any method you prefer. Return to the altar, take up the lotus (lily or rose) petals and elevate them.

Ritualist: O, you Souls of Life, Lotus Dwellers, Breathers, you of the Pure Air from the Wings of Isis, I have come for you. By the Blood, by the Power, by the Magic of Isis, establish yourselves within these petals. (Vibrating onto petals) ISET NEF!

Place some of the petals in the chalice.

Ritualist: (Addressing petals) I know you, you shining flowers. Your name is “Life Is In It”. Your name is “Protection”. Your name is “Peace Bringer”.

Place the pieces of cord upon the altar and anoint each of them with the Nile water with flower petals in it.

Ritualist: (Touching each piece of cord) Isis protects!

Invocation of the Powers of Isis

Next, invoke the Goddess, raising your arms in Adoration.

Ritualist: I call the power of my Mighty Mother Isis. I call Her strength to me. I call upon the Power and the Peace of Isis, for I shall knot the cord, the Knot of Isis.

O Isis, my Mother, I call You!

I call You with the breath of my body (breathing out).

I call You with the beat of my heart (touching your chest).

I call You with the pulse of my life (touching your wrists).

I call You with the words of my mouth (touching your mouth).

I call You with the thoughts of my mind (touching your forehead).

I call You Power. I call You Life. I call You Protection.

I call You, Isis!

Tying the Knots

Take up one of the pieces of red cord and move to the southeast corner of your ritual space. Holding the two ends of the cord in your hands, say:

Ritualist: You have Your Blood, O Isis. You have Your Power, O Isis. You have Your Magic, O Isis. The Blood of Isis and the Strength of Isis and the Words of Power of Isis shall be mighty to (state what you wish to protect) against all that would cause harm.

With strength and intention, tie a knot in the cord and set it in the southeast corner of the ritual space.

Ritualist: By the Power of Isis, I have knotted the cord.

Repeat this same procedure in the southwest, northwest, and northeast of the temple, above your head (leaving the cord on top of the altar), and upon the ground (leave the cord at the foot of the altar).

Stand west of the altar, facing east. Make the Sign of the Wings of Isis (raise and open your arms like wings).

Ritualist: O Isis and all You mighty Goddesses of Protection, I call upon You to guard (state what you wish to protect) as You did guard Osiris Himself, as You did guard Horus the Child.

An exceptionally beautiful gold and amethyst necklace, secured by a clasp in the form of a knot

Isis, Mighty Magician; Nephthys, Lady of Life; Neith, Primal Mother; Selket, Powerful One—tie the Knot of Isis against all harm. Keep it away! Restrain it! Let it not come near! O, Isis and all You Goddesses of Protection, grant Your peace and protection.

If you wish to meditate or do other work, this is an excellent time to do so.

Closing

If this is a ritual for protection from some outside threat, leave the tied knots in your ritual space for as long as desired or needed and conclude the rite by making the Sign of the Wings of Isis at the altar and speaking the last line.

If this rite is worked simply to create peace for meditation, you may untie the knots when you are finished by simply going to each knot in the order you tied it and untying it, then returning each one to the altar.

Use a simple, overhand knot in this ritual

Ritualist: I have untied the knot. Be in peace, O You Blood and Power and Magic of Isis. Be in peace.

At the altar, make Sign of the Wings of Isis.

Ritualist: I thank You, Isis, in all Thy names of Protection. Hold me ever near You, bound by Your protective knots.

The rite is complete.

The Goddess of Willendorf

In Search of the Feminine Divine

Category Archives: Egyptian magic

Isis & the “Magical Mindset”

Capturing Sunlight—a Rite for Isis the Radiant One

Isis the Rebel

More from the Temple of Isis at Dendera

Isis, the Birth Goddess & Lots of Bricks

An Egyptian Rite for Making Offering to Isis

Isis & Her Manifestations

‘Offering to Isis’ a look inside

‘Offering to Isis’ is here

The Temple of Isis at Dendera

Isis & Nephthys: the Mysteries of the Kites

Is Isis Calling Me?

A Meditation within the Heart of Isis

Hymns to Isis of 10,000 Names from Denderah

Wandering Isis

Wandering Isis

Isis as a Wandering Goddess

Is Isis a Wandering Goddess?

A Prayer to Isis in a Time of Deep Pain

Isis & the Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Isis & My ‘Epagomenal’ Days

More Epithets of Isis

The Seshed Band of Isis

Offering to Isis Now Available for Pre-Order

Isis on the First Day

Is Isis a Moon Goddess?

Isis and…Samhain? Really?

The Magical Hair of Isis

Happy Autumnal Equinox 2024!

“Isis & Nephthys work magic for You with knotted cords”

The Rite of the Tiet (the Knot of Isis)

Opening

Invocation of the Powers of Isis

Tying the Knots

Closing

Simon Magus is coming to