How widespread was the worship of Isis?
Isis was worshipped throught Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, Chaldea, Germany, Gaul (France), and Britain. With
the advent of Christianity, many chapels of Isis were converted to churches and representations of Isis renamed
as the Virgin Mary.
What other name was Isis called by?
Isis, the Goddess of One Thousand Names, is identified with many non-Egyptian Goddesses. A few of these are specifically
mentioned in this section from Apuleius' "The Golden Ass." Isis Herself speaks, and says:
The Call of Isis
I am Nature
The Universal Mother
Mistress of the Elements
Primordial Child of Time
Sovreign of all things spiritual
Queen of the dead, Queen also of the immortals
The single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are.
My nod governs the shining heights of heaven
The wholesome sea-breezes
And the lamentable silences of the world below.
Though I am worshipped under many aspects
Called by countless names
And propitiated with all manner of sacred rites
Yet does the whole round earth venerate me.
To the primeval Phrygians,
I am Pessinunctica, the mother of the gods;
To the Athenians sprung from their own soil,
I am Cecropian Athena;
To the islanders of Cypress, I am Paphian Aphrodite;
To the archers of Crete, Dictinna Diana;
To the trilingual Sicilians, Stygian Proserpine;
And to the Eleusinians
Their ancient Mother of Corn, Demeter.
Some know me as Juno
Some as Bellona of the Battles,
Others as Hecate
Others still as Rhamnubia.
Yet both races of Ethiopians
Whose land the morning sun first shines upon
And the Egyptians
Who excell in ancient wisdom
And worship me with ceremonies proper to my Godhead
Call me by My true name, Queen Isis.
Who are these other Goddesses?
These Goddesses with whom Isis is identified are of all the major Goddess types:
Here are some basics about each one:
Pessinunctica (also, Pessinuntia) (Phyrgia, now Turkey)
Mother and Guardian, "Universal Mother"
Goddess Type: Mother/Creator
Cecropian Athena (Athens, Greece)
War, Urban order, Goodness, Arts
Goddess Type: Maiden
Paphian Aphrodite (Cypress)
Beauty, Love, Sexuality
Goddess Type: Lover/Mother
Dictynna Diana (Crete)
Moon, Night, Wild Animals, Birth
Roman successor to Hecate
August 15: Festival of Torches
Goddess Type: Maiden
Stygian Proserpine (Sicily)
Agriculture, Heaven and Hell
Roman version of Greek Persephone
Goddess Type: Underworld Maiden
Demeter (Eleusis, Greece)
Mother and Guardian, Grain Mother
With Persephone, Demeter represents the mother-and-daughter
cycle of life, death, and regeneration
Called "Thesmophoros," (Lawgiver), like Isis
Goddess Type: Grain Mother
Juno (Roman version of Greek Hera)
Mother and Guardian, Supreme Goddess, Family, Justice, Commerce, Travel
Goddess Type: Queen/Mother
Bellona of the Battles (Roman/Sabine)
War
Goddess Type: Maiden
Hecate (Greece)
Moon, Night, Magic, Wealth, Knowledge, Ceremonies, Death
Goddess Type: Crone
Rhamnubia (also Rhamnusia) (Greece)
Nemesis
Goddess Type: Crone
How is the myth of Isis similar to that of Demeter?
The parallels between the myths of Isis and Demeter are particularly strong:
