Editing Isis (section)

====Goddess of magic and wisdom====
Isis was also known for her [[heku|magical power]], which enabled her to revive Osiris and to protect and heal Horus, and for her cunning.{{sfn|Pinch|2002|p=151}} By virtue of her magical knowledge, she was said to be "more clever than a million gods".{{sfn|Meeks|Favard-Meeks|1996|p=98}}{{sfn|Hart|2005|pp=81–82}} In several episodes in the New Kingdom story "[[The Contendings of Horus and Set]]", Isis uses these abilities to outmaneuver Set during his conflict with her son. On one occasion, she transforms into a young woman who tells Set she is involved in an inheritance dispute similar to Set's usurpation of Osiris's crown. When Set calls this situation unjust, Isis taunts him, saying he has judged himself to be in the wrong.{{sfn|Hart|2005|pp=81–82}} In later texts, she uses her powers of transformation to fight and destroy Set and his followers.{{sfn|Pinch|2002|p=151}}

Many stories about Isis appear as ''[[historiolae]]'', prologues to magical texts that describe mythic events related to the goal that the spell aims to accomplish.{{sfn|Vinson|2008|pp=313–316}} In one spell, Isis creates a snake that bites Ra, who is older and greater than she is, and makes him ill with its venom. She offers to cure Ra if he will tell her his [[true name|true, secret name]]—a piece of knowledge that carries with it incomparable power. After much coercion, Ra tells her his name, which she passes on to Horus, bolstering his royal authority.{{sfn|Hart|2005|pp=81–82}} The story may be meant as an origin story to explain why Isis's magical ability surpasses that of other deities, but because she uses magic to subdue Ra, the story seems to treat her as having such abilities even before learning his name.{{sfn|Baines|1996|p=371}}