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Isis is a renowned healing Goddess and so today, I would like to share with you an ancient healing formula of Isis.

A sweet illustration of a healing Isis by Lady Olivia of the Fellowship of Isis

It comes from a cache of texts found in Thebes, Egypt in the early 1800s. Today, the papyri are known as the London and Leiden Magical Papyri (because they are now in London and Leiden, you see). The physical texts are thought to date to about the middle of the third century CE. Although scholars think some of the material in the texts—specific phrases, for example—may date back as far as the 18th-20th Egyptian dynasties, the language of the texts seems to put their original composition in about the middle of the second century CE.

This particular formula is for the healing of a sting or bite. No doubt, it could also be applied to scratches or cuts. The formula uses classic Egyptian magical techniques. The one being healed identifies her- or himself with the child of Isis, Horus, as well as Isis’ adopted child, Anubis. Then it is Isis Herself Who instructs Horus/Anubis how to be healed, including applying a magically charged oil to the sting daily for seven days. To charge the oil with healing power, the sufferer takes on the Goddessform of Isis and, speaking as the Goddess, charges the oil.

If you wish to try this formula to heal your next sting or cut, you will need a balm to charge with the power of Isis. If you don’t wish to concoct your own healing oil, you might try speaking your spell over a little Neosporin or Bactine.

Spell spoken to the sting:

I am the King’s son, eldest and first, Anubis. My mother Sekhmet-Isis, She came after me forth to the land of Syria, to the hill of the land of Heh, to the nome of those cannibals, saying, “Haste! Quick, my child, King’s son, eldest and first,  Anubis, arise and come to Egypt, for thy father Osiris is King of Egypt, He is ruler over the whole land; all the Gods of Egypt are assembled to receive the crown from His hand.”

The moment of saying those things, She brought me a blow, it fell upon my tail, upon me. It gathered together, it coming to me with a sting. I sat down and wept. Isis, my mother, sat before me, saying to me,  “Do not weep, my child, King’s son, eldest and first, Anubis; lick with thy tongue on thy heart, repeatedly as far as the edges of the wound; lick the edges of the wound as far as the edges of thy tail. What thou wilt lick up, thou swallowest it; do not spit it out on the ground; for thy tongue is the tongue of the Agathodaimon, thy tongue is that of Atum.”

And you lick it with your tongue, while it is bleeding, immediately; thereafter, you recite to a little oil and you recite to it seven times, you put it on the sting daily; you soak a strip of linen, you put it on it.

The spell, which you say to the oil to put it on the sting daily:

Isis charging the healing oil

Isis sat reciting to the oil Abartat and lamenting to the true oil, saying, “Thou being praised, I will praise thee, O oil, I will praise thee, thou being praised by the Agathodaimon; thou being applauded by Me Myself, I will praise thee for ever, O herb-oil—otherwise, true oil—O sweat of the Agathodaimon, amulet of Geb. It is Isis who makes invocation to the oil. O true oil, O drop of rain, O water-drawing of the planet Jupiter which cometh down from the sun-boat at dawn, thou wilt make the healing effect of the dew of dawn which heaven hath cast on to the earth upon every tree, thou wilt heal the limb which is paralysed, thou wilt make a remedy for him that liveth; far I will employ thee for the sting of the King’s son, eldest and first, Anubis, My child, that thou mayest fill it; wilt thou not make it well? For I will employ thee for the sting of <insert the name of the sufferer here> the son of <insert the name of the sufferer’s mother> that thou mayest fill it; wilt thou not make it well? Seven times.

A little commentary

It is interesting that the sufferer’s mother is Sekhmet-Isis at the beginning of the formula. It may be because Sekhmet Herself is a healing Goddess, though often of a fiercer type, for Her priests could also be surgeons. Also interesting is that it is not until after Sekhmet-Isis tells Her son to come home to Egypt that he actually receives the sting: ”She brought me a blow.” Perhaps the Goddess is called Sekhmet-Isis initially because of the harshness of the coming blow or sting. The child of Isis must be in His falcon form since the blow “fell upon my tail.”

After speaking the first part of the formula, the sufferer licks the wound and must not spit out the blood seeping from the wound, but swallow it. Bodily fluids—especially those of Deities—were considered magically potent. So by licking her or his own wound, while being identified with the child of Isis, with Agathodaimon, and with Atum, the sufferer has begun healing the wound with Divine saliva. Frankly, I’m not sure how to interpret the fact that the sufferer must swallow the blood—or even the poison—in the sting. Perhaps, because the sufferer is Divinely identified at this point, the seepage from the wound cannot harm her or him. Or, on the practical side, perhaps swallowing a bit of the venom immunizes the sufferer from future stings.

In any case, the next part of the treatment is anointing the wound with magically charged, and probably antiseptic, herbal oil. To make the oil effective, the sufferer speaks as Isis (no longer Sekhmet-Isis) to convince the “true oil” to do Her bidding and heal the sufferer. The oil itself is identified with the sweat of Agathodaimon (Good Spirit), an amulet of Geb the Earth God (surely so that the medicine will have effect on earth), pure rain, and the healing dawn dew, which is imbued with the power of the benevolent planet Jupiter. Finally, the invocation should be performed seven times. Richard Wilkinson, in his book Symbol and Magic in Egyptian Art, notes that the number seven, to the Egyptians, seemed to refer to perfection, wholeness, and effectiveness. Perfect for a healing formula.

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Here in Isiopolis, we are fortunate that we will be able to see about 80% of the eclipse that is coming on Sunday.

This obscuration of the sun reminds me of a ritual I will soon be undertaking with some of my beloved and magical friends. For just as the sun will be obscured by the moon on Sunday, so is Re’s light obscured each night when He sets and begins His nightly journey though the Twelve Hours of the Night.

The Sun God Re eclipsed by the moon…and by His entry into the Twelve Hours of the Night

The ritual we will be doing near the summer solstice is also called “The Twelve Hours of the Night” and it is a new ritual created for the upcoming edition of Isis Magic. We’re test driving it for the book. “The Twelve Hours of the Night” is a long ritual and is intended to go from sunset one day to sunrise the next. It is an initiatory rite—and something of an ordeal—for the Prophetess or Prophet of Isis. During the course of the ritual, the Prophet/ess journeys though the Hours to be renewed in her or his Work, just as Re is renewed each night.

Ahh, but how exactly is Re renewed by this nightly journey? After all, if you read the Egyptian otherworld books, you see that Re is constantly giving away His Light and Life to the inhabitants of the otherworld. Where does He get the energy?

Well, at the beginning of the journey, Re’s body and soul separate; in effect, He dies, but is neither dead nor ineffective. Then, at the very deepest part of the night—the Sixth Hour, Re’s soul (ba) rejoins His corpse, as the Death God Osiris, and together, made one, They are immersed in the fluidic Nun, the primordial waters from which Creation emerged In The Beginning. By connecting with this original and eternal energy, the Sun God is renewed and thus may be reborn at dawn in full power.

Wow. The first time I read this, it shook me to the core. Have you ever had that experience? Even if you’ve heard or read a thing before, sometimes it just hits you; really connects on a visceral level. That’s what happened to me when I read this. This is a great and wonderful Mystery. The source of everything is The Beginning. One must be un-made to be remade; or in alchemical terms, solve et coagula, separate and rejoin. It is the Mystery of Osiris and the Mystery of Re and the Mystery of Their joining. It is the later Hermetic Mystery of the Mixing Bowl.

And, of course, Isis is there with Re and Osiris—and with Her Prophet/ess—throughout this dangerous journey. In the Fifth Hour, just before Re’s dip in the primordial ocean in the Sixth Hour, Isis ignites the flames of transformation. The Book of What is in the Duat tells us:

The secret way of the land of Sokar, which Isis enters on, to be behind her brother. It is filled with flames of fire from the mouth of Isis.

Isis helps protect Re-Osiris and prepare for the Great Mystery

See the large head in the middle of this image? That’s Isis protecting and filling the cavern with holy, transformative fire. And in the Hour following the renewal (the Seventh Hour), She and the Elder Magician protect the newly rekindled solar flame from the evil that would like to extinguish it.

Fire and Water; the transforming Fires as well as the primordial Waters of the Nun; both are required for renewal. Opposites join to become one, obliterating the opposition and creating something new and renewed.

I shall ponder these Mysteries as Sun and Moon conjoin on Sunday. Perhaps you will join me?

The Watery Nun and the Fire of Isis

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A universe of stars, full of light and darkness

The Rite of Touching Your Star

Contemplate this image of the stars or remember how the night sky looked the last time you stargazed. Purify and consecrate yourself using the formulae of the House of Isis, or use any method that you usually use to prepare yourself for ritual.

Facing east, raise your arms in the Sign of the Wings of Isis.

Ritualist: Iset Sopdet, Daughter of the Stars, Queen of Souls, I have come to You that You may help me to find and to touch the light of my own Beautiful Star, my own Divine Light. Amma, Iset, let it be so.

Continuing to face east, be seated comfortably, close your eyes, and breathe deeply and slowly for several minutes. When you are ready, visualize the following:

Imagine that you stand before the great pylon gates of an ancient Egyptian temple of Isis. It is late evening. The sky is a luminous indigo color and the stars are beginning to show themselves. As you stand there, the doors of the temple swing open and you enter. It is quiet and no one else seems to be here, though someone has clearly lit the torches that illuminate the interior of the temple.

If you look to your right, you see that stone stairs have been carved into the wall of the temple and a torch burns near the first step. You approach the steps and begin to climb. If you look at the walls beside you, you will see many Egyptian five-pointed stars carved into the walls, with hieroglyphs in neat columns beside them.

Continue climbing and you will soon emerge on the roof of the temple. Here, it is completely dark. No torches illuminate this place—only the light of the millions and millions of stars that fill the night sky above you. Walk to the very center of the roof and you will find that someone has made a place for you. Soft rugs and cushions have been placed there for you. Take your seat there and make yourself comfortable.

Let one star catch your attention

The voice of the Goddess speaks in your mind and says, “Gaze at the beautiful belly of My Mother, Nuet. Squint your eyes slightly and scan the sky, to the right, to the left, above and behind you. Continue to scan the sky until one star catches your attention.”

Let this take as long as it takes. Continue to look at the sky until one star seems to jump out at you. When you have found this star, kiss your hand and extend it toward the star and speaking:

Ritualist: I greet You, O star of my soul. I welcome You. Come to me, come to me, O star of my self. Come to me that I may be joined to Your light.

And indeed, the Beautiful Star does come. It moves gently through the sky until it is just before and above you in the night.

As you watch, the star flashes and a beam of starlight extends from the star to touch the top of your head. You feel a tingling and a warmth there. You will now draw the light of your star into the shenu, or energy centers, of your body.

Breathe in and the starlight fills your mind. Take note of any image that arises as the starlight is in your head.

Breathe in and draw the starlight into the shen at your throat. Once more take note of any image or thought that comes to you.

Breathe in and bring the starlight into your heart. Knowing the importance the Egyptians placed on the heart as a center of the self, let the light linger there a bit longer.

Breathe in and bring the starlight into the shen at your genitals and note your feelings, thoughts, and any images.

Breathe in and let the starlight fill the area between your knees. Once more, make mental note of your experience.

Breathe in and bring the starlight all the way through your body, into the area just beneath your body.

Become aware of the channel of starlight that flows from the star above you and all the way through your body. Then open yourself even more. Breathe deeply once more and open yourself yet more. Breathe and feel the light of the star breathing with you, moving through and within your body.

Do this until you feel complete…at least for the time being. When you are ready, in vision, stand and thank your star by making the Sign of the Wings of Isis.

Ritualist: I thank You, O star of my soul. I thank You. May your light continue to guide me until I come to you again. In the name of my mother Isis, may it be so. Amma, Iset.

Watch as your star withdraws and returns to its normal place in the beautiful night belly of Nuet. Kiss your hand and extend it toward the star in thanks. When you are ready, walk back down the steps and out the temple doors.

Let your consciousness return to the here and now. Thank Isis in your own words. The rite is ended.

This meditative rite should be done many, many times over the course of your lifetime. Different things will happen at different points in your life and you will discover new things each time. The more you do it, the more you will weave the connection between yourself and your star, a connection that can serve as a guide in this world…and the next.

NASA says this is a nebula. It looks to me like the astral hand of the soul reaching for its star…

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This isn’t an official post (since it’s only Monday and I’m a Saturday postin’ kinda girl.)

But I wanted to welcome and thank all of the new folks who are following Isiopolis. Makes me feel a bit less lonely out here in the blogosphere.

So I wanted to share with you a treat that couldn’t quite find a place in my last post; two beautiful images of Nuet, Isis’ mamma:

A gorgeous night-black Nuet, Goddess of the Sky and Isis’ mother, holding the Sun disk which She is about to swallow as She takes Re into the Night…

And a lovely recessed image of the Goddess from the inside lid of the coffin of Djedhor, 4th century BCE:

Egyptian sarcophaguses often had the image of Nuet on the inside top lid…so that the Goddess floated over the mummy and the deceased could see his or her goal: ascending into the star-filled body of the Goddess

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Perhaps it was coincidence or perhaps it was the hand of Isis, but twice in the past week, the idea of “being joined to one’s star” has been brought sharply to my attention. So today, let’s talk a bit of the Way of the Stars…and the way of our own personal star.

In Isis Magic, the Path of the Stars is the path of the Prophetess or Prophet of Isis. We deal with the important star Sirius (Sothis in Greek, Sopdet in Egyptian), which is the Star of Isis. The Goddess Herself is the star and the Goddess’ soul is in the star. The prophetess or prophet honors Isis in Her singular and beautiful star, but also works with the idea of a universe filled with millions and millions of stars, the stars that are within the body of Nuet, the Sky Goddess.

The Sky Goddess Nuet, full of stars

In the Pyramid Texts, it is clear that the deceased king ascends to the heavens and becomes a star. This ascension also makes him Divine, a god among Gods. He takes his place in the Otherworld as a star, sometimes called the Lone Star or the Morning Star. In Utterance 245 of the Pyramid Texts, the Sky Goddess says to the deceased, “Open up your place in the sky among the stars of the sky, for you are the Lone Star, the companion of Hu…” (Hu is one of the great creative powers of Re, “Creative Utterance.” It is likely that the king is claiming to be Sia, “Perception,” for indeed he specifically declares himself to be Sia in Utterance 250.) Utterance 248 reiterates the king’s star-nature. He is “a star brilliant and far traveling,” and he has “come to his throne which is upon the Two Ladies [probably Isis and Nephthys or Wadjet and Nekhebet] and the king appears as a star.” A text from the tomb of Basa, a priest of Min and mayor of ancient Thebes, says of the deceased, “your star be in heaven, your ba [roughly, "soul"] upon the earth.”

An image from one of the shrines of Tutankhamon; these mummified Gods are joined to their stars and “receive the rays of Re”

While the Pyramid Texts are concerned with the king, as time went on, the Egyptian conception of the Otherworld got more democratic; everyone could participate and have their own Divine stars.

But if you’ve read any of the Pyramid or Coffin Texts or the Book of the Dead, you’ll know that those sacred texts are not intended just for the dead. The texts tell us that the knowledge they impart is also beneficial for living human beings. “As for him who knows this spell on earth . . . he will proceed to a very happy old age” says one text. Another states that anyone who knows the spell will “complete 110 years of life,” while yet another explains, “it is beneficial for anyone who does it.”

The same thing applies to being conscious of or joined to your star. It is not solely a post mortum activity. If our “star” is our Divine Self, the one we will become after death, then to know our star in this life means that its light can serve as a guide as we move through our current earthly lives. What would my Divine star self do in any given situation?

One of the Greco-Egyptian magical papyri even has a specific ritual for learning about “your star,” and which is referred to as “an initiation.” There are quite a number of preparations, but in short, you purify yourself for seven days while the moon is waning. On the night of the dark moon, you begin sleeping on the ground each night for seven nights, waking every morning to greet the sun and to name the Deities of the hours of the day. On the eighth night, you rise in the middle of the night, perform a series of invocations and magical acts, recite the account of creation, and call upon the Great God. When the God arrives, you avoid looking in His face and ask Him about your fate. “He will tell you even about your star and what kind of daimon [spirit] you have…” (PGM XIII 646-734)

It is well for us to know “even about our star.” For it illuminates the individual life path and spiritual path that is uniquely ours, and yet places us in the company of the Divine Ones. A recent meditation upon the Child Horus revealed that, in the stillness of the womb, we might first be joined to our stars. But to truly benefit from this starry relationship throughout our lives, we must continually renew, strengthen, and deepen the connection so that our star’s holy light may always inspire and guide us.

The Star has many names. In Isis Magic, I have called it the Isis Self. It is also the Higher Self, the Augoeides (“Shining One”), the Holy Guardian Angel, the Higher and Divine Genius, Christ Consciousness, the Atman, the True Self, and many other names. In next week’s post, I’ll offer a meditation to start the process of becoming joined to your star.

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The partially restored Temple of Hathor on neo-Philae (Agilkia) island

Archeological teams have restored, in part, the Temple of Hathor near the famous Isis temple of Philae. It is scheduled to reopen to the public in May. You can read about that happy event here. (Both the Isis and Hathor temples, as well as the other temples of ancient Philae are now on the Egyptian island of Agilkia, aka Agilika, where they were moved prior to the building of the Aswan Dam, which created Lake Nasser and flooded Philae.)

Compared to the Temple of Isis on Agilkia, the Temple of Hathor is quite small. Reciprocally and interestingly, at Denderah, Hathor’s great Ptolemaic temple complex, there is a similar small Temple of Isis. Clearly, there is a relationship between these two Great Goddesses; so much so that it was required that each Goddess would have a smaller temple near the great temple of the other.

In fact, sometimes that relationship between Isis and Hathor is so close that it’s hard to tell Them apart. Beginning in the New Kingdom, we regularly see Isis wearing the Horns & Disk crown of a Cow Goddess that is emblematic of Hathor. Sometimes Isis also has a small throne on top of the Horns & Disk to indicate that She is indeed Isis rather than Hathor, sometimes She doesn’t. But guess what? Hathor sometimes borrows Isis’ headdress, too.

Hathor wearing the Horns & Disk AND the Isis throne

Again at Denderah, we find a carving of Hathor—and the hieroglyphs confirm that She IS Hathor—wearing the Horns & Disk with the throne on top. I couldn’t find a great photo of it, but if you look above the disk, you see a little bump. That’s the bottom of the throne.

Both Isis and Hathor are associated with Horus, Isis as His mother, Hathor sometimes as mother, sometimes as lover. Both are Cow Goddesses and Goddesses of the Sycamore, though Hathor probably has the prior claim on both these symbols. Both are Eyes of the Divine and holy Uraeus Serpents, powerful, fiery, protective and vengeful Goddesses. Thus both can become Sekhmet, that most fierce and bloodthirsty of Goddesses. Both Isis and Hathor are Goddesses of the Otherworld, Goddesses of rebirth and resurrection, Whom the dead ones adore.

Looking just as these correspondences, Isis and Hathor seem interchangeable. Is it so?

I don’t think so. Instead, They are sister branches of the Divine Tree. They are ultimately united in the Tree’s trunk, yet there is a quite palpable difference in the energy feeling of the two Goddesses—at least out in the twigs and leaves of the Tree where we most often experience Them. As you know, I have an enduring dedication to Isis, but in another part of my spiritual life, I also have a strong connection to Hathor.

Hathor is one of very few Egyptian Deities Who were depicted full face

Hathor’s energy always has an underlying feeling of excitation, of arousal. It may be sexual, but it doesn’t have to be. Hathor imparts the excitement of living, and thus She is the Great Lady of Love, Joy, Drunkenness, and Dance. Her symbol par excellance is the sistrum, the sacred rattle that is shaken to stir things up. In Egyptian, to “play the sistrum” is iri sekhem, to “do power.” Hathor has something of the maenad in Her, if I may draw from a different cultural metaphor; She’s a bit more wild than Isis, more likely to roar or hiss or spit. O, but She will dance you to ecstasy; She will love you to ecstasy; She will sing you to ecstasy. Perhaps She will also put a bit of Divine terror into your belly while She’s doing it. But then She will turn Those Eyes upon you, those soft, bright, deep cow’s eyes, and She will soothe you, take you in, and make you understand that Love, only Love, is at the heart of the Divine reality.

Of course, Isis, too, inspires passion. She certainly inspires it in me. But that’s not the foundation of Her energy. At Isis’ heart is strength interwoven with the numinous power of magic. Hathor’s tingle is the excitement of life and love. Isis’ tingle is heka. Yet the Mystery of the Goddesses is such that They can share many or even most of Their symbols. Blessed be the Ladies.

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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 the 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.”

Confusing in a polytheistic world, isn’t it?

Well, no.

It’s confusing to us, most of whom have been born into a culture steeped in the singularity of the one male Deity. But that was very far from the experience of the ancient world. They were used to dealing with any number of Deities—as well as other Divine beings. The face of the Divine could be seen and sensed in many ways and many places and be known by many names.

Isis is the Only One and the Unique One; but so are other Deities. Re is the Only One and the Unique One…and so are Atum and Ptah and more. Erik Hornung in Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt explains this as each Deity being considered unique in Her or His own way. But it may be more than that. There are Egyptian texts, especially the wisdom literature, that simply refer to “God.” This may have been purposely vague so that the student of wisdom could “insert your God here.” Or it may have been an expression of what is today know as henotheism (the term was only coined in the 1800s) which is devotion to one particular Deity without denying the reality of all the rest of Them. We also know that multiple Egyptian Deities could form a unity—and even be referred to with a singular pronoun. For example, in some mortuary literature, Ptah-Sokaris-Osiris is invoked “that He may give…” Atum, when He brought forth Shu and Tefnut was said to have been “One Who became Three.”

Many petals, one flower

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” and he names Ankhenaton as its first known practitioner. Assman also makes the interesting observation that following Ankhenaton’s revolution, as the old Deities were restored to worship, Ankhenaton’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 notes it in the mature stages of polytheism not only in Egypt, but in Mesopotamia, Greece, and India as well. I find something similar to this concept very useful in my own thinking about the nature of the Divine and have written about it here.

Thinking through the complexities of poly-mono-heno-pan-and-all-the-other-theisms out there is a worthy meditation for today’s devotees of Isis. For if we look back to the traditions of ancient Isiacism to instruct or inspire our modern devotion at all, then we will inevitably find ourselves confronted with the puzzle. How is Isis The Only One and yet part of a pantheon? What does that mean to my personal devotion to the Goddess? If I am a priestess or priest of Isis, must I also serve other Egyptian Deities—or should I specifically not serve others if I serve Her? In what way is Isis a Divine Unity and thus All?

At least for now, I have my own answers to these questions. May She guide you truly to your own wise conclusions.

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“Words of Power” is an English translation—really an approximation—of Egyptian hekau. It has to do with the energy that animates and underlies the universe and with words and speaking as a way to move that Divine energy. In his Hieroglyphic Dictionary, E.A. Wallis Budge gives two other words for spoken magic: iakhu, which also has to do with holy, shining light—starlight, sunlight, Divine light (a title of Isis-Sothis is Iakhuet)—and kau, which the Egyptians appear to have used in relation to a whole range of things as the ka or vital essence of the thing, including spoken magic.

The character Daniel Jackson from Stargate, recent popularizer of hatin' on Budge

<Warning: small rant in defense of Mr. Budge follows> If, as I have, you’ve done any kind of amateur research into “things Egyptian,” you will have found many, many pretty darned exciting and readily available books on Egypt by E.A. Wallis Budge…and then you will probably have run across the extremely emphatically stated position that “Budge got just about everything wrong” or that he is today “considered laughable in Egyptological circles.” Some people certainly think so. But let’s take a moment to remember that Mr. Budge’s work comes very early in the process. He was born in 1857. Champollion had just published the first correct translation of the hieroglyphs in 1822. Work on hieroglyphic translation was very much in its early stages. Many of the texts we have now had not yet come to light. Of course, Budge made mistakes. Everyone did. Modern Egyptologists have almost a hundred years of additional work to draw on, which he did not.

E.A. Wallis Budge

Budge also comes in for a lot of criticism about the conclusions he reached from his reading of the material. He seemed to be at great pains to conclude that ancient Egyptian religion was really just like the Christianity of his day and that the ancient Egyptians were actually monotheists—perhaps in an attempt to make the Egyptians more palatable to the British Museum goers of the time (Budge was Keeper of the Egyptian section of the British Museum and acquired quite a collection of treasures for the museum). Yet I have found the same sort of assumption of the superiority of Christianity in the work of most Egyptologists right up until the 1980s or 90s. It is infuriating, incorrect, and we might even say, laughable. What’s more, some ancient texts do sound rather monotheistic. (An excellent discussion of this is Erik Hornung’s Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many. Fantastic book.)

In my opinion, when it comes to Budge, there’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. You just have to read much more critically, and more broadly. Read modern Egyptological works, then go back and read Budge. There are things in Budge that you can’t readily find anywhere else; for example, the actual hieroglyphs of the Book of the Dead, which enables you to do your own translations, should you be so skilled. Unless you are a university-connected scholar and can access their arcane scholarly “books of shadows,” it is exceedingly hard to find a lot of the material Budge does indeed provide in one form or another.

Case in point, his dictionary.

Budge's An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary in Two Volumes, one of the very few Egyptian dictionaries available

Budge’s An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary is the most widely available ancient Egyptian dictionary. Here in Isiopolis, we also own a copy of Faulkner’s A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian (which is handwritten (!), for Goddess’ sake, and doesn’t have an index) and Gardiner’s Egyptian Grammar, which is mostly grammar, as the title says, but also contains a good discussion of each of the hieroglyphs along with their meanings. Neither one has the sheer amount of recorded words as Budge’s does. Neither one is nearly as much fun to page through, either. It’s true that Budge’s transliteration of the Egyptian words is not the current scholarly standard, but he does provide the hieroglyphs so you can check.

With all this in mind, I’d like to share with you a few more words from Budge’s dictionary that have intrigued and inspired me over the years—in addition to the “words of power” I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I’ve updated them to the extent that I am able and please note that the letters don’t have their proper diacritical marks as I’ve yet to figure out how to make that happen in WordPress.

I have adopted some of these terms into my own work with Isis; perhaps you will find some of them of interest, too.

Qi en Iset—a ceremony in honor of Isis; no clue as to what kind; qi refers to a “state, condition, mode, or manner.” I like to fantasize that this might be something like a “Way of Isis.” It certainly could be used as such for modern Isiacs.

Sekhen—means both “to embrace” and “to fold the wings;” sekhen with a different determinative means “breast offering” and there was a festival by that name as well; all these concepts seem nicely Isiac to me

Sheta—a form of Isis in Per Bastet, called by the Greeks Bubastis; temple of the Cat Goddess Bast and located in the Egyptian delta; sheta means “secret or hidden” so this is a mysterious form of Isis

Tia—the Divine emanation or essence of the Deity; tia Iset would be the emanation of Isis

Qâhu (plural)—the four quarters of the world; singular is qâh; a nice Egyptian name for them

Mesut Iset—Egyptian for “birth of Isis” or Isis’s birthday

Ubekhet—name of a temple of Isis and Nephthys having to do with brilliance, light, shining, and whiteness; could be loosely translated as The White Temple, meaning the temple of all brilliant, light, and positive things

Rekhiet—the Wise Woman; i.e. Isis

Gerh en sedjer Iset Resut—the “Night-watch of Isis;” perhaps the vigil of Isis as She watched over the body of Osiris?

Gerh en hati—the “Night of the Tear Drop” of Isis that caused the Nile to rise; hati is tear drop

Hefed—a swoon of religious ecstasy; the way I feel in Her presence sometimes

Suweh—to speak in ecstasy, to prophesy

Sa en Iset—the name of a medicinal plant meaning the “power or energy of Isis”

Iset em Nebet Ankh—”Isis as Lady of Life;” the name of the Goddess of the 9th Hour of the Day

And one last word, this one related to last week’s post: Iset Nedjit or Nedjet—Isis the Avenger, a name from the Book of What is in the Duat

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Today we have an Isis story that shows Her fierce and fiery aspect and that I bet you haven’t heard before. This is a tale of Isis the Avenger and it is from the Papyrus Jumilhac. The only publication of the papyrus has been in French (which is why English readers probably haven’t heard the tale). Via the blessings of interlibrary loan, I was able to borrow the French text.

This is part of the Papyrus Jumilhac in which the tale of the Transformations & Revenge of Isis is told. It dates to the Ptolemaic period but records older Egyptian myths.

The Papyrus Jumilac is about 23 “pages” long. It is a Ptolemaic text (approximately 2nd century BCE) but it was found in Upper Egypt and records some thoroughly Egyptian myths. It may have been a sort of training manual for the priesthood of the 17th and 18th nomes and tells stories connected with the local landmarks. Our Isis story from it is a tale of transformations, and in it, Isis changes Herself into a hound, a uraeus serpent, Hathor, and Sekhmet—all in Her pursuit of and revenge upon the murderer of Her husband.

The Papyrus Jumilhac may have been for the training of the priesthood in the 17th and 18th ancient Egyptian nomes.

Herewith is the tale of Isis the Fierce:

Set once more regrouped His allies, but Isis marched against them. She concealed Herself in Gebal which is south of Dunanwi, after having made Her transformation into Her Mother Sekhmet. She sent out a flame against them all, seeing to it that they were burned and devoured by Her flame. (It is said to Her, “Hathor, Mistress of the Two Braziers.”) She [Isis] created for Herself, there, a place to observe the preparations of the Evil One and His allies. (It is said to Her, “The Temple of the Mistress of the Two Braziers,” and the wab priest of this Goddess is called Ouroumem [the Great Devourer].) Then Set, seeing Isis at Her observation point, transformed Himself into a bull to chase Her, but She made Herself unrecognizable and put on the form of a bitch with a knife at the end of Her tail. Then She began to chase Him, and Set couldn’t trap Her again. So He scattered His semen upon the earth, and Isis said, “It is an abomination to have scattered Your semen like this, O Bull.” His semen grew, in Gebal, in the plants which we call bdd-k3w. Then the Goddess entered into the mountain which we call Hout-Kâhet, and settled Herself there. After which, She went to the north and, having transformed Herself into a serpent, She entered into that mountain which is north of this nome, to spy on the allies of Set as they arrived in the evening. (It is said to Her, “Hathor, Mistress of Geheset.”) The Goddess [Isis] watched the allies of Set as they arrived in the Oxyrhynchite Nome and as they crossed the country to reach Gebal, the City in the East. She pierced them all [with Her fangs as She was in the form of a serpent], and She made Her venom penetrate into their flesh, so that they perished, all together; their blood poured out upon the mountain, and this is why this mountain is called the prsh of Geheset.

The story bears a little commentary to explain some of the features. Isis is pursuing Set for revenge for His having murdered Osiris. It is interesting to note that it’s not Horus the Avenger Who is going after Set, but Isis the Avenger. I’m not sure exactly where the local Gebal is; but we are told that it is south of Dunanwi. Dunanwi is a local God of the 18th Upper Egyptian nome, so perhaps the direction refers to a temple or shrine of the God or the text is using the Deity’s name as a name for the nome itself.

Although Isis’ first transformation is into “Her Mother” Sekhmet, Isis is repeatedly called by the name and epithets of Hathor, a local Goddess of Geheset. Geheset is a mythically powerful place; it hasn’t been conclusively identified with any real place in Egypt, but some scholars believe it may be at modern Komir, on the westbank of the Nile, south of Esna. (Interestingly, Komir was a center of the worship of Nephthys and a temple dedicated to Her has been found there. It is in the 3rd nome, however, south of the 17th and 18th nomes.) The Jumilhac papyrus does contain more information on Geheset. In another passage it says:

“Regarding Geheset, it is the temple of Hathor of Geheset, the house of the Chief of the Two Lands. House of Uraeus is the name of the Divine Booth of Hathor in this place. Isis transformed Herself into the uraeus. She hid from the companions of Set, Nephthys was there at Her side. The companions of Set passed by Her without their knowing. And then She bit them all. She threw Her two lances at their limbs. Their blood fell on this mountain, flowing, and their death happened immediately.”

Now, in the 4th nome, there was a famous Hathor cult center in Pathyris or Aphroditopolis, modern Gebelein. It is reasonably near to the Komir Nephthys temple. If this is the mythical Geheset, then Nephthys being at Isis’ (as Hathor) side makes some geographic sense.

In the encounter between Isis and Set, in the form of a bull, Set attempts to rape Isis. We know this because He eventually ejaculates on the ground and Isis castigates Him for having wasted His semen like that. This reminds me of the myth in which Hephaestus tries to rape Athena, but His semen either falls on the ground or on Her leg, which She then wipes off in disgust and tosses it on the ground. The semen fertilizes Gaia and the Earth gives birth to Erichthonius, a mythical ruler of Athens who may have been part serpent. In this case, the semen of Set becomes an unidentified local plant called beded kau; the kau part is the plural of ka or vital essence.

For the final part of the tale, Isis Herself takes the form of the holy cobra, the uraeus serpent. As a great serpent, She kills all of Set’s companions with Her venom. Their blood pours out on the mountain and becomes juniper berries (prsh); there is an Egyptian pun here on juniper berries and the flowing out of blood. In another part of the Jumilhac papyrus, Isis “cut up Set, sinking Her teeth into His back” and in yet another She first transforms into Anubis, “and having seized Seth, cut Him up, sinking Her teeth into His back.” (Is there some connection between Isis transforming Herself into a dog with a knife in Her tail and later into Anubis?)

A Fierce Isis that you've probably seen in your internet travels.

The myths recorded in the Papyrus Jumilhac are surely much earlier Egyptian stories that the priesthood used to teach their tradition in the temples of the 17th and 18th nomes. There were almost certainly other tales like these, from other nomes, in which it is Fierce Isis Herself Who takes revenge upon the murderer of Her beloved Osiris. I hope someday we will find more of them.

May the Fierce Goddess always protect you.

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My pal Chrissy suggested that the Opening of the Ways to Isis needed a voiceover…and since I needed practice with iMovie, I took up her challenge.

So here it is, revised a bit, with voiceover recorded in Garageband. The music is licensed all legal-like. I hope you enjoy it.