Isis and Ra

Geb and Nut, the children of Ra, had children as well.  These children were the younger gods whose time to rule had come.  Among these gods were Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys.  Isis was wiser and more knowledgeable than anyone who had preceded her.

In this day, Ra had saved earth from the destruction of Sekhmet, and, though ancient, he ruled over the land of Egypt.  As he passed through the land of Egypt, his head trembled and he drooled from the mouth, as is common with the ancient men.  As long as he kept his Secret Name, however, none could rule in his stead, and so he continued to be Pharoah.

Isis, who was wise, desired to rule, and though she knew all things in the heavens and on earth, she did not know the Secret Name of Ra, and so could not take the throne.  So she devised a clever scheme by which she could learn the name.

Isis took the mud from the earth into her hands, and, kneeding it as a baker might kneed dough, she formed for herself a new snake:  the cobra (the cobra was, ever after that, the symbol of the Pharoah and his Queen).  Isis placed the new serpent on the road so that, as Ra passed through his kingdom, the cobra bit him and disappeared into the tall grass.  The venom coursed through Ra's veins, and he could say nothing, save for a shout of pain and alarm.  His courtiers, who followed him, asked what had happened.  Ra was speechless for a time, because of the pain, but when he could finally speak, he said, "You gods, whom I have created, help me!  Something has bitten me, something I did not create.  It's poison burns as fire and flows as water, and causes a fever in me."

The gods wept, and called Isis, who was a healer and the Queen of Magic.  She knelt beside him and asked, "What has harmed you, oh Ra?  If a creature has lifted its head against you, I will destroy it with my magic."

"I went, as is custom, through the Upper and Lower lands of Egypt.  As I surveyed all that I had made, a serpent - one not of my creation - raised itself and bit me.  Now I burn and shiver, and I sweat as if it were the heat of summer."

Isis, in a soothing voice, said, "If you tell me your Secret Name, I can heal you, for my spells will only work if I use your name in them."

Ra gave her many of his names:  Creator of Heaven and Earth, Spring of Waters, Builder of Mountains, Light and Dark, Khepera in the morning, Ra at noon, and Tum at sunset."  But he did not give her his Secret Name, and so Isis remained silent.  The poison flowed through his veins, destroying his body.

As she watched, she finally spoke, saying, "You have not given me your Secret Name, as you well know.  Give me the name, and I will bring the poison out of you, and bring an end to your pain."

Ra, who could endure the fire in his body no more, cried, "I will let my Secret Name pass from my heart to yours!  But you must guard it and keep it within you, telling no one, save your future son, whom you will name Horus.  But you must make him promise on oath that he will keep the Name secret, telling neither gods nor men."

Isis pledged her promise, and Ra's Secret Name passed to her.

She said to him, "By this name, may the poison pass from Ra forever!"

So Ra had peace, and he was healed.  He did not reign on earth any longer, however, but took his place in the high heavens, traveling across the sky; he became the very sun itself.  He passed through the twelve kingdoms of Duat, and, at night, he passed through the Underworld.  He carries the souls of those who die in his boat, that those who know the words may pass safely through the dangers of the afterlife.

These things are found in the Book of the Dead, which has been buried in a secret place so that even the common men who find it may know how such things work.

-Egypt


There is a remarkable parallel between this week's myth and many of the other myths we find throughout the world.  The parallel, however, is not in the fact that a man is bitten by a snake, but that the gods of Egypt had children who took over the kingdom after their parents.  We find this idea of rulers who lose control of the kingdom to their children in Greek mythology (what is popularly called The Clash of the Titans).

What is interesting in the Greek version is that the children of the Titans fought a physical battle against their giant progenitors.  Gods fighting giants . . . this brings to mind the remarkable Norse stories of the gods of Asgard taking their kingdom from the Frost Giants.  Now, the idea of ancient giants ruling the earth, becoming famous, is also found in the Hebrew Scriptures:  "It was then, and later too, that the Nephilim appeared on earth - when the divine beings cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring.  They were the heroes of old, the men of renown."

Literary analysis would tell us that this is the archetypal story of fighting against authority, coming-of-age, et cetera.  This may be the case, but the similarities between the versions indicates that there may be something more under the surface.