Isis Quotes

“Delos is the island home of Artemis and Apollo. There was a temple to Isis here and over 200 inscriptions to Isis have been found. The earliest being the dedication of an altar by one of her priestesses.[724] There are fragments of a colossal statue of Isis dating to around 128 BCE. She is depicted in a similar form to Aphrodite.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Then she was kind. Her capacity to feel deeply and to express that grief, and thus empathise with her suffering followers, enabled her to win people’s hearts and minds – both in Egypt and beyond. This kindness was an alien concept to most of the Olympian gods. The appeal of Isis was that she was a loving and tender-hearted wife, mother and sister and everyone at various stages of their lives could do with one or the other. She was a Saviour who would help people in distress and this almost guaranteed her popularity. In a dangerous, uncertain world people needed a friendly, divine figure to turn to in the knowledge that she would help and support them.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Firstly she offered something which the standard Greek and Roman religions couldn’t. The cult of Isis offered life after death, as did the Egyptian religion in general. This was very appealing to the Greeks and Romans whose religion was vague about this and what was offered wasn’t very appealing.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Our eyes are weeping for thee, the tears burn.” The sentiments expressed by Isis resonate deeply with anyone who has been bereaved. “Darkness is here for us in my sight even while Re is in the sky; the sky is merged in the earth and a shadow is made in the earth to-day. My heart is hot at thy wrongful separation.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Pausanias writes about many temples in Greece. He said that there are temples to Dionysus, Apollo and Isis at Phlius. “The image of Dionysus may be seen by everyone, and so may that of Apollo; but only the priests may behold the image of Isis.”[546]  He says the same about the Isis temple at Aegira. “They pay the highest reverence to the Heavenly Goddess, but people are not allowed to enter her sanctuary.” Later on in the text he adds that certain people can enter “on stated days but they must observe certain rules of purity, especially to diet”.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Ovid and Tibullus both refer to women loosening their hair to pray to Isis. In Roman society, and many others, unbound hair was acceptable during mourning but at other times it was unacceptable because it was considered a sign of sexual attractiveness and thus availability (in the eyes of predatory males). Was praying with loose hair a way of abasing yourself, of showing how unworthy and miserable you were? Was it a defiant show of equality or pride in femininity? We shall never know. But this practice is one explanation as to why the Christian Paul was so obsessed with women covering their hair to pray and the prohibition about praying without a hair covering.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Conversion to the cult didn’t mean a withdrawal from the world. Isis doesn’t want people to reject the world and its comfort and happiness. She can grant salvation in the form of a better life and this can be a prosperous life.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“I am she that is called goddess by women.”[535] The cult of Isis was popular with women as Isis was a Goddess who befriended women. They could identify with her struggles to raise her son and understand her grief over the murder of her husband. In the myths Isis appears very much as everywoman. She was also a mother figure, which was important at a time when many would have lost their mothers at an early age often through childbirth. The hymns emphasis the female divine and Isis’ love of women. This does not mean that the cult was similar to the Goddess worship of today. It was very much a masculine world and all religions and cults reflected that. Women in Egypt had higher status than women in the other surrounding cultures, even though this had declined since the Old Kingdom. Egyptian cults tended to accord women higher status as a result and this enabled them to play an active part in the cult.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Devotees were referred to as Isiakoi (Greek) or Isiaci (Latin). Plutarch says that true Isiakoi were made by their pious and philosophical attitude rather than by their outward appearance of linen clothes and shaven heads.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“One major attraction of her cult must have the fact that both men and women could attend and, unlike the official religions, the congregation could take up positions in the cult and participate in the rituals. For people who wanted to become actively involved with their religion, rather than observe (or sometimes not even that) the rituals carried out by official priestesses and priests, the cult of Isis offered the ideal opportunity. One aspect of the cult which is very Christian in its way, is the fact that Isis bestows her love on everyone from king to slave. There are references to slaves being emancipated in her name. At Valencia in Spain there is an inscription referring to an Isiac association of slaves.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“The hymn in the Oxyrhynchus papyrus gives her “dominion over winds and thunders and lightnings and snows”.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“In the Oxyrhynchus papyrus there is reference to Isis controlling the river Eleutheros in Tripoli and the Ganges in India. “Mistress of the Earth, you bring the flooding of rivers.”[447] The Greeks and Romans often personified rivers as goddesses and water in general was regarded as a feminine element so Isis is likely to have ended up with such aspects regardless of her association with the inundation. In the Greek hymn of Isidorus she is the “Creator of…all rivers, and very swift streams.”[448] The tradition of Isis as Mistress of the Nile continued into the Middle Ages. There is reference to a large statue of Nursing Isis near the el-Muallaqa church in Old Cairo which was held to have supernatural powers over the Nile and protected the district from flooding. It was said to have been destroyed in 1311 by a treasure hunter.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“The Harris Magical papyrus holds Isis responsible for the drying up of the Nile during her bitter despair over the death of Osiris. “She closed the mouth of the river. She caused the fishes to lie down on the mud shoal.”[446] This seems to be an act similar to that of Demeter’s when she caused the earth to become barren in her distress over the abduction of Persephone.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“The Nile turned a red-brown during the flood due to the silt it carried. This was associated with the blood”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“As Isis has control over the course of the stars she has control over fate. “I showed the paths of the stars…the stars do not move on their own course unless they receive commands from me.”[415] It was this ability to control fate which made Isis so popular outside Egypt, especially with the Greeks and Romans. Fortune was powerful and frightening and she acted either maliciously or at random, ruling deities as well as people, but Isis was Isis Victrix “whose orders destiny and fortune obey”.[416] The Egyptians aimed for constantly renewed regeneration but the Greeks wanted a release from the forces of fate and morality, from the imprisonment of this world. The words “I set free those in bonds”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“By Greek times Isis was the Saviour Goddess who redeems individuals, as was Demeter with whom she was closely aligned. Both Goddesses used their Mystery teachings and rituals to achieve this. “She desired that the struggle, the danger and the wanderings, which she passed through, being so many acts of courage and wisdom, should not be forgotten. Therefore, she wove into the most secret initiations the images, indications and imitations of previous sufferings, and she instituted to men and women, who find themselves in the same misfortune.”[409] In The Golden Ass Lucius, in his abject misery, begs Isis “by whatever name, and by whatever rites, and in whatever form, it is permitted to invoke, come now”. She replies saying that she was “moved by your prayer”[410] and goes on to help him. The Greco-Roman hymns to Isis constantly reiterate her Saviour aspect. “Those who are weak; if they invoke you, they become strong…those who are hungry; if they call to you they become satisfied.”[411] She is also the “one who creates prosperity after poverty”.[412] Isis brings the concept of divine mercy. “I decreed mercy to supplicants.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Isis is the supreme Saviour Goddess. As well as being a very human figure she is proactive and her actions result in the salvation of Osiris and, through him, everyone. She isn’t a remote, unapproachable figure but a personal, sympathetic and caring Goddess who is happy to rescue those in need. She has experienced suffering for herself and wants to save people from theirs. Isis is the comforting example to those in distress. It was through her own courage in bearing her sufferings that she overcame her tribulations and was able to bring about the resurrection of Osiris and the birth and triumph of Horus, and because of this she has the wisdom and power to redeem suffering humans. In the magical texts Isis appears as a popular and sympathetic goddess. She is the deity most associated with the suffering which all people have to endure.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Horus was considered a Healing God who had been taught by Isis. Given his fraught childhood he probably empathised with the pain and despair of those who sought his help.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“There are even spells against recurring nightmares which the sufferer would recite ending with the optimistic “Hail to you, good dream”. Horus was troubled by nightmares and would call yet again to his mother. She comforts him and advises him to talk about it “so that your dream apparitions draw back”.[381] Egyptian healing magic continued into the Christian Period and the Horus stories continued to be a source of inspiration and guidance. An 8th-century Coptic manuscript refers to the story of Horus who eats raw the birds he’s just caught rather than be patient and wait for them to cook. Isis recites an incantation to cure him. To keep it Christian, and the healer out of trouble with the church authorities, it then adds that it is really Jesus who is doing the healing.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Treatment frequently involved referencing the deities and Horus was a useful example. He appears to have been a very sickly and accident-prone child, reflecting the hazards of childhood. In virtually all cases Isis is able to cure and help him. Horus suffers from many headaches.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“An icosahedron, a Greek die with 20 sides, was found near Deir el-Hagar. The names of deities are inscribed on each side. These include Isis, Nephthys, Osiris and Horus as well as the local deities of the area; Thoth, Amun, Mut and Khons. It was used as an oracle; ask a question then throw the die and the deities will provide the answer.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Seven is one of the most symbolic numbers and of major significance in magic. The actual meaning this number had for the Egyptians is hard to define but it is associated with perfection and effectiveness. Important spells are repeated seven times and there are seven scorpions who escort Isis. Multiples of seven are also important. The body of Osiris is cut into 14 pieces by Seth and it is thought that this may represent the 14 days of the waning moon.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“There is power and symbolism in many numbers but three and seven were particularly potent for the Egyptians. Three is an expression of plurality; from the earliest hieroglyphic writing three strokes indicated many. Unlike European cultures who have four seasons, the Egyptians had three with each month divided into three ten-day periods. The significance of three was carried on further. Rituals were carried out in the temples three times a day, at morning, noon and evening and the Sun God had three forms. He was Khepri in the morning, Ra at noon and Atum”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“There was no disconnection between science and religion for the Egyptians. All knowledge was deemed important as it was learning about creation and this knowledge could bring you closer to the deities. It was also prized for its own sake. Knowledge is power and learning and wisdom was considered part of magic.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“pillar. Isis gains access to the palace via the queen’s servants and is employed as a nurse for the baby prince. “At night she burnt round the mortal elements of its body, and, turning herself into a swallow, flew round the pillar and twittered a dirge.”[283] One night the queen hears the noise and comes to investigate. Her screams of terror at the sight of her baby over the fire halt the magic of Isis and the child is denied immortality. It was obviously a slow and complicated process as the mortal parts have to be burned away each night over a period of time.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Heka will only work if the magician knows the true name and nature of an object, person or deity. If your true name was pronounced then you had no choice but to obey which is why it was essential to keep it secret. People were given special names known only to themselves and their parents.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Egyptians were totally accepting of this approach as they perceived the deities to be fluid and above definition. They saw value in multiple approaches rather than the restricting dogma of one cult’s point of view. Contradictions were to be expected, so competing cults were often embraced and assimilated.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“Anubis survives in the Eastern Orthodox Church as St Christopher depicted with a dog’s head.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“In the beginning there was only the Great Mother Goddess but as her power was eroded by increasingly patriarchal religions she became fragmented into an array of deities. Is the strong feminine duality present in Egyptian philosophy and religion an echo of this? The duality of the Great Mother first split into the Double Goddess then into Goddesses who work together, such as Isis and Nephthys. These will always create a complementary pair as they are really part of the same whole. The Double Goddess is collaborative female power integrating all components of female energy and this collaboration is seen perfectly in the work of Isis and Nephthys.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome

“In the beginning there was only the Great Mother Goddess but as her power was eroded by increasingly patriarchal religions she became fragmented into an array of deities. Is the strong feminine duality present in Egyptian philosophy and religion an echo of this? The duality of the Great Mother first split into the Double Goddess then into Goddesses who work together, such as Isis and Nephthys.”
― Lesley Jackson, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome