Understanding the Dogon Culture – Part III – Egyptian Goddess Isis
Written by Ben Kesp
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| Egyptian Goddess Isis |
Our quest for knowledge and understanding of the past is still very much in its infancy. This can certainly be seen in the Sirius Star mystery that continues to open new theories and questions. Vast is this area when one delves into mythology to look for answers.
Completing my series of posts on the Dogon Culture, and the knowledge it is stated they possess, although questionable, on the Sirius Star System, it has led me further back in time to the ancient Egyptian period. The Egyptian Goddess Isis is a major deity of Egyptian mythology and hugely popular even to this day worshipped by many, in different religious contexts.
Referred to as the great mother goddess, embraced by both the Greeks and Romans, she represents the maternal spirit in its purest form. Early Christians relate many attributes of the Virgin Mary with Isis, again highlighting the many religious boundaries that Isis has crossed over. She has probably existed since before the dawn of the Egyptian Dynasties.
Isis headdress is a throne, denoted by her name that represented the Egyptian Pharaoh’s seat of power making the Pharaoh her child. She was the first daughter of Geb, god of earth and Nut, goddess of the sky. She was sister to Osiris, Set and Nephthys. Mythology has recorded two different events, however one such source says she married her brother Osiris and bore him a son named Horus, the falcon headed deity. Horus’s mother has also been referred to Hathor. With the nature of mythology there will always be confusion and perhaps the two deities are intertwined in some way. Isis’s role has been major and influential and is certainly not something I can summarise for this post however I do plan on exploring her further at a later stage.
What is the connection between Isis and Sirius? The ancient Egyptian calendar is based on the rising of the Sirius Star. The star has been associated with Isis and her companion Osiris whom she loved dearly. This can be associated with Sirius A, the larger star with its companion star Sirius B, the heavier star. Isis as Sirius is often depicted in Egyptian art as travelling with two companions that could refer to Sirius B and the undiscovered Sirius C.
The Isis Star, Sirius brought on the floods to the Nile, bringing fertility back to the land. Isis encompassed many attributes of ancient life on both land and in the sky. Such belief and following in her cult travelled far beyond the borders of Egypt. For tribes such as the Dogon who fled Egypt or surrounding areas moving westward, it would have been possible for them to carry their beliefs with them, passing down through oral tradition over the generations. For the ancient believers, Isis was represented as Sirius, the giver of life, death and rebirth following the cycles of the star.
I do not think we can deny the ancient traditions, beliefs or what hidden messages lie within mythology. The journey I discovered from ancient Newgrange to the Dogon Tribe in Mali to ancient Egypt has for me suggested a link or connection between the peoples of past. Each looked to stars and especially to the Sirius star system that perhaps dictated or instructed their pattern of life. Do we understand the star systems and the affect they have on nature and our environment as our ancestors once had? Perhaps not, however we cannot ignore the ancestor’s knowledge of astrology and ability to live in harmony with their environment.
Image: Wikipedia
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