M. Isidora Forrest's Blog

It’s About Time We Had a New PNW Pagan Con

And now we do! Pacific NW folks, this is for you…

Our new Con (as of last year) is called Spirit Northwest, and I had a pleasure of being one of the speakers for the inaugural gathering this past spring.

There’s good news and there’s more good news about Spirit Northwest.

Good news #1

This year, Spirit Northwest is being held in late April (23-26, 2026) rather than on Beltane weekend. So now we can celebrate with an indoor conference AND our favorite outdoor Beltane festivities, too.

Me, in my backyard (almost, anyway)

Good news #2

As a keynote speaker at Spirit Northwest this coming spring—I’ve got a special discount code for you. See below in the paragraph cleverly labeled “Discount Code.”

But first, here’s the official blurb for the conference;

Spirit Northwest is a transformative gathering for seekers, offering long-form immersive workshops on Paganism, Witchcraft, and natural Magick, rituals, and a fabulous vendor room.

All true—and now, here’s the code to save 10% on your registration IF you register before December 1st.

Discount Code

Register at this link and use code SNW2026ISIDORA to save 10%. The code expires on December 1, so make your plans to attend now and save. Early registration also means we also have time to save up our pennies to spend with the wonderful conference Vendors, too! And I should have copies of the much-anticipated 25th Anniversary Edition of Isis Magic available, too.

Learn more about the conference overall at this link.

I hope you’ll join me at this year’s Spirit Northwest Pagan Conference. It’s going to be truly magical!

Isis, the One & the Many

What is the Divine Reality, anyway?

I want to talk about the various “theisms” today. But it’s a subject that can be a tad touchy?

It can be touchy because discussing it can make us uncomfortable, for it bears on the whole question of what our concept of the structure of the Divine universe is. We human beings tend to get quite invested in how we see, or how we were taught to see, what that Divine Reality is.

There are many different terms we’ve come up with to address the different ways of interpreting that reality. Monotheism, polytheism, atheism. Agnosticism, monism, henotheism, pantheism, panentheism, animism, autotheism. Some of these can be considered subdivisions of others, and then they might have their own subdivisions as well. It’s complicated.

With the exceptions of atheism and agnosticism (believing there are no deities, or that we simply cannot know whether there are), most of the world’s interpretations of Divine Reality—and our relationship with those interpretations—can have value for us in our own relationship with Isis.

Wait, what? Aren’t a lot of those concepts contradictory? Yes, they are. Or perhaps they are paradoxical. In the same way that light behaves as both a wave and a particle, perhaps the answer is “yes, and.” And isn’t it interesting that Light has often been used as a metaphor for Divine expression? For me, the Divine Reality is a universe of paradox. So, paradoxtheism?

Isis & Monotheism

In Egypt, She was called T3 w’t (Tah UWAH-et), “The Only One.” In Greek, this same epithet of the Goddess became Thiouis (Thee-OOU-iss). The way some Romans expressed this concept may be summed up in a graffito found on one of the walls of the Temple of Isis in Rome: Una, quae es omnia, Dea Isis, “Being one, Thou art all, Goddess Isis.” And while Isis is the Only One and the Unique One, so are other Deities. Re is the Only One and the Unique One, and so are Atum and Ptah and more. For me, this is a clue about the nature of Deities and Divine Reality—that each Deity, at some time, in some way, on some level, for some people, can be The Only One.

Egyptologist Jan Assman, in The Price of Monotheism, discusses what he calls “the Mosaic distinction,” the concept that MY God is the One True God and every other Deity is a “false god.” He names the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton as its first known practitioner.

An aegis or shield of Isis

Assman also makes the interesting observation that following Akhenaton’s “revolution,” as the traditional Deities were restored to worship, Akhenaton’s influence nevertheless continued to be felt as the idea of a Hidden Deity Who existed behind, and was expressed in, all the other Deities came into prominence. He calls this development “evolutionary monotheism” and finds it in the later stages of polytheism not only in Egypt, but in Mesopotamia, Greece, and India as well. In Egypt, this was most notable in the worship of Amun-Re, the Hidden One Who is both the Creator outside of Creation and immanent in all things.

So, what can we learn if we relate to Isis in a monotheistic way?

This would be Isis as THE Goddess. And there IS only THE Goddess. I’ll admit this one is a bit hard for me; it’s been a long time since I broke the spell of monotheism in my own spiritual life. But as a thought experiment, then. How would we relate to Her if She were indeed the Only One? Would She even need a name? If this were the only Divine Reality, I think I might find myself inching over into panentheism. At the very least, such a thought experiment might give us a better understanding of some of our neighbors who do conceive that theirs is the only [true] Deity. Ah, but there’s the rub again isn’t it; “only true.”

Creation from the primordial waters

Isis & Monism

Another expression is called monism and the idea here is that everything derives from One Source. There are varieties of monism, but singularity and unity are central. The Greek Neoplatonist Proclus likened it to the spring from which all rivers flow. The ancient Egyptian concept of the Nun, the Primordial Watery Abyss from Which All Things Arose, is very much in harmony with this idea. From undifferentiated no-thing-ness arose multiplicity and every-thing-ness.

What can we learn if we see Isis as as The Source? And in fact, one of Her epithets is Mother of Waters, referring not only to the yearly Inundation, but also to those primordial Waters.

In Offering to Isis, I imagined a new myth, inspired by this monistic conception of Isis as the One Source as well as my personal fascination with the four fundamental forces of nature: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravity. Here’s that story…

In the Time Before Time, there was only the No-Thing-Ness, the Divine Womb Waters of Isis Thiouis, the Only One. The Throne had not yet come into Being. There was No Existence. Nor was there any Becoming. And the Goddess and the No-Thing-Ness were One; and They were Not.

Then Thiouis conceived in Her Heart the desire to create. As Her Heart conceived, so Her tongue spoke the Words of Power, and immediately, the Throne—the Iset—came into Being, Full of Magic. From No-Thing came forth Some-Thing.

The Goddess made as the four sides of the Iset the Four Primordial Forces of Nature: Attraction, Flow, Disintegration, and Integration. She stretched out Her Great Wings and fanned Life into the Throne of Herself.

The Forces awakened, extending Themselves into the Universe, which was unfolding as They, too, unfolded. The Goddess fanned Her Wings again and All Things were in Chaos—whirling, spiraling, and turning in Space. The stardust that contained the Seeds of Growth was scattered.

The Four Forces of the Iset did their work. They began the Awakening. They initiated the Movement. They embarked on the Changing. They entered into the Coming Together. Creative Chaos became Creative Order. The planets, solar systems, and galaxies coalesced.

And on the widespread planets, Integration drew to Herself the Seeds stirred up by the Wings of Isis. And the Seeds came together on the planets and the chain of evolution began in Fire and Water and Air and Earth. The Becoming had begun. And thus did the Goddess Isis birth the Being and the Becoming and All That Is by what She conceived in Her Heart and brought forth with Her tongue.

“Throne” in Offering to Isis

Isis by Teni Cola; see more work here

In this myth, while Isis is the One Source, the universe She brings forth is multiform, multi-reality, and multi-Divine. All Deities, all things, and all of us, flow from Her spring. We are Her Children so that Isis is All Things and All Things are Isis.

But that’s just one story, one way of looking at the Divine Reality. These different ways of looking at the Divine Reality are just that: ways of looking at It. They might be true for the moment we are looking. They might be true, for us, forever. They might be true at exactly the same time another way of looking is also true. Paradoxtheism.

I didn’t think this post would get so long, so we’ll carry the rest over into next time. Then, we’ll look at the many and varied polytheisms, where Our Lady is very much at home, as well as a few other theisms.

More Weaving Magic

Tayet with Her name in hieroglyphs below

The new publishers of Isis Magic, REDFeather, and I have been working on updates and edits to the book. Which means I have been re-reading everything—even things I haven’t seen in quite a while. I’m glad to say I’m still happy with it, and even happier having been able to make the edits. 25 years is a long time.

One of the deeper-level initiation rituals in the book is The Ritual of Becoming the Beloved of Isis. It involves three ritualists who takes the roles of Isis, Nephthys, and Tayet. And part of the magic they/They do is weaving magic. Weaving has had my attention lately, especially since last time I shared a bit about a vision of weaving magic with Nephthys.

So this time, let’s look at some of the connections between the three magical Weaving Goddesses, Isis, Nephthys, and Tayet. In the initiation rite I mentioned, the initiand symbolically dies, is mummy wrapped, and is eventually reborn as the Beloved of Isis. Since Tayet is the Linen Goddess Who weaves the mummy wrappings, it is fitting that She be part of the rebirthing.

Yet the connection between Isis, Nephthys, and Tayet is more interesting than that.

A modern illustration of an ancient Egyptian fresco of weavers at work

As is true of many of the Egyptian Deities, scholars are unsure as to the origins of the worship of Tayet. Judging by Her name alone, it may be that She was first worshiped in the Lower Egyptian “weaving town” of Tayet. As far as I can tell, the town itself has not been found, just written references to it. Later, Tayet was an alternate name for Buto in the Egyptian delta…and it may be that the weaving town of the inscriptions was actually Buto from the beginning. Indeed, the first evidence of Egyptian weaving comes to us from Lower Egypt during the Neolithic period.

An inscription from the Upper Egyptian temple of Hathor in Dendera says that Tayet was born in Dendera. Yet the Dendera shrine in which this inscription occurs bears the name of a shrine in Buto, and so it makes a good deal of sense to continue to strongly connect Tayet with Buto.

This lovely illustration by Christina Balit isn’t Tayet, but Neith, another Goddess of Weaving, and a Creator Goddess

If Buto was Her original hometown, it is worth noting that Buto is not very far at all from Isis’ great temple at Isiopolis. (Please see my notes on Isiopolis here to see why I think the site may be a very old Isis site, even though the visible ruins are late.)

Since both Isis and Nephthys are weavers (They are specifically known as the Abuti, or Two Weavers), it makes sense that Tayet would become connected to Them. But here’s another very interesting connection: Tayet also has the form of a kite hawk, the sacred raptor of both Isis and Nephthys, and She can also be connected to a Horus:

While the Great One sleeps upon his mother Nut, your mother Tayet clothes you, she lifts you up to the sky in this her name of ‘Kite’; he whom she has found is her Horus. —Pyramid Texts, Utterance 417

Also interesting is the fact that Isis’ temple at Isiopolis makes much of Her connection with the kite, or djeret. So we have three Goddesses—all three connected with the kite, with weaving, with rebirth of the dead—and also with purification.

Old Kingdom texts refer to a woman called the Kite who was the pharaoh’s chief female funerary attendant and who was supposed to “remove poisons” from the deceased. The linen itself is part of that process and is considered to be divinely pure: An ancient Egyptian medical spell meant to prevent bleeding, warns against “treading on what is pure, the land of Tayet.” In other words, the spell is intended to keep blood from seeping from the wound and staining the pure bandage woven by the hand of the Goddess Herself.

Modern Egyptian woman and girl weaving one of the ancient patterns

The purificatory role of the Kite was sometimes associated with Tayet; at other times, two ritualists were designated as Kites and connected with Isis and Nephthys. In addition to Their role in purification, the Divine Kites were responsible for ferrying the pharaoh—and Osiris—to the otherworld. See more about the Kites here.

The first pictorial representation of Tayet that we have left to us is from the Osiris chapel at Karnak. She is shown as a human woman holding two pieces of cloth and facing Isis and Osiris. At Dendera, She is shown a number of times, including some instances in which She is specifically connected with Isis. By the New Kingdom, we find the hyphenated Goddess Isis-Tayet. At Kom Ombo, Tayet’s image is portrayed in a vestibule of the Birth House. So, like both Isis and Nephthys, Tayet is connected with coming into and going out of life.

And here’s an interesting speculative connection between Isis and Tayet: in Coffin Text spell 282 for “Becoming Tayet,” Tayet is said to “make a seat” for the deceased so that the person need not “lie down in the shambles” of the otherworld. Making a seat for the deceased establishes a place for them and affords protection. As Isis’ name means “Throne,” She Herself is a Divine Seat and well known as a protective Goddess. (See more about the .)

The mummy wrappings of Tayet, from a tomb

At Dendera, Tayet is said to have been born with green skin. This may be a reference to the green and growing flax from which linen will eventually be made, for She is also said to be pale in complexion, like the white linen once the process is complete.

On the other hand, Tayet may be green-faced for the same reason that both Isis and Osiris are sometimes portrayed as green-faced. They are green because They are Deities associated with rebirth; They are the Living, Green Ones of the Other world; They promote each person’s rebirth like the new green shoots of plants in the fields. Tayet is said to be the wife of Nepri, the young God associated with growing grain and Whom Osiris, in His rebirth, is said to Become.

And let us not forget that more than cloth was woven in ancient Egypt. Magic was also a woven thing and weaving was one of the key methods for working magic. An ancient formula to cure a poisoned cat says that Isis has “spun something” and Nephthys has “woven something” against the poison. Numerous funerary texts say that magic is knit or woven around the deceased. The dead person is “knit together in the egg” prior to rebirth, or their head is “knit on” by the Deities. Tayet is especially called upon to ensure that the king’s head and bones don’t “become loose” during his rebirth process. Her weavings—the linen mummy wrappings and the magic that is infused in them—ensure the king’s head and bones remain stable.

Woven magic—the heka-infused mummy wrapping

Many modern magic workers would agree that the joining together of the threads of energy that are one mechanism of magic can be aptly described by actions such as weaving and knitting. The spell is woven, thread by thread, until the whole is created out of what was almost nothing. This idea can also be related to Egyptian knot magic in which the surrounding or encircling of the two ends of the knot creates the magic circle or egg within which the threads of magic are then woven to create a blanket of creative, healing, and renewing energy.

(If you’d like to know more about Tayet from ancient sources, Edward Butler of the Henadology blog has collected many of the texts referring to Tayet for us here. Thank you, Edward!)

I find Tayet strangely compelling. For a Goddess with so little specific myth, She seems to me to cast a very large shadow—or perhaps a large aura. It is almost like She is the Third Sister, joining Isis and Nephthys in all Their majesty. She intrigues me, though I can never quite get a full sense of Her. If you’ve had any contact with Tayet, I hope you’ll share it. In the meantime, may She and Her Two (adopted?) Sisters bless you.

Shapeshifting with Nephthys

It’s been a while since I made a post about Nephthys, but you might remember that She has been working with me on shapeshifting because, according to Her, She does it better than Her sister.

So I sat down in the shrine, purified and consecrated myself, and ran some energy to get warmed up. When I was ready, I invoked the Beautiful Sister and envisioned myself at the doors of Her temple.

She has, by the way, a most beautiful, most unusual temple. It is something like the images here, but it is always twilight there, neither day nor night; neither light nor dark.

The garden temple of the Beautiful Sister

Inside is Her garden. It is gloriously lush. You can smell the greenness as you. breathe. in. deeply. Many creatures (including many fierce ones) live there with Her, hotep-peaceful in Her presence. You can smell their scents, too. Wild and sharp, warm and deep.

The doors of Her temple open to me. I enter. And I am within Her ecstatically alive garden.

My eyes adjust to the twilight as two enormous cobras glide up to me, one on each side. They rear up, spread their hoods. I understand that I am to place my hands upon their heads. They are sun-warm to the touch, their bodies strong and flexed. They guide me smoothly down a passageway to the throne room of the Goddess.

She is already there, upon Her hwt-throne.

She is shrouded in shifting darknesses—and veiled by the multiple faces that move across Her countenance. Most, but not all, are animal faces. I am reminded of those images of Hekate with Her multiple animal heads. I kneel and kiss the ground before Her beautiful face.

I ask Her, “may we shapeshift today?” (I can’t remember now whether I heard Her voice or I just knew that She’d answered, “yes.”) I become aware of Her long, long beautifully alien fingers.

I was wondering which animal it would be then. For a moment, I thought, “lioness,” because lionesses have been on my mind. But no. It was to be The Weaver. The Weaver? A human weaver? I wondered.

The male weaver with his yellow “hello, gorgeous” head coloring and the handsome nest he has built

But no, again.

A bird.

Now I am tiny. I am brown and white. I am inside a nest and I am weaving bits of leaves and string and twigs and straw into the interior walls of the nest. I am in a hurry, weaving deftly, but quickly. I am a female Weaver and the coming eggs must have their nest.

I am not a bird person, so I didn’t know that Egypt is home to two types of weaver birds: the Streaked Weaver and the Village Weaver.

The female weaver checking out his work

The Village Weaver is relatively new to Egypt and is mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa, but just recently breeding grounds have been found around Lake Nasser. The Streaked Weaver was probably established in the Egyptian delta by the period of Persian rule in ancient Egypt.

The male Streaked Weaver builds the exterior of the nest to attract the female. Once she says yes, she completes the interior of the nest, readying it for the eggs and chicks.

I am not, at present, aware of any particular connection between Nephthys or Isis and the Streaked Weaver. There’s plenty of bird and egg symbolism generally from ancient Egypt, of course. For instance, the innermost sarcophagus was sometimes referred to as “the egg.” There’s a Pyramid Text where Isis and Nu are discussing how the king will “break out of his egg” to be reborn. They decide that while Isis has formed him within the egg, all the Deities will help him break free. Eggs were placed in some tombs as symbols of new life. Bird-winged Goddesses protect the process of rebirth with Their powerful, feathered wings.

But that wasn’t it. “It isn’t about the eggs,” I think.

And now I am an ancient Egyptian magician, weaving magic.

“Oh,” I think at Her. “Yes,” She smiles back.

I am in a small chamber with plain walls. There are no windows and a single door. The place has an alchemical and underground feel to it. There are jars and potions and books (so, I can read!) on a central table. The room is lit by wall sconces holding torches. Yet the central focus of the room is a large loom.

But there’s no thread in the loom.

Instead, I understand that the loom frame serves as a kind of scrying space, an aid to the magician for weaving hekau, magics. “May I practice a spell? I ask. “Yes, She says.”

I stand before the loom frame and strongly sense Her behind me. Aaaand… then I realize that the shapeshift I am to do today is shapeshifting into Her. “Okay, I know this,” I think. “I can do Kheperu.” She smiles indulgently and turns me to face Her. In Her long-fingered hand is an egg. (Oh crap. Apparently, it is about the eggs. She is teaching me that Her magic always begins with a natural prototype.) With Her other hand, She reaches into my chest, opens the vessel of my heart (for it is a jar-like vessel at the moment) and places the egg within.

The world starts spinning clockwise and I understand that time is passing. At length—but in no time—the egg grows to envelop me. At length—and when I am ready—I make the Sign of Opening the Shrine before me. The egg cracks open. I emerge as She. With multihued wings, long, long fingers, and large, narrow eyes. I am the Weaver, Great of Magic. My body feels long everywhere. My mind is filled with Everything. I am a thread of magic. I am the weaver of the threads.

I turn to the loom and know its name: She is Becoming. In the frame I see the desired end result of My Weaving, My Spell, My Working. I know precisely what it takes to weave it. My long fingers pluck threads from across time and space, knotting them together. I knot connections between people—many people my human self does not know. There are an astonishing number of threads to knot together to create this Weaving, this Spell, this Working.

I knot the threads. Over and over.

When the intricate knotting is complete, I let down a single thread, down to the floor. There, a scarab beetle collects the thread, gathering the Weaving into Her dung ball, where Her Child awaits its Becoming.

Time passes. I watch.

I see the One Becoming, the Scarab Child, as it is born. It emerges from the solar dung ball, spreads its elytra, its shell-like wing covers, to flutter-dry its new wings. Then, in a beautiful, green iridescence, it flies up to land on My index finger. The Magic is born.

I-Nephthys open My bird wings and fold them about Myself. In an instant, I am the magician, Becoming the egg once more, the egg within my heart. “Leave it there,” says Nephthys, Tasenetnoferet. “It is the seed of your Becoming.”

I thank Her with all my egg-heart.

And now, I am back before Her throne, within Her garden temple. I kiss the ground before Her beautiful face. The cobras return, guiding me back to the outside world. The vision fades.

I am once more in my own shrine, where I make offering unto Nephthys. M’den, Tasenetnoferet. Accept it, Beautiful Sister.

Isis & the Wandering Goddesses at Philae

Procession for Her return

If you’ve been reading along with this blog, you may know that I believe we should count Isis as one of Egypt’s Wandering Goddesses. You can read about that here, here, and here. As we recently had our local Summer Solstice festival—in which we honored the Wandering Goddesses Sakhmet and Hathor—well, Wandering Goddesses are on my mind.

So, I’d like to uncover for you some of the footprints of the Wandering Goddess that we can find at Isis’ famous temple at Philae. (Read more about that beautiful temple here.) You may recall that Philae is located at what was the southernmost border of Egypt.

Tefnut & Shu on a menat weight

In the Wandering Goddess myths, when the angry Goddess leaves Egypt, She often goes south “to Nubia” (i.e. “gets the hell outta here“). Famously, Tefnut—Isis’ grandmother—is one of the Goddesses Who specifically goes to Nubia. Eventually, She is coaxed back by Thoth in the form of a fable-telling monkey. As Tefnut returns, She travels north from Nubia. Thus, Isis’ temple at the southernmost outpost of Philae is the Goddess’ first stop on Her return trip home.

But since we’re talking about Egyptian Goddesses here, everything is a little bit more complicated than that. Because when Tefnut makes Her stop at Philae, She is not just Tefnut, but also Hathor and Wepset. We can only unconfuse this confusing situation if we remember the way that Egyptian Deties have of flowing into or “coming forth as” each other at any moment. (And you might recall that Hathor has a small temple at Philae just as Isis has a small temple at Dendera, Hathor’s home turf.)

Wepset may be new to you, though. She is a Goddess Whose name means “She Who Burns;” thus She is another of the forms of the Flaming Goddess, the Uraeus Goddess, the Solar Eye Goddess. In Egyptian texts, Wepset is often depicted simply as a uraeus serpent, but in Nubia itself, She is shown as a woman with a uraeus serpent upon Her head. She, too, “returns from Nubia.” Sometimes, like Hathor and Tefnut (and Isis), Wepset also wears the solar horns-and-disk crown.

The burning lioness

Wepset is also associated with the island of Biggeh, near Philae. Biggeh is a tomb of Osiris and Isis travels there every ten days to pour libations for Him. There, it is recorded at Philae, Wepset cooled Her rage. On Philae island itself, Wepset appears—in Her form of Hathor—in the mammisi, or birth house, where Isis bore Her son Horus.

The Gods are just as fluid as the Goddesses. At Philae, the Wandering Goddess/es are coaxed back to Egypt by Shu, Tefnut’s consort. Yet He also has a variety of names and forms, notably Onuris and Arsenouphis. Onuris, Anhur or Inhert in Egyptian, is a warrior and hunter. He is tied to the Wandering Goddess theme as the one Who brings back the wandering Lioness Goddess Mehyt. He also has sky associations and so is easily connected with Shu, Lord of the Air. Arsenourphis (Egyptian: Iry Hems-nefer, “the Good Companion”) is a Nubian God Who appears at Philae in a capacity similar to Onuris and Shu. Thoth, in several forms, serves as another of the amelioraters of the Goddess’ rage at Philae.

The book I’m reading about all this is by French Egyptologist Danielle Inconnu-Bocquillon. She says that there are no complete tellings of the Wandering Goddess myth at Philae, just references to key events in the myth. She notes that the parts of the myth we see at Philae are specific to Philae—as seems to be generally true in the temples. Each temple has their own specific version and details about their own Wandering Goddess in all Her many and varied forms.

From the roof of Isis’ temple, the small Hathor temple is the structure to the left

At Isis’ temple of Philae, the angry Goddess is Tefnut-Wepset. The one Who brings Her back is Shu, in several of His forms, including as Thoth. The Returned Goddess is Hathor, which would explain the presence of a smaller Hathor temple on Philae. Apparently, there is, however, no specific reference to the myth in Hathor’s small temple. But the inscriptions and decorations of this temple were never finished. So I’m going to guess, there would have been such references.

Nevertheless, there are quite a lot of flame-y Goddesses at Philae. As Philae is the first temple the Wandering Goddess comes to as She returns from Nubia, that makes sense. Sakhmet is there as Mistress of Flame. Tefnut is Lady of the Flame in the House of Flame. The Goddess Satet, the Archer Goddess of the southern border, is also Mistress of Flame, as is Wepset. Mut appears as well as the Returning Goddess and thus She has a fiery form, too. Hathor is a Mistress of Flame and is shown as a dangerous Goddess at Philae. All the Goddesses are Eyes of Re and They are coming in HOT. They have not yet been made hotep, “satisfied” or “pacified.” As She/They arrive at Philae, Their anger is not yet cooled. Indeed, when the Goddess arrives at Philae, She is “surrounded by a large flame.”

Art that reminds me of the Solar Eye Goddesses; by Alex Saveniji

What’s more, in the company of these Fiery Goddesses, Isis is Herself rather fierce. She is called Great of Magic Who Resides in Philae, Regent of Nubia, Great of Carnage in the Place of Execution, Mistress of Combat, Lioness, and Mistress of Slaughter. In fact, Isis and Tefnut share the very same furious epithets at Philae. And at least one inscription at the temple complex has Isis Herself arriving and “resting” at the Abaton (“untrodden” i.e. “pure” place)—something that the Returning Goddesses routinely do.

The holy island of Philae (Agilika) in the cool waters of the turquoise Nile

The other thing that the Returning Goddesses do is to be purified and appeased so that Their angry, fiery Forms may be cooled—and the joyous festival of Their return celebrated. At the Abaton, we find Nephthys, Isis, Wepset, and Hathor all being appeased.

In the Philae area, the Abaton is the island of Biggeh, which has a tomb of Osiris. Isis visits there every 10 days to pour libations for Him.

So here’s how that goes: the inscription says that Isis, as Wepset (the angry Goddess), returns from Nubia and stands upon the High Hill (that is, the tomb of Osiris). There She is appeased, then settles in Philae “in Her name of Hathor.”

Hathor on the mammisi on Philae

Settled at Philae, wensheb—a type of waterclock associated with Thoth and offered to Wandering Goddesses as a symbol of return to Right Order—is offered to Isis, Who is accompanied by Tefnut, and to Isis, Who is accompanied by Hathor—as well as the other Fiery Eye Goddesses.

It seems that, as the Lady of Philae, Isis is all these Goddesses; and that They are all Her. The more I get to read the actual temple inscriptions from the actual temples, the more it becomes clear not that “All the Goddesses are One Goddess” as Dion Fortune’s famous aphorism says. But instead, when it comes to Egypt, “All the Goddesses are All the Goddesses.”

Oh yes, there’s much more to delve into here.

But for now, I am going to leave you with a hymn to Hathor Who Is Isis and Isis Who is Hathor, from Hathor’s small temple at Philae. Perhaps you will find it useful in your own invocations of Our Lady.

“How beautiful is Your face when You appear in glory and joy, Great Hathor, Lady of Senmut, Venerable Hathor, Lady of the Enclosure of the Calling. Your father Re exults when You arise, Your brother Shu pays homage to Your face. Thoth, powerful in intoxicating drink, He calls, O Powerful One. The Great Ennead is in pleasure and joy, the baboons are before Your face and dance for Your Majesty, the Hity beat the tambourines for Your ka, the Beings sing hymns for You and worship You. The Henemenet bow before Your power, men and women pray to you to give them love. For You the virgins open the festivities and give You their protective spirit. You are the Mistress of Praise, the Mistress of Dance, Great in Love, Mistress of Women and the Beautiful. You are the Mistress of Drunkenness, of Many Feasts, the Mistress of Frankincense, the Mistress of Braiding the Crown, the Mistress of Gaiety, the Mistress of Exultation to Whose Majesty Music is Made; Venerable Female Pillar, Female Ba in Bougem; You are the Mistress of the Sakhem Sistrum [the loop sistrum], the Mistress of the Menat and the Seshesh Sistrum [the naos sistrum] to Whose ka the wensheb [a type of waterclock associated with Thoth and offered to Wandering Goddesses as a symbol of return to Right Order] is raised. You are the Mistress of Dance, the Mistress of Song and Dance to the Lute, Whose Face Shines Every Day, She Who is Ignorant of Sorrow. May You be present in Your Beautiful Face.”

Hathor, in Her Beautiful Face

Is Goddess Isis Calling Me?

Hello, all! Yes, this is a repost. But it’s with good cause.

I just received files of the NEW 25th Anniversary Edition of Isis Magic, which I must review and proof on a deadline. So I’m working on that today . It is scheduled to be out next spring!

So I hope you’ll enjoy this post again—or even better—share your own story of how Isis came to you.

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.

Isis, Flint Knives, Mooring Posts & Stars

Part 2

Last time we saw how the ancient Egyptian constellation of Iset Reret—in Her upright-hippopotamus-with-a-crocodile-on-Her-back form—was envisioned as using a flint mooring post and golden chains to keep the constellation of the Foreleg of Set in its proper place in the heavens.

The mooring post secures the stars

This time we’ll look into the symbolism more deeply and then see how we could use this information in spiritual and magical Work with Isis.

The Mooring Post

In case you’re not a sailor, a mooring post is a sturdy post to which you can tie your boat to keep it in one place, i.e. moored. You might find them on a dock, or if you were an ancient Egyptian, driven into the banks of the Nile river.

A royal barge moored by twin mooring posts, circled in red

Just as mooring posts were common in ancient Egyptian daily life, so they were important in the afterlife. The deceased traveled through the Otherworld by boat, and secured their boats in their final destinations by means of a mooring post. In the Coffin Texts, the deceased declares that “my boat shall be brought to me, the mooring post shall be driven in for me.” Because of the importance of the mooring post in this context, “coming to moor” became an Egyptian euphemism for “to die.” Death itself was referred to as the Great Mooring and every Egyptian hoped to safely reach their individual mooring post.

Driving in the mooring post

The Great Mooring Post, Menit Weret, is a Goddess, She Who calls us to our deaths and Who protects us, moored securely, after death. When we know Her name, She is none other than Isis. “The Mooring Post summons you as Isis,” say the Pyramid Texts, “the Mourning Woman calls to you as Nephthys.” Being called by the Great Mooring Post is a very good thing and ensures the dead will have a stairway to heaven set up for them, among other benefits.

In some cases, a mooring post could serve as a type of pillory to which to bind an enemy for punishment. In a text now in the British Museum, an enemy of Re, Maga, son of Set (make of that what you will), is bound to a mooring post of Osiris. Mooring posts were also part of temple equipment and were used (ritually, I assume) to subdue enemies as well as ensuring ongoing rejuvenation for the Deities of the temple. Overall then, the symbolism of the mooring post as well as the Great Mooring Post, Our Lady Isis, is magical power, stability, and a secure and protected afterlife.

Iset Djamet with mooring post

In the sky, stars envisioned as mooring posts were also associated with Orion’s belt (and thus with Osiris) as well as with the Imperishable Stars. Both Isis and Nephthys can be connected with mooring posts; indeed, we often see twinned mooring posts illustrated in tombs. The Two Sisters also open the Double Doors of Heaven, which open the way to ongoing rebirth. (Might the Mooring Post Goddesses also serve to keep the heavenly doors open, as a kind of Divine Doorstop?) In the northern sky, the mooring post that anchors the Foreleg of Set is near the north pole, so some Egyptologists suggest that it might have been seen as a kind of divine pivot around which the heavens turn.

In the tomb of Rekmire, an Egyptian noble, we see two mooring posts/Mooring Posts to which or Whom a bull’s foreleg is being offered. A female figure watches as a bull is sacrificed (remember the Kite from several weeks ago?) while two female figures mourn beside the two mooring posts. They are not labeled, but it would make sense if They were Isis and Nephthys or priestesses representing Them. Egyptologist Harco Willems sees this offering to two mooring posts/Mooring Posts as part of the vigil of Osiris.

As we saw last week, the mooring post and the knife are often interchangeable in ancient Egyptian art, and both could be made of flint. Isis Herself IS the Great Mooring Post and She often carries and uses a knife. Sometimes, She uses a knife to fight off the enemies of Re, such as the Great Serpent Apophis. On a more mundane level, flint knives could be used to protect against and treat snakebite. Isis also has a special knife for cutting the birth cord of Horus, the name of which the dead needed to know to proceed in the afterlife. In a myth recorded in the Papyrus Jumilac, Isis shapeshifts into a bitch with a knife at the end of Her tail in order to fight Set. And, as a knife-wielding Goddess, Isis is a warrior—for Deities like Osiris and Re as well as for the king.

Egyptian flint knife or des

Archetypally, Isis’ knife surely would have been the primordial knife, the knife of flint.

Flint & the Flint Knife

Flint is a type of cryptocrystalline quartz that typically forms in sedimentary rocks. It has two very special characteristics. First, it breaks in such a way that very sharp edges can be created—which is why it was used to make the first knives.

Second, because it has a high silica content, it can produce sparks when struck against another hard material, today usually steel, but another hard rock, such as quartz will also work. The Egyptians called it firestone. (Striking sparks with flint and a quartz crystal seems like a pretty dang magical way to start a ritual fire, if you ask me.)

Making flint knives

Flint, among other minerals, was offered to Osiris as part of His resurrection rites during the Khoiak festival, so we can connect it with that ever-present Egyptian theme, too. Ancient Egyptian flint jewelry has also been found.

In nature, flint is found in nodules which sometimes come in odd shapes that suggest other objects.

Flint is abundant in the Valley of the Kings and Queens. The villagers of Deir el-Madina, who built the tombs there, collected these natural sculptures, sometimes painted them to enhance the design, and offered them in chapels, or even had them embedded in their funereal stelae.

Flint in the shape of a leg and foot; not from Egypt

Some of these similacra looked like pregnant women, a similarity that was emphasized by painting. Other flint nodules suggested various creatures such as crocodiles, serpents, or scarabs, as well as the solar and lunar disks.

A flint nodule in a dramatic shape; you can see how this one might be enhanced by paint and carving to form a female figure

The articles I’m reading about ancient Egypt and flints says that, overall, there are several themes associated with the flint simulacra: Emergence and Primeval Creation (because they’re natural sculptures and emerge from the surrounding rock); the Feminine (because of the pregnant woman images, as well as some painted as Nuet, other Goddesses, or lotuses); and the connection between the celestial and underworld realms (because of flint’s emergence from the earth, yet its sharp and fiery nature like the stars).

In the Book of the Dead, a scepter made of flint is associated with the northern sky, wind, and breath; its name is “Breath-Giver.” In the hieroglyphs for this passage, the scepter is shown as a was (“power”) scepter. And the was scepter was associated with Set. Two was scepters were the emblem of His nome of Oxyrhynchus and the head of the scepter itself may be intended to represent the head of the so-called Set beast, a creature as yet not securely identified.

Set with was sceptre

Another flinty connection is with the pesesh-kef, a ritual tool used in the Opening of the Mouth ritual. At least in earlier periods, it was made of flint. The Opening of the Mouth ritual was part of the rebirthing of the dead, but it could also be used to bring life to things like the sacred images in temples. What’s more, the pesesh-kef could also be used to cut the umbilical cord once the child was born, again associating it with birth as well as rebirth.

Flint was often connected with meteoric iron, another Setian material. Flint, like iron, was said to “come forth” from Set. Plutarch, in his essay on Isis and Osiris, notes that the Egyptians say that iron is the bone of Set. And right after writing that, he relates a strange story about Zeus’ (i.e. Amun or Amun-Re’s) legs having grown together so He couldn’t walk. But Isis—surely with Her sacred knife—cut free His legs so He could stride the earth once more.

Fiery Lionesses & Flint

Flint is also connected with the Return of the Wandering Goddess. It was one of the offerings given to appease the Goddess upon Her return. I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these decorated flint nodules might have been offered as well, especially the woman-shaped ones. As you know, the Returning Goddess may be Hathor, Sakhmet, Tefnut, Bastet—or any of the Goddesses with a lioness or feline form—which means most of Them, including Isis. Flint is sharp like the claws of these Goddesses. Flint is fire-producing, like the very Being of these Fiery Eye-of-Re Goddesses, Who can spit fire or even turn Themselves into frightening infernos.

And yet these burning lionesses are also fiercely protective—of Re, of course—but lionesses are known as ferocious protectors of their cubs, just as mother hippos are of their calves.

Now What?

Interesting as all this may be, what can we do with this information in our spiritual and magical work with Isis?

For me, knowing more always gives me more magical tools in my magical toolbox. It provides me with more symbols and aspects of My Goddess to explore in my meditations—which, in turn, always opens additional insights and helps integrate the intellectual with the experiential.

We’re already familiar with a lot of the concepts we’re been discussing: fierce and protective Mother Goddesses, renewal and rebirth, the ancient Egyptian desire for stability and strength, the need to repel and subdue enemies, protective fire, magical fire, and the connection between our world and the Otherworld, both nether and celestial. Personally, I was thrilled to learn about the flint nodules that became natural talismans and offerings for the ancient Egyptians.

Here’s some brainstorming on how we might use this information in our Work with Isis:

Obtain a new magical tool, a knife or “mooring post.” Since the two are fairly interchangeable—and a knife is easier to find and more compact than a mooring post—you could buy or, if you’re crafty, make a flint knife. I might actually name my knife “Mooring Post of Isis” so that I could use it for all the purposes we’ve been discussing, from the stabilizing ability of the mooring post to the defensive capabilities of a knife.

I will definitely be trying to light a ritual fire with flint. (And I might use some flash paper as part of my tinder, as in the Rite of Capturing Sunlight, to ensure success.)

Try using a mooring post/knife to stabilize a spell. Write it down on papyrus and drive the tool through it into the ground, helping it manifest. (You could even do this indoors using a deep bowl of earth.) When the rite is accomplished, release it with proper thanks. You might do the same thing as a protection spell with the name of the enemy (doesn’t have to be a person; an enemy might also be a bad situation), written down and stabbed through.

Use the tool to stabilize yourself. If you’re feeling “unmoored,” go outside and drive the mooring post/knife into the ground. Sit on the earth and let the strength and stability of Isis uphold and support you.

Meditate with Isis, asking Her to more fully explain the mysteries of the mooring post, knife, and flint to you.

Go out on a clear night and look at the Big Dipper and Draco. See Them through the eyes of the ancient Egyptians as the constellation of Iset Reret the Hippopotamus Goddess Who secures and guards the Foreleg of Set. Meditate on what that might mean.

Purchase some flint and consecrate it as a talisman of strength and protection. I’ve even seen flint beads for making jewelry—and with the Egyptian precedent, this would be an easy and beautiful way to carry the powers of flint.

And that’s just the beginning. What ideas do you have for using the magic of flint knives, mooring posts, and the stars in your Work with Isis?

The fiery, fierce, and sharp Eye of Re Goddess

Oh My Goddess!

I just received my author copy of the deluxe collectors’ edition of Offering to Isis from Azoth Press and Miskatonic Books.

It is simply stunning. Stunning, I tell you!

First, you see a slightly silvered, black book case with a beautiful brass ankh on the front and a gold book title on the spine of the case. Like this:

The gold ribbon is for marking your place in the book inside

Open that up and you’ll see lotuses on the inside cover of the case and the cover of the book itself—in deep faience teal leather with a brass Knot of Isis on the front:

The larger gold ribbon makes it easy to lift the book our of its case

Inside, there are marbled endpapers:

And the interior is like the limited edition version:

And here’s one more look at this beautiful set:

This book in itself is an offering to Isis and it is going on Her altar right now!

For the book collectors among us (you should see our library here at The Hallows), here’s the link to the only place you can get a copy: Miskatonic Books.

Goddess Isis & the Mooring Post of Flint

Part 1

If you’ve been flipping through the new edition of Offering to Isis, you may have noticed that two of Her sacred symbols—which can also serve as offerings to Her—are a mooring post and a knife.

Isis protects the dead

Indeed, Isis Herself is called the Great Mooring Post, She Who calls us to our deaths. And yet the Great Mooring Post is also a comfort to and protector of the dead—and we, like Osiris, can rejoice when She greets us in the Otherworld.

The knife in question is the flint knife or des. Des just means “flint,” the material of the original knife. In ancient Egypt, the word des came to be used for all knives because of the ancient prototype.

I’m reading an article now that combines these two Isian symbols in the form of a heavenly mooring post made of flint. This is because, in the heavens, Isis as a hippo-formed Reret Goddess, uses a flint mooring post to chain the constellation Meskhetyw, “the Foreleg,” in its place in the northern night skies.

What’s all this about?

Let’s see what we can find out.

First, let’s look to the stars. There are two particular constellations involved: Meskhetyw, which corresponds roughly to the Big Dipper, and the constellation associated with Isis Reret and Her mooring post, which corresponds roughly to Draco.

Reret chains the Foreleg in place among the stars

Both of these constellations are among the northern circumpolar stars. Circumpolar stars move counterclockwise around the celestial North Pole and never go below the horizon when viewed from the northern hemisphere. Because these stars could always, always be seen in the Egyptian night sky, the Egyptians called them the ikhemu-sek, the “Imperishable Stars.” They served as nightly visual proof of the everlasting celestial life that awaits us beyond death. The great Sky Goddess Nuet is described as containing the Imperishable Stars. And, of course, Her children, Isis and Osiris, are among the most important protagonists in the Egyptian understanding of life after death.

The angled khopesh

The Foreleg constellation was envisioned by the Egyptians as a bull’s foreleg. In the Pyramid Texts, it is the foreleg of Set, but it is also said to be the foreleg of a donkey or dog, beasts associated with Set. Yet, the text on the coffin of one of Egypt’s sacred bulls attributes the foreleg to Osiris, “the Bull of the Sky.” Meskhetyw might also be called the Khopesh of Set, for its resemblance to the angles of this type of Egyptian sword.

The Reret (meaning “sow”) constellation is envisioned as a female hippopotamus, standing on Her rear legs and with a crocodile perched on Her back. In different representations of the stars, this constellation is sometimes called Reret, sometime Great Reret, and sometimes Iset Djamet. By the time of the New Kingdom, the constellation is strongly connected with Isis.

A text in the tomb of Rameses VI explains it:

As to this Thigh of Set, it is in the northern sky attached to two firestone [i.e., flint] mooring posts by golden chains. It has been given in charge to Isis, in Her form of a female hippopotamus, Who guards it. The Water of His Gods is round about as Gods of the Horizon. Re has placed them behind it together with Isis, saying: “Prevent it going to the southern sky toward the Water of the Gods which issued from Osiris, He Who is behind Orion . . . They appear in the regions of the sky, in the northern sea [Egy. Wadj Wer, “Great Green;” the Wadj Wer can be identified as Osiris, with the Primordial Waters, and on earth, with the Mediterranean sea]. It is for them. The northern horizon is their country.”

Isis as a Reret Goddess

So Isis and the northern Deities, no doubt stars, guard the Thigh or Foreleg of Set. And since They are preventing the northern Waters, associated with the Foreleg of Set, from mingling with the southern Waters of Osiris, They are protecting Osiris from Set.

In the Papyrus Jumilac, from a later period, the Foreleg is said to be tethered “so that it cannot travel among the Gods.” In the temple of Esna, Reret secures the Foreleg “in order not to let it go upside down into the Duat [the underworld].”

From the tomb of Senenmut, which contains one of the key Egyptian astronomical diagrams, we find the female hippo constellation identified as Iset Djamet Heb Pet (heb pet is “heavenly festival” or “sky festival”). Djamet may be a place-name for Medinet Habu. It may also have other interpretations. Some Egyptologists suggest that djamet may refer to the crocodile on the Goddess’ back as other place-names with dja– are frequently written with the crocodile alone. Dja by itself could mean a firestick (remember the flint above) or—interestingly—a warrior form of Ishtar.

Taweret from Moon Knight; I kinda love Her

The article also suggests that the mt of Dja-mt could be a short form of the Goddess Mut meaning Mother. This is because, in another place in the tomb, this same constellation is called Mut the Fierce or h3s-mwt, the “Fierce Mother.” In this tomb, Isis and Mut are assimilated—as They often were in other places as well. Mut and Ipet, another Hippopotamus Goddess, are often assimilated, as are Isis and Taweret (“the Great One”).

And we all know that mother hippos (like mother lions; trust me, this will become relevant) are pretty dang fierce, right? Right.

So, an interpretation of Iset Djamet Heb Pet could be “the Heavenly Festival of Isis, the Fierce Mother.” Which would be appropriate for the Divine Work She is doing in the night sky—protecting Osiris from Set and keeping Set’s Foreleg or Thigh in it’s proper place in the heavens.

As a hippopotamus Mother Goddess, Iset Reret wields Her own fiercely protective nature and a mooring post of flint.

You can see here that the hieroglyph for “mooring post” and for “knife” are quite similar. So, you’ll probably not be too surprised to learn that, in later periods, the hippo Goddess of the Reret constellation was shown holding a knife rather than the similarly-shaped mooring post.

Knife and mooring post become even more indistinguishable in many apotropaic images of knives being stabbed into the coils of the enemy serpent Apophis (Apop) to defeat and subdue Him.

Knives (not mooring posts) subduing Apophis

All of this is by way of set up for Part 2 of this post next week.

We’ll learn more about the connections between mooring post, knife, and flint—and where fire and Lioness Goddesses come into all this.

We’ll delve deeper into the symbolism of both mooring post and knife and see how they are particularly associated with Divinity and with Isis.

And we’ll talk about what we can do with all this information in our personal magical and spiritual work with Isis.

Isis & the Ankh

The awesome scene from “The Mummy” when the statue of Isis raises the ankh to save Her reincarnated priestess from a lovestruck but murderous mummy

Of all the emblems of ancient Egypt, the hieroglyphic symbol of the ankh is probably the most familiar. Many people still wear it as an amulet and know that, in Egyptian, ankh means life.

Every Deity has an ankh

The ankh was extremely popular in ancient Egypt, too. Egyptians made ankh-shaped vessels, fan bases, sistra, unguent jars, jewelry, mirror cases—in addition to wearing the symbol itself as an amulet. Special bouquets of flowers, formed into the shapes of ankhs and simply called Ankhs, were given as offerings to Deities and as sustenance to the dead. The ankh was carved into temple walls and used to decorate furniture.

In later times, the Coptic Christian church used it as the crux ansata, the handled or “eyed” cross, because of its resemblance to the Christian cross.

Egyptologists still aren’t sure what the familiar oval-and-cross shape originally represented. Some believe it has sexual symbolism because some ankhs have what appears to be a female pubic triangle painted just beneath the cross bar. Others believe it represents a sandal strap. Still others see it as a type of magical knot or bow—similar to the Isis Knot or Tyet, which it closely resembles. Since Egyptian magic frequently employed knots, this idea is not at all far-fetched. Indeed, in some examples of the symbol, you can see what could be folds in the fabric or rope used to tie the knot.

As you might guess, my favorite bumper sticker

Yet another interpretation combines the knot concept with an idea that may have some merit since it actually connects with the meaning of the symbol itself: life. In this interpretation, the ankh is an umbilical cord that has been looped and tied to a short stick (the cross bar) to create the ankh-shaped amulet. Thus the ankh represents the way Life flows from the Divine to the human in the same way that life flows from the mother to the child through the umbilical cord. There are numerous references to Isis “cutting the navel string” of the reborn Horus. And there is even a myth that Horus recovers the birth cord of His murdered father, Osiris, in order to bury it safely. In a tale about the birth of three kings, the children’s birth cords are cut off, wrapped, and preserved. Clearly, the birth cord had significance.

Isis giving ankh to Queen Nefertari

Yet the life symbolized by the ankh is more than simple daily existence. It is also the sacred and ever-renewing principle of Life. It is the Eternal Life with which the Goddesses and Gods imbue humanity. It is the Life that is renewed after death. In funerary art, Deities such as Anubis and Horus pour streams of ankhs over the deceased to symbolize this eternal, regenerating life that flows from the Divine. Goddesses and Gods hold the ankh to the nose of the deceased to revive her or him in the Otherworld.

While the ankh is rightfully a symbol of every Deity, it is also especially appropriate to Isis. On an earthly level, Isis is the Great Divine Mother, the generatrix of all life on Earth. Isis is intimately connected with the fields that bring forth food, the waters that nourish and regenerate the land, and the life-giving air that fills our lungs. 

Isis is a Green Goddess of Life, daughter of Earth and Sky. The Coffin Texts call Her She of Vegetation and Mistress of Herbage Who Makes the Two Lands Green. She is a Water Goddess for Her yearly tears for Osiris caused the Nile to overflow its banks, vivifying the land. She is the Queen of the Sea and the Lady Who brings rain. As a Bird Goddess, Isis is Mistress of the Skies and a Lady of Air.

Isis and Nephthys flanking the ankh, which upholds the solar disk and is supported by the djed column

On a spiritual level, Isis gives the gift of renewed life after death. Beating Her magical wings, the Goddess fans air—and ankh—into the nose and lungs of Her beloved Osiris. It is Isis’ vital breath that fills the nemset jars with which the deceased is dried after a purifying bath. And it is Isis Who brings the spiritual water that helps regenerate the dead.

As She is the Lady of Life, Isis is the Lady of Life Everlasting. She is the Green Goddess of life on Earth and She is the Divine Mother of each of us Who cuts our navel-string when we are transformed and reborn into Eternal Life.