The goddess Isis is the Great Goddess of Egyptian religion, a powerful sorceress
and protectress, who represents the power by which the Pharoahs ruled. In heiroglyphs,
Her name incorporates a throne-symbol, and this attribute was often depicted
on Her headdress. She is the daughter of the earth-god Geb and the sky-goddess
Nut, and sister to Osiris,
Horus the Elder, Seth, and Nephthys.
Isis was married to her brother Osiris, the god of grain. Their brother Seth,
the red-haired god of chaos and the desert, was jealous, and to be rid of Him
tricked Him into lying down in a coffin, which was then nailed shut and thrown
into the Nile. Upon learning this, Isis searched for Her husband, finally finding
Him in Phoenicia. When He returned to Egypt, Seth again attacked him, violently
cutting his body into thirteen pieces.
This time Isis reassembled the pieces and with help from Anubis,
the god of the dead, Osiris was enbalmed, wrapped in linen, and magically restored
to life, thus beginning the tradition of mummification. The death and resurrection
of Osiris were celebrated throughout Egypt with rites of mourning and rejoicing,
just as Tammuz, beloved of Ishtar,
and Adonis, beloved of Aphrodite
were celebrated in other parts of the Mediterranean. The Egyptian legend has
its own spin, however, in that Osiris remained in the Underworld to preside
as King, and through the rituals of mummification the dead were guaranteed
an eternal life.
Isis was sometimes confused with Hathor,
and depicted with cow-horns and the sistrum.
In later periods the worship of Isis spread from Egypt to Greece and Rome,
and there is even a temple of Isis in Pompeii. In Egypt, Isis was honored until
the 6th century A.D., and statues of Isis suckling the child Horus became the
iconographic basis for statues of the Virgin
Mary with the Jesus-child on Her lap.
This card indicates willingness and an ability to turn around a bad situation
through determination and skill.
Alternate spellings: Au Set, Eset
Titles: Divine Mother, Mistress of the West, Queen of the Earth, Mistress
of the Pyramid, Lady of Truth (with Nephthys), Perfect of Throne, Giver of
Life, Mistress of the Tomb of Osiris
