The tale begins in a time of great shadow across the land of Egypt, following the tragic murder of Osiris by his jealous brother, Set. The goddess Isis, the widow of Osiris, found herself in a position of extreme peril, for she carried within her the rightful heir to the throne, the child Horus. Knowing that Set would stop at nothing to eliminate any rival to his usurped power, Isis was forced to flee the royal palace and seek refuge in the dense, labyrinthine marshes of the Nile Delta, a place known as Chemmis. These wetlands, filled with towering papyrus reeds and shifting mudbanks, offered a natural veil against the prying eyes of Set’s spies, yet they also harbored their own dangers—crocodiles, snakes, and the unforgiving elements. It was here, in the secluded silence of the reeds, that she gave birth to Horus, the falcon-headed god who was destined to restore balance to the world.
However, even in the heart of the marshes, Isis was not entirely safe. Set’s reach was long, and his malice was unending. Sensing the vulnerability of the mother and child, the divine messenger Thoth appeared to Isis, advising her to seek the protection of the gods who remained loyal to the memory of Osiris. Among these guardians was Serqet, the Scorpion Goddess. Serqet, often depicted as a woman with a scorpion perched upon her head, was a deity of immense and paradoxical power. She was the mistress of the sting that could kill, but she was also the supreme healer who possessed the secrets of all venoms and the power to neutralize any poison. To ensure the safety of Isis and the infant Horus, Serqet summoned seven of her most loyal and powerful scorpions to serve as a living vanguard. These were no ordinary creatures; they were divine entities named Tefen, Befen, Mestet, Mestetef, Petet, Thetet, and Matet.
Serqet commanded these seven guardians to surround Isis at all times, forming a defensive circle that no enemy could penetrate. They were instructed to keep their tails poised and their stings ready, but also to remain hidden and silent unless a threat presented itself. Under the watchful eyes of these seven, Isis set out from her hiding place one evening to find food for herself and her son. She traveled under the cover of twilight, the scorpions skittering in the shadows beside her. As they reached the edge of the marshes and entered the town of the Two Sisters, the group sought a place to rest for the night. Isis, appearing in the guise of a weary mortal traveler, approached the house of a wealthy noblewoman. The woman, seeing the mud-stained robes of the goddess and fearing the strange aura that accompanied her, slammed the door in Isis’s face, refusing her even a cup of water or a corner of the porch to sleep on.
This act of coldness and hubris did not go unnoticed by the seven scorpions. While Isis, in her infinite patience, turned away to seek shelter elsewhere, the scorpions were filled with a divine and righteous fury. They huddled together in the darkness, and the six scorpions—Befen, Mestet, Mestetef, Petet, Thetet, and Matet—each transferred a portion of their potent venom into the tail of their leader, Tefen. They intended to punish the woman for her lack of hospitality toward the Queen of Heaven. While Isis found a humble fisherman's hut nearby, where a poor girl welcomed her with open arms and shared her meager crust of bread, Tefen slipped through the cracks of the noblewoman's door. The scorpion found the woman's young son sleeping and struck, delivering a sting that contained the combined potency of all seven divine guardians. The poison was so powerful that it manifested as a literal fire within the house, and a sudden, supernatural storm broke over the dwelling, threatening to consume everything the woman owned.