Daughters of Isis
This female auxiliary to
African-American Shriners, founded in 1910.
Somewhat unusually, there is a shred of originality in the rituals, which are
loosely based on the legends of the Egyptian goddess after whom the order is
named, instead of being the usual milk-and-water Christianized version of a male
ritual. The oath, in which the postulant agrees to a penalty of having her body
sliced in 14 parts and thrown into a river, is also unusual in a women’s
organization.
There is still the usual religious aspects of ritual, in which the candidate
kisses the Bible three times, AlQuran once, and a red stone once.
In 1979 there were 12,000 members in 184
“Courts” (lodges — the national lodge is the “Imperial Court”).
Current membership figures are not available.
In Europe are five courts active, mainly in Germany.
On this site we have published a very early ritual of
the predecessor of this order, the Independent Order Daughters of Osiris and
Isis.