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Knowflake

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posted June 15, 2007 04:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I was going to post the following to add to my reply in the Osiris/Isis thread.
    All of these mythological deities are quite incestuous. They are all like 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Linked/joined- at -the -hip/inter-related. The Romans have one name, the Greeks another, and on and on.
Wikipedia used to be my go-to reference spot. I'm finding that Answers.com is my jumping point. The organization of their references have mucho hyperlinks, embedded pictures, the format, the writing all of it is much better for this work.
    So, feel free to jump on this; or switch gears. Talk about Norse mythology. I don't mind. To start here is some Anubis, and much of it is more clear to me.
Please understand that the following is chock full of pictures and hyperlinks in the original answers.com page. Visit them, note to self- should add link here-smiles.

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Knowflake

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posted June 15, 2007 04:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Anubis



Anubis is the Greek name for the ancient jackal-headed god of the dead in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic version is more accurately spelled Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Anbu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, Inpu, or Inpw). He is also known as Sekhem Em Pet. Prayers to Anubis have been found carved on the most ancient tombs in Egypt; indeed, the Unas text (line 70) associates him with the Eye of Horus. He serves as both a guide of the recently departed and a guardian of the dead.


God of the dead
AnubisOriginally, in the Ogdoad system, he was god of the underworld. He was said to have a wife, Anput (who was really just his female aspect, her name being his with an additional feminine suffix: the t), who was depicted exactly the same, though feminine. He is also listed to have taken to wife the feminine form of Neheb Kau, Nehebka, and Kebauet. Kebauet, the Goddess of cold water, is also listed as his daughter in some places. His father was originally Ra in many papyrus records which were found in pyramids.(Anubis is fourth son of Ra.) But in after ages, his father was said to be Osiris, as he was the god of the dead, and his mother was said to be Nephthys. And Anubis was identified as the father of Kebechet, the goddess of the purification of body organs due to be placed in canopic jars during mummification.


Embalmer
Statuette of Anubis
Anubis was the guardian of the dead, who greeted the souls in the Underworld and protected them on their journey. It was he who deemed the deceased worthy of becoming a star. Ancient Egyptian texts say that Anubis silently walked through the shadows of life and death and lurked in dark places. He was watchful by day as well as by night. He also weighed the heart of the dead against the feather symbol of Ma’at, the goddess of truth. One of the reasons that the ancient Egyptians took such care to preserve their dead with sweet-smelling herbs was that it was believed Anubis would check each person with his keen canine nose. Only if they smelled pure would he allow them to enter the Kingdom of the Dead.

Anubis was portrayed as a jackal-headed man, or as a jackal wearing ribbons and holding a flagellum in the crook of its arm. Some think that he was not pictured as a jackal but as a dog, fox, wolf, or hybrid instead. Very rarely is he ever shown fully human. Anubis was always shown as a black jackal or dog, even though real jackals are typically tan or a light brown. To the Egyptians black was the color of regeneration, death, and the night. It was also the color that the body turned during mummification. The reason for Anubis’s animal being canine is based on what the ancient Egyptians themselves observed of the creature - dogs and jackals often haunted the edges of the desert, especially near the cemeteries where the dead were buried. In fact, it is thought that the Egyptians began the practice of making elaborate graves and tombs to protect the dead from desecration by jackals. A statue of Anubis, jackal-form, was found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. When pet dogs died, they were mummified and buried in temples dedicated to Anubis.

Following the merging of the Ennead and Ogdoad belief systems, as a result of the identification of Atum with Ra, and their compatibility, Anubis became considered a lesser god in the underworld, giving way to the more popular Osiris. Indeed, when the Legend of Osiris and Isis emerged, it was said that when Osiris had died, Osiris' organs were given to Anubis as a gift. Since he had been more associated with beliefs about the weighing of the heart than had Osiris, Anubis retained this aspect, and became considered more the gatekeeper and Ruler of the underworld, the Guardian of the veil (of death). As such, he was said to protect souls as they journeyed there, and thus be the patron of lost souls (and consequently orphans). Rather than god of death, he had become god of dying, and consequently funeral arrangements. It was as the god of dying that his identity merged with that of Wepwawet, a similar jackal-headed god, associated with funerary practice, who had been worshiped in Upper Egypt, whereas Anubis' cult had centered in Lower Egypt.

As one of the most important funerary rites in Egypt involved the process of embalming, so it was that Anubis became the god of embalming, in the process gaining titles such as He who belongs to the mummy wrappings, and He who is before the divine [embalming] booth. High priests often wore the Anubis mask to perform the ceremonial deeds of embalming. It also became said, frequently in the Book of the dead, that it had been Anubis who embalmed the dead body of Osiris (which would make him the older sibling of Horus), with the assistance of the other main funerary deities involved - Nephthys, and Isis. Having become god of embalming, Anubis became strongly associated with the (currently) mysterious and ancient imiut fetish, present during funerary rites, and Bast, who by this time was goddess of ointment, initially became thought of as his mother.

No public procession in Egypt would be conducted without an Anubis to march at the head, the “go-between” of gods and men. The ancient Egyptians swore “by the Dog” when making oaths they would not break.

However, as lesser of the two gods of the underworld, he gradually became considered the son of Osiris, but Osiris' wife, Isis, was not considered his mother, since she too inappropriately was associated with life. Instead, his mother became considered to be Nephthys, who had become strongly associated with funerary practice, indeed had in some ways become the personification of mourning, and was said to supply bandages to the deceased. Subsequently, this apparent infidelity of Osiris was explained in myth, in which it was said that a sexually frustrated Nephthys had disguised herself as Isis in order to appeal to her husband, Set, but he did not notice her as he was infertile (some modern versions depict Set as a homosexual, but these have little bearing on the original myth), whereas Isis' husband Osiris did, mistaking her for his wife, which resulted in Anubis' birth. Other versions of the myth depict Set as the father, and it remains unclear as to whether Set was truly infertile or not.

In later times, during the Ptolemaic period, as their functions were similar, Anubis was identified as the Greek god Hermes, becoming Hermanubis. The centre of this cult was in uten-ha/Sa-ka/ Cynopolis, a place whose Greek name simply means city of dogs. In Book xi of The Golden Ass by Apuleius, we find evidence that the worship of this god was maintained in Rome at least up to the 2nd century. Indeed, Hermanubis also appears in the alchemical and hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Although the Greeks and Romans typically scorned Egypt’s animal-headed gods as bizarre and primitive (they mockingly called Anubis the “Barker”), Anubis was sometimes associated with Sirius in heaven, and Cerberus in hell.

Early Christians were also repulsed by Anubis; the writer Tertillian claimed that the Egyptians practiced a “despicable religion” in which the worshiper is “led like a slave by the greedy throat and filthy habits of a dog.” It seems odd that Anubis should be scorned this way. It is true that his two emblematic creatures, the jackal and the dog, were in the ancient world notorious scavengers. But one of the main functions of Anubis was to release the human body at death from the uncleanness that possessed it. He washed the body, embalmed it, and perfumed it with myrrh. He wrapped it with clean linen and received it at the door of the tomb – to the Egyptians he was “Lord of the Cleansing Room.” As the Greeks and Christians did not embalm the bodies of their dead (and death itself was considered to be a terrifying thing), they unfairly associated the holy Anubis with disease and decay

    Anubis-1912-=13=4
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  • Ptah-5011 (16=7)
  • Sekhamet-5381-(=17=8)
  • Horus-1924-(=16=7)
  • Ishtar-7088 (23=5)

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Knowflake

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posted June 16, 2007 09:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Isis Isis
(West Asian mythology)

Literal meaning: ‘seat’. The mother goddess of Egypt; the daughter of Nut, the wife and sister of Osiris, and the mother of Horus. She was depicted as a woman, often suckling the child Horus on her lap. When represented with the solar disc and cow's horns, she was identified with Hathor. A legend tells how Isis discovered the ineffable name of Re, the sun god. Weary of worldly affairs, she determined to become a goddess by using the name of the sun god, already in his dotage. She collected some of his spittle, mixed it with earth and so created a serpent, which she placed in Re's path. Bitten and poisoned, the sun god was advised by Isis to utter his own name since its divinity bestowed life on whoever spoke it. At last the working of the venom compelled Re to speak, and Isis appropriated a portion of his power. Thereafter she sparkled as the constellation Sirius, while her cult spread to Greece and Rome.


2. Egyptian representation of Isis wearing cow horns and the sun disc

Dictionary

Home > Library > Words > Dictionary I·sis1 (ī'sĭs)
n. Mythology.
An ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, the sister and wife of Osiris.


Classical Literature Companion

Home > Library > Arts > Classical Literature Companion Īsis
Īsis, great Egyptian goddess, sister and wife of Osiris and mother of Hōrus. She represented the female productive force of nature: Herodotus identified her with Demeter, but in the early Hellenistic age she is identified with Aphroditē and also with the Ptolemaic queens. Her symbol was the cow. She was also, with Osiris, thought of as ruler of the Underworld. In Greece, her worship was established in Piraeus by the fourth century BC, by Egyptians living there. Her cult, which in some respects was akin to a mystery religion (see MYSTERIES), spread to Rome in the second century BC.

Archaeology Dictionary

Home > Library > Reference > Archaeology Dictionary Isis
(Aset) [Di]

Egyptian moon goddess and one of the great goddesses in the Helipolitan Ennead She was mistress of magic, wife of Osiris, and mother of Horus. With Nephthys, Neith, and Selket, she was one of the four protector goddesses of the dead: she watched over the canopic jar containing the liver. She is often depicted as a woman with a moon-disc on her brow. In the late period Philae was her cult centre.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

Home > Library > Reference > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Isis

One of the major goddesses of ancient Egypt, the wife of Osiris. When Osiris was killed by Seth, she gathered up the pieces of his body, mourned for him, and brought him back to life. She hid their son Horus from Seth until Horus was fully grown and could avenge his father. Worshiped as a goddess of protection, she had great magical powers and was invoked to heal the sick or protect the dead. By Greco-Roman times she was dominant among Egyptian goddesses, and her cult reached much of the Roman world as a mystery religion.

For more information on Isis, visit Britannica.com.


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Columbia Encyclopedia

Home > Library > Reference > Columbia Encyclopedia Isis (ī'sĭs) , nature goddess whose worship, originating in ancient Egypt, gradually extended throughout the lands of the Mediterranean world during the Hellenistic period and became one of the chief religions of the Roman Empire. The worship of Isis, combined with that of her brother and husband Osiris and their son Horus, was enormously resistant to the influence of early Christian teachings, and her mysteries, celebrating the death and resurrection of Osiris, were performed as late as the 6th cent. A.D. The functions of many goddesses were attributed to her, so that eventually she became the prototype of the beneficent mother goddess, the bringer of fertility and consolation to all. She was the daughter of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. Her symbol was a throne and later the cow, and she was frequently represented with a cow's head or cow's horns. During the Hellenistic period, her image outside Egypt became increasingly Hellenic, with ideal features and locks framing her face. Isis was also a goddess of magic, and legends tell of her ability to counteract evil by casting spells.
Bibliography

See R. E. Witt, Isis in the Greco-Roman World (1981).


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WordNet

Home > Library > Reference > WordNet Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun Isis has one meaning:

Meaning #1: goddess of fertility; daughter of Geb; sister and wife of Osiris


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Wikipedia

Home > Library > Reference > Wikipedia Isis
This article discusses the ancient goddess. For other uses, see Isis (disambiguation).
Isis is a goddess in Egyptian mythology. She was most prominent mythologically as the wife and sister of Osiris and mother of Horus, and was worshipped as the archetypical wife and mother.

Her name literally means (female) of throne, i.e. Queen of the throne, which was portrayed by the emblem worn on her head, that of a throne. However, the hieroglyph of her name originally meant (female) of flesh, i.e. mortal, and she may simply have represented deified, historical queens.

Her origins are uncertain but are believed to have come from the Nile Delta; however, unlike other Egyptian deities, she did not have a centralised cult at any point throughout her worship. First mentions of Isis date back to the Fifth dynasty of Egypt which is when the first literary inscriptions are found, but her cult became prominent late in Egyptian history, when it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses. It eventually spread outside Egypt throughout the Middle East and Europe, with temples dedicated to her built as far away as the British Isles. Pockets of her worship remained in Christian Europe as late as the 6th century.

The Goddess Isis, wall painting, ca. 1360 BC.
Origin of the name
Isis
in hieroglyphs




The English pronunciation used for this deity, /ˈaɪ.sɪs/), is an anglicized pronunciation of the Greek name, Ίσις, which itself changed the original Egyptian name by the addition of a final -s because of the grammatical requirements of Greek noun endings.

The Egyptian name was recorded as ỉs.t or ȝs.t and meant '(She of the) Throne'. However the true Egyptian pronunciation remains uncertain because their writing system omitted vowels. Based on recent studies which present us with approximations based on contemporary languages and Coptic evidence, the reconstructed pronunciation of her name is *ʔŪsat (ooh-saht). Later, the name survived into Coptic dialects as Ēse or Ēsi, as well as in compound words surviving in names of later people like Har-si-Ese, literally "Horus, son of Isis".

For convenience and arbitrarily, Egyptologists choose to pronounce the word as ee-set. Sometimes they may also say ee-sa because the final 't' in her name was a feminine suffix which is known to have been dropped in speech during the last stages of the Egyptian language.


Temples
Most Egyptian deities started off as strictly local, and throughout their history retained local centers of worship, with most major cities and towns widely known as the hometowns to their deities. However, no traces of local Isis cults are found; throughout her early history there are also no known temples dedicated to her. Individual worship of Isis does not begin until as late as the 30th dynasty; until that time Isis was depicted and apparently worshipped in temples of other deities. However, even then Isis is not worshipped individually, but rather together with Horus and Osiris- the latter of whom being both her brother and husband ( marriage between brothers and sisters of the Royal family were common in Ancient Egypt to keep the Royal bloodline 'intact' ). Temples dedicated specifically to Isis become wide-spread only in the Roman times.

By this period, temples to Isis begin to spread outside of Egypt. In many locations, particularly Byblos, her cult takes over that of worship to the Semitic goddess Astarte, apparently due to the similarity of names and associations. During the Hellenic era, due to her attributes as a protector, and mother, and the lusty aspect originally from Hathor, she was also made the patron goddess of sailors.

Throughout the Graeco-Roman world, Isis becomes one of the most significant of the mystery religions, and many classical writers refer to her temples, cults and rites. Temples to Isis were built in Iraq, Greece, Rome, even as far north as England where the remains of a temple were discovered at Hadrian's Wall. At Philae her worship persisted until the 6th century, long after the wide acceptance of Christianity- this was the last of the ancient Egyptian temples to be closed, and its fall is generally accepted to mark the end of ancient Egypt.


Priesthood
Priestess of Isis, Roman statue 2nd Century C.E.Little information on Egyptian priests of Isis survives; however it is clear there were both priests and priestesses of her cult throughout her history. By the Graeco-Roman era, many of them were healers, and were said to have many other special powers, including dream interpretation and the ability to control the weather by braiding or combing their hair, the latter of which was believed because the Egyptians considered knots to have magical powers.


Iconography

Associations
"tyet" –
Knot of Isis
in hieroglyphs



Because of the association between knots and magical power, a symbol of Isis was the tiet/tyet (meaning welfare/life), also called the Knot of Isis, Buckle of Isis, or the Blood of Isis. The tiet in many respects resembles an ankh, except that its arms curve down, and in all these cases seems to represent the idea of eternal life/resurrection. The meaning of Blood of Isis is more obscured, but the tyet was often used as a funerary amulet made of red wood, stone, or glass, so this may have simply been a description of its appearance.

The star Spica (sometimes called Lute Bearer), and the constellation which roughly corresponded to the modern Virgo, appeared at a time of year associated with the harvest of wheat and grain, and thus with fertility gods and goddesses. Consequently they were associated with Hathor, and hence with Isis through her later conflation with Hathor. Isis also assimilated Sopdet, the personification of Sirius, since Sopdet, rising just before the flooding of the Nile, was seen as a bringer of fertility, and so had been identified with Hathor. Sopdet still retained an element of distinct identity, however, as Sirius was quite visibly a star and not living in the underworld (Isis being the wife of Osiris who was king of the underworld).

In the Roman period, probably due to assimilation with the goddesses Aphrodite and Venus, the rose was used in her worship. The demand for roses throughout the Empire turned rose growing into an important industry.


Titles
In the Book of the Dead Isis was described as:

She who gives birth to heaven and earth,
She who knows the orphan,
She who knows the widow spider,
She who seeks justice for the poor people,
She who seeks shelter for the weak people
Some of Isis' many other titles were:

Queen of Heaven,
Mother of the Gods,
The One Who is All,
Lady of Green Crops,
The Brilliant One in the Sky,
Star of the Sea,
Great Lady of Magic,
Mistress of the House of Life,
She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart,
Light-Giver of Heaven,
Lady of the Words of Power,
Moon Shining Over the Sea.

Depictions
Isis with cow horns, solar disk, sitting on lion throne with Horus on her lap. (Egyptian Late Period)In art, originally Isis was pictured as a woman wearing a long sheath dress and crowned with the hieroglyphic sign for a throne, sometimes holding a lotus, as a sycamore tree. After her assimilation of Hathor, Isis's headdress is replaced with that of Hathor: the horns of a cow on her head, and the solar disc between them. She was also sometimes symbolised by a cow, or a cow's head. Usually, she was depicted with her son, the great god Horus, with a crown and a vulture, and sometimes as a kite bird flying above Osiris's body.

Isis is most often seen holding only the generic ankh sign and a simple staff, but is sometimes seen with Hathor's attributes, the sacred sistrum rattle and the fertility bearing menat necklace.


Isis in literature
Isis is the most important goddess in Egyptian mythology who transferred from a local goddess in the Nile Delta to a cosmic goddess all over the whole ancient world. The name Isis is still a beloved name among modern coptic Egyptians, and in Europe the name (Isadora) i.e. Gift of Isis is still common.

Plutarch's Isis and Osiris[1] is considered a main source in which he writes of Isis: "she is both wise, and a lover of wisdom; as her name appears to denote that, more than any other, knowing and knowledge belong to her." In The Golden Ass the Roman writer Apuleius' gives us an understanding of Isis in the second century. The following paragraph is particularly significant:

"You see me here, Lucius, in answer to your prayer. I am nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are, my nod governs the shining heights of Heavens, the wholesome sea breezes. though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names. . . some know me as Juno, some as Bellona . . . the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning and worship call me by my true name..Queen Isis."


Mythology

Isis
in hieroglyphs

.or




As the deification of the wife of the pharaoh, the first prominent role of Isis was as the assistant to the deceased king. Thus she gained a funerary association, her name appearing over 80 times in the Pyramid Texts, and was said to be the mother of the four gods who protected the canopic jars - more specifically, Isis was viewed as protector of the liver-jar-god Imsety. This association with the Pharaoh's wife also brought the idea that Isis was considered the spouse of Horus, who was protector, and later the deification, of the Pharaoh himself. Consequently, on occasion, her mother was said to be Hathor, the mother of Horus. By the Middle Kingdom, as the funeral texts spread to be used by non-royals, her role also grows to protect the nobles and even the commoners.

By the New Kingdom, Isis gains prominence as the mother / protector of the Pharaoh. She is said to breastfeed the pharaoh with her milk, and is often depicted visually as such. The role of her name and her throne-crown is uncertain. Some egyptologists believe that being the throne-mother was Isis' original function, however a more modern view states that aspects of the role came later by association. In many African tribes, the king's throne is known as the mother of the king, and that fits well with either theories, giving us more insight into the thinking of ancient Egyptians.


Sister-wife to Osiris
In another area of Egypt, when the pantheon was formalised, Isis became one of the Ennead of Heliopolis, as a daughter of Nut and Geb, and sister to Osiris, Nephthys, and Set. As a funerary deity, she was associated with Osiris, god of the underworld (Duat), and thus was considered his wife. The two females - Isis and Nephthys were often depicted on coffins, with wings outstretched, as protectors against evil.

A later legend, ultimately a result of the replacement of another god of the underworld when the cult of Osiris gained more authority, tells of the birth of Anubis. The tale describes how Nephthys became sexually frustrated with Set and disguised herself as the much more attractive Isis to try to seduce him. The ploy failed, but Osiris now found Nepthys very attractive, as he thought she was Isis. They coupled, resulting in the birth of Anubis. In fear of Set's anger, Nephthys persuaded Isis to adopt Anubis, so that Set would not find out. The tale describes both why Anubis is seen as an underworld deity (he is a son of Osiris), and why he couldn't inherit Osiris' position (he was not a legitimate heir), neatly preserving Osiris' position as lord of the underworld. However, it should be remembered that this story was only a later creation of the Osirian cult who wanted to depict Set in an evil position, as the enemy of Osiris.

In another myth, Set had a banquet for Osiris in which he brought in a beautiful box and said that whoever could fit in the box perfectly would get to keep it. Set had measured Osiris in his sleep so that he was the only person that could fit in the box. Once i t was Osiris' turn to see if he could fit in the box, Set closed the lid on him so that the box was now a coffin for Osiris. Set flung the box in the Nile so that it would float far away. Isis went looking for the box so that Osiris could have a proper burial. She found the box in a tree in Byblos, and brought it back to Egypt and hid it in a swamp. Set went hunting that night and found the box. To make it so Isis could never find Osiris again, Set chopped Osiris' body into fourteen pieces and scattered them all over Egypt. Isis and Nephthys, her sister went looking for his pieces, but could only find thirteen of the fourteen. The last piece, his penis, had been swallowed by a crab, so Isis fashioned one out of gold. Isis used her magic to put Osiris' body back together. Isis managed to bring Osiris back to life for one night, in which they concieved Horus.


Assimilation of Hathor
Beliefs about Ra himself had been hovering around the identification of Ra, a sun god, with Horus, another sun god (as the compound Ra-Herakhty), and so for some time, Isis had intermittently been considered the wife of Ra, since she was the mother of Horus. Consequently, since there was not anything logically troubling by identifying Isis as Ra's wife, Hathor unlike identifying Ra as her own son, she and Hathor became considered the same deity, Isis-Hathor. Sometimes the alternative consideration arose, that Isis, in the Ennead, was a child of Atum-Ra, and so should have been a child of Ra's wife, Hathor, although this was less favoured as Isis had enough in common with Hathor to be considered one and the same.


Mother of Horus
Isis nursing Horus.It was this merger with Hathor that proved to be the most significant event in the history of Egyptian mythology. By merging with Hathor, Isis became the mother of Horus, rather than his Wife, and thus, when beliefs of Ra absorbed Atum into Atum-Ra, it also had to be taken into account that Isis was one of the Ennead, as the wife of Osiris. However, it had to be explained how Osiris, who as god of the dead, was dead, could be considered a father to Horus, who was not considered dead. This led to the evolution of the idea that Osiris needed to be resurrected, and so to the Legend of Osiris and Isis, of which Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride contains the most extensive account known today, a myth so significant that it is the most famous of all Egyptian myths.

A statue of Isis nursing Horus, housed in the Louvre.Yet another set of myths detail the adventures of Isis after the birth of Osiris' posthumous son, Horus. Many dangers faced Horus after birth, and Isis fled with the newborn to escape the wrath of Set, the murderer of her husband. In one instance, Isis heals Horus from a lethal scorpion sting; she also performs other miracles in relation to the so-called cippi, or the plaques of Horus. Isis protected and raised Horus until he was old enough to face Set, and subsequentally became the king of Egypt.


Magic
In order to resurrect Osiris for the purpose of having the child Horus, it was necessary for Isis to learn how to swim, and so it was that Isis tricked Ra (i.e. Amun-Ra/Atum-Ra) into telling her his "secret name", by biting and making love to him, so that he would use his "secret name" to survive. This aspect becomes central in magic spells, and Isis is often implored to use the true name of Ra while performing rituals. By the late Egyptian history, Isis becomes the most important, and most powerful magical deity of the Egyptian pantheon. Magic is central to the entire mythology of Isis; arguably more so than any other Egyptian deity.

In consequence of her deeply magical nature, Isis also became a goddess of magic (though Thoth was always the leading god of magic). The prior goddess to hold the quadruple roles of healer, protector of the canopic jars, protector of marriage, and goddess of magic, Serket, became considered an aspect of her. Thus it is not surprising that Isis had a central role in Egyptian magic spells and ritual, especially those of protection and healing. In many spells, she is also completely merged even with Horus, where invocations of Isis are supposed to automatically involve Horus' powers as well.


Assimilation of Mut
After the authority of Thebes had risen, and made Amun into a much more significant god, it later waned, and Amun was assimilated into Ra. In consequence, Amun's consort, Mut, the doting, infertile, and implicitly virginal mother, who by this point had absorbed other goddesses herself, was assimilated into Ra's wife, Isis-Hathor as Mut-Isis-Nekhbet. On occasion, Mut's infertility and implicit virginity was taken into consideration, and so Horus, who was too significant to ignore, had to be explained by saying that Isis became pregnant with magic, when she transformed herself into a kite and flew over Osiris' dead body.

Mut's husband was Amun, who had by this time become identified with Min as Amun-Min (also known by his epithet - Kamutef). Since Mut had become part of Isis, it was natural to try to make Amun, part of Osiris, the husband of Isis, but this was not easily reconcilable, because Amun-Min was a fertility god and Osiris was the god of the dead. Consequently they remained regarded separately, and Isis was sometimes said to be the lover of Min. Subsequently, as at this stage Amun-Min was considered an aspect of Ra (Amun-Ra), he was also considered an aspect of Horus, since Horus was identified as Ra, and thus Isis' son was on rare occasions said to be Min instead, which neatly avoided having confusion over Horus's status as was held at being the husband and son of Isis.


Isis outside Egypt
The cult of Isis rose to prominence in the Hellenistic world, beginning in the last centuries BC, until it was eventually banned by the Christians in the 6th century. Despite the Isis mystery cult's growing popularity, there is evidence to suggest that the Isis mysteries were not altogether welcomed by the ruling classes in Rome. Her rites were considered by the princeps Augustus to be "pornographic" and capable of destroying the Roman moral fibre.

Tacitus writes that after Julius Caesar's assassination, a temple in honour of Isis had been decreed; Augustus suspended this, and tried to turn Romans back to the Roman gods who were closely associated with the state. Eventually the Roman emperor Caligula abandoned the Augustan wariness towards oriental cults, and it was in his reign that the Isiac festival was established in Rome. According to Josephus, Caligula himself donned female garb and took part in the mysteries he instituted, and Isis acquired in the Hellenistic age a "new rank as a leading goddess of the Mediterranean world."

Roman perspectives on cult were syncretic, seeing in a new deity merely local aspects of a familiar one. For many Romans, Egyptian Isis was an aspect of Phrygian Cybele, whose orgiastic rites were long naturalized at Rome, indeed she was known as Isis of Ten Thousand Names.

Among these names of Roman Isis, Queen of Heaven is outstanding for its long and continuous history. Herodotus identified Isis with the Greek and Roman goddesses of agriculture, Demeter and Ceres. In Yorùbá mythology, Isis became Yemaya. In later years, Isis also had temples throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, and as far away as the British Isles, where there was a temple to Isis on the River Thames by Southwark.


Parallels in Catholicism and Orthodoxy
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.
On the right is Our Mother of Perpetual Help, a famous medieval icon of Mary and Jesus; on the left is a bronze statue of Isis nursing Horus dating from the Ptolomeic era of Egypt.Some scholars believe that Isis worship in late Roman times was the an influence behind Catholic development of the cult of the Virgin Mary. Evidence suggests that this allowed the Catholic Church to absorb a huge number of converts who had formerly believed in Isis, and would not have converted unless Catholicism offered them an "Isis-like" female focus for their faith. Iconographically the similarities between the seated Isis holding or suckling the child Horus (Harpocrates) and the seated Mary and the baby Jesus, is apparent.

Some Christian writers find fault with these claims, and suggest that by the time the cult of the Virgin Mary arose, the worship of Isis had greatly evolved from the Egyptian myths, and her relationship with Horus was no longer a major factor. However, this view is overshadowed by the fact that Late Roman beliefs regarding the attributes of Isis are almost identical to Early Catholic beliefs regarding Mary. One has only to read the quote from Apuleius above, to see that Isis was worshipped in Roman Times as a Universal and merciful mother figure. Though the Virgin Mary is not worshipped (only venerated) in Catholicism and Orthodoxy, her role as a merciful mother figure has parallels with the role formerly played by Isis. Critics point out that stylistic similarities between iconography of Mary and Isis are not proof of syncretism, since they could represent a "type." That is, a "good mother" would most naturally be represented by a woman holding a child in her arms. Similarly an exalted female figure would naturally tend toward identification with that of a Queen.

Certain Fundamentalist Christians[2] have popularly promoted and even exaggerated the Isis-Mary similarities as part of anti-Catholic polemic, asserting that Catholicism is therefore syncretic, tainted by paganism.

The veneration of Mary in Orthodox[3] and even Anglican tradition is often overlooked[4]. The traditional images (Icons) of Mary are still popular in Orthodoxy today[5]. See also Christianization and syncretism.

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lotusheartone
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posted June 17, 2007 08:48 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Good Stuff!

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Node
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posted June 21, 2007 06:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Below is a conversationally toned essay by one of my favorite astrologers. He also happens to be a professional writer- and is a great teacher. There is a face to face, one on one quality to his writing that makes it intimate, and accessible.
    A look at goddess astrology by Eric Francis-

An Astrological Look at Ceres, Juno, Pallas and Vesta
IN GREEK AND ROMAN TIMES, there were 12 primary deities, an evenly divided committee of gods and goddesses who represented different attributes of the human psyche. We know that our mythological models are really pictures of how we think of ourselves, and how we play our cultural games. So is it any surprise that in the prevailing Western model of astrology, we have the six Olympian gods, but only two of the goddesses?

This presents problems for astrology, but it also reflects a problem in the world. Imagine if our only two images of man were Daddy and Sex monger (or Lawyer). What would a guy put on his résumé for college professor? "Hot in bed and likes kids?"

This is the problem with our astrological picture of women, and our corresponding cultural one. We have Venus, the sex goddess, and "the moon," supposedly mommy. (The moon doesn't even get capitalized; I will call her Luna, one of her proper names.)

Venus, who gets oversimplified like a lot of her sisters, is one of the most complex planets going: she works as an attractive force and as a creative one. She is about beauty and pleasure, two of the most idealized roles we attach to women. She "rules" two signs: Taurus, where we have a sense of our wealth, self-esteem and personal values; and Libra, a state of mind where we do most of our learning in the sphere of relationships. But Libra is also the sign representing the lower courts, where most issues of justice are litigated, so she has implications here as well.

Luna is not just mommy. She is the goddess of the hunt (Diana) and the guardian and patroness of unmarried women. We live by the hunt, or we did so in earlier (pre-agricultural) days. And we know that the world is not such a safe place for young women. She is an important goddess, but as "the moon" is reduced to a kind of housewife. Astrologically, her dominion is our habits, our body and our feelings and sense of security, intuition, childhood, and the realm of our unconscious thought patterns.

If you don't look further, this is where astrology runs out of female expressions of both Spirit and Humanity.

But there is more to women than this. Starting in 1801, and heralding the early feminist movements, there's been a series of discoveries of small planets, many of which were named after women. The first four of these are known as the major asteroids, and (with one exception) bear the Roman equivalent names of the Olympian goddesses. What we get in these four character types (or archetypes) is a view of the thoughts, roles and ideas that are missing from, or are poorly defined in, our culture and in our astrology. Were I King of the World, no astrology chart would be cast without them.

Two Little Points

Before I get into the meanings of the first four asteroids, there are two points that need addressing. The first is the common objection by most traditional astrologers that asteroids are "too little" to "have an effect." (I think what they really mean are there are "too many asteroids" and they "have a confusing effect on my mind.") However, let's take a quick look at this because the argument falls on its butt. Many things in astrology have no mass whatsoever. Nobody has ever seen the Part of Fortune with a telescope (it is calculated mathematically). Similarly, the North Node, the ascendant, the mid heaven and the house cusps, exist only as abstractions (though the lunar nodes really make you wonder whether there's something there that can't be seen with the eye). So just because a planet is only a couple of kilometers across doesn't make it less important. What makes it less important is that it's diminished and not used, kind of like Pan in the Tom Robbins book who disappears because nobody believes in him.

Next point is, what is the difference between an asteroid and a planet? In general, asteroids are much more specific in their application. The asteroid Photographia, for example, is literally involved with the taking of photographs. A planet can have multiple signification. Mars, for example, is about anger, sex, aggression, passion, war and specific things like falling down. And because it rules Aries and Scorpio it has heaped onto it a whole bunch more data in a chart.

Asteroids are generally not ascribed rulerships (there are lots of theories floating around, like sticking Juno with Scorpio and Vesta with Virgo, which make some sense). But the issue of rulerships is in itself suspect, or worth mulling over. It is an old system and its use is starting to be outworn. We have had to deal with this question quite a bit as a result of many new planetary discoveries (does Chiron rule Virgo or Scorpio? Does it rule anything? Does Pluto "really" rule Pisces? And so on.)

But we could say that asteroids -- even the Olympian goddesses -- are more specific in their themes and planets more general. Asteroids add amazing detail to a chart, for sure. But what we are seeing with the four Olympian goddesses is that their themes really are spreading out into all facets of life (take Ceres, for instance) and the fact that they might seem so limited at first has to do with the fact that they were limited and taken out of general consciousness for so long.

Here's a brief introduction to the first four Goddesses of Astrology.

Ceres, called Demeter in Greek, was discovered on New Year's Day 1801, before Neptune and before Pluto, and was deemed an "asteroid," or little planet; this is called the diminutive. Had she been discovered today, she would most certainly have been classified as a full-fledged planet. She comprises 25% of the total mass of the asteroid belt, where about 50,000 small objects orbit the Sun. The current debate over whether Pluto is not a planet needs to be turned around to include Ceres AS a planet.

Ceres is the root of the word cereal; she is the goddess of food and agriculture. In astrological delineation, we can look to her for very specific information about matters relating to food and nurturing, and where the two meet. She can represent the quality of nurturing we got as a child, and how we function (or don't) as nurturers in our relationships.

But Ceres has an added dimension, since her daughter, Persephone, was abducted by Pluto, which grieved her terribly. Ceres represents subject matter that surrounds the mother's (or primary nurturing parent's) grief and fears about children, particularly those who are taken to the underworld of crime, prison, drugs, or lost to dark parents. With millions of people unjustly in our prisons today, we have a very important planet and mythological reference to work with.

In terms of agriculture, we are in critical times as well. We are seeing the seizure of the life force by companies which create chemically-sprayed and genetically-modified foods; and at the same time, we're seeing a significant interest in organic and Bio dynamic foods, in a struggle that feels a lot like the daughter of nature struggling for her freedom from the corporate underworld. Ceres is Mother Earth.

Juno, also discovered in 1801, was called Hera in Greek times. Her name means "queen of heaven." Mythologically, she is the wife of Jupiter, and endured his many trysts and sexual exploits with other goddesses.

Her dominion astrologically is partnership dynamics, fidelity, jealousy and the property of score keeping in relationships. But she is the attribute of the goddess who is the queen, the divine consort of the king of the gods. We saw a major re-emergence of Juno during the Clinton administration, in the form of a (Scorpio) First Lady who insisted on being called by her full name (Hillary Rodham Clinton), who had a great deal of influence in the White House, and who went on to a political career in her own right.

Martha Wescott put it well when she said that Juno represents what "stands between the two [partners] and prevents the relationship from being utterly fulfilling. So Juno addresses the bone of contention. It's also part of the important dynamic that was learned from the relationship of the parents (and particularly the mother's role and attitude in that marriage)." Or, as one of my clients put it so succinctly tonight, "Marriage at any cost."

Pallas Athene, discovered 1802, is the goddess after whom the city of Athens is named, for she is its protectress. The view of her city from her temple on the Acropolis is stunning. She was born in full armor from the head of her father, Zeus. It is interesting that she is allowed to keep her Greek rather than her Roman name in modern usage, which is rare.

Athene is the warrior-goddess, who is making a re-emergence in a number of forms in our culture. Astrologically, she represents political and negotiating skills, having been transformed into a kind of modern lawyer-like warrior (as have most of her male warrior counterparts). In one of her most alluring roles in the past 25 years, she manifested as Princess Leah in the Star Wars series, the beautiful, intelligent and gutsy, not to mention politically shrewd, leader of the rebel forces.

But her sacrifice is that in order to have her political and warrior power, she seems to surrender an element of her femininity -- or so we think. She was, after all, born of a man and born in full armor. But underneath all that armor, she is quite naked. It just may take some negotiating to get there.

On these lines, I propose that sexual negotiation skills, which are a relatively new concept for our culture, are likely to be an attribute of Athene. These are essential skills for anyone who wants to have sexual experiences that are on mutually-acceptable terms.

Last, defenses... while we're getting personal with Pallas, I have seen that subject matter involving defenses and defensiveness can be involved with this asteroid. She is, after all, an armed defender. Righteous, just and true, but defensive about it. So we can look at the placement and aspects of Pallas for some clues about this attribute of who we are and how we react.

Vesta, discovered in 1807, is a complex goddess figure and correspondingly complex asteroid who has some interesting implications for our times. Called Hestia in Greek, she's the brightest asteroid, appropriate for her role as the goddess of the hearth, in whose temple the six Vestal Virgins tended the eternal flame. But this flame, kept in a temple, has sexual implications, and with Vesta we have the emergence of the Sacred ***** : the goddess of sex for healing, ritual and transformational purposes.

Astrologically, Vesta has been taken to represent issues like using work as a substitute for relationships, the transfer of sexual energy into art, and learning how not to take things so personally. All these themes hold, but they seem to cleverly disguise the attribute of the feminine which, making a personal sacrifice to do so, uses her sexual fire for the healing of others. She knows she is part of something larger than herself, and she gives herself up to do its work.

We met her in high school (if we were fortunate) as the one girl who was truly not afraid to have sex or be called a **** , and would not demand a relationship commitment in exchange. Sex with her was conscious, it gave us a new experiences, which changed us, and it taught us something about ourselves. We may still know such women, from whom sex is a conscious gift and a sharing that is no less powerful or intimate despite being outside a traditional relationship.

Vesta has many manifestations in what we're currently seeing emerge as a kind of spiritual sex movement, which includes Tantric sex, various types of erotic workshops, and many prostitutes who are considering themselves sex workers. Sex workers are women who know they play a vital role as both healers and in making up for a shortage in sexual supply that leaves many men emotionally hungry and out-of-balance (and thus takes a toll on women). Vesta takes us beyond the morality of sex and leaves us facing the reality of sex.

Personal Qualities in All People

Remember that both men and women have these archetypes in their charts, which represent both our inner personal qualities and the women in our lives. Men have many of the attributes of women and vice versa, particularly if you consider the qualities depicted by the asteroids. The best way to find out what they mean (if you are an astrologer) is to cast them into your charts for a while, and see what happens; and if you're not an astrologer, to study their myths, or speak to an astrologer who is familiar with their energies. I think you'll see that a whole bunch of vital information becomes available when you do.

Also, these are just the first four asteroids. There is excellent information available about 70 of them (many more are named), which have been delineated by astrologers including Martha Lang Wescott and Demetra George. In the case of asteroids like "Jerry" and "Garcia" you just have to use your imagination, though they do show up in interesting ways, when you look for them.

Chiron, by the way, is not an asteroid, but rather a Centaur planet. He is the first in a new class that now includes about 25 relics of the early solar system that exist outside the known asteroid belts, and which orbit our Sun. About seven of these new bodies (discovered since 1977) have names; watch Planet Waves for an article called The Centaurs in Astrology, in about a month or two. More information about Chiron is available at When Astrology Listens and An Introduction to Chiron.

For more information about asteroids, I recommend the books, tapes and newsletter of Martha Wescott, one of the great astrologers alive today. Her materials are at Treehouse Mountain. A free ephemeris to look up a bunch of asteroids is located at Centaur Research Project, where you can also look up your planet and Centaur positions as well (but not your rising sign). To get a printout of your chart cheap (and done right) contact the Astrology Center of America. They will include the major asteroids and Chiron if you ask.++

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Diandra23
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posted June 21, 2007 07:55 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thankx Node

I love these kind of mythologies,specially the egyptians and romans/greeks.

Im gonna try to find more on those!

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Node
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posted June 21, 2007 09:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
    Lilith
Perhaps- like me, you find what has been written of Lilith through the centuries a little disconcerting. As often happens with Icons/Archetypes- one identity is held in popular belief. Then a published reworking of this belief comes along and either refutes or disputes that belief. Altering public perception to the point that the old belief is often forgotten, if not obliterated. Over time whether this new opinion is based on what we know as fact [ or not] becomes of little consequence as the general public has grabbed hold of this new slant and made it truth. Pop culture is the same for 600 BC as it is for 2006. Our belief makes it our truth. Lilith, and our perceptions of who, what, where and when is certainly a fine example of this anomaly. A feminine icon/archetype represented in the bible as well as other cultures. It is also held that there are two Lilith's to confuse the matter even more. One steeped in references to sexuality, motherhood, consort, wife.The other a Demoness, slayer of children, Vampyre. Who cannot be intrigued by all that? Her mystique is enhanced not only by the fact that only men wrote about her for centuries. But the general publics acceptance of what was written.
    You see I am of the mind that this goes back way back to earliest man. Lets call him Cromagnon though he was not of the first era.
Mans mistrust/suspicion/fascination and yes, wariness of the feminine stems from a kind of mystical fear of what he cannot explain. What he cannot understand is how can someone bleed every month and yet not die? We fear what we can not explain. This companion- though desired, is capable of things we men cannot do. Lilith for sometime was held in a certain [yet] complex light. Then along comes Alphabet of Ben-Sira- writing that has been refuted quite convincingly by scholars of the old Testament, but still quoted to this day. I've read parts of it. It sounds like many a Blues tune alla (she) Somebody done me wrong. Laughs. Here is a guy with some real woman issues. Freud would have a field day. Bring popcorn! With the addition of goddess asteroids in the 19th century the idea of who and what women are began to change. These additions signal that the general public was ready to embrace a new definition of the female archetype.That an astrological representation - a balance of masculine/femine was not only needed but perhaps demanded. The discoveries and name resonance of Ceres, Pallas, Vesta,et all were a precursor. So our perceptions have changed over time. 200 years of it.

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alanabelle86
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posted June 21, 2007 11:09 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanabelle86     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
:thumbs up: !! Awesome read!

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Sagittarius AC, Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Leo

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