Isis, the great Egyptian goddess of magic and restoration, has a way of arriving when we’re ready to get to work. This guide offers practical tools for beginning or deepening your relationship with her: altar inspiration, correspondences, rituals, journaling prompts, and ways to bring her transformative energy into daily life.
In 2022, during my first year with the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple, I followed their 12-month devotional cycle. August belonged to the Egyptian goddess Isis. I hadn’t expected to connect with her. I’d tried before, reading extensively, joining the Fellowship of Isis, but nothing clicked. Ancient Egypt wasn’t my lane.
Still, I built an altar: a Roman-style statue, a candle lit each morning, daily offerings, the Awakening Prayer. I dedicated the Isis Oracle by Alana Fairchild to her work and committed to working with it earnestly. For two weeks: silence. Then, mid-month, her presence arrived—clear, insistent, enduring. She hasn’t left, and neither have I.
These days, I know her less as a distant figure of thrones and fertility and more as the goddess who gets things done: creative, cunning, healing, undefeatable, a guide into personal power and the magic of re-membering what was always whole.
Who is Isis?
Before we explore tools and practice, it helps to remember the story-soil we’re standing in. Isis began her journey on the Nile and travelled throughout the Greco-Roman world, adapting and expanding as she went. One central myth underpins her power: Set kills and dismembers Osiris; Isis searches tirelessly, gathers the scattered pieces, and uses her magic to reassemble his body and briefly restore him to life long enough to conceive Horus. Osiris then becomes lord of the underworld, while Isis raises and protects Horus until he can claim his rightful throne.
From this foundational story flow her vast domains: motherhood and mourning, funeral rites and the afterlife, kingship and protection, healing and wisdom, the sky, moon and stars, and the life-giving waters. As her cult spread across the ancient world, she took on universal scope, meeting many peoples exactly where they were. She remains adaptable today.
Pronunciation and names
Names are doorways—how we call a deity shapes how we meet them. ‘Isis’ is the familiar Greek rendering; in Egyptian, she’s most commonly vocalised today as ‘Aset’, though the original pronunciation evolved over thousands of years and remains uncertain. Her name incorporates the throne glyph, pointing directly to sovereignty and right placement. When you call her by either name, you’re also invoking the seat of power you’re meant to occupy.
Correspondences
These correspondences can help strengthen your connection with Isis. Work with them through direct interaction. Burn frankincense or myrrh, hold lapis lazuli during prayer, wear blue or gold clothing, keep images or small statues of hawks or cows on your altar, or visualise these symbols during meditation. You might add crystals to her altar space, especially those carved into Egyptian shapes like a lapis obelisk or carnelian pyramid. You can incorporate her colours through candles, altar cloths, flowers, clothing, or other decorative elements in your sacred space.
Animals: Cow (nourishment, motherhood), hawk (vision, royal power), snake (transformation, shedding what no longer serves)
Colours: Black (Veil of Isis, fertile Nile mud), blue (sky, water, infinite depths), gold (divinity, solar power), red (life force, magical current), white (purity, healing light)
Crystals: Carnelian, garnet, lapis lazuli, turquoise, Isis quartz (clear quartz with natural pyramid inclusions)
Plants & flowers: Lotus, lilies, roses, bay laurel, papyrus, myrrh
Incense & oils: Frankincense, myrrh, kyphi, lotus oil
Symbols & tools: Ankh, Tyet (Knot of Isis), sacred veil, sistrum, lotus wand or cup, scarab
Feast days
Timing rites to align with the sky can deepen your felt sense of connection, which is especially important here in the Southern Hemisphere, where we’re often working with Northern Hemisphere dates that don’t match our seasons.
Amesysia (Isis’ birthday/heliacal rising of Sirius): The timing of Sirius’s first pre-dawn rising varies significantly by location and hemisphere. A sky app can help you determine the exact date for your area and catch your local ‘first sighting’. Mark it with a water blessing and a dawn candle to honour her birth and the flooding of the Nile.
Lychnapsia (Festival of Lamps): 12 August. At sunset, light lamps or candles throughout your home, speak your intentions aloud, and commit to one clear action you’ll take in her service.
Altar inspiration
An altar doesn’t need to be elaborate to be effective. Start with what you have and let meaning guide the design rather than expense.
Colour story: Black, blue, and gold with a single red accent (ribbon, flower, small stone, or bead)
Core setup: White or gold candle, bowl of fresh water, ankh or Tyet symbol, a white flower or sprig of bay laurel
Small-space idea: A travel tin altar—tea light, tiny vial of water, paper ankh cut from gold cardstock, red thread
Offerings that please her: Milk, bread, honey, beer, or a small glass of sweet wine. Fresh flowers. Cool, clean water.
Seven-day devotional practice
If you appreciate gentle structure, a short cycle can kindle devotion without overwhelming your schedule. This guide works for both newcomers to deity work and experienced practitioners looking to deepen their Isis connection. Here’s a simple week to begin or renew your relationship with Isis.
Day 1 – Naming: Light a candle and speak: ‘Isis, Aset, Lady of Ten Thousand Names, meet me where I am.’
Day 2 – Water blessing: Bless a bowl of water; anoint your brow for clarity and your hands for right action.
Day 3 – Story: Read one version of the Isis–Osiris–Horus cycle; journal
about what stirs in you.
Day 4 – Offering: Present bread and honey; name three gratitudes and acknowledge one fear you’re ready to transform.
Day 5 – Service: Perform one tangible act of care in the world (see ‘Acts of Service’ below).
Day 6 – Divination: Pull cards and journal on her guidance (see ‘Tarot Touchpoints’).
Day 7 – Rest & reflect: Sit quietly for ten minutes; write a few lines about what is being re-membered within you.
If you don’t feel a connection initially, that’s completely normal. Deity relationships often develop slowly, and not every deity resonates with every person. Trust your own pace and experience.
Tarot touchpoints
If you read cards, divination can become a weekly check-in with her current guidance. In tarot, she speaks readily through: High Priestess (mystery, hidden names), Empress (nourishment, creative power), Strength (courage; channelling her fierce Sekhmet aspect), Star (Sothis/Sirius blessing, hope restored), Judgement (revival, resurrection), World (wholeness achieved).
Three-card spread for working with Isis:
- How she meets me now
- What she asks of me
- How I can serve her work in the world
If you work with Alana Fairchild’s Isis Oracle, try a daily one-card draw. Consider pairing each oracle pull with a single tarot card for additional nuance and practical guidance.
Journaling prompts
Some days, the most honest ritual is simply a page and a pen. Use these prompts to translate devotion into personal insight, or draw tarot cards in response to each question for additional guidance.
- Where do I need restoring rather than starting over completely?
- What ‘throne’ (realm of responsibility or influence) am I meant to occupy right now?
- What am I mourning, and what within that loss wants to be re-membered?
- What skill or practice—magical or mundane—does Isis want me to develop or sharpen
- How can I embody her qualities of persistence and creative problem-solving?
Making it work for you
Deep work doesn’t require expensive tools. Keep your practice simple, safe, and kind to yourself, to others, and to Country.
Simple is sacred: Paper ankhs cut from magazines, local flowers, tap water blessed with intention, battery tea lights where open flames aren’t safe
Simple sourcing: Supermarket herbs, stones from nature walks, and second-hand crystals work just as well as expensive specialty items—your devotion matters more than your tools
Safety first: Use stable candle holders, never leave flames unattended, consider allergies with incense, ensure good ventilation
Cost-conscious practice: Borrow books from libraries, shop second-hand, make offerings from your kitchen, write prayers by hand on recycled paper
Acts of service (bringing devotion into the world)
Isis inspires action alongside devotion. Here are some ways practitioners have felt called to serve, organised around her major themes:
Water care: Join a local creek or beach cleanup, reduce household water waste, support a Landcare group, donate to organisations protecting waterways
Healing work: Volunteer at hospitals, donate blood, support mental health organisations, learn first aid, and offer healing practices to friends
Supporting carers: Donate to a maternal health organisation, cook a meal for a new parent, offer a genuine listening ear to someone in a caring role, volunteer with family support services
Supporting the bereaved: Volunteer with hospice care, grief counselling services, funeral assistance programs, or sit with someone in mourning
Protection and justice: Support domestic violence shelters, legal aid societies, refugee assistance programs, and stand up for those who can’t advocate for themselves
Wisdom and knowledge: Tutor students, donate books, support libraries, teach skills to others, share what you’ve learned
Community restoration: Help rebuild after disasters, support community gardens, mentor young people, mend what’s broken in your neighbourhood
Remember that service doesn’t require formal volunteering; simple daily kindnesses, listening deeply, or using your particular skills to help others all honour her call to action. Notice what draws you naturally and trust that inspiration.
Full moon ritual for Isis
Here’s a simple full moon ritual for connecting with Isis. Keep it simple but potent.
- Light a white or gold candle.
- Invoke Isis/Aset for protection and clear sight: “Great Mother, Lady of Magic, be with me now.”
- Offer milk, bread, and honey while stating your intentions.
- Do the work at hand—healing, spellcraft, mending what’s broken, gathering courage.
- Close by giving thanks and blessing yourself and the land with water: “May all beings be blessed, may all waters run clean.”
Working with Isis now
Building a relationship with any deity takes patience and consistency. Signs of connection include increased synchronicities, dreams, or a sense of support in the areas she governs, but trust your own experience over external validation. If Isis’s associations with motherhood, loss, or death feel tender for your current situation, trust your instincts about pacing and seek support if needed.
Two years into this relationship, my experience of her remains intensely practical and active. When she first arrived, it felt like: ‘Good, you’re finally ready. Now let’s get to work.’ Devotion became movement—courage sharpened, magical practice steadied, and my ability to get things done strengthened.
If you feel her call, start small: light a candle, speak her name, offer a glass of clean water. She will meet you there, and she’ll probably put you to work faster than you expect. This is her gift: not just comfort, but the power to transform what seems impossible into what needs doing.