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"The Egyptian goddess Isis is one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt, and she remains one of the most well known goddesses of this age. Isis is most well known for her role as devoted wife and mother. In the Osiris legend we can see the reasoning behind this pattern of thought.
Isis is one of the five children of Nut, the sky goddess. When Isis was very young, she was determined to increase her powers. In order to do so, she would have to get the secret name out from Ra. Isis was clever and used Ra's own saliva to create an invisible snake that bit him. Thus Ra was poisoned and could not heal himself because he didn't know the nature of the wound. Ra was weak and near the end of his reign, and Isis took advantage of him. Isis offered to heal Ra if he would tell her his secret name. Faced with death from the unknown wound, Ra told Isis the name and in doing so he transferred his knowledge and power to her."
-Catherine C Harris |
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Isis later married Osiris and they ruled over the land of Egypt. Osiris's brother Set constructed a coffin for Osiris to fit into and tricked him into stepping into it. The coffin was then nailed shut and sealed with molten lead. Isis found out about this and went looking for the coffin. When she found it, she impregnated herself from Osiris's dead body giving birth to their only son, Horus. While Isis went seeking for shelter for Horus, Set found Osiris's body and cut it into 14 pieces.Isis returned and was grief stricken. Isis began her search for the body parts of her beloved Osiris. She found all of the pieces except for his manhood, which had been eaten by a crocodile. With help from several other gods, Isis performed the needed ritual to rejoin the body parts of her departed husband, Osiris. Isis performed the Rite of Rebirth in order to give Osiris eternal life, at which time Osiris ascended to the immortal world.
The Egyptian goddess Isis is one of the goddesses that stood the test of time. Isis is the Greek form of more ancient Egyptian names, and the name Isis is associated with the word for "throne." Originally, Isis was known as Aset, or Eset. Isis is worshipped today, just as she has been for thousands of years, as the Lady of Heaven, The Great Enchantress, Goddess of Magic, The Goddess of Love and War, the Giver of Life, Queen of the Gods, and Goddess of Marriage and Protection. |
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