MYTHOLOGY - ISIS Representation of Isis as visualised by the polymath, Athanasius Kircher. She is portrayed as the Great Mother of the Gods, allegedly according to the account of her left by Apuleius, in his Golden Ass. To the extreme left are the 15 variant names of Isis, which link together the various goddesses of the ancient Mystery Schools. To the extreme right, Kircher offers a key to the many symbols he has incorporated into the figure (which, one notes, stands with one foot on earth, the other on water). The wheat ears in her complex headgear relate to the Spica (or ear of corn) in the celestial Virgo, which was one of the appellations of Isis, in ancient times. Over her sexual parts is the crescent Moon, which points to her true cosmic affiliation. She irrigates the earth with water from the bucket in her left hand - no doubt a throw back to her role as opener of the inundations of the Nile, in ancient Egypt. In her right hand is the sacred sistrum. Her blue dress is covered in 72 stars, to reveal her role as 'Lady of the Stars'. In numerology, 72 is among the most sacred of all numbers. The Greek inscription to the top right, translates: "Isis, the all-receptive and multi-formed spiritual being (the Greek daimon does not mean 'demon'). Hyle (that is matter), a thousand named nature". The Greek at the bottom of the print translates, "High Mother of the Gods, many-named ISIS".