Introduction

This storybook will be about the Egyptian goddess Isis, who was a crucial figure in ancient Egyptian mythology. She is known as the protector of children, primarily because of the fierce loyalty she has for her child Horus, and the lengths she went to in order to protect him. She is also known as the protector of the dead and the goddess of magic, because she was instrumental in bringing back her brother (and husband) Osiris when their other brother Set killed him, searching the world to put his body back together and using her magic to give him life again. She is the daughter of the god of the Earth and the goddess of the sky, so she is very powerful and important in the creation myths of ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt, it was the common belief that the Nile flooded every year with the tears Isis cried for Osiris.

Isis was worshipped not only in ancient Egypt, but also in ancient Greek and Roman cultures as part of their mythology. She continued to be worshipped in pagan religions until Christianity drove out all the paganism. It is suggested that the traditional Christian image of Mary and the infant Jesus was derived from a similar picture of Isis and her son Horus. When you consider how important that image makes Mary to Christians, you can imagine how important Isis is to her followers. I appreciate how strong and powerful she was, and how important to these cultures she was, so my stories will be rewrites of her classic mythology in a way that really showcases her. I’ll be creating a storybook using the stories about her saving her child, searching for Osiris, and bringing Osiris back to life. I want to make them more focused on her and her journey throughout the individual stories, to create a longer series that shows just how strong and powerful she is as a wife, mother, and woman. Isis did the things she did not necessarily because they were the right things to do, but more often because they were what best suited her, which I think is a very refreshing thing to see in a female character. So, I’m very excited to write about her as a strong and independent woman!