Isis
| Isis | ||
|---|---|---|
 2E: Eye and teardrop 3E/5E: Ankh and star |
||
| Aliases | Lady of Knowledge | |
| Alignment | 2E: Lawful Good 3E/5E: Neutral Good |
|
| Divine Rank | 2E: Intermediate Goddess 3E: Greater Goddess |
|
| Pantheon | Egyptian, Mulhorandi | |
| Portfolio | Fertility, magic, marriage | |
| Domains | 3E: Good, Magic, Protection, Water 5E: Arcana, Knowledge, Life |
|
| Home Plane | Great Wheel: Gizekthet (Arcadia, Heliopolis), Quietude (Elysium) World Tree: Heliopolis |
|
| Worshippers | Bard, druids, mothers, sorcerers, wifes, wizards | |
| Favoured Weapon | Quarterstaff | |
Isis, is a goddess of fertility and motherhood originally in ancient Egyptian religion her worship spread throughout the Mediterranean, Southern Europe and Northern Africa. Not to be confused with that other famous ISIS, the International Secret Intelligence Service...and also not to be confused with the other name of Daesh. Isis was first mentioned the Osiris myth. She was believed to help the dead enter the afterlife as she had helped Osiris, and she was considered the divine mother of the pharaoh. Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. She played a limited role in royal rituals and temple rites, although she was more prominent in funerary practices and magical texts.
She was usually portrayed in art as a human woman wearing a throne-like hieroglyph on her head. Later she took on traits that originally belonged to Hathor, the preeminent goddess of earlier times, Isis was portrayed wearing Hathor's headdress: a sun disk between the horns of a cow. As she grew in popularity Isis absorbed traits from many other goddesses. (home brewers take note! Historical precedent for mixing religions) Rulers in Egypt and its neighbor to the south, Nubia, built temples dedicated primarily to Isis, and her temple at Philae was a religious center for Egyptians and Nubians alike. Her reputed magical power was greater than that of all other gods, and she was said to protect the kingdom from its enemies, govern the skies and the natural world, and have power over fate itself.
Family Relations She was the daughter of the god Keb and his wife/sister the goddess Nut. She was the sister-wife of Osiris, and mother of Horus.
Historical Rites and Rituals
Two great Festivals are dedicated to Isis. Bust out your pumpkin spice latte because the first festival started on October 31 and lasted through November 3. During this four day period a passion play was acted out over the death of Osiris and the magic of Isis returning him to life. During the first day, actors would impersonate Isis and her son Horus as well as various other gods as they searched across the world for the 14 body parts of Osiris. The Second and Third days showed the reassembly and rebirth of Osiris and the fourth day was a wild rejoicing over the success of Isis and the coming of the newly immortal Osiris. The belief is that through worship of Isis and strong devotion,you too can be returned to life should you die and also experience eternal happiness under her nurturing care, just as Osiris was rebuild and shall rule forever.
The first was celebrated on the Vernal Equinox, to celebrate the return of life to the world (around March 20). Oh shit, like Easter?
The Four sons of Horus, funerary deities who were thought to protect the internal organs of the deceased, were the offspring of Isis and the elder form of Horus. In the same era, Horus was syncretized with the fertility god Min, so Isis was regarded as Min's mother.
In the Hellenistic period, when Egypt was ruled and settled by Greeks, Isis was worshiped by Greeks and Egyptians, along with a new god, Serapis. Their worship diffused into the wider Mediterranean world. Isis's Greek devotees ascribed to her traits taken from Greek deities, such as the invention of marriage and the protection of ships at sea, and she retained strong links with Egypt and other Egyptian deities who were popular in the Hellenistic world, such as Osiris and Harpocrates. As Hellenistic culture was absorbed by Rome in the first century BCE, the cult of Isis became a part of Roman religion. Her devotees were a small proportion of the Roman Empire's population but were found all across its territories. Her following developed distinctive festivals such as the Navigium Isidis, as well as initiation ceremonies resembling those of other Greco-Roman mystery cults. Some of her devotees said she encompassed all feminine divine powers in the world.
The worship of Isis was ended by the rise of Christianity. Her worship may have influenced Christian beliefs and practices such as the veneration of Mary,
Historical Mythology
Isis has the ability to create and destroy life with mere words. She not only knew the words which needed to be spoken to cause certain things to occur, but was also able to use exact pronunciation and emphasis in order for the desired effect to occur. It is believed that if the best effect was to be produced by words of power they must be uttered in a certain tone of voice, and at a certain rate, and at a certain time of the day or night, with appropriate gestures or ceremonies. Only when these conditions have been met can true magic occur. Basically master of dragon shouts.
Historical Fantasy
Pathfinder
