Faces of the Goddess Magazine SGC 21

1. I follow the numbering of the excerpts of Stobaeus’ Greek text XXII-XXVIII and where it appears that excerpts XXIV-
XXVII are from the same collection of libelli ‘books’ or possibly libellus – especially where Isis is invoked as the main
character. The Greek can be found in Nock, A.D. & A.-J. Festugière, Corpus Hermeticum IV, 1-50, introduction and
commentary in III, cxxviiiccxix; Scott, W. Hermetica Vol.1 Stobaei Hermetica Exc. XXIII-XXVII. Our main document is
numbered Exc. XXIII (Kore Kosmou) ISIS TO HORUS.
2.Isis will proceed to teach her son Horus about the ‘mysteries into the nature of that which transcends death’ and which
relate to a teaching which assists in discovering Isis’ role and who has crossed the so-called ‘Plain of Truth’ (Exc. XXV.3).
Yet, what do these teachings mean for her son Horus and indeed for practitioners who seek in such mysteries that of a
higher gnosis? Another useful source can be found in Plutarch’s ‘Isis and Osiris’.
3.The texts recorded in Greek reveal much about the magical and metaphorical interplay between the more ancient wisdom
traditions associated with Egypt and Kore Kosmou. Glimpses of the original Egyptian sources and magical methodologies
associated with seership are therefore reconfigured through the patriarchal philosophical lens of the Greek and this in
particular is where the original materials become fragmented through the theosophical tradition presented throughout
the Hermetica. In other words, although the tradition fits well with the teachings of ‘Hermes’ as delivered in the Corpus
Hermeticum (CH) to ‘His son Tat’, ‘Hermes to Asklepios’, and also ‘Hermes to Ammon’ – as found in the main books of
the Hermetica – yet here we find that in the Kore Kosmou and its associated fragments, it is Isis who is the initiate teacher
of ‘Her son Horus’ and especially where she narrates the background to the mysteries regarding such as the formation
and origin of the kosmos, along with that of the katabasis (coming down) and anabasis (return) of the soul (Gk. psyche,
Egyptian Ba).
4. The argument about ‘Black Isis’ is probably related to Isis’ succession to Khnum as worshipped in the ‘black land’ or plain
of Syne, otherwise dodekascoinos, originally the seat of Khnum’s worship but where the district was otherwise given over
to the worship of Isis (cf. Plut. Is. et Os. 33; and Scott, K.K. 32, for Isis being initiated into the telei/w| me/lani – possibly the
‘Black Rites’. There is also a clear connection to Isis as the inventor of alchemy – translated by some as Egypt (khem – alkhem-ia)
the source of the Black Stuff.
5. Pauly-Wissowa, Realenzyklopädie, s.v. ’Kore Kosmu’.
6. Zielinski, Th., ’Hermes und die Hermetik.’ Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 8,1904: 356-368.
7. Jackson, H., ’Isis, Pupil of the Eye of the World,’ in Chronique d’Égypte 61 (fasc.121), 1986: 116-135.
8. Cf. Pape, W. who has taken the meaning from a passage in Empedocles in which primeval fire is said to have put
itself in wait in the kuklôps kore ‘round eye-pupil’ see DK, 84. quoted by Aristotle, de sens. 2, 437b 23. The general idea
in Empedocles is that the human ability to see is due to the presence of this primeval fire contained in the human eye.
Although Pape assumes that ‘kore’ may simply be translated as ‘eye’, and yet in his dictionary this is made by no means
clear. Nonetheless, as we find that ‘eye-pupil’ and other attestations are well documented in Liddell and Scott Greek
Lexicon. Pape therefore provides one example only of ‘kore’ meaning ‘eye’. But even if Pape is wrong and Liddell & Scott are
right, the ‘pupil of the eye’ is for our inquiry a better point for analysis.
9. Cf. Cauville S., Dendara. Le fonds hiéroglyphique au temps de Cléopâtre (Paris), 2001, 55.
10. Mead, G.R.S., Studies in Hellenistic Theosophy and Gnosis, 3 Vols. 1905.
11. When we speak of the ‘Eye of Horus’, it is usually to the left eye we refer. The left eye was injured during one of his
battles with Set, and it fell to Thoth to heal the eye. The consequence of this act is more complex in Egyptian thought and
magick. Firstly, however, it explains the waxing and the waning of the moon. The full moon represents the healthy eye,
and the partial phases the injured eye; after the New Moon, however, it begins to heal under Thoth’s influence, and returns
in time to its full state. Secondly, the account is that the moon can then be attributed to both Horus (as his left eye) and
Thoth.
12. The ‘Eye-pupil of Horus’ therefore reflects: regeneration, healing, and through that of a more positive symbolism
promises divine intervention and protection from other daimonia and even certain neteru. In classical Egyptian ritual
the restoration of the eye became a constituent of the human condition, and the ‘Eye of Horus’ was recognized as its
chief symbol. Already in the Pyramid Texts (c. 2323 BC) we find that the eye-pupil of Horus is the standard symbol of
the offerings to the deceased king (cf. PT. 31-117). In the Daily Temple Liturgy celebrated in most major temples from the
New Kingdom to the Roman Period, the eye of Horus occurs at least 60 times (Moret, Alexandre, Le rituel du culte divin
journalier en Égypte. Paris 1902, repr. Genève 2007). In contrast, the Eye of Re is linked to several traditions associated
with revenge and destruction and where it is not only a symbol of protection, but also of power, fury, and violence. Isis
Herself is also first among the Goddesses of the Eye. In the Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys from the Bremner-Rhind
papyrus, Isis protects both Osiris and Horus and where She is called “Mistress of the Universe, Who came forth from the
Eye of Horus, Noble Serpent which issued from Re, and which came forth from the pupil in the eye of Atum when Re arose
on the First Occasion.”
13. Compare the 11th hour of the Book of Gates lower register where the eye of Re takes its place in the Mehen Serpentbarque
– this would tend to suggest that the ‘eye’ representing both Osiris and Horus in the form of Re has been rejuvenated
and ready for rebirth and where it is aided by none other than Isis in the 12th hour. An etymology from wAst-jrt, as ‘she who
bears the eye’, and that the throne hieroglyph in the word is to be read ws but this is unconvincing and instead the name
should be read Asjr on the basis of Aramaic, Phoenician, and Old South Arabian transcriptions, readings of the throne sign.
This latter argument would therefore make more sense, especially in comparison with that of Ast (Isis). For this reason,
Osiris in this form should be associated with the cyclic process of nature (Gk. physis) and indeed that of new life (Gk. zoe).
Thus from out of the dark earth and the procession established through the heliacal rising of Orion and Sirius, that of the
annual inundation of the Nile and formation of new crops could take place. Thus the Dayside half of the entire process is
clearly related to that of the Solar aspect of Re-Horus, for example, compare the Heliopolitan priesthood who focused on
Re and early sun-temples by the 5th dynasty, but where the older and more traditional astrosophical and Lunar elements of
the Nightside were re-assigned from Nuit to that of Isis-Osiris.
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