Editing Isis (section)

===Historical Rites and Rituals===
Two great Festivals are dedicated to Isis. Bust out your pumpkin spice latte because the first festival started on October 31 and lasted through November 3. During this four day period a passion play was acted out over the death of Osiris and the magic of Isis returning him to life. During the first day, actors would impersonate Isis and her son Horus as well as various other gods as they searched across the world for the 14 body parts of Osiris. The Second and Third days showed the reassembly and rebirth of Osiris and the fourth day was a wild rejoicing over the success of Isis and the coming of the newly immortal Osiris. The belief is that through worship of Isis and strong devotion,you too can be returned to life should you die and also experience eternal happiness under her nurturing care, just as Osiris was rebuild and shall rule forever.

The first was celebrated on the Vernal Equinox, to celebrate the return of life to the world (around March 20). Oh shit, like Easter?

The Four sons of Horus, funerary deities who were thought to protect the internal organs of the deceased, were the offspring of Isis and the elder form of Horus. In the same era, Horus was syncretized with the fertility god Min, so Isis was regarded as Min's mother.

In the Hellenistic period, when Egypt was ruled and settled by Greeks, Isis was worshiped by Greeks and Egyptians, along with a new god, Serapis. Their worship diffused into the wider Mediterranean world. Isis's Greek devotees ascribed to her traits taken from Greek deities, such as the invention of marriage and the protection of ships at sea, and she retained strong links with Egypt and other Egyptian deities who were popular in the Hellenistic world, such as Osiris and Harpocrates. As Hellenistic culture was absorbed by Rome in the first century BCE, the cult of Isis became a part of Roman religion. Her devotees were a small proportion of the Roman Empire's population but were found all across its territories. Her following developed distinctive festivals such as the Navigium Isidis, as well as initiation ceremonies resembling those of other Greco-Roman mystery cults. Some of her devotees said she encompassed all feminine divine powers in the world.

The worship of Isis was ended by the rise of Christianity. Her worship may have influenced Christian beliefs and practices such as the veneration of Mary,