I is for Isis

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

If you’d rather check out my book review for today, go here.

Known as the wife of Osiris, mother of Horus and a goddess of magic, there is much more to learn about this goddess.

Folklore

Book of the Dead: Becoming a God in Ancient Egypt [Ancient Egyptian text]

The Louvre stela account begins rather abruptly with Isis looking desperately for her brother, the murder being an implied precondition… the second section is a short passage praising Isis as “his [Osiris] guard, who drives off his foes, who stops the deeds of the disturber by the power of her utterance”.

Ancient Egypt: A Captivating Guide to Egyptian History, Ancient Pyramids, Temples, Egyptian Mythology, and Pharaohs such as Tutankhamun and Cleopatra by Captivating History

Osiris, the mythical ruler of Egypt, is killed by his brother Seth. Osiris’s sisters, Isis and Nephthys, are trying to find his damaged body. Isis finds the body and revives Osiris in order to conceive a son, Horus. The body of Osiris is mummified and protected from Seth’s assaults. Isis, the divine mother, gives birth to Horus in the marshes. The creatures of chaos poison the baby Horus, but he is healed. Horus and Seth fight against each other for the right to rule. Seth ends up with wounded testicles. Horus loses an eye, or both eyes, but another god (usually Thoth) restores the damaged eye(s). Horus avenges the death of Osiris. Seth is overpowered. Horus, as a result, becomes king of the living. Osiris becomes ruler of the underworld and judge of the dead.

Isis, the divine mother, is both the sister and wife to Osiris and the mother of Horus. This goddess is depicted as a beautiful woman with a throne sign on her head, or as a kite, as her role is to provide the breath of life to the deceased.

*More can be read in the book.

Egyptian Gods: Discover the Ancient Gods of Egyptian Mythology by Stephan Weaver

Isis, wife and sister of Osiris, bore the god Horus. Seth tore Osiris into fourteen pieces and strewed them around the kingdom. Isis, helped by her sister Nephthys, gathered up all those pieces and then used intricate and magical bindings to unify the pieces so that Osiris returned to the world of the living. Isis accomplished this by being a powerful and gifted sorceress.

*More can be read in the book.

Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Pinch

ISIS The protective mother of Horus and the loyal wife of Osiris, Isis was part of the fourth generation in the Ennead of Heliopolis: the children of Geb and Nut. She was most commonly shown as a woman wearing the throne symbol that helps to write her name. As the “throne goddess,” she was the mother of each Egyptian king. Her maternal tenderness eventually included all humanity, and Isis became more widely worshipped than any other Egyptian deity

It is not clear whether Isis featured in the earliest myths about Osiris and Horus. At some important cult centers of Osiris, such as Abydos, her role was a marginal one until the New Kingdom. By that era, Osiris, Isis, and Horus had developed into a true divine family, if a markedly dysfunctional one. The kind of unselfish love that Isis displays toward Osiris and Horus is rare in Egyptian myth.

*More can be read in the book.

The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes

The Egyptian deity Isis has countless epithets: “Mistress of Magic,” “She Who is Rich in Spells,” “Great of Sorcery,” “Speaker of Spells,” “The Great Witch,” and “The Many Named” are just a few.

Magic and witchcraft are central to her myth and identity: Isis casts spells and utters incantations. According to the Egyptologist E.A. Wallis Budge, in his book Legends of the Egyptian Gods, her “mouth was trained to perfection and she made no mistake in pronouncing her spells.”

Isis was not an obscure goddess but was worshipped as a primary deity for thousands of years. Originating in Egypt, her worship eventually stretched from East Africa throughout Western Asia and Europe as far as England’s Thames River.

Magic enters Isis’ life even before her first breath. Because her mother’s pregnancy breaks a spiritual injunction, she is cursed and unable to give birth. Lord Thoth, Egypt’s baboon-headed inventor of magic, secretly loves Isis’ mother. He creates the magical device of dice and gambles with the moon god, who controls the calendar. Thoth wins and is able to magically reconfigure the calendar, enabling his beloved to deliver quadruplets: Isis, her sister Nephthys, and brothers Set and Osiris.

Osiris and Isis fell in love in the womb; their love will transcend death. The two epitomize soulmates, albeit star-crossed ones. Thoth adores Isis and serves as her godfather, instructing her in the magical arts until her powers outshine his. Isis repeatedly proves herself to be the Mistress of Magic:

She learns Ra’s true name, the ineffable name of power, with which she can stop the sun in the sky.

She resurrects her brother-lover Osiris from the dead to magically conceive their son, Horus.

She performs miraculous acts of healing magic.

Isis is associated with snakes, crocodiles, cows, scorpions, and kites (a type of raptor). Her sacred mineral is bloodstone; her botanicals include vervain and myrrh.

*More can be read in the book.

Further Reading:

• Isis
• Isis
• Deities in Ancient Egypt – Isis
• Isis
• The Story of Ra and Isis
• Isis: Goddess of Life and Magic
• Isis: Egyptian Goddess of Motherhood and Magic (7 Facts)

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Isis is the sister of Nephthys, Set and Osiris; daughter of Geb and Nut; mother of Horus; wife of Osiris. Complicated family at its best.

She’s a protective mother who isn’t above blackmail and trickery to make sure her son gets what she believes he deserves. This is strongly evident in the myth about how Horus took the throne from his uncle, Set, when she tricks Ra into revealing his true name so she can control him, and when she sabotages Set during several competitions between him and Horus so her boy can win. Just as Horus is seen as the pharaoh of the living, Isis is seen as the protector of the pharaoh.

It is said that she and Osiris fell in love in the womb and that’s why their love transcends death.

Her godfather is Thoth. He taught her how to use magic and eventually she surpassed him. Her greatest magical feats include learning Ra’s true name by creating a snake from his own saliva that bit him and he couldn’t heal it himself and needed her help, resurrecting Osiris temporarily to conceive Horus, creating the Duat (the afterlife) so her deceased husband can rule it, and various tales of her healing magic.

She’s usually depicted as a beautiful woman wearing a sheath dress. She sometimes has wings, which brings fresh air to the underworld. She’s also shown with a throne, solar disk, or cow’s horns on her head. She’s sometimes depicted in animal form as a scorpion, a kite (bird), a sow or a cow.

As the queen of Egypt, she taught women how to weave, bake, brew beer and more. She was invoked in healing spells. She and her sister, along with Anubis, are thought to have created the first mummy when they tried to preserve Osiris’ body after Set had murdered him.

Bloodthirsty and ruthless, compassionate and loyal – this contradictory goddess is still worshipped today.

Isis in Modern Culture

SMITE video game

When Eset was born, she was a Goddess. When she was married, she became a Queen. But a legendary journey to resurrect her murdered husband would make her a savior.

From the God of Earth and Goddess of Sky, Eset was born, and she was a Goddess in her own right, loved by wealthy and poor alike, champion to sinners and slaves, artisans and aristocrats. She commanded the force of magic, for she knew the True Names of many things. For in the True Names lie true power.

Eset and her husband Osiris ruled Egypt, symbols of order and justice, and led their kingdom to true prosperity. But Osiris had a brother, Set, who harbored jealousy and malice, and sought to usurp his throne. For him, murder alone was not enough. Set hacked Osiris to pieces and cast them across Egypt.

Fleeing Set’s wrath, Eset traveled the land in secret, gathering the remains of her husband. Meanwhile, Set’s rule plunged the land into chaos incarnate, and all seemed truly lost. Unable to locate a final piece, Eset could wait no longer and summoned the potent powers of her magic to reassemble her husband and give him new life. That night, their love became a child, Horus, who would avenge his father and cast evil Set out of Egypt.

Her bravery, tenacity, her skill and love drove Eset to save Egypt and become the mother of all Pharaohs. Long has she prayed that chaos would never again rise to threaten the rule of order and prosperity, but peaceful days are at an end. This time, it may not be her husband torn asunder, but all the world, and even the Goddess of Magic may not have the power to reassemble it from oblivion.

Learn more here.

Marvel comic books

Isis was one of the Ennead from the generation sired by Geb and Nut (themselves sired by Shu and Tefnut, children of Atum).

As the goddess of fertility and domestication, Isis taught ancient Egyptian mortals the arts of medicine and domestication. She was also a powerful sorceress.

In 1000 AD, the Third Host of the Celestials occurred, during which the aliens informed they would return 1,000 years later to judge Earth’s right to continue existing. While the pantheons prepared for war, Gaea planned a peaceful solution to the problem with many goddesses, among them Isis.

Learn more here.

Kane Chronicles books by Rick Riordan

Isis is the Egyptian goddess of magic, motherhood, women, marriage, childbirth and family. She was born on the fourth day of the Demon Days. Her parents are Geb and Nut, while her siblings in her first life were Horus, Osiris, Nephthys, and Set. In another life, Isis was reborn as the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. Isis was the goddess who took Sadie Kane as a host.

In The Red Pyramid, Isis was described to be a beautiful woman with Ruby Kane‘s face, dark hair braided with diamonds, brown eyes, and multicolored wings that faded in and out behind her like the Northern Lights. She wore impeccable cloud-white robes.

Isis is, as Thoth described her, deceitful and manipulative; she yearns for power and often becomes impatient with Sadie for not allowing her to take control of their shared body. Despite this, Isis also has a motherly and gentle side; although she mainly shows this to Horus and Anubis, she also allows Sadie to see the more protective, sweet and kind aspect of her personality. She is often calm under bad situations.

Learn more here.

Gods of Egypt movie

Isis was the wife of Osiris and therefore the Queen of the gods and of all Egypt and the goddess of Marriage, Motherhood and Fertility in her own right. She was also the beloved mother of Horus. Like all gods, Isis had increased longevity and aged extremely slowly. She also had an increased stature like other gods and the strength and speed that came with it. It is unknown what individual gifts she had as the goddess of fertility and marriage.

Learn more here.

Isis in My Writing

Origin of the Fae: Isis.

Isis has been kept from the Duat since she created it, for reasons only the males of her pantheon know. Which means she’s been kept from her true love for millennia. Her grief has been immense, and many have perished because of it. She’s a protective goddess, sometimes over-protective mother, and powerful sorceress. She’s a beautiful woman who can sprout wings or turn into a bird (usually a kite). She enjoys playing board games with Athena. She usually acts with great deportment. But she can become a fierce warrior at a moment’s notice.

As she spent forever without Osiris, her one true love, I thought this song appropriate.

See this immortal in action in my writing:

A Way Back Into Love (Irascible Immortals #9)

Isis stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom in one of the many inter-pantheon rest homes. For the first time in forever, she was wearing a tunic-style dress, gold sandals and bold, gold jewellery reminiscent of her height of power in Egypt. She fixed her eyeliner and added another layer of gold lipstick and stood back to take in the effect.

Glimpses of her life – of her true self – could be seen. The Isis she had been before darkness had touched her life. She smiled. It was time.

A Way Back Into Love, Irascible Immortals #9, Ronel Janse van Vuuren

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