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Isis
- Goddess Of The Throne
(The Egyptian words Ast or Aset, mean 'Throne or Seat'. Isis is
an onomatopoeic Asianic word, Ish-ish, meaning 'she who weeps'.)
Invocation
Of Isis
I, Isis, am all that hath been that is or shall be,
I, who made light from my feathers, The wind from my wings,
No mortal man ever hath me unveiled! - Until now.
Isis, was for almost 3,500
years, the principle Goddess of Egypt. She was the wife and sister
of Osiris and the mother of Horus, and the personification of the faithful
wife and devoted mother. Isis is the Mistress Of The Words of Power
and the Goddess Of Nature. She is the embodiment of nature and
magick. 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.
Isis, is often depicted crowned with a throne or later with a disc and two horns. The Sycamore tree was sacred to Isis, and she is associated with the planet Venus, Copper and the
colours emerald and turquoise.
Correspondences
Animal:
Man, Woman, unicorn, sphinx, ram, owl, lion, eagle
Colour: Emerald, turquoise
Day: Wednesday, Friday
Festivals: Advent of Aset - January 2nd, July 17th, Oct 30th - Nov 2nd
Flower: Amaranth, cypress, willow, lily, ivy, snowdrop
Gems: ruby, star ruby, turquoise, sapphire, pearl, amethyst, peridot,
beryl
Minerals: Phosphorus, silver, sulphates
Perfume: musk, myrrh, civert, cedar, dragons blood, narcissus, onycha
Tarot: Twos, Threes, Fours, Tens, The Emperor, The Hermit, The Hanged Man
Weapon: Lingam, Inner Robe Of Concealment, Yoni, Magic Circle
The story of Isis.
The the Sun god Ra ordered Shu (Air) to separate Nut (Sky) from her
brother/lover Geb (Earth), he also declared that Nut should never have
children in any month of the year. Thoth , the god of wisdom, won
from the moon, in a game of draughts, one seventy-second part of its
light. It was during these days, that belonged to no month, that she
bore Osiris, Horus the Elder, Set Isis and Nephthys. Osiris and Isis
fell in love and mated while still in Nut's womb and became man and wife,
her sister Nephthys married Set.
Together with Osiris, they ruled Egypt and taught the people all the basic skills of civilisation. Set, however, was envious of his brother, and conspired to kill Osiris, nailing his body in a coffin and throwing it into the Nile. Isis traced the coffin to Byblos in Phoenicia, where the currents had
carried it. However, a tamarisk tree had grown around it, and King Malacander had built the trunk into his palace. Isis, in disguise, first became the nurse to the kings son and later his queen. Isis revealed herself to Malacander, who granted her a ship to take the coffin back to Egypt.
On her journey back to Egypt, she hid in the Nile Delta marshes near Buto, to conceal herself and the body of the dead Osiris, with whom she had become magically impregnated. Set, however, discovered the body and tore it asunder casting the fourteen pieces throughout the kingdom. Isis, undertook a journey to recover the disembodied parts of her husband/lover. At each place, as she found one of the parts, she performed a burial ritual and set up a stela marking its place, hoping to
deceive Set into thinking that all the parts were buried in separate places.
In time, Isis recovered all the missing parts, except the phallus of Osiris, which Set had thrown into the Nile and had been eaten by a crab. Isis was able to fashion a new one, and magically restored Osiris's body by
anointing it with precious oils. She was thus to become the inventor of embalming. Osiris, now fully immortal, became the King of Amenti, the realm of the dead, while Isis in due course gave birth to Horus
the Younger.
Isis and the Seven Scorpions
The god Djehuty or Thoth to the Greeks realised that Aset (Isis) was in
great danger from Set. Set was her brother, but also the brother of Wesir
(Osiris), to whom Aset had been wife. Set had murdered his brother, to
take the throne, and now sought for Wesir’s son, Heru (Horus), whom Aset
yet carried in her womb. Djehuty rescued Aset and advised her to go into
hiding until her son grew of age. Aset set out for the Delta intending to
hide herself in the papyrus thickets and marshes. Accompanying her were
seven scorpions, the leader of which was called Tefen.
During their journey Aset and the scorpions came to the town of Per-sui
and asked for refuge of the house of a wealthy lady named Usert. But Usert
slammed the door in Aset’s face, so the scorpions gave Tefen all their
venom and he crept under the door and bit her son.
Meanwhile a poor little fisher girl offered shelter to Aset.
Tefen’s venom caused Usert’s son extreme agony and Usert ran into the
town calling for help but was ignored. Aset felt sorry for the innocent
child and decided to cure him, calling Usert to bring the child to her so
she could magically expel the poison. Aset put her hand on the child and
recited, “O poison of Tefen, come forth and drip onto the ground. May
the child live and the poison die.”
Usert was stricken with remorse and sought to make amends by filling the
poor little fisher girls hut with possessions from her own home.
Aset continued on her journey and came to Khemmis in the Delta, where she
gave birth to Heru, Heru Avenger of his father. She tied her girdle around
the baby for protection.
There was no one to feed Aset in Khemmis, so eventually she was forced to
leave Heru alone and search for food, disguised as a beggar. She wandered
all day with no luck, and returned to find Heru lying still on the ground.
The marsh dwellers came running but could offer no help, Aset feared this
might be an attack by Set. Thn a great learned lady came and said Atum had
decreed Set should not enter Khemmis and perhaps a scorpion or snake had
bitten Heru. Aset smelled Heru’s breath and detected poison of the
scorpion. But this time Aset was unable to expel the poison of the
scorpion and her cries brought Nebt-Het and Serqet to her side. They
combined their voices and reached Ra in his Barque of Millions of Years,
causing the boat to stand still so that darkness descended upon the earth.
Djehuty alighted from the bark and recited the healing spell of Heru.
“Come back, Oh Poison. You are exorcised by the spell of Ra himself…
the Barque of the Sun God wil stand still… until Heru recovers – to
his mother’s delight. Fall onto the earth, Oh poison… darkness
will cover everything… wells will be dry, crops will wither… until
Heru recovers – to his mother’s delight.”
To the delight of Aset, the spell of Djehuty cured the son of Aset, Heru
– Avenger of his Father and Ra and his Barque of Millions of Years was
allowed to continue its journey.
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