I’m taking the day off today, so please enjoy these images of Isis’ temple at Philae from our Egyptian journey. It truly is the most beautiful of the surviving temples because of the stunning location.
Isis’ Philae Temple, pics!
Category Archives: Modern Paganism
Isis the Rebel
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.
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.
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.
SunFest 2025: The Return of the Wandering Goddess
June 27-29, 2025 Portland Oregon area
The ritualists for this festival are meeting today at my house for rehearsal. It’s getting REAL and I’m getting excited! If you’re in or near the Pacific Northwest, I hope you’ll join us for our upcoming summer solstice festival for 2025. SunFest 2025 is being put on by Other Worlds of Wonder (OWOW), please visit their website at the link below. I am serving as ritual facilitator—along with a truly wonderful Crewe of ritualists and craftspeople. It is going to be pure magic!
Read all about the festival rites and rituals here:
The Myth of the Wandering Goddess is one of the two most important myths of ancient Egypt. Just about every town or region had its own version of the festival that celebrated this myth. Although different Goddesses were the “Wandering Goddess” in each local area, our festival celebrates the power of Sakhmet and the ecstasy of Hathor.
During SunFest 2025, we’ll explore this important myth in an immersive, participatory way. Each ritual, presentation, or workshop is designed to draw us into the overall myth so that—together—we will live our own version of that myth and celebrate the festival that surrounded it.
SunFest 2025 takes place Friday through Sunday at Camp Cedar Ridge—as we await Ffynnon’s private park status.
Friday
Creating Altars & Invoking Hathor & Sakhmet
Our first ritual act is to create altars for the Goddesses and to invoke Their presence to our festival. You’re invited to bring items to add to the altar. We will create it together as part of the rite. Then, with the altars prepared, we invoke our two festival Goddesses, the Fierce Goddesses of the Solar Eye: Hathor, the Golden One, and Sakhmet, the Powerful One.
Through our desire, through our invocations, through our music, and our moving bodies, we call upon our Goddesses to be present with us during this festival.
Sedj Desherut, the Ritual of Breaking Red Pots
The ancient Egyptian Ritual of Breaking Red Pots was performed to protect against enemies, physical and/or spiritual. Archeologists have found fragments of the pots that had been inscribed with curses against said enemies. In our version, we will join with Sakhmet in Her righteous anger against the injustice in the world and smash our own “red pots.” By expressing our rage, both personal and societal, we begin the Sacred Work of becoming purified and renewed.
At the end of this ritual, the Goddess Sakhmet departs from us and we are now without the powerful protection of our Goddess.
Seducing Sakhmet, Dancing for Her
The Hathoru, sacred enticers of the Goddess Hathor, will help us get the Friday night drumming and dancing going with a calling for the absent Goddess and a chant to seduce Her to return.
Saturday
Workshop: The Myth of the Wandering Goddess
I’ll present a talk and slide show to explain the importance of this myth to ancient Egypt and provide background to help us understand the rituals and activities of the festival.
At the end of the presentation, we’ll have the opportunity to experience the energies of both Sakhmet and Hathor for ourselves.
Sehotep Sakhmet; Pouring Out Red Beer for Her
Five gallons of red beer are being ritually brewed as an offering to Sakhmet, so that we may appease Her wrath and coax Her to return to us. Without our Fierce Goddess, we, like the Sun God Re, are vulnerable. The First Servant of Sakhmet will lead us in a prayer and chant to the Goddess. Then we will pour out the blood-red beer into the fields in hopes that the Goddess will be pleased and made peaceful through it.
Workshop: Creating Offerings
We’ll break into 5 groups, our “villages.” Each village will work together to create an offering for the Returning Goddess—as She has been promised by Thoth, the God of Wisdom, if She agrees to return home.
The Return of the Wandering Goddess; Hathor is in Joy
Wise Thoth has followed the Lioness Goddess to Nubia and has entertained Her with many excellent stories. He has coaxed Her to return home, promising offerings, dancing, and feasting in Her honor.
Join us at the riverbank, our isheru, where the Returning Goddess is renewed in the Deep Primordial Waters. We, like our Goddess, will be purified and renewed as well. By our rites and in these Waters, Red Sakhmet transforms Herself into Turquoise Hathor, the Intoxicating One.
Then we walk together in procession as we make music and throw flower petals in the path of the Returning Goddess—and at each other, if we’re feeling playful. The Goddess’ reed boat stops at each village and we present our offerings to Her.
Community Picnic
We join together in the main meadow to feast with our Community and in honor of our Goddesses, Hathor and Sakhmet, and Thoth.
Blessings of the Seven Hathors
As the sun sets, we are called once more to gather at the Fire Circle. The Goddess will be present in 7 different forms and She will bless us in return for the offerings we created and presented to Her earlier.
There is no formal end to the ritual. We drum and dance our way into the night as we so desire.
Sunday
Pouring Out Pure Milk for Her
This is the closing ritual for the festival. We pour out pure milk in thanks to Sakhmet, Hathor, and Thoth, then ritually release Their Presences by extinguishing our fiery torches in the sacred milk of the Goddess.
The rite also incorporates OWOW’s traditional gift exchange. If you wish to participate, bring a small gift with you as a thanksgiving to be given to someone in our community, and you will receive one in return.
PLUS—Join us for a workshop on magic and protest later on Sunday!
How to Register
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.
‘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!
The Veil of Isis
To Isis, a Veil
En Iset, Behen
This is a gift I bring before Isis the Hidden One, Who, Revealing Herself, Shakes Destiny: an invocation offering of a veil.
For You, Isis, a hiding, a hint, a whisper, an obscuration, a veil.
From behind it, may You send revelations into my sleep. Dreaming, I understand the inner voice and vision; I coax truth from my heart. Yet upon waking, the veil is torn asunder and I only half remember that which was so potent while I lay beneath Your veil.
O, but I adore Your mystery, Your obscurity, the crooked finger of Your concealing veil! Yes, Goddess, yes—veil Yourself in the depths of the indigo sky, in a blue-green blade of grass, in fire, in eyeshine in the darkness. For I could not bear the full brunt of Your beauty!
Draw me on with insinuations. Call to me with half-answered questions. Lead me with unknowns. And I shall ever follow, carrying the train of Your not-quite-translucent veil, hoping for another brief glimpse of You, beneath it.
Listen, O Isis, to the words of the Veil: “I am offered unto Isis as a kindness to mortals for I am their shield against the awe of the Goddess. Woven of darkness and daylight, the Cosmos itself is the loom upon which I was made. All things are connected to me in warp and woof. Tayet Herself, the Weaver, has made me, a perfect thing. I am the Uniting Mystery Never Quite Revealed. I am the Veil of Isis.”
Unto You, Isis, I offer this veil and all things beautiful and pure. M’den, Iset. Accept it, Isis.
The Veil of the Goddess
The phrase “the Veil of Isis” is so common that we might not question where it came from. But perhaps we should. For one thing, ancient Egyptian women generally weren’t veiled so it would be odd to see a Goddess depicted so. Oh, there were headdresses aplenty, but not concealing veils.*
By Ptolemaic times, under Greek influence, we do see veils as head coverings come into use, though they seem more decorative than anything else. Both Greek and Roman images of Isis often include a veil covering the back of the head and hair.
The phrase, Veil of Isis, comes to us from our Greek friend, Plutarch in his essay On Isis and Osiris. In it, he is talking about Egyptian Mysteries. He tells his readers that when the new pharaoh was crowned, he became privy to hidden Egyptian philosophy and notes that the Egyptians’ knowledge of their Deities “holds a mysterious wisdom.” To illustrate his point, he notes a certain seated statue of the Goddess of the Egyptian city of Sais. He says She is Athena “whom they [the Egyptians] consider to be Isis also.” She would, of course, be Neith, the Lady of Sais, Who was indeed assimilated to both Athena and Isis.
The statue bore an inscription: “I am all that was, and is, and shall be, and no mortal hath ever Me unveiled.” It speaks to the all-encompassing power and mystery of the Goddess.
If there was such an image, we have not yet found it. Since Plutarch was writing in the 2nd century CE and the Ptolemies came in long before that, about 300 BCE, it is possible that the image of Neith-Athena-Isis could have been veiled—at least with the decorative-type veil we see in images of some Ptolemaic queens.
Proclus, a Greek philosopher writing in the 5th century CE, also quotes the inscription and adds another line: “The fruit that I have brought forth the Sun has generated.” He doesn’t mention Isis, but rather Neith-Athena and speaks in terms of the Goddess being involved in creation processes, both visible and invisible.
There are a few other ancient references to the veil of Isis. The Greco-Egyptian magical papyri refer to it on several occasions. In one, the magician invokes Isis and asks Her to remove Her veil in order to reveal the future and “shake destiny.” By revealing the Mysteries beneath Her veil, the magician hoped that the Goddess Who was worshiped as Lady of Fate and Fortune could not only predict, but could change or “shake” destiny.
Even after the end of the open worship of the Pagan Deities in the Mediterranean, Plutarch and other Greek philosophers continued to be studied. Because of Plutarch’s mention of the inscription in relation to Isis, the idea of the veil of Isis formulated more and more strongly and eventually passed into the annals of the Western Esoteric Tradition. The unveiling of the Goddess became a symbol of the revelation of esoteric secrets, sometimes specifically the revelation of Egyptian secrets.
European esotericists of many kinds came to use the metaphor of the Veil of Isis for the hiding or revealing of their own secrets. By this time, Isis was identified with the Goddess Nature, Who hides Her secrets from those who seek to understand Her.
This idea was particularly important to the alchemists who sought to uncover Nature’s secrets—She Who is Isis and Venus and Ephesian Artemis and the Anima Mundi (World Soul). Freemasons took up the idea of a veiled Isis keeping their own secrets and some even found Egyptian antecedents in their rituals.
The Romantic movement, which rejected what they considered the coldness of the Enlightenment, preferring emotion and imagination, was also developing at this time. For Romantics, Isis’ veil concealed not just the scientific secrets of Nature, but a deeper, unexplainable Mystery that is, at the same time, Ultimate Truth.
Philosophers took up the metaphor as well. Immanuel Kant said of the Saite inscription: “Perhaps no one has said anything more sublime, or expressed a thought more sublimely, than in that inscription on the temple of Isis (Mother Nature).” Influenced by Kant, the physician, playwright, poet, and philosopher Friedrich Schiller (what a guy!) tells a tale in which a young initiate rashly removes the Veil from a sacred image of Isis and is found nearly dead the next morning by the wiser priests; apparently, the secret was just too much for him.
Following in those mysterious footsteps, Helena Blavatsky’s 1877 book, Isis Unveiled, is a compendium of occult lore that purports to draw aside the veil of the Goddess for its readers. It continues to influence occultists to this day.
As a metaphor, the Veil of Isis was ubiquitous for centuries. Alchemists, magicians, freemasons, philosophers, scientists, poets, novelists, and visual artists all desired to life Isis’ Veil to discover the deepest secrets and truths, truths about Nature and truths about human beings in Nature.
This post barely scratches the surface of the many ways and places people were inspired by the veil of the Goddess. I’ve expressed some of my thoughts in the Offering at the beginning of this post. What is the Veil of Isis for you?
* It is possible to see the daily opening and closing of the shrines that held the sacred images of the Egyptian Deities as a kind of unveiling and veiling of the images.
‘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.
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.
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 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.
Is Isis “She Who Must Be Obeyed”?
We learned several weeks ago that one of the things said of Isis at Denderah is, “Life is in Her hand, health is in Her fist, one does not oppose what comes from Her mouth.” But was H. Rider Haggard’s Ayesha—of “She Who Must Be Obeyed” fame—based on Isis and/or Isis-connected literary characters?
Let’s see what we can find out.
First, who is Ayesha? Well, unless you are a fan of Victorian gothic novels or the British TV show Rumpole of the Bailey, you may not have heard of her.* Ayesha is the title character in the novel She: A History of Adventure by the English writer H. Rider Haggard. Haggard wrote adventure-romances set in exotic locations, mainly Africa, inspired by his having lived there for six years.
Along with King Solomon’s Mines, which introduced the character Allan Quartermain, She is Haggard’s most renowned work. It was enormously popular. First published in 1887, it has never been out of print and has sold over 100 million copies. Haggard was one of the innovators of the “lost world” genre and She is a classic example of that genre.
Ayesha is the mysterious “white queen” (I know, cringe) of an equally mysterious tribe living in the African interior. Ayesha is worshiped by her people as Hiya, She Who Must Be Obeyed, or simply She.
The novel has been studied and both praised and criticized for its depictions of female authority and power.
The Victorian and early-Edwardian era was also host to a wide-ranging male preoccupation with the “True Nature of Woman,” and mostly, in their cogitations, Woman’s True Nature tended toward the evil, perverse, and degenerate. This is where all those vampiric fin de siecle femmes fatales that populated a good portion of the art world at that time come from.
“The Woman Question” was much-discussed as the rise of the more-liberated, educated, and independent New Woman terrified the traditionalists. (And why are we still and again having to have this infuriating and exhausting discourse?)
But back to Ayesha.
Ayesha is a powerful sorceress who has discovered the secret of immortality. She’s been waiting 2,000 years for the reincarnation of her lover, who she killed when he refused to murder his wife to be with her. Yes, it’s complicated.
Our heroes, Cambridge professor Horace Holly and his adopted son Leo Vincey, travel to Africa in search of a lost civilization—and find it with Ayesha and her people. When Holly is ushered into her presence, she is veiled and warns him that the sight of her arouses both desire and fear. And this is so, for when she unveils herself, Holly falls to his knees before her, bespelled. Ayesha and her people live in the lost city of Kôr, a city of the people who predated the ancient Egyptians. Ayesha was born among the Arabs and studied the wisdom of the ancients to become a great sorceress.** In deepest Africa, She learned the secret of immortalization in the fiery Pillar of Life.
Ayesha is convinced that Holly’s adopted son is her reincarnated lover. She wants him to step into the Pillar of Life as she did so that he, too, can be immortalized. (Anybody getting Mummy movie vibes?) To prove to him it’s safe, Ayesha makes a fatal mistake, again walking into the burning Pillar herself. With her second exposure, her immortality is reversed and she dies—but with her last breath vows to return! Holly and Leo are freed from her deadly spell and hightail it home to England.
We do have some Isis-themed bits here: a powerful, Goddess-like magician, secret knowledge, immortality, love, sex—all in a lost city more ancient than ancient Egypt. In a sequel to She (of course there was a sequel)—Ayesha: the Return of She—Haggard tells us that Ayesha’s name is to be pronounced “AH-sha” which is slightly reminiscent of Isis’ name in late Egyptian: Ise or Ese. The sequels also include “an ancient sistrum” and a rock formation in the form of an ankh for some clear Egyptian ambiance. Haggard’s novel fits right in with the significant case of Egyptomania Europe was giddily undergoing at the time. Haggard himself was deeply interested in Egypt and wrote another novel, Morning Star, that was set in ancient Egypt and featured a strong-willed Egyptian queen as protagonist.
In an article I’m reading by Steve Vinson, he suggests that some aspects of She, may have come from the tale of Ahwere and the Magic Book, a tale you already know has Isis connections. You’ll find those here and here. In addition to the focus on magic and some name similarities in the two tales, the dramatic power and alluring beauty of Ayesha is similar to the power and allure of Tabubu in Ahwere’s story.
You might also remember Aithiopika, the ancient Greek novel by Heliodorus, that also has Egyptian and Isis connections. Re-read those here. Vinson notes those and other similarities as well. In both novels, there’s an adventure in Africa where the young protagonists discover their true identity. In the case of She, it is Holly’s adopted son Leo who finds out that he actually IS a descendant of Ayesha’s lover, Kallikrates. Kallikrates is Greek and married to the Egyptian Amenartas, a priestess of Isis. The power of Isis protects Amenartas from the wrath of Ayesha when Kallikrates refuses to kill her. Vinson notes some similarities between the stories of Kallikrates and Aithiopika‘s Isis priest Kalisiris, as well as quite a few plot points that indicate the influence of Aithiopika on She. But those mostly don’t concern Isis, so I won’t detail them.
Vinson also finds parallels in the portrayals of Ayesha and other strong female leaders in Haggards’ stories with the character of Isis Herself, as well as with the Isis-connected protagonists in these ancient Egyptian and Greek tales.
Isis was, quite simply, the most well-known Egyptian Goddess in Haggard’s time, and with Her multi-facted nature, it would be hard not to be able to find almost any type of Isis you’d like—from kindly to avenging. Isis embodies sexual power, too; see here and here, though She is not generally portrayed as a Great Seductress. Haggard had to turn to Isis-connected characters like Tabubu and Rhodopis (a courtesan in Aithiopika) for that.
Isis looms large in the Victorian era, with its Woman Question and Egyptomania. Ancient stories like the ones we’re talking about intrigued readers and inspired writers like Haggard and others. Translations of Plutarch’s works, including On Isis and Osiris, made Isis’ story, and Her famous veil, more widely known, while Madame Blavatsky’s opus Isis Unveiled established Her in the occult world.
As far as Europe is concerned, I don’t think it’s too much to say that Isis served as THE prime example of Feminine Divinity during this period. What’s more, as a feminine Being with both power and authority, She served as an inspiration for the New Woman of first-wave feminism. Remember Margaret Fuller?
From the world of the sciences to the arts to the occult, Isis was strongly present. Scientists worked to draw aside Her veil to reveal the secrets of Nature. Artists and writers were inspired by and wrote about Isis and Egypt. Occult groups such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, incorporated Her prominently into their magical systems.
If any Goddess was THE Goddess in late-19th-early-20th-century Europe, it was Isis. Indeed, it would be surprising if Haggard’s Ayesha was not inspired by some aspects of the Goddess Who was so well known in his day.
*Ayesha or Aisha is also a wife of the Islamic prophet Mohammad and a well respected figure in Sunni Islam. The name Ayesha was very popular during the Ottoman Empire and it came to symbolize all-things-Arabian to 19th-century English readers. Many English novels and stories featured characters named Ayesha.
**I know. The math don’t quite math with Ayesha being over 2,000 years old and being born an Arab, but okay.
SunFest 2025: The Return of the Wandering Goddess
June 27-29, 2025 Portland Oregon area
Bonus post this week because I’m excited to tell you about our upcoming summer solstice festival for 2025. SunFest 2025 is being put on by Other Worlds of Wonder (OWOW), please visit their website at the link below. I am serving as ritual facilitator—along with a truly wonderful Crewe of ritualists and craftspeople. It is going to be pure magic!
The Myth of the Wandering Goddess is one of the two most important myths of ancient Egypt. Just about every town or region had its own version of the festival that celebrated this myth. Although different Goddesses were the “Wandering Goddess” in each local area, our festival celebrates the power of Sakhmet and the ecstasy of Hathor.
During SunFest 2025, we’ll explore this important myth in a highly immersive, highly participatory way. Each ritual, presentation, or workshop is designed to draw us into the overall myth so that—together—we will live our own version of that myth as well as celebrating the festival that surrounded it.
The festival takes place Friday through Sunday. Every ritual or event brings us into the myth/s and the ancient festival so that we can discover more about these Great Egyptian Goddesses for ourselves.
Friday
Creating Altars & Invoking Hathor & Sakhmet
Our first ritual act is to create altars for the Goddesses and to invoke Their presence to our festival. You’re invited to bring items to add to the altar. We will create it together as part of the rite. Then, with the altars prepared, we invoke our two festival Goddesses, the Fierce Goddesses of the Solar Eye: Hathor, the Golden One, and Sakhmet, the Powerful One.
Through our desire, through our invocations, through our music, and our moving bodies, we call upon our Goddesses to be present with us during this festival.
Sedj Desherut, the Ritual of Breaking Red Pots
The ancient Egyptian Ritual of Breaking Red Pots was performed to protect against enemies, physical and/or spiritual. Archeologists have found fragments of the pots that had been inscribed with curses against said enemies. In our version, we will join with Sakhmet in Her righteous anger against the injustice in the world and smash our own “red pots.” By expressing our rage, both personal and societal, we begin the Sacred Work of becoming purified and renewed.
At the end of this ritual, the Goddess Sakhmet departs from us and we are now without the powerful protection of our Goddess.
Seducing Sakhmet, Dancing for Her
The Hathoru, sacred enticers of the Goddess Hathor, will help us get the Friday night drumming and dancing going with a calling for the absent Goddess and a chant to seduce Her to return.
Saturday
Workshop: The Myth of the Wandering Goddess
I’ll present a Keynote talk to explain the importance of this myth to ancient Egypt and provide background to help us understand the rituals and activities of the festival.
At the end of the presentation, we’ll have the opportunity to experience the energies of both Sakhmet and Hathor for ourselves.
Sehotep Sakhmet; Pouring Out Red Beer for Her
Five gallons of red beer are being ritually brewed as an offering to Sakhmet, so that we may appease Her wrath and coax Her to return to us. Without our Fierce Goddess, we, like the Sun God Re, are vulnerable. The First Servant of Sakhmet will lead us in a prayer and chant to the Goddess. Then we will pour out the blood-red beer into the fields in hopes that the Goddess will be pleased and made peaceful through it.
Workshop: Creating Offerings
We’ll break into 5 groups, our “villages.” Each village will work together to create an offering for the Returning Goddess—as She has been promised by Thoth, the God of Wisdom, if She agrees to return home.
The Return of the Wandering Goddess; Hathor is in Joy
Wise Thoth has followed the Lioness Goddess to Nubia and has entertained Her with many excellent tales. He has coaxed Her to return home, promising offerings, dancing, and feasting in Her honor.
Join us at the riverbank, our isheru, where the Returning Goddess is renewed in the Deep Primordial Waters. We, like our Goddess, will be purified and renewed as well. By our rites and in these Waters, Red Sakhmet transforms Herself into Turquoise Hathor, the Intoxicating One.
Then we walk together in procession as we make music and throw flower petals in the path of the Returning Goddess—and at each other, if we’re feeling playful. The Goddess’ reed boat stops at each village and we present our offerings to Her.
Community Picnic
We join together in the main meadow to feast with our Community and in honor of our Goddesses, Hathor and Sakhmet, and Thoth.
Blessings of the Seven Hathors
As the sun sets, we are called once more to gather at the Fire Circle. The Goddess will be present in 7 different forms and She will bless us in return for the offerings we created and presented to Her earlier.
There is no formal end to the ritual. We drum and dance our way into the night as we so desire.
Sunday
Pouring Out Pure Milk for Her
This is the closing ritual for the festival. We pour out pure milk in thanks to Sakhmet, Hathor, and Thoth, then ritually release Their Presences by extinguishing our fiery torches in the sacred milk of the Goddess.
The rite also incorporates OWOW’s traditional gift exchange. If you wish to participate, bring a small gift with you as a thanksgiving to be given to someone in our community, and you will receive one in return.
PLUS—Other workshops on Sunday!
How to Register
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.
Join Me at Spirit Northwest
Hello, all!
This is for those of you in the greater Pacific Northwest.
I’m excited to be one of the presenters at Spirit Northwest, a new conference for “Paganism, witchcraft, and natural magic” being held in Portland, Oregon. The conference is May day weekend: May 1-4, 2025.
One of the things I am loving about SPW is that they’re scheduling longer presentations—not just 45 minutes. That means we can really get into some depth with the topics. So you better believe I applied for one of those 2-hour spots asap.
I’ll be there on Saturday, but the event goes from Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon. Check out the website here. And the whole schedule here. Rituals! Learning! Meeting new folks!
Since we have the time, for my presentation, we’ll be both talking together AND a doing a ritual. It’s called “Under the Wings of Isis: the Greater Mysteries of Making Offering.”
So first, we’ll talk about the traditions and techniques of ancient Egyptian offering rites—going into some depth about how offering really works—then we’ll participate together as we “Open the Ways” to Isis and make offering to Her, receiving Her magic and protection in return.
We’ll be doing the talk part “Hermetic Society” style, meaning that you can ask questions and make comments during the talk. It’s a bit more chaotic, but it’s also more fun, too, for me and for you. And yes, this will be a presentation with pretty pictures, because who doesn’t like to look at pictures?
I wanted to let you know about this a bit early so there’s time for budgeting 
And here’s some more good news: the second edition of Offering to Isis, Knowing the Goddess through Her Sacred Symbols should be/will be out by the time. It’s available for pre-order now here or click on the book cover in the sidebar.
In fact, it’s being printed even as we speak and I hope to have some books with me (fingers crossed) for the conference.
Your hosts for the conference are the creators of That Witch Life podcast, so do have a listen.
If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll come join us!
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
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.
“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.
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.
What is Isis Like?
Not what does She like. But what is She like.
I admit, I don’t spend as much time in Her shrine as I would like. (My guilty conscience says, “as I should.”) Yet, since Her shrine and my office are in the same room, She is always there with me, even if I’m not in active communion.
And I will further admit that, even when I am in active communion, I am often seeking inspiration from Her about how to better communicate Her love, power, wisdom, and magic to others who seek Her.
But it’s important for me—as I suggest it may be for you—to just to be with Her, to feel Her presence, to sense Her Being, to drink Her sunlight, to taste Her magic. With no other agenda.
So, I’d like to share a little of what She’s like for me in such times, and invite you to share what She’s like for you, if you wish.
Something I’ve found very interesting over the years is that the experiences people have with Her are so harmonious. Certainly many discover Her as a loving Divine Mother. It’s a form many Goddesses take for us human beings. But I was really struck, one time in particular, when someone I was talking with described Her as “noble,” a word that I have often used to describe Her to myself. Though we are all so very different people, harmonies like that let me know that, yes indeed, we are all touching the same Goddess. We are all feeling Isis. We are all intuiting beneath Her wings.
So what is She like?
As She arrives, Isis is like the rumble of thunder just after the lightning flash. I feel Her move in the sky above me, in the earth beneath me. I feel Her thunder deep in my belly, in my womb.
Isis is like the face I can’t quite see beneath an obscuring veil. For a moment—a bright moment—She shows Herself to me. And for that instant, I think I know something about Her. And then Her veil is drawn back into place, endarkening Her aspect once more. O, I love that about Her. She makes me want Her.
Sometimes, Isis is like the earth after rain, when the sun comes out suddenly and mist wisps through the grasses in the unexpected heat. Then Isis is like the late-summer sun warming the heart in my naked body. She claims Her Iset Ib, Her Isis-Heart, that is within me.
Isis is like the tears shed for me, shed for the Lost One, shed for all of us. I place myself in Her hands when I am in sorrow and She hears me.
O yes, Isis is noble, Her head uplifted. In turn, She uplifts my face in Her hands that I may look into the profound depths of Her eyes. I see there unending strength and wisdom and love and magic. She makes me aspire to all those things, though I know I am ever-so human.
Isis is sun-golden. Isis is underworld-black. Isis is star-white. Isis is serpent-green. Isis is lapis lazuli-blue. Isis is blood-red.
Isis is like the Mystery that can never be fully described. Her great wings encircle, enfold, illuminate. Each feather is a teaching. Each feather is a world. I feel Her wings brush me softly and I swoon. Her Mystery upholds me, shows me, seduces me.
Isis is the most ancient, ancient. Unknown and untouched are Her depths. She calls me. She captures me. She floods me. She fills me.
And sometimes, just sometimes, that is what Isis is like for me. What is She like for you?
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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
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, 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.
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.
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.
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, 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 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
Awakening Isis
As the teal-blue waters of the Nile swirl and eddy upon the rocky shores of Her island; as the daily rebirth of Re fills the horizon with colors of peach and purple and red; as Mother Night smiles at the glory of Her reborn child—every morning, in Her beautiful temple at Philae, the Great Goddess Isis was awakened in Her sacred image.
This morning, She was awakened in Her smaller temple, the shrine I have made for Her in my home, and the lamp I have set for Her in my heart.
My ritual is not the ritual in the ancient temples. But the intent is the same: to call in, renew, and reawaken Her ka, Her ba, and Her akh—at least the sparks of each that reside within Her sacred image on my altar—so that She may be present with me and I may be present with Her. I honor Her, awaken Her in peace, and place before Her the Offering of the Morning.
As I enter Her shrine, my hands crossed upon my breast, I bow to Her veiled image. I light the charcoal, prepare the incense, a special blend made for Her by artisans of sacred scent. I pour pure Nile water into the libation cup and ready the libation bowl.
And then I sing to Her. “Isis is the wisdom that is given in the Boat of the Morning. Isis is the wisdom that is given in the Boat of the Night. Isis is the wisdom that is given in the Boat of the Morning. Isis is the wisdom that is given in the Boat of the Night. Isis, Isis, Isis.” I continue to sing until the chant seems complete.
Now, I make the gesture of Opening the Shrine, flinging wide for Her the doors of Her shrine. I vibrate Her name, “Isis!” I unveil Her beautiful image and look upon it.
I kneel before Her, then sit.
I open my awareness. As I breathe deeply, the lamp in my heart grows brighter.
I open my awareness. I sense the ka of the Goddess’ living power like a bright tingle on the nape of my neck.
I open my awareness. I turn my face upward and envision Her ba—in the form of Her sacred raptor, the black kite—swoop down from above, fast and sure. It alights upon Her sacred image and nestles softly into Her lap. All the while, I am chanting Her name in my mind, in my heart, in my mouth.
I open my awareness again. Her spirit, Her akh is coming. It is like the welcome light of dawn after a long, dark night. It is like water to those who thirst. It is like a needed, deep breath that makes my chest shudder as I take it in.
I say aloud to Her: “A spark from Your Mysterious Heart, Isis, resides within this sacred image. I honor that spark as I honor You Yourself, Great Goddess.”
Quietly, and with my awareness opened to the ends of the earth, I vibrate Her name three more times. I feel Her ka. I see Her ba. I sense Her akh.
And I say aloud to Her, “Awaken, O Isis Within, to this beautiful day. Be welcomed into morning! Awaken, O Isis Within, to the joy of the day. Be welcomed into today!”
I take up the incense and place it upon the charcoal. The resins and herbs and flowers burn, releasing their scent. Taking up the censer, I elevate it toward Her image. “May Your eyes be opened to the beauty of the day,” I say. “May Your nostrils be opened to the sweet scent of this spice. May Your ears be opened always to the voices of Your children.”
I replace the censer and take up the libation cup of pure Nile water. I elevate it toward Her image, then pour it, very slowly, into the waiting libation bowl. “May Your lips be opened to the sweetness of this cool water,” I say. “May Your heart be opened to Your people this day. May Your body, O image of Isis, be opened to the beautiful energy of Isis the Goddess, Ever-Living.”
I am seated once more. I become aware of my heart. I breathe and let the lamp burn brighter. And brighter. I am aware of the sacred image of Isis before me. I feel Her presence. I sense Her heart. I breathe my fire into Her heart. She returns it to mine. I know Her image breathes. I breathe Her breath. I am illumined in Her dawning fire. I speak Her words for Her: “I am that Golden morning that arises and shines each day. Splendid are the ornaments upon My brilliant brow. I am the One Who glows in the Sun. I am the Eye of Awakening. I am the Greening of the Earth. I am the Joy of the Day.”
I let myself sit in Her Presence for a while, enfolded in Her wings. When I am ready, I stand and say to Her, “Awaken in joy, Isis, awaken in joy. Amma, Iset.”
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.)
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.
Beautiful Mourner, Weep with Me
We need to know that we are not alone in our pain and outrage. And we are not.
For right now, our Goddess hears us. She knows our hearts. She, too, has mourned. She, too, has raged. She, too, has feared. She understands us when we bring our hollow hearts and roiling bellies to Her.
She will hear us, hold us, advise us. In time, She may even heal us.
But before that healing, we must feel what we feel. The God has died and He must be mourned.
We can share the burden of our feelings with others who mourn with us. We can share them with our Deities, with Her.
Yet at some point, the mourning time will pass. And what will we do then?
If we would follow Her, then what we must do is rear the fatherless Child. We must continue taking action. We must continue our Work.
Though we see the enormity of the problems, let us not despair; there is hope; there is opportunity. Instead, let us renew our dedication to our Deities and our spiritual work, for this will strengthen our souls. Let us renew our support of progressive institutions with our dollars. And let us continue to work with others in progressive organizations for the changes we want to see.
Our Goddess is strong and practical; let us follow Her in this wisdom.
But if—right now, at this time—you mourn, it is well. Make an offering to Isis of your mourning. She will receive it from you…
This is a gift I bring before the Beautiful Mourner, Isis the Weeper Who Transforms: an invocation offering of mourning.
I offer You, Isis, my mourning for there is nothing else I can do with it. How is it that something so empty can be called pain-full? I am abandoned in an ocean of pain so deep that there is nothing else. My tears are nothing but more salt for that bitter sea. My grief is nothing but a hole in my belly. I cannot breathe. I have no breath. There is no air. My mind is blank, unable to receive the words that are pushed at me. My heart? I have no heart.
Mourning is what we do when the loss is so great that we can do nothing else. Each of us who mourns has their own share of this hollow pain. But it is the pain of one human being at one time, in one place. You, Isis, You hear the cries of the world. You feel each heart breaking, You know every human cruelty.
The sorrows of a Goddess are deep. What then is my mourning compared to Yours?
Listen, O Isis, to the words of Mourning: “I am offered unto Isis for She is the Well of Mourning. She absorbs me and takes me into Her vastness. I am dissolved in infinity. I am mixed with all things. I am reborn as a child. I am the mystery of suffering. I am Mourning.”
Unto You, Isis, I offer my mourning and all things beautiful and pure. M’den, Iset. Accept it, Isis.
Does Isis Ever Speak to You in Poetry?
For some of us, poetry is one of the ways in which we can express our feelings or experiences with the Divine. Whether we compose it ourselves or discover a poem that has the perfect words to touch our hearts and say what we’d want to say.
It isn’t easy to be a poet. You can wrestle with words for days and still come up empty-handed. I find that if I just sit down with the intention of writing a poem about Isis, I get—well—pretty much nothing.
The way it works best for me, is to poise my fingers over the keyboard, clear my mind, close my eyes, invoke the Goddess…and start typing. (The trick is keeping your fingers over the right keys. Otherwise you get rhwewosqeonger.)
What comes out is by no means finished. It’s more like notes for a poem. Then I work with it and shape it, making it into something, and in that process discover its meaning—for me, for now.
The value of this for me is that I often get images that I would not have come up with in my normal state of consciousness. Sometimes, they don’t even make logical sense, but they do make a kind of poetic sense. They can be odd and beautiful. Sometimes I edit out the strangenesses. Sometimes I just leave them in, hoping that they’ll communicate what the Goddess intended.
To show you what I mean, I’m going to do a little experiment right now. [NOTE: This is a repost. But when I first wrote it, it was done “live” and in real time.]
So here we go. Fingers poised over keyboard…opening…invoking…and typing this:
long black wings against a blue white sky clouds bending into circles interpenetrating the blackness of feather of feature of faith clean sharp shriek of light coming into my mind clearing feathered fog leaving its own breath I am hearing you now
That’s what it looks like first out of my brain, and inspired in whispered hints from some Muse-form of Isis. It sort of reminds me of Symbolist poetry from the late 19th/early 20th century.
Now, I’ll break it up into phrases and add punctuation as remembered from my mental “hearing” of it:
Long black wings against a blue-white sky. Clouds bend into circles, interpenetrating the blackness of feather, of feature, of faith. A clean, sharp shriek of light comes into my mind, clearing feathered fog and leaving its own breath. I am hearing you now.
I’m starting to understand what this is about. It’s about the subject of this post—receiving poetic inspiration from the Goddess. So it is an image of what that inspiration can be like.
Now, working with it a bit more, I get this:
Long, dark wings flash against a purified sky. Blue-white ghost clouds move and spiral, interpenetrated by the blackness of feather, of feature, of faith. In my mind, a clean, sharp shriek of light clears feathered fog, leaves its own breath. I am hearing you now.
I’ll leave this as it is for now. If I had intended to keep this, I would probably work with it a bit more. It’s not quite there yet, but it’s just a quick example of what the Goddess might inspire.
Now, art of any kind isn’t quick and easy. In fact, it takes time and practice. But if you are at all inclined, I’d urge you to try it. In your own way, of course. And in your own medium. Maybe you’ll paint instead. Maybe you’ll sing. But however it comes to you, don’t be concerned with the perfection of your results. She doesn’t care about that. Isis will always gladly take your work as an offering of devotion and love.
(I have a question about this little bit of Isis poetry: That final phrase, “I am hearing you now.” Is that the poet hearing the Goddess, or the Goddess hearing the poet? What do you think?)
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?
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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
All My Divine Ones are Wine Deities
Oh yes, Isis is Lady of Wine and Beer. And yes, Osiris is Lord of Wine. And yes, Isis’ Philae temple owned vineyards. (Indeed many ancient Egyptian temples had their own vineyards, producing both white and red wines.)
But today…today, it’s harvest time at the Hallows in our backyard vineyard. And we, along with a glorious gaggle of all our beloved friends, are picking and crushing the Syrah grapes from our backyard arbor. We are feasting and dancing and gathering around the fire.
We are making wine.
We are making wine in honor of the Hallows’ other household God: Dionysos, Lord the the Vine and Bringer of Ecstasy. And so, right now, I am busy testing the grape must and measuring the sugars and adding the yeasts and feeding the ever-so-magical tiny transformers of juice into wine. I am up to my ears in hydrometers today. So, instead of a long post, I shall share with you some Bakchic inspiration.
From our Divinely mad harvest to yours—may all your harvests be rich, in this season and every season.
Happy Autumnal Equinox 2024!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
In Praise of Group Ritual
Come, Hathoru, You Seven Hathors, You Egyptian Muses—come and help me to sing in praise of working rituals with groups of actual living humans.
These days, many of us are doing our rituals, spells, and meditations solitary. I’m reading an academic study of this particular phenomenon right now. (Yes, there are scholars who actually study us—though not that many.) Solitary ritual was a trend before the pandemic. But afterwards, it’s something of a landslide.
Why?
Sometimes, where we live doesn’t give us easy access to a like-minded community. Sometimes people have had a bad (sometimes very bad) experience with a group and are, as a result, “group-shy.” Sometimes, it’s just a lot of trouble to coordinate a get-together. If it’s formal ritual, then there’s rehearsal, too. But, even if it’s very informal ritual, you still need to have a certain level of comfort with each other—that is, you have to know each other at least a little to do ritual effectively. And that never comes automatically.
These are all reasonable reasons.
And yet.
If you’ve ever been in a group ritual that really worked, you will know that there is nothing like it. When the stars align and the group is focused; when the Ways are open and all hearts are open; when the Goddess ARRIVES and the entire group ignites with Her energy—then, then, then the result is unlike what we can achieve in a solitary rite. There are times, during and after ritual, when I look at everyone in the circle with me and I deeply know how incredibly beautiful each and every one of them is. I see them through Her eyes for we have been together with Her, enfolded in Her wings, nourished by Her magic. Together.
Having been connected and in communication with Isis, we become connected and in communication with each other as well. (And this is one of the keys for when conflicts arise in groups, as they do. We have developed paths of communication and connection with each other, which we can then use to resolve issues. I’m not saying it’s easy; it’s not. But I am saying it’s possible. And I am saying it’s worth it. I’ve been in groups in which members went though a divorce and still managed to have the group remain stable, offering support to both members.)
In solitary ritual, our ritual actions tend to be more informal. Perhaps we light a candle, chant Isis’ name, and meditate or offer a prayer to Her. Often, this works beautifully and profoundly. It is the greater part of my own spiritual work.
When we are doing group ritual, however, we are usually doing a rite with a more formal structure: cast-the-circle, call-the-quarters, invoke-the-Goddess, for instance. And that’s good because group ritual is about communication, human to Divine, Divine to human—and when it is group ritual—human to human and individual to group. By being a form with which everyone is familiar, the understanding and communication between all group members helps us easily build a sacred container for the group experience. In turn, that lets everyone relax into the form, enabling them to become more open, in both body and spirit. And this lets the magic flow, helping us more easily open to our perceptions of Her and connection with Her.
What’s more, the energy in group ritual is often more than the sum of its parts. Each individual brings their own innate magic to the rite. But combined, something happens. There is an alchemical blossoming of power and magic that makes it easier to connect with Deity—and/or accomplish the purpose of the rite. More than once, I’ve entered into a group ritual feeling low energy and maybe even grumpy for having to be there. But never once have I left feeling anything other than spiritually uplifted and grateful for having participated. Group energy can not only help carry a member through the rite, but can also replenish someone—who, like me—may be feeling depleted.
Ritual like this helps us gain other benefits, too. Researchers have studied the effects of the basic components of ritual, such as chanting, drumming, and invocation, and found them to be beneficial to us both physically and mentally. I would add spiritually as well. Read more about why I think ritual itself is important here.
I have been fortunate throughout my entire magical life to have been able to find people with whom to work magic, with whom to do group ritual. Some of us have been friends for a very long time and I love them all dearly. But some of us are new friends and I’m just getting to know them. For instance, some of my friends, new and old, are working together on a festival—the Return of the Wandering Goddess (Hathor! Sakhmet!)—for next summer solstice. And I can’t wait to do more group ritual with them all.
Isis Risen
Well, once again, Portland weather foiled my plans for watching the Star of Isis rise last Thursday.
But I have some amazing folks coming today to talk about our summer solstice festival for next year: The Return of the Wandering Goddess—so I need to get ready for them.
For today then, instead of a new post, I’m reposting a report from a time when Portland did not foil my Sirius rising plans.
There’s always next year!
Wonderful, wonderful.
That’s not what I was thinking when the alarm went off at 3:20 this morning, but it is exactly what I’m thinking now.
I have just come back from witnessing the rising of Sirius, the Star of Isis, in the morning skies over the city of Portland, Oregon. And it was glorious. A fellow priestess of Isis and I traveled to one of the high places in the city to watch Her be born from between the thighs of Her mother Nuet.
Our vantage point is known as Rocky Butte. It is an extinct volcanic cinder cone that rises to an elevation of 612 ft. within the city limits and is a less-than-ten-minute drive from my house. At its summit, there’s a city park surrounded by castle-like walls, which is a popular viewpoint for visitors and natives alike. From Rocky Butte, you can see the slow serpent of the Columbia river that forms the border between Oregon and Washington and the layered silhouettes of the ranges of the eastern mountains, including the archetypal, snow-capped presence of Mt. Hood (though I prefer its Native American name, Wy’east).
When we arrived shortly after 4 am, we could see Orion-Osiris clearly, so we seated ourselves before Him to await Her Rising. We brought stargazer lilies, bread, and milk to offer to Her at Her Appearance, and we each also had that wonder-working wand of modern priestesses, a phone equipped with Google Sky so we could check Her progress toward the horizon. Even though the morning was clear enough, with the haze of the city lights on the horizon, we weren’t certain we’d be able to see Her, but we settled in to wait.
Then, to the far left of where the Goddess’ star would rise, we noticed something strange and beautiful. It turns out that this was the one and only morning to see another pre-dawn cosmic wonder: a perfect triangle in the indigo sky of Jupiter, Venus, and the slimmest crescent of the waning Moon. As the triad rose higher in the sky, the crescent turned from ruddy orange to milk white and, from our viewpoint, framed a small stand of fir trees before us on the Butte. It was spectacular. I’ll take that as a portent for the New Year anytime.
At just about 5 am, Google Sky told us Iset-Sopdet should be above the horizon, but we still couldn’t see Her for the city lights, haze, and mountains.
Then—wait, what’s that? Yes, we could see something flashing through the haze, shooting off sparks of red and white and blue-green: Iset-Sopdet appeared. She scintillated. She glittered. She sparkled.
We watched Her Rising in silence, but for the sounds of the night and the coming dawn.
We meditated, each in our own way. Then, after a time, we poured the milk, offered the bread, and placed the vase of stargazers on the surrounding wall so that they were in alignment with Her star. I really hope someone finds them later today and takes them home to enjoy the incredible fragrance of those lilies. She, I am sure, has already enjoyed them.
The heliacal rising of Sirius, August 23, 2014, was for me, quite simply, a perfect experience.
She is risen.
Worshiping Isis
It is morning and quiet here.
I enter Her shrine, light the candles, ignite the charcoal in the censer, pour Nile Water into the cup. The stillness of the morning settles in the shrine and in me. I sit on the floor before Her sacred image, looking up at Her.
“Hello, Isis,” I think to Her. No response. But I do not really expect one. Not yet.
I breathe, slowly, deeply. I focus on my own consciousness, which I sense centered in my head. Then, on a breath, I let my consciousness roll out and out and out, expanding into the unseen world, where She Is, where I can greet Her.
“I am open unto Isis, only Isis,” I whisper into the stillness. I breathe, opening my mind and body and Self to Her.
I take up the cup with Nile Water, elevate it. I call out to the Souls—the Bau—of Night asking Them to imbue this water with Their purifying powers in Her name. I envision blue light flowing into the cup. I sense starlight. I feel a slight heaviness in the cup.
I sprinkle water throughout the shrine. East, south, west, north. I sprinkle myself with this ensouled water. I speak the purifying formula, adapted from ancient texts. “Isis is pure, I am pure…” As I breathe in, blue light spirals into my core. As I breathe out, it reverses direction, carrying impurities out with it. I do this until I feel balanced and ready to come before Her in worship.
I take up the censer, place incense on the coal. Scented smoke rises. I call out to the Bau of Day asking Them, in Her name, to fill the censer with Their consecrating powers. Red light settles around the censer; its heat increases. I waft the smoke throughout the shrine as before. “Isis is consecrated, I am consecrated…” I coax the scent over my body. I breathe in the red consecration until I am replete, consecrated to Her worship.
I sit. Breathe. Open my consciousness again. I sense Her waiting on the edges of that consciousness.
I raise my hands, beckoning. I speak the very simplest of all the Egyptian invocations I know. “Iu en-i (Eeoouu-en-ee). Iu en-i, Iset,” I say. “Come to me, come to me, Isis.” I repeat this, softly, letting my words, my desire flow out to Her.
And suddenly the shrine is full of wings. Now it feels a bit crowded in here, but I let my ka relax, that it may better touch Hers. She shows Her beautiful face to me. Large, dark, almond eyes. Wide mouth. Long, wide nose. The shrine is full of wings and feathers, impossibly multi-hued. And it is full of Her.
I have come to worship, so I ask what She desires. “Your thoughts and offerings help Us abide in Our images [She means the sacred images we obtain and consecrate for Her and for all our Divine Ones] and in your hearts,” She says. “Spend time, make offering.”
She is before/around me now. She begins to breathe through my being. She is concentrating on the shenu—the energy centers—of my third eye and my heart. [I think this means either those centers are the most sensitive in me right now, or perhaps the least sensitive and they need work. I am not sure.] She breathes out, I breathe Her into my centers. Hold. I breathe out, She breathes into Her shenu and holds the power. We do this again and again. “What do you feel?” She asks. “Expansion. Excitement. Connection to You,” I say. “Worshiping is communion,” She says. “Your thoughts of Me are the flowers I choose for My garden.”
I think blue lotuses for Her.
She takes them.
“Look into My eyes,” She says, “into the Black of the Kore.” [She is referring to this.] I do. “Worship begins at the Origin and ends there, too,” She says. “Worship is exchange, energy, offering, love. Worship is being in harmony with. Worship is rising in the Boat of the Morning and setting in the Boat of the Night. Worship is surrender that I may uplift you. Worship is vulnerability before Me, a release of fear. Worship is just love; you for Me, Me for you,” She says.
I sit then, in worship, as I do whenever I enter Her shrine, and whenever I think of Her. I am content. She, I think, is also content.
And that is how it went this time.
She Who Rises at the Opening of the Year
I’ve written a lot on this blog about the heliacal (“before the sun”) rising of the Star of Isis—Sirius in Latin, Sothis in Greek, Sopdet in ancient Egyptian—which marked the beginning of the Egyptian New Year and the return of the life-giving Inundation flood. (You’ll find the basic information on Isis and Her holy star here. For more, just search “Sirius” on this blog.)
When Sirius rises in your area depends on your latitude. For me, in 2024, Her rising is August 22, in the hour before dawn. Thanks to the wonders of modern online astronomical calculators, we can know pretty precisely when the Fair Star of the Waters will rise before the sun. (To use the linked calculator and find out when Sirius rises in your area, just enter your email and the password: softtests. You will need to know the latitude and altitude of wherever you are observing Her rise. This info is easily google-able.)
But for the ancient Egyptians, and for those of us who honor the Ancient Egyptian Deities today, something else happens prior to the rising of Our Lady’s star: the “Five Days Upon the Year” or the epagomenal days. These were five days outside of time that marked the transition from the Old Year to the New Year. These five days, added to the Egyptian 360-day year, brought them up to the requisite 365 (or almost; they were short a quarter-day).
On these five days, the birthdays of Osiris, Horus (or Horus the Elder), Set, Isis, and Nephthys were celebrated. But this time wasn’t just a happy birthday party for the Deities. This time-outside-of-time, this liminal period, was also a period of great danger. This was the period before the coming of the yearly flood that fertilized Egypt’s fields along the Nile. It was the time of the lowest water; in some places, boats could no longer navigate. All along the Nile banks, everything was drying out. The food stores from last year’s harvests were running low. People were beginning to anticipate—and be anxious about—how high the waters would rise this year. Would there be famine or feast?
To those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this may feel quite familiar in August. The foliage that used to be lush green has started to look dried out and dusty. Heat sits heavy upon the land. In some places, people are bracing for the possibility of their own high waters from hurricanes. And though my local farmers’ markets are brimming with harvest produce, my social feeds are filling up with people canning and preserving—for we still feel the need to conserve today’s harvest against the coming darker months.
For the ancient Egyptians, the epagomenal days were also the time that Sakhmet sent out Her plague demons to infect the people. Known as the Messengers, Slaughterers, or Arrows of Sakhmet, these frightful Beings struck people down, sickening or evening killing them. There is new research showing that the infamous bubonic plague or Black Death may have originated in Egypt—and indeed that it, or something like it, had been plaguing Egypt for centuries. The Ebers medical papyrus, dated to about 1500 BCE, lists a disease that includes the description of a bubo, an infected lymph node that was characteristic of the bubonic plague.
All this is to say that Sakhmet’s Arrows were not to be taken lightly. And people did not. The king and the temples worked to protect Egypt during this time with the rituals of Sehotep Sakhmet, “pacifying” or “satisfying” Sakhmet, for She Who could bring plague could also protect against it. The people themselves wore special amulets and used particular spells to avert the plague, or other calamity, at this time of year.
One amulet listed 12 of Sakhmet’s Messengers “who bring slaughtering about, who create uproar, who hurry though the land.” To make the amulet, you draw Them on a piece of linen, knot it 12 times, and wear it around your neck (one of our most vulnerable spots). Then you repeat a particular prayer regularly from the time you put it on until the New Year. You were also to make offerings of bread, beer, and incense as part of activating the amulet. Archeologists have even found some examples of these linen amulets.
As a great Magician Goddess, Isis is particularly associated with magical knots, especially in relation to protective magic. When an ancient Egyptian referred to a “knot amulet,” what they usually meant was the famous Knot of Isis, one of the amulets that protected the dead. Isis and Nephthys are said to work protective magic for Osiris with knotted cords. Knot magic continues to be a popular form of spellwork today.
In addition to this overall protection, there were particular spells and amulets associated with each of the five epagomenal days. Linen amulets, similar to the one already mentioned, featured the image of the Deity Whose birthday was celebrated that particular day. We also have a few examples of these, but not a complete set. On the right is a picture of the one we have for Isis’ birthday; the other two existing ones are for Nephthys and Osiris.
Another reason that the epagomenals were an apprehensive time of year was that normal cyclical time, neheh-time—the yearly changes and renewals, came to a stop. The old year had ended and the new one had not yet begun. Djet-time, perfected unchanging time, took over. Now, you might think perfected time would be good. And it is. Eventually. But not for life on earth. Life here needs the changes of the seasons and the development of the years to survive. For more about neheh and djet time, go here and here.
For me, with the rising of the Star of Isis on the 22nd, the epagomenal days begin on the 17th of August. I plan to honor each of these Great Deities on Their birthdays, perhaps with similar amulets and prayers, and certainly with bread, beer, and incense.
This year, I am definitely feeling the unsettled liminality of the approaching epagomenal days. It has much to do with the political situation here. I have renewed hope that with the rising of the Star of Isis later this month—and with Her even more brilliant position in the night sky in…oh, let’s say, November…that Ma’et will prevail. But we don’t yet know how high the river will rise. And so we work toward Ma’et, we do our civic duty—perhaps do some protective magic with Isis as well—and we wait.
