As a child, my favorite Saturday morning cartoon was Isis. The tv show ran from 1975-77 and told weekly stories about a schoolteacher named Andrea Thomas who could transform herself into the powerful Egyptian goddess Isis. Andrea had found an ancient mystical gold amulet on an archaeological dig in Egypt, and the amulet had magical powers. She wore it as an every day necklace, but whenever she ran into a crisis, usually protecting teenagers, she pulled the amulet out, ran to a private place, lifted her arms, and called, “Oh Mighty Isis!” Then she transformed into the goddess. I loved this show so much, that I made my own amulet out of an old necklace of my mother’s, and I pulled it out myself and invoked Isis, pretending I could fly.
Isis had many superpowers. Not only did she have superhuman strength, she could fly, control time, the elements, the molecular structure of her body (passing through walls) and the weather. She can show viewers past situations replayed in the jewel of her crown, and she has a pet crow named Tut.
Many years passed, and I became a belly dancer. I was looking to create a special act that was different than what the other dancers were doing. I took a whirling dervish class from Aisha Ali, but got so dizzy and nauseous afterwards, I barely made it to my car and had to drive straight home for a 2-hour nap. Then I thought I’d try sword swallowing, but couldn’t stomach it, so I tried fire eating. Well I should say I took one fire-eating class from the sword-swallowing/fire-eating opera singer I was currently performing onstage with in my favorite opera, Pagliacci, with Placido Domingo. We stood in his front yard in waist-high grass, and he showed me how flames always burn up and how easy it was to eat it. With visions of burnt lips in my head, I couldn’t do it.
And then I went to a nightclub in NYC and saw a dancer performing with massive golden wings. I had never seen anyone dance with wings before, and they took my breath away with their ethereal beauty. I decided this would be my specialty, and they were so beautiful I knew they would become a part of the belly dancing world, but I would be the first to do it in LA. I began to research Egyptian Wings, and learned they are an homage to Isis. I visited a costume designer in LA and told her I wanted a belly dance costume and matching golden wings. We talked about the design and I told her I had a vision of a belt that looked like wings wrapping around my hips. Being a costume wizard, she designed a gorgeous belt with a lotus flower centerpiece in the back, and wings wrapping around my hips, criss-crossing each other and tying with a golden bejeweled string around my waist. She designed the top with wings wrapping around my breasts and a lotus flower clasp, adding with a lotus flower crown. She wanted to make it in Egyptian “royal” colors, turquoise, red, and gold. I went to the fabric district and found pleated tissue lame and she made me massive wings in a shimmering gold that would catch the light. She added a skirt with layered fabric so it looked like feathers. She bedazzled the belt, bra, and crown, and wrote the word “Isis” in Arabic on the inside of the belt.
It cost most than my car, maybe two cars. Don’t get too excited, I drove VW bugs and they were around the price and quality of tin cans. And I drove my car to shows wearing my sumptuous costume and lotus crown, a queen driving a tin can, but feeling like I was an ancient queen flying through those warm Hollywood nights.
The costume was so magnificent, just walking in it was a sight to behold.
Why lotus flowers? Ancient Egyptians believed the lotus to be a sacred flower and revered it as the first living thing to grow out of primordial chaos, repeated in its ability to grow out of mud. The Lotus opens in the morning, blooms all day, and closes in the evening, symbolizing the journey of the sun and the cycle of death and rebirth. On ancient Roman coins, Isis was shown with the lotus flower.
Why wings? Isis and her twin sister Nepthys are both bird goddesses. Their sacred animal is a bird of prey. They often take the form of falcons, and the cry of falcons is considered symbols of their sorrow over losing their loved one. Isis is a goddess of grief, but also of resurrection. In ancient hieroglyphs of Isis, she is wearing wings, representing power and mourning, for Isis has magical powers that enable her to bring back the dead. Her wings are spread, representing protection and safety, for Isis protects the dead. She is also invoked to protect children, and is known as a Mother and the goddess who nourishes not only the creative spirit, but the power of Kings and Queens.
Her legend is that her husband, the King Osiris, was murdered by a jealous brother, Set, who killed Osiris and scattered his body parts around the land so he could not come back together. Then he took the throne for himself.
Isis collected all the parts of Osiris and waved her wings over them, bringing them back to life, so that she could get pregnant with her son, Horus. Horus grew up to take back the throne and restore order and justice to Egypt.
I love this myth because I think of all the parts of the legend as an allegory for the human experience, and specifically my own experience. I look at all the characters in the legend as archetypal energies. Osiris isn’t a male, he represents the masculine energy side of our psyche, the side that takes action, heading out into the world to make our deepest heart’s longings come true. Set represents the dark emotions that sabotage us, like self doubt, anger, and fear. I always tell my writers that the greatest enemy to creating is ourselves. We doubt ourselves, we tell ourselves our stories aren’t important, that we will do it tomorrow…
Isis is our inner power, that part of us that is unbreakable. No matter how many times the we self-sabotage, or how much loss we experience, it is Isis who will travel to the ends of the earth to gather all the pieces and bring them back together. Then she will spread her massive golden wings resurrect our dead dreams, our broken hearts. She will fan life and creativity back into our souls.
Every time I belly danced with my golden wings, I invoked Isis. I asked her to flow through me and help me fan inspiration and creativity in the audience with my own golden wings.
And now, after all the tremendous loss I’ve experienced the past few years, when I felt so crushed with heartbreak and loss, and so far away from that girl I used to be: the girl spinning with her golden wings, that girl with the jewels on her hips; now I feel like Isis was standing vigil next to me all this time, her wings spread, silently fanning me back to life. It has taken me a long long time to stand back up, but I’m still here, and my wings are spread, and every time I dance, and share my story with others, I am fanning them with my own shimmering gold, and sometimes even feeling like I can fly.
One Response
Thank you for sharing this amazing story. I also loved the show. My dad would fly me around the house sometimes while I would say, “O Mighty Isis”! Good memories. I’ve been through some grief and loss as well. The costume is incredible! Thanks again.