Igbarun is the Nigerian river goddess who is wed to the king of the sea. As a couple, they embody all of earth's water.
Isamba
Isamba is the Moon goddess of the Issansun people of Tanzania. Isamba married the sun, and they had a contest to see who was wisest.
Islamic god
Islamic doctrine emphasizes the oneness, uniqueness, transcendence, and utter "otherness" of God. As such, God is different from anything that the human senses can perceive or that the human mind can imagine. The God of Islam encompasses all creation, but no mind can fully encompass or grasp him. God, however, is manifest through his creation, and through reflection humankind can easily discern the wisdom and power behind the creation of the world. Because of God's oneness and his transcendence of human experience and knowledge, Islamic law forbids representations of God, the prophets, and among some Muslims, human beings in general. As a result of this belief, Islamic art came to excel in a variety of decorative patterns including leaf shapes later stylized as arabesques, and Arabic script. In modern times the restrictions on creating images of people have been considerably relaxed, but any attitude of worship toward images and icons is strictly forbidden in Islam.
Belief in the message of Muhammad comes second only to belief in the one God. Muhammad was born around the year 570 and was orphaned at an early age. He was eventually raised by his uncle, who had religious prominence within the main Quraysh tribe of Mecca but was of modest financial means. At age 25, Muhammad married Khadija, a well-to-do, 40 year old woman. At age 40, during a retreat in the hills outside Mecca, Muhammad had his first experience of Islam. The angel Gabriel appeared to a fearful Muhammad and informed him that he was God's chosen messenger. Gabriel also communicated to Muhammad the first revelation from God. Terrified and shaken, Muhammad went to his home. His wife became the first person to accept his message and convert to Islam. After receiving a series of additional revelations, Muhammad started preaching the new religion, initially to a small circle of relatives and friends, and then to the general public.
Isis (Iset, Auset):
Isis, daughter of Seb and Nut, sister and wife of Osiris, sister of Set, and twin sister of Nephthys, was believed to be the most powerful magician in the universe (due to the fact that she had learned the Secret Name of Ra from the god himself). She was an Egyptian goddess of motherhood, fertility, marital devotion, healing the sick, and the working of magical spells and charms. Isis is one of the earliest and most important goddess in ancient Egypt, and she was regarded as the feminine counterpart to Osiris. No other Egyptian deity has stood the test of time as well as Isis. Her cult was not extinguished with the other Egyptian gods, but was embraced by the Greeks and Romans, and her worship has even lasted into the present day. Isis was a great enchantress, the goddess of magic. Together with Thoth, she taught mankind the secrets of medicine. She was the embalmer and guardian of Osiris. She is often rendered on the foot of coffins with long wings spread to protect the deceased. She was originally the personification of the throne (her name is written with the hieroglyph for throne), and as such, she was an important source of the Pharaoh's power. (See the story of Isis and Osiris on our Egyptian Vault Legends Page).
Ixchel
Ixchel was the world-weaver Mayan Goddess of childbirth and healing. In the first picture she is depicted as fertility, in the second she's the world builder, and in the third picture she is depicted as the crone. She was worshiped throughout the Mayan Yucatan as the Life-Giving Queen. The rite of passage into womanhood required fashioning such a clay image of Ixchel, traveling to the sacred Isle of Women (Isla Mujeres) and performing a ritualistic breaking of the image in her temple there. Ixchel is identical with Spider Woman, the Creatrix worshiped widely by North American native peoples.
