This is part of an answer I sometimes give when people ask me Who Isis is. It can say nothing about Who She really is—for who can define Goddess (see previous post)? But it does offer some notes on a few of Her ten-thousand names…

Isis is the Great Goddess “Throne,” the original Cause and Place of Being. She is the ancient Great Mother Who gives birth and rebirth to Her people as they pass through Her enthroning lap. She is the Lady Who nurtures and sustains them with the blessings of the Earth, which She—as the Primordial Place of Being—is.

She is the Goddess of Magic, Who embodies and wields the most potent energy in the universe: the energy of magic. She is the magician Who uses Her magic to heal the hurts of the body and the hurts of our hearts, Who creates with the “thoughts of Her heart and the words of Her tongue.”

She is the Lady of Green Plants Who, when Her soul rises as the star Sirius, heralds the beginning of the season of fertility. She is the one Whose tears of lamentation for Osiris, Her Beloved Husband—and for us—fills the rivers of the Earth and causes Her sacred river, the Nile, to rise. She is the Lady of rivers and seas, the protectress of those who travel or work upon the Waters.

She is the Goddess of Women Who not only protects women in childbirth and in marriage, but She is Isis the Feminist Who said “I did make the power of women equal to the power of men.”

She is the Black One, Isis of the Mysteries, Who offers us rebirth even in this life and guides us through the Mysteries of Death and the Land of the Dead.

She is Isis the Lady of Initiation. And because of this, She is also Isis Sotera, Isis the Savior, Who renews us, cares for our souls, and can aid us throughout the difficulties of our lives.

She is the Lady of Wisdom, Goddess of esoteric knowledge. She could not be destroyed even during the time of Christian exclusivity in the West. Instead, She veiled Herself and went underground in the secret societies like the Rosicrucians and the Masons and among the magicians. She was hidden in the alchemical texts and it is likely that some of Her statues are among the famous Black Madonnas.

Most important of all, Isis is Living Goddess. She is brightly, passionately, magically alive within the hearts of so many women and men today.