Discover the mystery of the goddess Isis -- an ancient symbol of female empowerment (a.k.a., feminism)
Isis with the symbol of life
Isis depicted with wings & the solar disk crown
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Although you would not know it from recent media coverage, the name "ISIS" was revered for centuries as a symbol of life, civilization, love and motherhood. Unique among the deities of ancient civilizations, the Isis myth attracted followers throughout all stretches of the ancient Egyptian empire and, later, the ancient Greek and Roman empires. As a universally-endearing symbol of feminine majesty, the Isis movement endured from the beginnings of ancient Egypt until the 5th century A.D.
Evidence of her influence has been found in the remnants of the Roman empire as far west as Britain and as far east as Persia. It is perversely ironic that her name (a Greek rendering of the ancient Egyptian pronunciation) has inadvertently been adopted by the Western media to refer to a terrorist organization which has committed unspeakable atrocities. |
Poets love metaphors. Writers love symbols. Isis is a metaphor and symbol constructed by the ancients for love, marriage, loyalty, and the uplifting of the human race through the crafts of civilization. Isis is not a rabid pack of murderous & misogynistic war criminals wreaking havoc on the Middle East.
In the pre-Christian era, Isis was acknowledged as an inspiring symbol, perhaps the most benevolent deity among the polytheistic pantheons of the varied civilizations ruled by ancient Greece and Rome. Her countless adherents included the noble and the ignoble of the Graeco-Roman world -- both of low and high rank:*
Respect for the legend of Isis (and other Egyptian myths) has nothing to do with subscribing to any particular pagan religious belief. No more so than being a reader of Greek mythology or admirer of ancient Greek sculpture implies being compelled to make sacrifices at the temple of Apollo. So, I am delighted to introduce the legacy of Isis to a new generation. I present her as a metaphor for an alternative worldview that critiques the self-destructive flaws of modern patriarchal culture. This is a perspective much needed in an era where conflict, gender violence, and the general suppression of female human rights have become endemic in daily life and the daily news -- of both hemispheres. I welcome the vigor of the debate. -- Geronimo Redstone
- Alexander the Great
- Cleopatra
- The emperor Hadrian
- The emperor Vespasian
- The historian Diodorus
- The historian Plutarch
Respect for the legend of Isis (and other Egyptian myths) has nothing to do with subscribing to any particular pagan religious belief. No more so than being a reader of Greek mythology or admirer of ancient Greek sculpture implies being compelled to make sacrifices at the temple of Apollo. So, I am delighted to introduce the legacy of Isis to a new generation. I present her as a metaphor for an alternative worldview that critiques the self-destructive flaws of modern patriarchal culture. This is a perspective much needed in an era where conflict, gender violence, and the general suppression of female human rights have become endemic in daily life and the daily news -- of both hemispheres. I welcome the vigor of the debate. -- Geronimo Redstone
*As discussed by Dr. R. E. Witt in his monograph, Isis in the Ancient World
Images from my 2003 visit to the land of the Nile
"Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman. Man had nothing to do with it." -- Sojourner Truth, Black abolitionist & women's rights activist
"The lineal descent of the people of the Five Nations shall run in the female line. Women shall be considered the progenitors of the nation. They shall own the land and the soil. Men and women shall follow the status of their mothers." -- Article 44 of the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Confederacy of North America, an aboriginal document which inspired the U.S. Constitution*
*Although unlike the Iroquois constitution, the U.S. document initially failed to empower American women.
A jihadist terrorist of the ISIL criminal organization
The Obama Administration appropriately uses the term "ISIL".
This is the real and only Isis that should be acknowledged in human history:
Rediscover Isis and the beauty of Egyptian myth in The Bachelor Scrolls!