Week 5 Story: Ra is Deceived, Isis Ascends

Long ago, the earth was created by a supreme being named Nu. Not long after its creation he had a son with many names, most common of which was Ra. Ra was a great and powerful God who went on to create more life on earth and even made children of his own. Ra’s power was great, he was the God of gods and no one could come close to his majesty due to the power he possessed. However, the power was in his true name which he kept in his heart so that none could learn it and therefore could not gain power such as his own. On earth, there was an enchantress named Isis. She was beautiful and powerful, however as she was a human she did not have power close to Ra’s. This was something about herself, that she wanted to change. She wished to be as powerful as the most powerful God and there was only one way to do it. Learn his name. Ra had grown old over the years and Isis felt that she could deceive him into giving her and her alone his true name so that she may obtain power equal to his own. To accomplish this, she acquired some of his saliva one day while he lay asleep. She procured dirt from the earth and combined them together to create a venomous snake. However, this was no ordinary snake, for it was enchanted by Isis to become invisible to both mortals and the gods. The snake went and bit Ra poisoning him. His flesh began to rot, his blood boil none of the healers knew what to make of his ailment for they could not see what bit him nor knew what kind of poison had afflicted him. On his death bed, Isis made her approach. She told him she knew what ailed him and that she knew of a spell that could remove the poison from his body but for the spell to be strong enough she needed to know his real name. It took much convincing, for at first, he only told her the three names given to him by his father for the morning, noon, and evening. Name’s that all the people knew. He would not give his name of power. However, as he felt death coming closer as if a reaper were hovering over him, he said that his name shall pass into her heart from his as he approached death. However, once the name was in Isis’s heart she made good on her promise and removed the poison from Ra. His skin soon healed, his blood no longer boiled and it was as if he was made anew. But even still, the God of the Gods had no idea that he had been tricked, by the new Goddess who equaled him in power.

Isis and Ra

Image by:  Agnes Mizere - WordPress.com

Author's notes: This is another story that I wanted to tell as close to possible to the original. I wanted to tell it here as though I were telling family or friends about it and in truth I'm not always much for dialog. While I could have included Ra's 3 names one for morning, noon, and night, no one will remember them after the story is over because history and myth knows him to be Ra. If the story had said his name of power I would have shared that, however his name of power was not revealed it in the story so i leave it to the reader to imagine what his name could be on their own.

Bibliography: Egypt: The Secret Name of Ra Story source: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).