The Order of the White Moon proudly presents:
ISIS
The Great Mother
Written by Venus Being
Isis is known for being a loving mother and wife. I’m going to be focusing on her mainly as a mother. I will start by mentioning her most known story. The story of Isis’s husband Osiris and her son Horus. Osiris is Isis’ husband and brother. Osiris had a brother named Seth who was very jealous and coveted Osiris position and sought to kill him.  There are a couple of different tales on how Seth had killed and cut up and hid his brother’s body. However Isis sought and found her husband’s body and put it back together. Then she sought aide from Anubis who performed the very first embalming on Osiris. Then Isis using her magic and Anubis skills resurrected Osiris long enough to conceive her son Horus. Isis gave birth to Horus at Khemmis in the Nile Delta, where he was hidden from his jealous uncle, for if Seth knew of Horus he knew Horus could and should have a right to his father’s throne. (Littleton, C.S., Mythology 2002). While in hiding Isis would have to heal Horus of scorpion, snake and crocodile bites. At one point Seth had found Horus and in the form of a snake bit Horus which nearly killed him. Isis implored to the Gods for help and received it from Ra so good would triumph over evil(Wikipedia).
http://www.sacredsource.com
Now here we have a picture of Isis nursing her son Horus. Then if you look to Christianity you have a picture of the Virgin Mary nursing her son Jesus Christ, which is another story of a woman reverenced as a great mother.  Now Mary became famous because she was a virgin blessed by god to give birth to the son of God. This son, Jesus Christ, would be the savior of the world. So when Christianity took an active place in the world and Goddess worship was no longer allowed or else there would be severe punishment, the mother Mary became an icon in the Catholic faith. So Isis took on the persona of Mary and the people of the old faith could worship the Goddess and still be safe.

    So now we have Isis the wife of Osiris [God of fertility and the underworld] and mother of Horus  [God of the sky and the east](Mythology, Littleton, S.C., 2002).Then we also have her as the mother of the savior of the world, the Holy mother Mary. So now I would like to introduce her as yet a couple more Goddesses and a God to show her as the mother of all creation. To do this I would like to remind you of Isis being Osiris’ wife, so this affiliates her with Ament “the great lady of the underworld”(Wikipedia). She “assisted in transforming the bodies of the blessed dead into those wherein they were to live in the Realm of Osiris”(Wikipedia). Now being Ament, this makes her yet the mother of another God and that is Ra. Also Ament is the hidden Goddess. So let’s look at the translation of one who is hidden. This word is Amun and if we look close we find that Amun and his female counterpart Ament. Also to even associate more here there is also Iusaaset [which is Amun’s shadow]. So now we have shown Isis as there in the beginning of time as Ament the female counterpart of Amun the father or mother of all.
Now that I have touched on just a few aspects of Isis lets go into the worship of Isis. The first people to worship Isis were the Egyptian’s; but the ancient Egyptian’s worshiped her as Aset. She didn’t take on the persona of Isis until the Greeks and Romans superimposed her into their culture (Philae, 2005). The Roman Isis is the one that is known best and during this time “Isis was the most reverend of female deities and” (Mythology, 2002) this “international cult rivaled the new Christian Religion” (Mythology, 2002). So the Graeco-Roman Goddess Isis is the one we all know and love and worship as The Great Mother.

   To me she is the pillar of womanhood. She is a loving wife and mother. She is a healer even to those who have crossed her. Like the time she had mercy on her brother Seth and healed him. She is intelligent and powerful. She is the ultimate caregiver!
This chart represents the things sacred to Isis and the Goddess I’ve associated her with in this paper.
Goddess Aspect
and Reference #


Isis
1,3,4,5,7




Mary
1,2


Ament
1,2


Iusaaset
4


Amun
1,2

    Animals



Frogs, scorpions,
dolphins, fish, hawks






Hawk, ostrich, baboon


Snake, baboon



Frog, goose, heron,
ram, serpent		 Colors



Silver
White




Yellow		   Stones



Bloodstone
Amethyst
Silver		   Herb and
  Plants


Figs, heather,
myrrh, orris,
date, palm,
rose, cedar
vervain
 Foods



Onion		 Elements



Moon,
Earth




Earth



Air
Power






Water,
Power		 Seasons and
their aspects


Fertility,
Harvest		 Aspects of
Human Life


Marraige





Birth



Death
 Regions



Egypt
Rome




Spain
America		 Magic and
its aspects


Resurrection
healer
divination



Miracles
Ritual for Seeking Aide from Isis

Items needed:
• an amulet (something sacred to Isis, ex. Dolphin or amethyst) {I’m using a dolphin}
• candles 2 silver, 2 yellow, 2 red, 1 purple, 1white, 1blue, and 1 black
• Pentacle plate (to lay amulet on)
• Offering for Isis (something that when finished can be donated to a charity{I’ll give something from my garden to local food shelter}).

Alter set up:
• Place the 5 quarters candles in pentagram form.
•    Yellow at top for spirit and higher self.
• Silver in Earth position.
• White in Air position.
• Blue in Water position.
• Red in Fire position.
• In center of altar place a Silver candle (representing Isis) and to the right of it your pentagram and place amulet on pentagram.
• Above Isis candle have a black candle (tea lite if you can find one)
• To the right of Isis and pentagram a Red candle (tea lite)
• Below Isis Yellow (tea lite)
• To the left of Isis Purple (tea lite)
• Then any other tool you would typically use.
                                                                                    RITUAL

1.) Cleansing bath
2.) Cleanse tools and aura
3.) Cast circle for Reverence and Power
4.) Invite quarters

OH HIGHER SELF OPEN AND REICIEVE ALL THAT THE GODDESS HAS TO GIVE

OH ISIS GODDESS OF THE EARTH AND GREAT MOTHER JOIN WITH ME IF YOU WILL

OH AMENT GODDESS OF AIR AND MOTHER OF CREATION JOIN WITH ME IF YOU WILL

OH AMUN GOD OF WATER AND ULTIMATE POWER JOIN WITH ME IF YOU WILL

OH SEKHUMET GODDESS OF FIRE AND HEALING JOIN WITH ME IF YOU WILL

OH MARY GODDESS OF SPIRIT AND MIRICLES JOIN WITH ME IF YOU WILL

5.) Invocation Prayer

OH GREAT MOTER ISIS I RAISE MY VOICE TO YOU THIS NIGHT IN REVERENCE. YOU ARE THE IMBODIMENT OF LOVE, LOLATITY, GENEROUSITY AND FAITHFULNESS. YOU ARE EVER GIVING AND WATCHFUL, YOU’RE A PROCTRESS. YOU ARE THE GREATEST MOTHER TO EVER BE. THANK YOU OH GREAT MOTHER I GIVE THIS your offering AS A SMALL TOKEN OF MY GRATITUDE.

6.) Body of ritual:

Lite the Isis candle and say:

OH ISIS GREAT MOTHER, I COME TO YOU TONIGHT TO ASK YOU TO EMPOWER ME AND GRANT TO ME THE ATTRIBUTES THAT YOU HAVE IN ABUNDANCE.

Lite the Black candle and say:

I LIGHT THIS BLACK CANDLE TO BANISH ANY NEGATIVITY OR DOUBT. I CALL UPON MY HIGHER SELF TO OPEN UP AND RECEIVE THE LOVE AND POWER THAT IS ISIS AND MYSELF.

Lite the Red candle and say:

ISIS BESTOW UPON ME THE ABILITY TO SHOW MY FAMILY THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE I HAVE FOR THEM EVEN DURNING OUR MOST TRYING TIMES AND SITUATIONS. LET ME SHOW THEM GENTLENESS AND PATIENCE.

Lite the Yellow candle and say:

ISIS YOU ARE THE GODDESS OF MAGIC AND I ASK YOU TO INLIGHTEN ME WITH KNOWLEDGE OF HOW, WHERE, AND WHEN BEST TO USE MAGIC TO IMPROVE MY LIFE AND TO HELP OTHERS, AND HOW I MAY USE IT TO HELP YOU AND TO HELP HEAL THE EARTH.

Lite the Purple candle and say:

OH GREAT MOTHER PROTECT AND AIDE ME AS YOU DID YOUR BELOVED SON HORUS. SHOW TO ME THE WAY TO WIN MY BATTLES, PROTECT ME FROM MY ENEMIES AND HEAL MY WOUNDS I RECEIVE FROM THEM AND HEAL ME FROM ANY WOUNDS I MAY INFLICT UPON MYSELF. INCLUDING THOSE OF SELF DOUBT. WATCH OVER ME KEEP ME SAFE. AN I EMBRASE YOUR WAY AND YOUR POWER FOR YOU ARE IN ME AND I IN YOU.

Now lay on the ground looking up at the moon feel her rays coming down filling your body with Isis’ power. Lay there and soak it all in. Feel the power pulsing throughout your body. When you’ve reached the point where you can contain it no longer release it. Let it flow out of into the universe share it with others, so they too can feel the power and love that is Isis. See the energy that was released fall down into your amulet in a silver shower. This amulet is a symbol and reminder of her great love for us and that we all  have the power of Isis within us and we only need to look within ourselves to tap into it.

7.) Ground
8.) Put on amulet
9.) Open circle
10.)  Go share the LOVE
References:
1.) Mythology The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth & Storytelling, Littleton, S.C., 2002
2.) Wikipedia, Egypt Tour http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus
3.) Celtic Connection  http://www.wicca.com/
4.) Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs Cunningham, S., 2004
5.) 365 Goddess, Telesco, P., 1998
6.) The Sacred Island of Philae Center of the worship of Isis 2005 http:/www.philae.nu/philae/landing.html
7.) The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006 http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/X/X-earthgod.asp

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