It will be my honor and privilege to present to the American Academy of Religion’s Western Region, the history of the Isidis Navigium, on the tenth anniversary of the Iseum of Isis Navigatum and The Isis Ancient Culture Society, reviving this ancient ritual of Isis in contemporary culture each year for the last decade. We believe that when this Festival of Isis began to be celebrated on the beaches of Los Angeles in 1998, the founders and volunteers made history. It was probably the first time this festival was recreated in such grandeur to celebrate the worship of Isis, She of Ten Thousand Names, in modern times.

This annual festival of the launching of the ships, also called the Isidis Navigium or Ploephesia was usually held the first weekend in March by devotees of Isis in ancient Greece, Rome, Turkey and Egypt. You may recall in The Golden Ass, also known as The Metamorphoses, one of the great works of literature, the character Apuleius received salvation and hope from Isis during the Navigatum as he was transformed from an ass, back into a man. Our modern ritual is held just before the Neo-Pagan Spring Equinox celebrations, thus likewise for contemporary devotees it is a time when the light and spring dew is upon us bringing hope and promise for the coming year. Today and in ancient times, the Isis celebration, which included dancing, feasting and processions, focused on seeking the Goddess’ blessing for ships, sailors and travelers, as well as for successful journeys. Practitioners of Egyptian mysteries, who were well versed in recognizing cosmic meaning in mundane symbols also assumed multiple layers of meaning for ritual action and would have understood that the sea voyages being blessed during this ritual of Egyptian and Roman antiquity were synonymous with the individual’s voyage through life. When re-creating this ancient-modern ritual today, we focused closely on this concept in adapting ancient practices to modern sensibilities. We also borrowed heavily from the material culture and symbolism of this period in history and retained as many of the actual elements of the original ritual as possible. But before comparing the second century rituals with those of the twentieth century, let us examine just why Isis deserved such devotion then and now.

According to the 2nd century CE writer, Aelius Aristides, Isis may herself be Holy Wisdom, the Creatrix of the material world, when he refers to Wisdom as, “the mediatrix between Serapis and men.” In the Nag Hammadi scriptures Isis is Sophia, and we hear her beseeching her children not to forget her in the Gnostic texts called Thunder, Perfect Mind.” Isis, or Auset, a descendant of the Creator Gods of Egypt has always been looked upon as a beneficent mother and savior goddess. It was she who bestowed sovreignity upon the pharaohs giving the god-kings the right to rule their kingdoms. Her devotion transcended class and culture. Her worship spread from the shores of Egypt, throughout the Mediterranean, into Ireland, England, Gaul, Anatolia, the Middle East and along the Silk Road, into Russia. She was a healer, a wife and lover, a mother, and not just to her son Horus, but to her devoted. She resurrected the dead and provided her milk of abundance. One of her most important attributes was her accessibility. By her myths, not only was she powerful, savvy and a loving protectress, but equally important, the people felt she could understand their pain. The people knew her as a Goddess who had experienced the sorrow of loss, betrayal, and strife. They believed she could understand and alleviate their sorrow and if they performed the right rituals and curried her favor, they too might have some control over the forces of chaos that threatened their lives. She could provide light, truth, salvation and security. 

According to R. E. Witt, author of 'Isis in the Ancient World,' “If western civilization could have somehow developed on a matriarchal basis, Isis might have been too stubborn a mistress to dethrone." She became an enormous universal power in the post-Alexandrian world, a foe to Jesus and his Apostles as they preached Christianity because she was all things to men. Dare I say an entire conference might be devoted to her and her worship across time, continents and cultures, similar to the vast 1997 exhibit compiled at the Palazzo Reale in conjunction with the Department of Culture of Milan entitled 'Iside, The Myth, The Mystery, The Magic.' This Iside exhibit was comprised of thousands of artifacts from across the globe representative of her earliest devotion forward to 17th Century opera playbills and 19th century magic shows of Robert Houdini honoring Isis, the Mistress of Magic, further showing how Isis has lived on in popular culture.

Contemporary Isian practitioners of the Isidis Navigium, equally enamored with Isis, invoked her at each corner, above and below with the words, “Isis is All Things and All Things are Isis.” To them, she is considered the Oldest of the Old, her aspects and epithets dating back to Inanna and Ishtar, and her essence a primary ingredient in the primordial stew of pre-history. No matter their ancestery, Isis calls to women and men today for all the same reasons she was beloved in ancient times. She hears, understands and provides. Isis transcends time and culture. All Goddess are embodied in Isis, as her own arteology professes. The All-Powerful, All-Knowing Isis could provide her devotees with a fuller, more abundant and satisfying life. She is the Great Mother who suckles all of humanity at her breast. And the Isidis Navigium, seen to have so much over-lap with Neo-Pagan Spring Equinox, was the perfect ritual or common ground, to bring together practitioners of all traditions under one umbrella to worship their Mother Goddess.

But let us delay no longer in telling of the ritual itself. Close your eyes if you will. Allow yourself to be transported back. Let us “Make Way for the Procession,” as was shouted in ancient and recent times, to announce the beginning of the sacred spectacle.

At the head of the Greco Roman procession were magistrates, gladiators, philosophers, men wearing dresses, wigs and gilt sandals. Exotic animals such as a she-bear, monkeys and donkeys walked alongside their handlers. Next came women in shining white dresses, garlanded with spring blossoms, who toss flowers along the route. They carried polished mirrors and combs which they apply to the hair of their divine Queen. Others perfumed the path with scented oils. Throngs of men and women carried all manner of illumination - torches, lamps, and wax tapers. There were singers and musicians playing flutes. Then in line came the initiates dressed in their white linen robes. The women were adorned in gauze veils while the men sported shaved or tonsured heads. The tinkling of their sistra, the sacred rattles of Isis, could be heard. Next came the priests holding representations of the deities Isis and Sarapis, and miniature altars. Another lifted up emblems of Justice, still another held the golden pitcher from which droplets of milk trickled onto the path. The last priest carries the vannus mystica, a branched winnowing fan of gold. Deities walked in the procession. Spectators could see Anubis, with half his face black and half gold and Isis in her bovine aspect resembling Hathor or Io. During some Navigatums, people stopped at halts or pauses, stations along the way, reminiscent of Stations of the Cross where hymns were sung to the Goddess. Lucius Apuleius made his way forward to nibble upon roses so that he might be transformed once again into a man. Transfiguration over, we focus on the Ship of Isis near the seashore. The white sails are emblazoned with prayers to Isis for successful conduct of the season’s navigation. The High Priest held a lighted torch, an egg and some sulphur with which he symbolically cleansed the vessel before uttering more prayers to dedicate the ship laden with offerings to Isis. Upon the waves libations were made and milk was poured. Soon, cables cast off, the ship slipped down into the water and glided out to sea with no crew to guide her as she disappeared toward the horizon. State prayers were said and concluded with the formula dismissal, “The ship has been let go.” Glad tidings had all around, the people now returned to their homes but not before gathering up garland and greenery left behind from the ritual and kissing the feet of the silver statue of Isis which had been set up upon the temple steps. 

Isis as a maritime deity, was depicted on coins in various forms - with sistrum and sacred vessel in her hand, aboard a boat holding it’s sails, and in the palanquin which parades her image. As late as the latter half of the fourth century Rome’s mints provided various depictions of Isis on coins as protectress of harbors, patroness of navigation, inventor of the sails - all declaring open war on the Christianity. A vota publica coin can still be seen depicting Constantine on one side with Isis looking forward from her ship on the other. The people were hardly giving up on the Goddess who literally and spiritually provided them their daily bread.

Flash forward to the twentieth century Navigatum. It took three months of intense preparation to plan the Ploephesia and re-create clothing, decorations and accoutrement reflective of the material culture of the Egyptian and Greco-Roman Isis ritual, bringing alive this time and place so many of us found so provocative and full of power, mystery and magic. Labors of love and devotion, ritual garb and sacred tools such as sistra and menat collars were developed, both items from antiquity enabled the clergy who wears them to embody the Goddess, bestow blessings and ward off evil. Craftspersons devised ways to make copper ankhs and was scepters. From 4-inch tall line drawings in the books of Wallace Budge images of deities were transferred onto large surfaces by artists, painters and carpenters to create life-size mobile temple walls. Then finally on the first weekend in March, under the rays of a powerful noontime sun, an auspicious time for Egyptian magical work, the ritual would finally be unveiled to the public on Pt. Dume State Beach in Malibu, California. What follows is a composite re-telling of several rituals held on the Pacific Coast shores over ten years, combining not just ancient and modern ritual practices, but revitalizing that connection between devotees of the Great Mother Goddess, then and now, using the red cord of Isis as a lynch-pin.

A herald shouts, “ Let the procession begin!” Facilitators and spectators dressed in their most elaborate and festive ritual attire begin chanting and attendees follow suit "People are returning to the ancient ways." Clergy who embodied the Egyptian deities with whom they felt the most reverence and connection came first - representatives of Isis, Anubis and Bast, followed by priests and priestesses dressed in white carrying sistra. People wearing masks, drummers, participants carrying golden fans, mirrors, candles, depictions of Hathor as the golden cow, golden pitchers of milk for the blessing of the ships and statues of Isis and Anubis. Along the path was a dubloon tosser throwing into the crowd plastic gold and silver coins from the New Orleans’ Mardi Gras carnival krewes of Isis, Cleopatra and Thoth, connecting modern festivals with those of the ancient Egyptians. Participants scurried to pick up the dubloons hailing down upon them, excited to have these mementos to take home in remembrance of this sacred and glorious day! And yes, there were the altars and animals. Snakes, dogs, and birds. Facilitators felt Goddess herself blessed the rite by sending her creatures of the sea to attend. No Navigatum held on the beach was ever held without the presence of either a dolphin, sea lion or pod of whales in attendance. And participants felt inspired to set up their own impromptu altars of devotion along the ritual path.

Serpentining along the beach, chanting and drumming, the group would stop at several halts, where the clergy of these Temples of various deities would impart either spiritual guidance or sacred amulets upon those in the procession. After honoring Isis with songs of praise, the procession would move on, with the ultimate destination, her temple, then the launching of the Isis boats. At the Isis Temple the doors would be symbolically opened and therein would be meditations and drama, with prayers from yesteryear and today read from scrolls. Offerings of songs and dance, along with flowers, food and drink would be made to She of Ten Thousand Names. With rites within the cella complete, bearers of the golden and veiled palanquin of Isis would lift up her statue and carry her to the beach to oversee the launching of her ship and the climax of the ritual. At the water’s edge, after libations with milk, beer and honey, Isis might bestow her blessings on those gathered for their abundance in the coming year, while her boat would be launched. As one might imagine this element of the Navigatum posed quite a challenge, for certainly we had no actual wooden ship laden with offerings that might be launched on the shores of Malibu beach. But the challenge was met and succeeded with creativity and flair. In fact it became an integral and much anticipated part of the ritual over the years. The solution to this dilemma, came to the founder of the ritual in the same way as much of the inspiration for this entire rite - in a dream. To launch the boat of Isis, contemporary clergy handed each participant an ecologically friendly boat made of colored ice, which they were to launch into the Pacific Ocean imbued with their breath of intention for the coming year. Next, now having cast their “vessel of desire” upon the waves, the group, still chanting and drumming proceeded to a life-size image of Isis mounted on the beach to make their final offerings of incense and rose petals, in thanks to their Mother Goddess for hearing their prayer. The ritual was concluded with the song, “We are an old people. We are a new people. We are the same people, stronger than before.”

As can be seen from the aforementioned account, the contemporary Isidis Navigium retained many of the qualities of its ancient predecessor, including the flexibility to change its pattern as circumstances sometimes dictated. Away from the beach, or for indoor Navigatum rituals, a water channel depicting the Nile River with temples along it’s banks was created. Attendees launched not boats of ice, but palm-size red-colored ice in the shape of hearts - “their heart’s desire” upon the moving life-giving waters. And at the Japanese Gardens, many of the ritual elements remained the same. There were dancers and processions complimented with banner carriers. Within the cella the rite reflected performances and ritual theatre with a pronouncement from Isis herself. The launching of the boats was overseen by Isis and Anubis, and first to cast her boat upon the waters was our contemporary Cleopatra who issued forth her prayers for the people of her kingdom.

Scholar R. E. Witt cites Herodotus who states the first people to institute festivals, processions and religious presentations were the Egyptians, from whom the Greeks received their knowledge. Ancient writers detail the Isidis Navigium already being held during the reign of Tutankhamen during the 18th Dynasty in Egypt, in the Greco Roman world by the 1st century BC, continuing on until possibly as late as the fifth century CE. There is evidence the Navigatum was celebrated in Paris, in Turkey along the shores of the Black Sea, and in Germany during the Middle Ages. Today there are vestiges of the ritual being performed during Christian rituals such as the Blessing of the Fleet and the Feast of St. Agatha in Sicily. Other close associations are the Festival of Lights, or the Epiphany of the Christians and Coptics. And Muslims, on the second day of the Eid el Adha feast, embark on small boats and take to the waters, harkening back to the Isidis Navigium. We cannot forget, cultural celebrations such as Carnivale and Mardi Gras who owe much to the sacred spectacles that was the Isidis Navigium honoring Isis. And finally, Isis passes her baton to Mary the Mother of Jesus, who becomes Stella Maris, the new “watcher of the waters” as people attempt to navigate the treacherous waters of their life’s journey.

Yes, people today see the dominant patriarchal culture and religions serves the few and not the many. Like their ancestors, they are seeking alternative ways to restore order from chaos. With the contemporary Isidis Navigium, new people look back and cherry-pick old ways, to have a meaningful spiritual experience and as activists, make a political statement, right here on the Pacific coast of California. The people were hardly giving up on Goddess who literally and spiritually provides them their daily bread.