Offering to Isis: Knowing the Goddess Through Her Sacred Symbols [Paperback]

M Isidora Forrest (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2005

M. Isidora Forrest, an ordained priestess of the Fellowship of Isis, guides magical practitioners down a modern, devotional path to this popular Egyptian goddess. She discusses the practice of ancient offering rites and shows how they can be applied today for spiritual growth and sacred magic. Readers can choose from over seventy scripted offerings to Isis. Also included are the sacred hieroglyphs associated with Isis and how these powerful, magical symbols can aid in forging a strong connection with the goddess.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

M. Isidora Forrest has been a devotee of the Goddess Isis for more than fifteen years. She is an initiated Prophetess of the House of Isis, and in 1997 she was formally ordained by Arch-Hierophant Olivia Robertson as a Priestess of the international Fellowship of Isis. Forrest has also earned the title of Adept for her more than twenty years of study in a one-hundred-year-old Hermetic magical tradition.

Ten years ago, Forrest and her husband founded the Hermetic Fellowship, a legally recognized, not-for-profit religious organization. Today, the Fellowship offers a mix of ritual for worship, celebration, and spiritual growth, as well as workshops and classes devoted to education in the Western esoteric tradition.

Forrest is the author of "Divination in the Greco-Egyptian Magical Papyri," in The Golden Dawn Journal, Book I; "The Equilibration of Jehovah"in The Golden Dawn Journal, Book II; "The Hermetic Isis"in The Golden Dawn Journal, Book III; and "Pagans and Neo-Pagans"in Magical Pantheons, all of which were edited by Chic and Tabatha Cicero and published by Llewellyn.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Birth of Isis. Feast of "revealing the face" of this goddess with her ennead. Performing all the rites of the feast of robing . . . according to the ritual of the place of the First Feast. They make a great oblation of bread, beer, oxen, fowl, wine, milk, pomegranate-wine, [gazelles, oryx, ibex], cranes, pigeons, fattened ducks, with fresh vegetables and all fruit. It is sweet to serve the Beautiful One with right offerings! -The Denderah Festival Calendar

Each night while I sleep, the light is withdrawn, and a darkened world returns to primordial chaos. This disorder is Isfet, the opposite of Mayet-Rightness, Truth. Like dark water, Isfet is of infinite, even frightening possibility. Will it seep up moist like ground water, like dreams, to nourish growth and change? Or will it burst forth, unchecked, unsettling, and destructive? Anything might happen. Anything might exist out there in night's shadowed darkness.

The formlessness of the unillumined world is why I welcome with full heart the awakening of the Golden One each morning. As She scatters Her gold dust across the world-bringing light, creating form-I release my breath to Her in relieved sighs. I am Her servant. I serve the Great Goddess Isis. "Ise" is how we whisper Her holy name. I am called The First of Those Who See Her, for it is my privilege and duty to open Her shrine, unveil Her face, and make offering to Her each morning. I know better than most how sweet it is to serve the Beautiful One with right offerings.

While Isfet is still trembling at the edges of the world, I rise and make my purifications. My body, which will perform the ritual, is made pure with water. My mouth, which will speak the words of power, is made pure with natron. It is salty, and if I have much to purify, it sometimes makes me gag. When I am cleansed, I put on the white linen and white sandals and walk through the night-cooled corridors of the temple toward Her closed shrine.

The cooks, the bakers, the butchers have already been at work. They have prepared Her morning feast. The Pure Ones, the Wab priests and priestesses, have placed it in the Hall of Offerings, and even now they chant for Her. The sistra of the priestesses rattle softly as I pass through the Hall of Offerings to finally stand before the closed doors of Her shrine.

Into the darkness before that sacred place, I speak the words that avert evil so that I may approach, giving no offense and receiving no harm. I break the clay seal. I draw back the bolt, but I do not yet open the doors. First I must offer incense to Her Eye, the fierce and fiery Serpent Goddess Who guards the Great One-another of Isis' kheperu, Her forms. When that Fierce One has taken Her pleasure and been pacified by the incense and the words of my mouth, I open the doors. Heaven and Earth open before me!

On my knees, I enter Her shrine, offering incense. The sweet smoke rises into the still air to encircle the Iset Weret, the Great Seat or Throne of the Goddess, Her innermost holy place. My heart remembers one of the Mysteries of my temple: Isis is both She Who is Upon Her Throne, and also the Throne itself, for that is the very meaning of Her name. Isis is All Things; it is a great secret that I know as I prostrate myself before the Goddess Throne. I kiss the ground. My belly touches the Earth before Her. I speak the Adoration of the Goddess with all my heart. As they do every morning that I wear the white sandals to serve my Goddess, tears blur the vision of my eyes when I lift the Goddess' veil to look upon Her beautiful face.

Isis is alive in Her sacred image. The Goddess is at home in Her temple. I can feel Her magic vibrate within the shrine. Her ka speaks to mine. I bid Her peace in awakening. In Her presence, I purify the food offerings with water and with incense. I name what we have prepared for Her. She smiles at me with golden lips.

I am now privileged to touch Her image. I take Her sacred body from the Great Throne into the shrine chamber. I wipe away yesterday's unguent, She having received its ka. With the little finger of my right hand, with my gentle finger, I anoint the uraeus upon Her brow anew with Eye of Horus Oil. It makes Her limbs whole. It destroys evil like the strong talons of Her falcon child.

I remove the linen cloths placed upon Her image the day before. They will be taken away and washed. With Her unclothed image before me, I adore Her four times. I feel tender toward the Goddess Whose body I touch. I speak only truth before Her. My adorations are never rote. I speak heart-words to my Goddess. As I reclothe Her in fresh linens-the white, the green, and the red-I purify with natron between each dressing. I purify again with water and incense. I circle Her image four times before returning it to its seat.

Once more upon Her Great Throne, Isis receives Her ornaments and implements of power. I place them upon Her body. I offer Her precious unguents, full of strength. I take up pure sand, and with ancient and holy words, I pour it out before Her. It grits beneath my white sandals as I enfold Her image, first in the white head cloth, then in the Great Cloth. Now She is veiled once more...(Continues)

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (June 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738707058
• ISBN-13: 978-0738707051
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful and Inspiring Offering, August 8, 2005

By 

Aegyptophile (WA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Offering to Isis: Knowing the Goddess Through Her Sacred Symbols (Paperback)

M. Isidora Forrest proved with her publication of Isis Magic in 2001 that modern
Neopaganism and Goddess Spirituality is capable of attaining depth and spiritual
maturity. Now with Offering to Isis, she joins the ranks of those who have
demonstrated that it is also capable of illuminating and deeply moving poetic
beauty in its worship.

Isis Magic provided a detailed history of the historic worship of Isis, and an
extensive set of spiritual and magical practices-- rituals, meditations,
devotions-- designed to develop a deep, rich connection with the Goddess Isis.

Now, in Offering to Isis, the author adds an important resource to the
repertoire of modern devotees of Isis-- a catalogue of nearly 75 symbols sacred
to the Goddess (the Heart, the Knot, the Lotus, Papyrus, etc.), and for each,
she does two things-- first, she explains in lucid and knowledgeable prose why
it is an appropriate offering to the Goddess in relation to its ancient place in
Egyptian life and particularly in Egyptian religion (its use, symbolism, etc.),
and second, she presents a beautiful and poetic offering speech or hymn to
accompany the Isiac's own devotional offering of that item to Isis.

This is not the book to pick up to learn the history and methods of ancient Isis
worship (that has already been presented in Forrest's Isis Magic, and by
DeTraci Regula, R.E. Witt, and other priests, priestesses, and scholars). This
is the book that will deepen your understanding and love of Isis, and will make
you wonder why you haven't already been exploring the beauty of that most
Egyptian of religious rites, the ritual of offering.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For the Devotee of Isis, June 15, 2006

By 

Boudica (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Offering to Isis: Knowing the Goddess Through Her Sacred Symbols (Paperback)

In the first part of her book, Ms. Forrest discusses "offerings". From modern day Seattle and the unusual custom that has arisen from leaving daily offerings of food and such for a work of art called "The Seattle Troll" to ancient offerings of symbols left at the temples of Egypt, Ms. Forrest examines our curious habit of leaving bit of things for both the common place as well as Deities. We see how symbols are part of Egyptian Magic or "Heka" and how this can fit into a daily practice of offerings for Isis. There is much history covered here and Ms. Forrest has done the research to allow even the beginner to understand the idea of offerings. The reader comes to understand the use of "Heka", or magic; that the word is the form, be it written or spoken and the offering of the word is the offering itself.

The second part of the book is the discussion and description of the offerings themselves, the glyphs and the meanings of each. The research is well done, easy to understand and each symbol is followed by an "Isis Offering" using that particular symbol.

For the practitioner who is looking at devoting their life to Isis, this is an indispensable handbook. Those who would make offerings, be they once a day or for special occasions, will find themselves referencing this book over and over. The work is in depth but the rituals are easy to follow even in their most complex form. The book will aid the follower of this path to make the most of their offerings and their connection with Isis.

The reader will also come away with an understanding of the meaning of the glyphs discussed in this book. They are pictured so the discussion of the glyph has a visual basis for the reader. You then copy the glyph that applies and use it in your own rituals.

This is a well presented book, offering much in the way of study for one looking at the Egyptian and Isis path. If you are looking at the practice and are looking for a single guide that will explain in depth the process and the rituals, this book is an excellent choice. boudica

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, August 19, 2006

By 

Melinda Taylor-kelly "Melinda Taylor-Kelly" (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Offering to Isis: Knowing the Goddess Through Her Sacred Symbols (Paperback)

This is really a useful, and powerful book. It goes well with her other Isis book, and is a useful tool for understanding Isis. I do recommend it.