Isis

Isis is the Egyptian goddess of wisdom and magic, as well as the wife to Osiris. She is one of the daughters of Geb and Nut. She is seen as the mother to kings and is depicted as a human with a crown that has cow horns and a sun disk, though she may be depicted with the features of a hawk or just fully as a hawk. She has a symbol attributed to her known as the Tyet, or the Isis Knot. It is thought this symbol represents life and well-being, and some believe it to be a depiction of an ancient tampon. She saved Osiris when Set threw him in a river, and again when Set dismembered him. She is also the mother of Horus. In a later story she wanted to dethrone Ra as king of the gods and put Horus in charge instead. She formed a plan with the knowledge that Ra could often be found sleeping on the job. She waited until he drooled a bit, she took the sand that this drool hit and formed the resulting mud into a snake and used magic to breathe life into it. The next time Ra came around the snake bit him. He was in immense pain and he couldn’t get rid of it, but Isis said she could fix it if Ra gave her his secret name. When he gave her his secret name, she used magic to heal him and she then put Horus in his place.

Citations:

Jordan, Michael. Encyclopedia of Gods: Over 2,500 Deities of the World. United Kingdom, Kyle Cathie, 2005.

Morgan, Diane. Snakes in Myth, Magic, and History: The Story of a Human Obsession. United States, Praeger, 2008.