(47) The figure of Isis is sometimes used to represent the occult and magical arts, such as necromancy, invocation, sorcery, and thaumaturgy. In one of the myths concerning her, Isis is said to have conjured the invincible God of Eternities, Ra, to tell her his secret and sacred name, which he did. This name is equivalent to the Lost Word of Masonry. By means of this Word, a magician can demand obedience from the invisible and superior deities. The priests of Isis became adepts in the use of the unseen forces of Nature. They understood hypnotism, mesmerism, and similar practices long before the modem world dreamed of their existence.

(588) 1607 To say: Osiris N., thy mother Nut has spread herself over thee, in her name of "She of St-p.t"; 1607 she has caused thee to be as a god, in spite of thee, in thy name of "God"; 1608 she has protected thee against all evil things, in her name of "Great Sieve" (protectress). 1608 Thou art the greatest among her children.

(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."

(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) 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

(582) 1558 To say: N. is come to thee, Horus, 1558 that thou mayest recite for him this great and good word, which thou didst recite for Osiris, 1558 by which N. may be great; by which he may be powerful. 1559 His hm is within him; his ba is behind him; 1559 his pd is upon him, which Horus gave to Osiris, 1559 that N. may rest in heaven, as a mountain, as a support. 1560 He shall fly as a cloud to heaven, like a heron; 1560 he shall pass by the side-locks of the sky; 1560 the feathers on the two arms of N. shall be like knives. 1561 shall give him his arm, 1561 Sothis shall take his hand; 1561 the ground shall be hoed for N.; an offering shall be made for N.; 1561 the two nomes of the god shall shout for N. 1562 He will be more at the head than he who is at the head of the Two Enneads; 1562 he sits upon his firm throne, 1562 his sceptre glittering in his hand. 1563 If N. raises his hand towards the children of their fathers, 1563 they stand up for N.; 1563 if N. lowers his hand towards them, they sit down. 1564 The face of N. is like that of a jackal; the middle (of his body) is like that of b.wt; 1564 N. judges like Sebek in Crocodilopolis, 1564 like Anubis in Tb.t (Hypselis?). 1565 When N. calls for a thousand, 1565 there come to him the blessed dead (?) with salutations, 1565 while they say to him: "Who is it who has done this to thee?" 1566 It is the mother of N., the great wild cow, she with the two long feathers, 1566 with the brilliant head-dress, with the two hanging breasts, 1566 who has lifted N. up to heaven--she did not leave N. on the earth- 1566 among the glorious gods, 1567 that N. may see their spirit and that he may be a spirit likewise. 1567 N. [is protected] by his, father Osiris (just as) the blessed dead (?) protect N.

(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.

(34) On the girdle surrounding the upper part of the body of the statue appear a number of mysterious emblems. The girdle is joined together in front by four golden plates (the elements), placed in the form of a square. This signified that Isis, or Nature, the first matter (alchemical terminology), was the essence- of the four elements (life, light, heat, and force), which quintessence generated all things. Numerous stars are represented on this girdle, thereby indicating their influence in darkness as well as the influence of the sun in light. Isis is the Virgin immortalized in the constellation of Virgo, where the World Mother is placed with the serpent under her feet and a crown. of stars on her head. In her arms she carries a sheaf of grain and sometimes the young Sun God.