(7) Seb made a mark on thy mouth; the great cycle of the gods protect thee.... They come with thee towards the entrance of the hall of the Tuat. Thy mother Nut stretches her hand behind thee, she protects thee, she doubles her care for thee ... of the children. The two sisters Isis and Nephthys come to thee; they fill thee with life health and strength, and all the joy which they possess

(17) 12. The Bracement. “Hand of Isis, stanching the blood of the Eye of Horus,” is thy name

(29) Isis holds in her right hand a small sailing ship with the spindle of a spinning wheel for its mast. From the top of the mast projects a water jug, its handle shaped like a serpent swelled with venom. This indicates that Isis steers the bark of life, full of troubles and miseries, on the stormy ocean of Time. The spindle symbolizes the fact that she spins and cuts the thread of Life. These emblems further signify that Isis abounds in humidity, by means of which she nourishes all natural bodies, preserving them from the heat of the sun by humidifying them with nutritious moisture from the atmosphere. Moisture supports vegetation, but this subtle humidity (life ether) is always more or less infected by some venom proceeding from corruption or decay. It must be purified by being brought into contact with the invisible cleansing fire of Nature. This fire digests, perfects, and revitalizes this substance, in order that the humidity may become a universal medicine to heal and renew all the bodies in Nature.

(23) I have given thee Isis and Nephthys, they are placed on thee

(19) The explanations in these pages of the symbols peculiar to the Virgin Isis are based (unless otherwise noted) on selections from a free translation of the fourth book of Bibliotèque des Philosophes Hermétiques, entitled "The Hermetical Signification of the Symbols and Attributes of Isis," with interpolations by the compiler to amplify and clarify the text.

(13) The thirteenth pylon: Isis extends her two hands upon her; she lightens the Nile in its hidden abode. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead

(14) At length Isis discovered that the chest had floated to the coast of Byblos. There it had lodged in the branches of a tree, which in a short time miraculously grew up around the box. This so amazed the king of that country that he ordered the tree to be cut down and a pillar made from its trunk to support the roof of his palace. Isis, visiting Byblos, recovered the body of her husband, but it was again stolen by Typhon, who cut it into fourteen parts, which he scattered all over the earth. Isis, in despair, began gathering up the severed remains of her husband, but found only thirteen pieces. The fourteenth part (the phallus) she reproduced in gold, for the original had fallen into the river Nile and had been swallowed by a fish.

(6) I have taken a bite of these sweet things which are on the hands (?) of Osiris N. the loaves (?) from above, which belong to Rā, made of grain of Abu, and four loaves from below which belong to Seb, made of grain from the South. The god of thy domain brings thee the Field of Hotepit, his hands are before thee

(33) From the right breast of Isis protruded a bunch of grapes and from, the left an ear of corn or a sheaf of wheat, golden in color. These indicate that Nature is the source of nutrition for plant, animal, and human life, nourishing all things from herself. The golden color in the wheat (corn) indicates that in the sunlight or spiritual gold is concealed the first sperm of all life.

(5) Thou art purified with the milk (given to) Apis, and with beer of the goddess Tenemit, with natron which removes all what is wrong in thee, and which was provided by the daughter of Rā when she gave it to her father Rā; and when she raised for thee the mountain where is buried her father Osiris

(17) Like nearly all religious and philosophical antiquities, the Bembine Table of Isis has been the subject of much controversy. In a footnote, A. E. Waite--unable to differentiate between the true and the purported nature or origin of the Tablet--echoes the sentiments of J.G. Wilkinson, another eminent exotericus: "The original [Table] is exceedingly late and is roughly termed a forgery." On the other hand, Eduard Winkelmann, a man of profound learning, defends the genuineness and antiquity of the Tablet. A sincere consideration of the Mensa Isiaca discloses one fact of paramount importance: that although whoever fashioned the Table was not necessarily an Egyptian, he was an initiate of the highest order, conversant with the most arcane tenets of Hermetic esotericism.

(23) The ancients gave the name Isis to one of their occult medicines; therefore the description here given relates somewhat to chemistry. Her black drape also signifies that the moon, or the lunar humidity--the sophic universal mercury and the operating substance of Nature in alchemical terminology--has no light of its own, but receives its light, its fire, and its vitalizing force from the sun. Isis was

(35) The statue of Isis was placed on a pedestal of dark stone ornamented with rams' heads. Her feet trod upon a number of venomous reptiles. This indicates that Nature has power to free from acidity or saltness all corrosives and to overcome all impurities from terrestrial corruption adhering to bodies. The rams' heads indicate that the most auspicious time for the generation of life is during the period when the sun passes through the sign of Aries. The serpents under her feet indicate that Nature is inclined to preserve life and to heal disease by expelling impurities and corruption.

(1) IT is especially fitting that a study of Hermetic symbolism should begin with a discussion of the symbols and attributes of the Saitic Isis. This is the Isis of Sais, famous for the inscription concerning her which appeared on the front of her temple in that city: "I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal Man hath ever me unveiled."

(14) 5. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, let N be made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods of the Two Regions [30] of Rechit, on that Night when Isis lay watching in tears over her brother Osiris

(6) This chapter is said over a consecrated crown placed upon the face of the person, and thou shalt put incense upon the flame, for N (the deceased), effecting his triumph over all his adversaries, whether Dead or Living, that he may become one of the followers of Osiris. And there shall be given to him drink and food in presence of this god. Thou shall say it at dawn twice; A great protection is it: with undeviating regularity for times infinite

(39) From a golden ring on her left arm a line descends, to the end of which is suspended a deep box filled with flaming coals and incense. Isis, or Nature personified, carries with her the sacred fire, religiously preserved and kept burning in. a special temple by the vestal virgins. This fire is the genuine, immortal flame of Nature--ethereal, essential, the author of life. The inconsumable oil; the balsam of life, so much praised by the wise and so often referred to in the Scriptures, is frequently symbolized as the fuel of this immortal flame.

(3) Let my mouth be given to me. Let my mouth be opened by Ptah with that instrument of steel wherewith he openeth the mouths of the gods

(51) "O Moses! desire protection of me With a mouth that thou hast not sinned withal." Moses answered, "I possess not such a mouth." God said, "Call upon me with another mouth! Act so that all thy mouths When thou hast sinned with one mouth, With thy other mouth cry, 'O Allah!' Or else cleanse thy own mouth, Calling on God is pure, and when purity approaches, Contraries flee away from contraries;

(3) Let me be a second to Isis; and let her glorified ones give me strength