Week 4 Storytelling: Say Your Name, Say Your Name

(Isis)

"Come on, come on. There's gotta be a way to get Ra to tell me what this so called 'secret' name of his is. I mean, it can't possibly be that hard to trick the guy, right?" Isis said to herself as she paced up and down through the courtyard of her palace.

Isis had been wracking her brain for months; she needed to figure out a way to take control of Ra's power so she would be the strongest of the deities. She knew the most vital information: convince Ra to say the secret name aloud, and the powers would be hers. Simple enough, right? It would have been if Ra didn't have a stubborn personality. Isis was going to need pull off some serious trickery if she was ever going to gain Ra's power.

That night, Isis lay awake brainstorming different ways she could get Ra to spill his guts). Suddenly, an idea just appeared, almost out of thin air. She began to stew over; it was too good to be true - the plan was perfect. Once she had everything in place, she fell quietly to sleep, dreaming of how this divine power would soon be hers.

The next morning, Ra awoke and took his seat on his outdoor throne in the courtyard, just like he did every single day of the year. It was his regular routine to talk to the people of the land and address any issues that may have arisen. Isis was ready for her plan of action; if not now, then she would never be able to pull this off. Isis knew that every Tuesday morning the same man would come to ask Ra of his advice and every Tuesday morning, Ra would speak with him and send him on his way with a basket of oranges "for good measure". So, like every morning, the man slowly walked up to the throne of Ra and knelt before him. As soon as the regular Tuesday ritual was over, Isis snuck up behind the throne and was ready for her attack. Ra handed the basket of oranges to the man, and one casually rolled on to the floor. Isis used the loose soil on the ground, along with the orange, to shape it into a venomous snake, in which she made invisible.

"I've done it! Now all I have to do is make sure the snake bites Ra, and he will never even know what hit him. He'll be in so much pain, that the only thing he'll have left to do is to tell me the name, if he wants to be saved!" Isis laughed and celebrated excitedly, all to herself, of course. She couldn't risk anyone knowing her plan. By nightfall, Ra would be wounded by the snake, and within 24 hours, she would know the secret name; she was sure of it.

Isis planted the invisible serpent on the ledge of a shelf in Ra's room. She knew she had to be extremely careful of when she placed the snake in the room because there were people in and out of the room all day long, and she certainly didn't want to wound anyone else.

That night, Ra meandered into his bedroom, ready to sleep. As he pulled back the covers on his bed, suddenly a fierce, burning pain shot through his entire body. Ra let out an extreme cry, and within seconds his room was flooded with gods and servants and everyone you could imagine.

"I heard you scream! Are you okay?! Seriously, what happened to you?" everyone seemed to be yelling at Ra at once.

But, pain had completely taken over Ra's body. He could not seem to even find the words to mutter to anyone. But after all, he didn't even know where this intense pain was coming from. Next on the scene was Isis, of course, to see what kind of damage she had caused.

"Ra! Please tell me you're okay. What even happened? Was it a snake you came into contact with? I'd love to make you a deal. Tell me the name in which you have held captive all these years, and I will release the venom from your bloodstream and you will be made new," Isis told Ra, while silently smirking to herself.

Ra contemplated for a while; he knew he couldn't just give up his name like that, but he was in a rut. Without Isis's healing powers, he was bound to die a slow and very painful death. The venom could not sit in his body for much longer.

"I am the one who has created Earth. To know the real me, is to know my name. I am Khepera at dawn. I am Ra at high noon, and I am Tum in the evening. This is what you request, Isis. Please take away this horrible pain," Ra told her, with each breath getting heavier and heavier from the pain.

After Ra spoke, Isis patiently waited for the divine power to be hers, but there was nothing. Furious at Ra's lack of trust, she yelled, "RA! I know all of those names. None of them are the secret name in which you've never told a soul. I cannot help you unless you release the name to me! Speak now or forever hold your peace!!"

Knowing this could be the end of him, Ra gathered up what little strength he had left and said, "I command that the secret name which is imbedded in my heart become that of Isis. She will hold the power."

And with that, the divine power of Ra entered into Isis's soul, as did the secret name. This was it; she had done it.

"Thank you! And just as I promised, I will heal your horrid pain," Isis kindly told Ra.

The pain slowly began to subside from Ra's body, and he was made free. And just like that, Isis was the new divine power over the land.

Author's Note: This is a re-telling of the story The Secret Name of Ra, with a few small alterations. I kept the general storyline the same, but changed a few of the minor details, as well as added some dialogue. The dialogue included was mainly for the character Isis. The sole purpose of including the dialogue was to give her a little bit more of an "evil" side and show the audience that he true intentions were to gain power. The main storyline focuses on the characters of Ra and Isis, both of which are a god and goddess from Egyptian mythology. Ra is often referred to as the "god of the sun" or the "god of radiance," and as described in the story Creation, Ra is believed to be the creator of the universe, according to Egyptian mythology. Isis is often referred to as the "goddess of marriage, health, and wisdom". Her association with health and healing are the reason Ra trusts that she will heal him from the deadly snake bite. However, I found it very interesting that despite her "title," she is very deceiving in this story, and in the end, is the one who ends up with all of the power.

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907)