some info on Isis

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some info on Isis

Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:39 pm

Salvete

I came across this information on Isis and Horus and I want to know to what degree this info is genuine. I know that there are some neopagan elements to be found within the text.

ISIS

Egyptian Moon Goddess, Great Mother and Giver of Life. With Osiris,
Isis and Horus (the divine child) made up a Holy Trinity. She is the
Goddess of marriage, motherhood, fertility, magick, healing,
reincarnation and divination, to name a few. Isis is the patroness of
priestesses.
One myth has Isis poisoning the Sun God Ra, offering to save him only
if he would reveal his secret name. At last, at the brink of
destruction, Ra gives Isis his heart, with the secret name it held,
and his two eyes (the Sun and the
Moon).
Isis quells the poison and ends up with Ra's supreme power. In time
the great Eye was passed along to her son Horus. Proclus mentions a
statue of her which bore the inscription "I am that which is, has
been and shall be. My veil no one has lifted." Hence, to lift the
veil of Isis is to pierce the heart of a great mystery. Isis, the Egyptian goddess of rebirth remains one of the most
familiar images of empowered and utter femininity. The goddess Isis
was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess
of the Overarching Sky. Isis was born on the first day between the
first years of creation, and was adored by her human followers.
Unlike the other Egyptian goddesses, the goddess Isis spent time
among her people, teaching women how to grind corn and make bread,
spin flax and weave cloth, and how to tame men enough to live with
them (an art form on which many of us would welcome a refresher
course!) Isis taught her people the skills of reading and agriculture
and was worshipped as the goddess of medicine and wisdom.
More than any other of the ancient Egyptian goddesses, Isis embodied
the characteristics of all the lesser goddesses that preceded her.
Isis became the model on which future generations of female dieties
in other cultures were to be based. As the personification of
the "complete female", Isis was called "The One Who Is All", Isis
Panthea ("Isis the All Goddess"), and the "Lady of Ten Thousand
Names".
The goddess Isis, a moon goddess, gave birth to Horus, the god of the
sun. Together, Isis and Horus created and sustained all life and were
the saviors of their people.
Isis became the most powerful of the gods and goddesses in the
ancient world. Ra, the God of the Sun, originally had the greatest
power. But Ra was uncaring, and the people of the world suffered
greatly during his reign.
The goddess Isis tricked him by mixing some of his saliva with mud to
create a poisonous snake that bit him, causing him great suffering
which she then offered to cure. He eventually agreed.
Isis informed Ra that, for the cure to work, she would have to speak
his secret name (which was the source of his power over life and
death). Reluctantly, he whispered it to her.
When Isis uttered his secret name while performing her magic, Ra was
healed. But the goddess Isis then possessed his powers of life and
death, and quickly became the most powerful of the Egyptian gods and
goddesses, using her great powers to the benefit of the people.
Isis was called the Mother of Life, but she was also known as the
Crone of Death. Her immense powers earned her the titles of "The
Giver of Life" and "Goddess of Magic". Her best known story
illustrates why she is simultaneously known as a creation goddess and
a goddess of destruction.
Isis was the Goddess of the Earth in ancient Egypt and loved her
brother Osiris. When they married, Osiris became the first King of
Earth. Their brother Set, immensely jealous of their powers,
murdered Osiris so he could usurp the throne.
Set did this by tricking Osiris into stepping into a beautiful box
made of cedar, ebony and ivory that he had ordered built to fit only
Osiris. Set then sealed it up to become a coffin and threw it into
the river. The river carried the box out to sea; it washed up in
another country, resting in the upper boughs of a tamarisk tree when
the waters receded. As time passed, the branches covered the box,
encapsulating the god in his coffin in the trunk of the tree.
In a state of inconsolable grief, Isis tore her robes to shreds and
cut off her beautiful black hair. When she finally regained her
emotional balance, Isis set out to search for the body of her beloved
Osiris so that she might bury him properly.
The search took Isis to Phoenicia where she met Queen Astarte.
Astarte didn't recognized the goddess and hired her as a nursemaid to
the infant prince.
Fond of the young boy, Isis decided to bestow immortality on him. As
she was holding the royal infant over the fire as part of the ritual,
the Queen entered the room. Seeing her son smoldering in the middle
of the fire, Astarte instinctively (but naively) grabbed the child
out of the flames, undoing the magic of Isis that would have made her
son a god.
When the Queen demanded an explanation, Isis revealed her identity
and told Astarte of her quest to recover her husband's body. As she
listened to the story, Astarte realized that the body was hidden in
the fragrant tree in the center of the palace and told Isis where to
find it.
Sheltering his broken body in her arms, the goddess Isis carried the
body of Osiris back to Egypt for proper burial. There she hid it in
the swamps on the delta of the Nile river.
Unfortunately, Set came across the box one night when he was out
hunting. Infuriated by this turn of events and determined not to be
outdone, he murdered Osiris once again . . . this time hacking his
body into 14 pieces and throwing them in different directions knowing
that they would be eaten by the crocodiles.
The goddess Isis searched and searched, accompanied by seven
scorpions who assisted and protected her. Each time she found new
pieces she rejoined them to re-form his body.
But Isis could only recover thirteen of the pieces. The fourteenth,
his penis, had been swallowed by a crab, so she fashioned one from
gold and wax. Then inventing the rites of embalming, and speaking
some words of magic, Isis brought her husband back to life.
Magically, Isis then conceived a child with Osiris, and gave birth to
Horus, who later became the Sun God. Assured that having the infant
would now relieve Isis' grief, Osiris was free to descend to become
the King of the Underworld, ruling over the dead and the sleeping.
His spirit, however, frequently returned to be with Isis and the
young Horus who both remained under his watchful and loving eye.
There are many other variations of this myth . . . in some Isis found
the body of Osiris in Byblos, fashioned his penis out of clay. In
others the goddess consumed the dismembered parts she found and
brought Osiris back to life, reincarnating him as her son Horus.
In one of the most beautiful renditions, Isis turns into a
sparrowhawk and hovers over the body of Osiris, fanning life back
into him with her long wings.
Regardless of the differences, each version speaks of the power over
life and death that the goddess Isis symbolizes. . . the deep
mysteries of the feminine ability to create and to bring life from
that which is lifeless.
To this day the celebration of the flooding of the Nile each year is
called "The Night of the Drop" by Muslims. . . for it used to be
named "The Night of the Tear-Drop" a remembrance of the extent of the
Isis' lamentation of the death of Osiris, her tears so plentiful they
caused the Nile to overflow.
The Egyptian goddess Isis played an important role in the
development of modern religions, although her influence has been
largely forgotten. She was worshipped throughout the Greco-Roman
world. During the fourth century when Christianity was making its
foothold in the Roman Empire, her worshippers founded the first
Madonna cults in order to keep her influence alive. Some early
Christians even called themselves Pastophori, meaning the shepherds
or servants of Isis. . . which may be where the word "pastors"
originated. The influence of Isis is still seen in the Christian
ikons of the faithful wife and loving mother.
Indeed, the ancient images of Isis nursing the infant Horus inspired
the style of portraits of mother and child for centuries, including
those of the "Madonna and Child" found in religious art.
The power of the goddess Isis in the "public arena" was also
profound. Her role as a guide to the Underworld, was often portrayed
with winged arms outstretched in a protective position. The image of
the wings of Isis was incorporated into the Egyptian throne on which
the pharaohs would sit, the wings of Isis protecting them.
The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis has many gifts to share with modern
women. Isis embodies the strengths of the feminine, the capacity to
feel deeply about relationships, the act of creation, and the source
of sustenance and protection.
At times Isis could be a clever trickster empowered by her feminine
wiles rather than her logic or brute strength, but it is also the
goddess Isis who shows us how we can use our personal gifts to create
the life we desire rather than simply opposing that which we do not
like.
The myths of Isis and Osiris caution us about the need for occasional
renewal and reconnection in our relationships. Isis also reminds us
to acknowledge and accept the depths of our emotions.

~author unknown
valete optime

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Re: some info on Isis

Postby Horatius Piscinus on Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:55 pm

Salve Aureli

Quintus Aurelius Orcus wrote:I came across this information on Isis and Horus and I want to know to what degree this info is genuine. I know that there are some neopagan elements to be found within the text.


Isiacs. The myths she gave are from ancient Egypt, the Isis she describes is more the Hellenist Isis. She left out some things. For example she mentioned the pastophori yet forgot the anobophori. The pastophori, according to Apuleius, were first founded by Sulla, even though he doesn't seem to have had any connection to the Isiacs. Serepus was much more improtant in the Hellenist cultus, and she didn't even mention him. Another story, more relevent to Rome, was "the Miracle of the Rain" that supposedly saved a Roman army on the Danube during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This came at the intervention of Hermes-Thoth (another important deity in the cultus she forgot to mention), when called upon by Arnouphis, a priest of Isis serving in Marcus Aurelius' entourage. Hermes-Thoth was the Good Shepherd. The festival at Rome, 28 Oct to 3 Nov, celebrated the one story of the loss and discovery of Osiris. Odd that wasn't mentioned. The part on Isis and the Christian cultus for Mary is debatable.

Isis worship did not extend throughout the Empire. There was a serepeum in Britannia. One shrine only IIRC was found in southern Gaul, and that to an Isis-Ceres. Some inscriptions along the Danube. I don't recall any mention of Isis in Hispania or North Africa. Even in the eastern provinces the cultus of Isis is not found in many places. At Alexandria of course, on Delos, in Campania, and eventually in Rome as main centers, but the cultus was not as pervasive throughout the Empire as is sometimes claimed.

Some of the titles and attributes ascribed in the article to Isis I haven't heard before. The comment, "Isis became the model on which future generations of female dieties in other cultures were to be based" seems strange to me. I don't know why Isis would have had any influence on the diets of women in other cultures and even less on the deities of future cultures, whatever that means. Isiac syncretism makes for many strange claims. I can repost Apuleius' aretology of Isis and a couple other things to look at what they had to say.

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Postby Horatius Piscinus on Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:59 pm

Salvete

From the Metamorphosis or The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius of Madaura (b. 130 CE):

11.2: Lucius' Prayer for the Assistance of Isis

O blessed Queen of Heaven, whether you are the Lady Ceres who is the original and motherly source of all fruitful things in earth, who after finding Your daughter Proserpina, through the great joy which You did presently conceive, made barren and unfruitful ground to be plowed and sown, and now You inhabit in the land of Eleusis; or whether You are the celestial Venus, who in the beginning of the world did couple together all kind of things with an engendered love, by an eternal propagation of human kind, are now worshipped within the Temples of the Isle Paphos, You, Diana, who are the sister of the God Phoebus, who nourishes so many people by the generation of beasts, and are now adored at the sacred places of Ephesus, You who is Proserpina, by reason of the deadly howling to which You yield, that has power to stop and put away the invasion of the hags and Ghosts which appear unto men, and to keep them down in the closures of the earth; You who is worshipped in divers manners, and does illuminate all the borders of the earth by Your feminine shape, You which nourishes all the fruits of the world by Your vigor and force; with whatsoever name or fashion it is lawful to call upon You, I pray You end my great travail and misery, and deliver me from the wretched fortune, which has for so long a time pursued me. Grant peace and rest if it please You to reply to my entreaties, for I have endured too much labor and peril. Remove from me this shape of mine as an ass, and return me to my pristine form, and if I have offended in any way the divine Majesty, let me rather die then live, for I am fully weary of my life.


11.5: The Aretalogy of Isis

Behold Lucius, moved by your weeping and prayers, I am come to succor you. I am She that is the natural mother of all life, mistress of all the Elements, the first child of time, supreme deity, chief among powers divine, the Queen of Heaven! I am the principal of the celestial Gods, the light of Goddesses, and the uniform manifestation of all gods and goddesses: I am who governs by my nod the crests of light in the sky. At my will are the planets of the air, the wholesome wafts upon the Seas, and the lamentable silences below disposed. My name, my divinity is venerated throughout all the world in divers manners, in variable rites and in many names. Thus the Phrygians call me Pessinuntia, Mother of the Gods. The Athenians call me Cecropian Minerva. The Cyprians, in their isle home call me Paphian Venus. The Cretan archers call me Diana Dictynna. The three-tongue Sicilians call me Stygian Proserpina. The Eleusians call me the ancient goddess Ceres. Some call me Juno, by others, Bellona, still others Hecate, while some call me Rhamnusia. But those who are enlightened by the earliest rays of that divine sun, principally the Ethiopians which dwell in the Orient, and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient lore, and by proper ceremonies are they accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis. I am present; I am with pity; I have come propitiously to favor you during your misery. Shed your tears; indeed, let go your sorrows and put away your mourning. And in a moment, by my foresight, I will enclose your days with wholesome health and beneficial wealth. Therefore from this day on, direct your troubled thoughts to my commands alone. This day, and whichever days shall be born from this night hence, forever, when you call upon my name with reverence, to calm the tempests of winter and smooth stormy seas of choppy waves, opening them to navigation, indeed to the passages across rough open seas, my priest shall henceforth dedicate songs and pour libations. That sacred rite you must never delay nor wait upon knowing it may profane.


11.25: Lucius' Prayer of Thanks

Most holy and everlasting, blessed Lady, Redeemer and perpetual comfort of human kind, who by Your bounty and grace nourish all the world, cherish our lives, and bestow the consoling smiles of a Mother with great affection upon our trials and tribulations. As a loving Mother You take no rest. There is no day or night, not so much as a moment, that is not filled by Your mercy succoring all men and women. On land as well as at sea, You are She who chases away all storms and dangers from our lives by Your right hand. Likewise You restrain the fatal dispositions, appease the great tempests of fortune and keep back the course of the stars. The Gods supernal do honour You. The Gods of the earth hold You in reverence. You rotate the globe. You give light to the Sun. You govern the world in time and space. You tread down the powers of Hades. By You the seasons return, the Planets rejoice, the Elements serve. At Your command the winds do blow, the clouds do gather, the seeds prosper, and the fruits prevail. The birds of the air, the beasts of the hill, the serpents of the den, and the fish of the sea, do tremble at Your majesty. O but my spirit is not able to give You sufficient praise, nor have I the means to offer You acceptable sacrifice. My voice has no power to utter what I think of You. Not if I had a thousand mouths and so many tongues, not in an eternal flow of unwearied declaration could I affirm it. Howbeit, poor as I am, I shall do as a good religious person, and according to my means, I shall always keep a remembrance of Your countenance deep within my breast, and there in the secret depths of my souls shall I keep divinity forever guarded.
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Postby Horatius Piscinus on Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:03 pm

Aretalogy of Isis from Cyme


The aretalogy of Isis, found at Cyme, was written in Greek during the second century c.e. Included in the inscription was a claim to its having been copied from a stele at Memphis. Although reference may have been given to Egypt as the homeland of Isis, the ideas expressed here are derived from the Greek cult of Serapis. In style and conception, it is quite different than is found among the literature of Pharaonic Egypt. Several such aretalogies of Isis are known from other sites, and compare with the epiphany of Isis found in Book 11 of The Golden Ass by Apuleius, written around the same time.


I am Isis, the mistress of every land, and I was taught by Hermes, and with Hermes I devised letter, both the sacred and the demotic, that all might not be written with the same letters:

I gave and ordained laws for all men and women, which no one is able to change.
I am the eldest daughter of Kronos. I am the wife and sister of King Osiris.
I am She who findeth fruit for men and women
I am the Mother of King Horus.
I am She that riseth in the Dog Star.
I am she that is called goddess by women.
For me was the city of Bubastis built.
I divided the earth from the heavens.
I showed the paths of the stars.
I ordered the course of the sun and moon.
I devised business in the sea.
I made strong the right.
I brought together man and woman.
I appointed women to bring their infants to birth in the tenth lunar month.
I ordained that parents should be loved by children.
I laid punishment upon those disposed without natural affection towards their parents.
I made with my brother Osiris an end to the eating of human flesh.
I revealed mysteries unto men.
I taught men and women to honor the images of the gods.
I consecrated the precincts of the gods.
I broke down the governments of tyrants.
I made an end to murders.
I compelled women to be loved by men.
I made the right to be stronger than gold and silver.
I ordained that the true should be thought good.
I devised marriage contracts.
I assigned to Greeks and to barbarians their languages.
I made the beautiful and the shameful to be distinguished by nature.
I ordained that nothing should be more feared than an oath.
I have delivered the plotter of evil against other men into the hands of the one he plotted against.
I established penalties for those who practice injustice.
I decree mercy to suppliants.
I protect and honor righteous guards.
With me the right prevails.

I am the Queen of rivers and winds and sea.
No one is held in honor without my knowing it.
I am Queen of War.
I am Queen of the Thunderbolt.
I stir up the sea and I calm it once again.
I am in the rays of the sun.
Whatever I please, this too shall come to an end.
With me everything is reasonable.
I set free those in bonds.
I am the Queen of seamanship.
I make the navigable unnavigable when it pleases me.
I create walls for cities.
I am called the Lawgiver.
I brought up islands out of the depths into the light.
I am Lord of Rainstorms.
I overcome Fate.
Fate hearkens to me.
Hail, O Egypt, that nourished me!

~translation by Fredrick C. Grant
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Postby Horatius Piscinus on Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:08 pm

The Thunder, Perfect Mind
Nag Hammadi VI 13.1-21, 32. Translated by George W. MacRae

This is not an Isiac aretology of Isis. Rather it is about the Ennoia of Greek philosophy that was to influence the cultus of Isis, Hermetism, and Gnosticism. This particular aretology is probably Hermetic. It is interesting to compare it to the aretologies of Isis given by Apuleius and at Cyme.

I was sent forth from the power,
and I have come to those who reflect upon me,
and I have been found among those who seek after me.
Look upon me, you who reflect upon me,
and you hearers, hear me.
You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves.
And do not banish me from your sight.
And do not make your voice hate me, nor your hearing.
Do not be ignorant of me anywhere or any time. Be on your guard!
Do not be ignorant of me.
For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am <the mother> and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.
I am the barren one
and many are her sons.
I am she whose wedding is great,
and I have not taken a husband.
I am the midwife and she who does not bear.
I am the solace of my labor pains.
I am the bride and the bridegroom,
and it is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father
and the sister of my husband
and he is my offspring.
I am the slave of him who prepared me.
I am the ruler of my offspring.
But he is the one who begot me before the time on a birthday.
And he is my offspring in (due) time,
and my power is from him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of my old age.
And whatever he wills happens to me.
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is multiple.
I am the utterance of my name.
Why, you who hate me, do you love me,
and hate those who love me?
You who deny me, confess me,
and you who confess me, deny me.
You who tell the truth about me, lie about me,
and you who have lied about me, tell the truth about me.
You who know me, be ignorant of me,
and those who have not known me, let them know me.
For I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shame and boldness.
I am shameless; I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and peace.
Give heed to me.
I am the one who is disgraced and the great one.
Give heed to my poverty and my wealth.
Do not be arrogant to me when I am cast out upon the earth,
and you will find me in those that are to come.
And do not look upon me on the dung-heap
nor go and leave me cast out,
and you will find me in the kingdoms.
And do not look upon me when I am cast out among those who
are disgraced and in the least places,
nor laugh at me.
And do not cast me out among those who are slain in violence.
But I, I am compassionate and I am cruel.
Be on your guard!
Do not hate my obedience
and do not love my self-control.
In my weakness, do not forsake me,
and do not be afraid of my power.
For why do you despise my fear
and curse my pride?
But I am she who exists in all fears
and strength in trembling.
I am she who is weak,
and I am well in a pleasant place.
I am senseless and I am wise.
Why have you hated me in your counsels?
For I shall be silent among those who are silent,
and I shall appear and speak,
Why then have you hated me, you Greeks?
Because I am a barbarian among the barbarians?
For I am the wisdom of the Greeks
and the knowledge of the barbarians.
I am the judgement of the Greeks and of the barbarians.
I am the one whose image is great in Egypt
and the one who has no image among the barbarians.
I am the one who has been hated everywhere
and who has been loved everywhere.
I am the one whom they call Life,
and you have called Death.
I am the one whom they call Law,
and you have called Lawlessness.
I am the one whom you have pursued,
and I am the one whom you have seized.
I am the one whom you have scattered,
and you have gathered me together.
I am the one before whom you have been ashamed,
and you have been shameless to me.
I am she who does not keep festival,
and I am she whose festivals are many.
I, I am godless,
and I am the one whose God is great.
I am the one whom you have reflected upon,
and you have scorned me.
I am unlearned,
and they learn from me.
I am the one that you have despised,
and you reflect upon me.
I am the one whom you have hidden from,
and you appear to me.
But whenever you hide yourselves,
I myself will appear.
For whenever you appear,
I myself will hide from you.
Those who have [...] to it [...] senselessly [...].
Take me [... understanding] from grief.
and take me to yourselves from understanding and grief.
And take me to yourselves from places that are ugly and in ruin,
and rob from those which are good even though in ugliness.
Out of shame, take me to yourselves shamelessly;
and out of shamelessness and shame,
upbraid my members in yourselves.
And come forward to me, you who know me
and you who know my members,
and establish the great ones among the small first creatures.
Come forward to childhood,
and do not despise it because it is small and it is little.
And do not turn away greatnesses in some parts from the smallnesses,
for the smallnesses are known from the greatnesses.
Why do you curse me and honor me?
You have wounded and you have had mercy.
Do not separate me from the first ones whom you have known.
And do not cast anyone out nor turn anyone away
[...] turn you away and [... know] him not.
[...].
What is mine [...].
I know the first ones and those after them know me.
But I am the mind of [...] and the rest of [...].
I am the knowledge of my inquiry,
and the finding of those who seek after me,
and the command of those who ask of me,
and the power of the powers in my knowledge
of the angels, who have been sent at my word,
and of gods in their seasons by my counsel,
and of spirits of every man who exists with me,
and of women who dwell within me.
I am the one who is honored, and who is praised,
and who is despised scornfully.
I am peace,
and war has come because of me.
And I am an alien and a citizen.
I am the substance and the one who has no substance.
Those who are without association with me are ignorant of me,
and those who are in my substance are the ones who know me.
Those who are close to me have been ignorant of me,
and those who are far away from me are the ones who have known me.
On the day when I am close to you, you are far away from me,
and on the day when I am far away from you, I am close to you.
[I am ...] within.
[I am ...] of the natures.
I am [...] of the creation of the spirits.
[...] request of the souls.
I am control and the uncontrollable.
I am the union and the dissolution.
I am the abiding and I am the dissolution.
I am the one below,
and they come up to me.
I am the judgment and the acquittal.
I, I am sinless,
and the root of sin derives from me.
I am lust in (outward) appearance,
and interior self-control exists within me.
I am the hearing which is attainable to everyone
and the speech which cannot be grasped.
I am a mute who does not speak,
and great is my multitude of words.
Hear me in gentleness, and learn of me in roughness.
I am she who cries out,
and I am cast forth upon the face of the earth.
I prepare the bread and my mind within.
I am the knowledge of my name.
I am the one who cries out,
and I listen.
I appear and [...] walk in [...] seal of my [...].
I am [...] the defense [...].
I am the one who is called Truth
and iniquity [...].
You honor me [...] and you whisper against me.
You who are vanquished, judge them (who vanquish you)
before they give judgment against you,
because the judge and partiality exist in you.
If you are condemned by this one, who will acquit you?
Or, if you are acquitted by him, who will be able to detain you?
For what is inside of you is what is outside of you,
and the one who fashions you on the outside
is the one who shaped the inside of you.
And what you see outside of you, you see inside of you;
it is visible and it is your garment.
Hear me, you hearers
and learn of my words, you who know me.
I am the hearing that is attainable to everything;
I am the speech that cannot be grasped.
I am the name of the sound
and the sound of the name.
I am the sign of the letter
and the designation of the division.
And I [...].
(3 lines missing)
[...] light [...].
[...] hearers [...] to you
[...] the great power.
And [...] will not move the name.
[...] to the one who created me.
And I will speak his name.
Look then at his words
and all the writings which have been completed.
Give heed then, you hearers
and you also, the angels and those who have been sent,
and you spirits who have arisen from the dead.
For I am the one who alone exists,
and I have no one who will judge me.
For many are the pleasant forms which exist in numerous sins,
and incontinencies,
and disgraceful passions,
and fleeting pleasures,
which (men) embrace until they become sober
and go up to their resting place.
And they will find me there,
and they will live,
and they will not die again.
M Horatius Piscinus

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Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:47 pm

Salve Piscine

thank you for the information you posted on Isis and her cult. I did mention that some of the elements in that post I made, were of neo-pagan origin, especially from Wiccan origin.
What I always find interesting when these things were originally posted by someone else on a yahoo! group is that the author is always unknown or they give credit to Patricia Telesco or Patricia Monaghan as the authors. Haven't read any of their books, but I already know enough to see that these books by these authors are to be read with a certain scrutiny.
vale

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