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| Relief of the Goddess Isis holding a sistrum, Temple of Sety I, Chapel of Osiris, Abydos |
An Excerpt from Book V of the Moralia written by Plutarch, First Essay,
titled “Isis and Osiris”
Addressed to Clea, a priestess at Delphi
63. The sistrum (rattle) also makes it clear that all things in existence need to be shaken, or rattled about, and never
to cease from motion but, as it were, to be waked up and agitated when they grow drowsy and torpid. They say that they avert
and repel Typhon by means of the sistrums, indicating thereby that when destruction constricts and checks Nature, generation
releases and arouses it by means of motion.
The upper part of the sistrum is circular and its circumference contains the four things that are shaken; for that part
of the world which undergoes reproduction and destruction is contained underneath the orb of the moon, and all things in it
are subjected to motion and to change through the four elements: fire, earth, water, and air. At the top of the circumference
of the sistrum they construct the figure of a cat with a human face, and at the bottom, below the things that are shaken,
the face of Isis on one side, and on the other the face of Nephthys. By these faces they symbolize birth and death, for these
are the changes and movements of the elements; and by the cat they symbolize the moon because of the varied colouring, nocturnal
activity, and fecundity of the animal. For the cat is said to bring forth first one, then two and three and four and five,
thus increasing the number by one until she reaches seven, so that she brings forth in all twenty-eight, the number also of
the moon’s illuminations. Perhaps, however, this may seem somewhat mythical. But the pupils in the eye of the cat appear
to grow large and round at the time of full moon, and to become thin and narrow at the time of the wanings of that heavenly
body. By the human features of the cat is indicated the intelligence and the reason that guides the changes of the moon.
Moralia, Book V, “Isis and Osiris”, (De Iside Et Osiride), Plutarch, translated by F. C. Babbitt, Harvard University
Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, UK, first published 1936, reprinted 1993
Isis holding sistrum, "Abydos: Holy City of Ancient Egypt", Omm Sety and Hanny El Zeini, LL Company, Los Angeles, 1981
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May Isis richly bless all who visit this site. This
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Olivia Robertson, AU, FOI Foundation Centre, Clonegal Castle, Enniscorthy, Ireland Copyright © 2004-2009
The Circle of Isis Notice of Copyright and Disclaimer of the Circle of Isis Website
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of Isis" line drawing by Rt. Rev. Olivia Robertson. Used by permission of the artist. All rights
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