The Temple of Isis in Corinth
Corinth 2019
Several years ago, before the pandemic, Sofia Magdalena and I conducted one of our courses in Athens. It was a warm September, and we traveled to various places, retracing the footsteps of antiquity, alongside our wonderful participants.
For the first and, so far, only time, we took a day trip to beautiful Corinth with our delightful group. Corinth is located a few miles from Athens, out on the Peloponnese.
Sofia and I had visited Corinth a few months earlier, exploring the Acrocorinth, where there was supposed to be a temple of Aphrodite. Now, we were there with our entire group. We bravely hiked up the slippery marble paths of the mountain to find Aphrodite's temple, but one by one, we descended without having spotted it. It was over 30 degrees Celsius, scorching hot. We climbed about 30 stairs up the mountain, searching for it, but eventually, we had to give up. I still chuckle when I google temples in Corinth, and the first result is Aphrodite's temple.
After concluding our visit to Acrocorinth, our driver took us down to the large temple site in Corinth, where the Temple of Apollo stands beautifully against the sky. It was completely calm, and very hot as we walked around the temple site. We strolled around, somewhat scattered, and also visited the beautiful museum with remnants of the mighty Amazon women's busts.
[Image 1: Temple of Apollo in Corinth
Acrocorinth in the background, Image 3: The Temple of Isis]
At some point, I had heard that there might be an Isis temple somewhere in Corinth. I had just asked the museum staff if they knew about it. The woman we asked went to inquire from her colleagues but soon returned, saying no one knew about it.
Together, Sofia Magdalena and I began walking toward the exit, our lovely course participants having left the beautiful museum one by one. Suddenly, a Greek man appeared behind us, shouting something to Sofia Magdalena in Greek. He looked upset, and I didn't understand what he was saying, but he pointed at me several times. Sofia alternately nodded and shook her head. She looked at me and said, "It's best if you go with him; I'll wait outside." Sofia Magdalena went out into the sunshine, and I turned back into the cool museum, following the man. He didn't speak a word of English, so my questions about what he wanted fell flat. Well, I thought, I'll follow along and see what he wants. He seemed upset, and I became worried that I had done something wrong.
We walked through a larger hall inside the museum and turned behind a wall. There, on the wall, hung a TV screen with rolling images. He indicated for me to look, and I saw pictures of the museum, Acrocorinth, and the Temple of Apollo. Suddenly, a temple appeared, situated on a beach and extending into the water. The man looked at me, smiled, and said, "Isis!"
I felt a wave of joy within me; we had found the Temple of Isis on the shoreline in Corinth! I let the images roll by once more and stood ready with my phone to capture the screen when the picture appeared! So beautiful!
Joyful and excited, I left the museum and caught up with Sofia Magdalena at the temple site. It felt like finding a treasure! Right then and there, we decided to add the Temple of Isis to our courses in Greece.
[Image: Corinth Canal, Greece]
After passing the beautiful Corinth Canal in the evening, we returned to the beach in Athens, where we sat for hours watching the sunset. We had a powerful Moon meditation, tying together a wonderful week.
[Image 4: Our wonderful group at the Moon meditation on the beach in Athens after the day in Corinth]
The pandemic intervened, causing a hiatus of several years. When the pandemic subsided, we were busy rebuilding our courses, with new hotels and bus drivers to make everything work.
Now, we are back with our travels in Greece, and last year, we added a new course/trip to our concept. We stay on the picturesque island of Agistri and take boat trips to the Peloponnese. Last summer, we went for the first time to Epidavros and snorkeled over Argolida's Lost Atlantis. Epidavros was the place for healing in ancient Greece, meaning "to fill the aura with healing energies." Snorkeling over the ruins of the old town of Argolida was a wonderful experience. (This course will be led by Anna-Lena Vikström in week 27, and registration will be available soon).
[Images from the fall trip to Epidavros]
Christos from Agistri is our excursion leader, taking us on his boat across the Aegean Sea. Last summer, we also had the opportunity to talk to him about wanting to go by boat to Corinth—to the temple site, the Corinth Canal, and finally, to bathe on the beach at the Temple of Isis in Kenchreai, Corinth. He thought it would be great to spend that day together with us, so in September, our dream of bathing on the beach at the Temple of Isis in Kenchreai, Corinth, will come true.
Love & Light, Helena-Magdalena