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Isis was called the Mother of Life, but she was also known as the
Crone of Death. Her immense powers earned her the titles of "The
Giver of Life" and "Goddess of Magic". Her best known story
illustrates why she is simultaneously known as a creation goddess
and a goddess of destruction, and it goes like this;
Isis was the Goddess of the Earth in ancient Egypt and
loved her brother Osiris. When they married, Osiris became the first
King of Earth. Their brother Set, immensely jealous of their powers,
murdered Osiris so he could usurp the throne. Set did this by
tricking Osiris into stepping into a beautiful box made of cedar,
ebony and ivory that he had ordered built to fit only Osiris. Set
then sealed it up to become a coffin and threw it into the river.
The river carried the box out to sea; it washed up in another
country, resting in the upper boughs of a tamarisk tree when the
waters receded. As time passed, the branches covered the box,
encapsulating the god in his coffin in the trunk of the tree. In a
state of inconsolable grief, Isis tore her robes to shreds and cut
off her beautiful black hair. When she finally regained her
emotional balance, Isis set out to search for the body of her
beloved Osiris so that she might bury him properly. The search took
Isis to Phoenicia where she met Queen Astarte. Astarte didn't
recognize the goddess and hired her as a nursemaid to the infant
prince. Fond of the young boy, Isis decided to bestow immortality on
him. As she was holding the royal infant over the fire as part of
the ritual, the Queen entered the room. Seeing her son smouldering
in the middle of the fire, Astarte instinctively (but naively)
grabbed the child out of the flames, undoing the magic of Isis that
would have made her son a god.
When the Queen demanded an explanation, Isis revealed
her identity and told Astarte of her quest to recover her husband's
body. As she listened to the story, Astarte realized that the body
was hidden in the fragrant tree in the centre of the palace and told
Isis where to find it.
Sheltering his broken body in her arms, the goddess Isis carried the
body of Osiris back to Egypt for proper burial. There she hid it in
the swamps on the delta of the Nile river. Unfortunately, Set came
across the box one night when he was out hunting. Infuriated by this
turn of events and determined not to be outdone, he murdered Osiris
once again . . . this time hacking his body into 14 pieces and
throwing them in different directions knowing that they would be
eaten by the crocodiles.
The goddess Isis searched and searched, accompanied by
seven scorpions who assisted and protected her. Each time she found
new pieces she rejoined them to re-form his body. But Isis could
only recover thirteen of the pieces. The fourteenth, his penis, had
been swallowed by a crab, so she fashioned one from gold and wax.
Then inventing the rites of embalming, and speaking some words of
magic, Isis brought her husband back to life.
Magically, Isis then conceived a child with Osiris, and
gave birth to Horus, who later became the Sun God. Assured that
having the infant would now relieve Isis' grief, Osiris was free to
descend to become the King of the Underworld, ruling over the dead
and the sleeping.
His spirit, however, frequently returned to be with Isis and the
young Horus who both remained under his watchful and loving eye.
Together, Isis and Horus created and sustained all life and were the
saviours of their people. The lap of the Goddess Isis was regarded
as the royal throne, while her breast poured forth the nectar that
conferred the divine right to rule.
There are many
other variations of this myth . . . in some Isis found the body of
Osiris in Byblos, fashioned his penis out of clay. In others the
goddess consumed the dismembered parts she found and brought Osiris
back to life, reincarnating him as her son Horus.
In one of the most beautiful renditions, Isis turns into a
sparrowhawk and hovers over the body of Osiris, fanning life back
into him with her long wings. Regardless of the differences, each
version speaks of the power over life and death that the goddess
Isis symbolizes. . . the deep mysteries of the feminine ability to
create and to bring life from that which is lifeless.
To this day the celebration of the flooding of the Nile
each year is called "The Night of the Drop" by Muslims. . . for it
used to be named "The Night of the Tear-Drop" a remembrance of the
extent of the Isis' lamentation of the death of Osiris, her tears so
plentiful they caused the Nile to overflow.
The Egyptian goddess Isis played an important role in the
development of modern religions, although her influence has been
largely forgotten.
She was worshipped throughout the Greco-Roman world.
During the fourth century when Christianity was making its foothold
in the Roman Empire, her worshippers founded the first Madonna cults
in order to keep her influence alive.
Some early Christians even called themselves "Pastophori",
meaning the shepherds or servants of Isis. . . which may be where
the word "pastors" originated. The influence of Isis is still seen
in the Christian icons of the faithful wife and loving mother.
Indeed, the ancient images of Isis nursing the infant Horus inspired
the style of portraits of mother and child for centuries, including
those of the "Madonna and Child" found in religious art.
The power of the goddess Isis in the "public arena" was
also profound. Her role as a guide to the Underworld, was often
portrayed with winged arms outstretched in a protective position.
The image of the wings of Isis was incorporated into the Egyptian
throne on which the pharaohs would sit, the wings of Isis protecting
them.
The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis has many gifts to share with
modern women. Isis embodies the strengths of the feminine, the
capacity to feel deeply about relationships, the act of creation,
and the source of sustenance and protection. At times Isis
could be a clever trickster empowered by her feminine wiles rather
than her logic or brute strength, but it is also the goddess Isis
who shows us how we can use our personal gifts to create the life we
desire rather than simply opposing that which we do not like. The
myths of Isis and Osiris caution us about the need for occasional
renewal and reconnection in our relationships. Isis also reminds us
to acknowledge and accept the depths of our emotions.
Some
Correspondences:
Animals:
Man, Woman, unicorn, sphinx, ram, owl, lion, eagle, cat, crow, Kite,
swallow, water birds.
Colours: Emerald, turquoise, gold, white
Symbols:
Ankh, horns, moon, pentacle, scarab, throne, wings, knots
Days: Wednesday, Friday
Food: Dates,
Figs, Onions, Grains, Milk.
Flower: Amaranth, cypress, willow, lily, ivy, snowdrop
Stones: ruby, star ruby, turquoise, sapphire, pearl, amethyst,
peridot, beryl, bloodstone, coral, emerald, lapis lazuli, moonstone
Minerals: Phosphorus, silver, sulphates
Metal:
Silver
Incense/Herbs: musk, myrrh, cedar, dragons blood, narcissus, onycha, cedar, frankincense, heather, orris, rose, sandalwood,
vervain
Isis incense
blend: 2 parts Sandalwood, 3 parts myrrh, 1 part frankincense, 1
part rose petals.
Tarot cards: Twos, Threes, Fours, Tens, The Emperor, The
Hermit, The Hanged Man
Celestial:
Moon & Sirius
Elements:
Water, Sky, Wind.
Deities:
Hera, Demeter, Selene
Festivals (Northern Hemisphere seasons):
The Mysteries of Isis:
Celebrated every fall, they
begin on October third with the
Festival of Lamentations.
This feast day is in honour of Isis mourning Osiris. The weeks of
the festival culminate in three nights representing the trials of
Isis, November 12, 13, and 14. The first day honours Isis' search
for Osiris. The second day honours Isis' grief when she could not
locate Osiris and the final day honours her finding Osiris' body.
There are several Midsummer
Festivals associated with Isis. July 17th, known as
the Night of the Cradle
is celebrated as the birthdate of Isis and is shared with her
sister, the Goddess Nut.
July 18th was known as
the Night of the Drop,
sometimes called
the Night of the Teardrop
(12).
This is the Egyptian New Year's Eve and represents the night Isis'
tears overflowed the banks of the Nile in her grief.
A fall festival for women was
celebrated on October 16th, celebrating the motherhood of Isis. She
represented supreme fertility to the Egyptians with her ability to
conceive Horus from the artificial phallus she had constructed for
Osiris. The feast was called
the Opening of the Bosom,
and centred on fertility and women's sexuality.
The Egyptian celebration of
Isidis Navigatum, the
Blessing of the Fleets,
on March third, and the Roman
celebration of Sellisternia, on May 31st both celebrate Isis in her
role as a sea goddess. She is seen as a protectress of seafarers and
for opening the Mediterranean to navigation. In Rome, this
celebration is under her title Stella Marris, star of the Sea, and
is ritually celebrated with a festival processional to the sea.
Her worshippers believe that Isis has the power to control the winds
through binding her hair up, or letting it hang loose. Priestesses
of Isis were thought to share this ability.
Her power
to control the winds makes her the patron Goddess of seafarers.
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