This Is The First Real Installment Of My Long Quest To Combat The Ancient Aliens On All Fronts, As Well

This is the first real installment of my long quest to combat the ancient aliens on all fronts, as well as give exposure to a pretty obscure topic: Mesopotamian Polytheism. We're here, we're pagan, and I'm here to explain it.

Homelessness and Polytheism

So, as of today I'm living out of hotels and my car. I'm still out a job. My altar setup is in storage, I have no home to sprinkle with water and fill with the scent of cedar. No stove to cook on, no fridge, my couch is in storage, my BOOK COLLECTION. It's.... I should be panicking more than I am. I don't know why I'm not. Part of the worst of it, for me, is the lack of sacred space. I don't have a home to connect my gods to. I'd see Nuska in the glow of my bedside lamp, Gibil in my oven that doubled as a kiln. I would greet Nanna when I saw him as I drove into the parking lot, and the nearby park had a stream where I'd done rites for Dumuzid and Geshtinanna. Gula had a votive statue on my altar, and I always had some sort of offering laid out for my personal gods. I had Nisaba's written cuneiform name (since she is the written word) in the most important place in my living room. But it's not like I'm going to roll over and quit. These are my gods. I am their servant. Even when I'm an uprooted disaster of a human being with little to offer, I can still offer a cup of water and a few words of heartfelt praise. This new chapter is going to be tough. I'm going to meet it with everything I've got, and I pray that my gods see and approve of my efforts. I have promises to keep, and I'll meet my potential even if I have to claw my way up. My gods, my goddesses, I think I relate more to Enheduanna now than I ever have. If all I have to offer is a cup of water and my own words, then that's what I'll do.

If you're looking for spider deities, may I suggest Uttu, daughter of Enki? Her story should be under the myth of Enki and Ninhursag. She's technically the first wife according to Sumerian standards, doesn't appear in many records, and is the goddess of weaving.

I was wondering if you know anything about any deities related to spiders. I keep seeing tons of spiders all around my house and I think it's a sign, but I can't figure out from who.

Hello lovely,

Spider deities seems to a rare bunch.My initial response was to think of the story of Arachne and Athena. Arachne was a moral Greek woman who thought she was a superior weaver to Athena, the Greek goddess of weaving. A contest which Athena lost, causing her to in fury turn Arachne into a spider.

But weaving, spiders and destiny seem to be connected in a lot of Mediterranean cultures. Athena was connected with a few other deities, with similar attributes so you might be interested in looking up;Inanna - Sumerian Ishtar - Babylonian Neith - EgyptianTaneith - Libyan Minerva - Roman

Because I’m kemetic, I’m going to talk about Egypt. So there isn’t much evidence of spiders used in mythology in Egypt. I couldn’t even find any examples of spider amulets. But you might find it useful to check out Neith. Neith is a goddess of weaving, and although her connection with Athena only really occurred in the Ptolemaic period, it might still be useful to check as she is still a goddess of weaving.

Also Selqet might be a potential goddess to look up. She is a goddess of protection and although she is mainly represented by scorpions, spiders may fall under her department. (Plus I kinda think the native Egyptian spiders look more like scorpions than house spiders from a quick google search anyway)

Another idea is Anansi, who was recently depicted as Mr Nancy in American gods. He is a shapeshifter god who is often a spider. However don’t know much about this deity at all, beyond his appearance in American gods. I think he might even be from a closed religion…

I hope this was helpful :)

🕷🕷🕷

This was a tricky ask, and I couldn’t have done it alone. Thanks @djehutydevo @djar-em-rekh and @anubianpagan for the brain storming session and the great ideas :)

KTU 1.23 (Dawn and Dusk/The Gentle Gods)

It’s been a while since my last translation, but I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.  It’s an odd Ugaritic text: the first half is a fragmented mish-mash of ritual instructions and mythic imagery, while the second half is a ribald tale about Ilu, the Father-God, and the consequences of his libido.  I have included several notes to outline my own read of the text, but I want to emphasize that many of its elements are still debated by scholars, so you should take my observations with several grains of salt.  Notably, I argue that in the “bawdy comedy” section, the text includes a fairly explicit depiction of two women having sex with each other.

I welcome the Gentle Gods — [1]        the graceful sons of the Sun-Go[ddess], those granted honor from the heights, [2]        in the wilderness and the barren plateaus.

… upon their heads, and …

Feast abundantly upon the feast!        Drink abundantly of the bubbly wine! Grant peace to the king!        Grant peace to the queen,        to the guests and the guards!

The Death-Lord is seated:        in his hand, a staff of sterility;        in his hand, a staff of widowhood. The vine-pruner prunes it;        the vine-tier ties it;        like a vine, he drops it on his death-field. [3]

Keep reading

Sounds awesome. Is it a mixed group thing? Do you mind sharing what you'll be doing?

My celebration for the month of Šu-Numun is tomorrow.

Let this be a learning experience for my Wiccan friends. For the glory of the Dingir, and for the sake of my own sanity.

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Hello Anon! Answer via a screen shot again because mobile sucks

Thank you for such a nice compliment ☺️💙

Well with Nanše I tried to learn all that I could. There isn’t an abundance of information springing forth so I took some time to “know her”. When I read about Nanše it is clear she loves life, she cherishes good things, and protects those who need protecting. She is both a Goddess who sways in nature’s rhythms but also a Goddess who oversees civilization itself with great power.

I read the Hymn to Nanše multiple times to digest it all [1]. There is also one of her and birds [2] where she is praised as a loving goddess. Another with her and fish, which is probably the oldest form of Nanše worship; it shows her connection to abundance in a natural setting but also a connection to city life. [3]

I felt a connection at these lines

“She is concerned for the orphan and concerned for the widow. She does not forget the man who helps (?) others, she is a mother for the orphan; Nance, a carer for the widow, who always finds advice for the debt-slave; the lady who gives protection for refugees. She seeks out a place for the weak. She swells his collecting basket for him; she makes his collecting vessel profitable for him. For the righteous maiden who has taken her path, Nance chooses a young man of means. Nance raises a secure house like a roof over the widow who could not remarry.” [1]

I first worshiped her at one of the lower points of life in recent memory; when I was “weak.”

I also made sure I got to know her historically:

From Leick’s Dictionary [4]

From Black and Green’s Dictionary [5]

I looked up a photo to use for her , I swear I had a much better version of it but this is what it is (hopefully it is her, if it isn’t I haven’t felt off about using it):

and then put her on my altar for the first time[6]

As for worship. Well standard Mesopotamian procedure includes: Purify , Praise/Hymn, Offer / Libate, Prayer. Is the frame work I use. Purifying for Sumerians means sweeping the holy space, lighting incense, and special water. Along with being physically very clean, including fresh clothes. (I’m working on words that go with the stuff cuz new book but not yet)

As duel tradition I currently just use khernips when I feel like making it fully 😬 (Hellenimos) and a meditative exercise to “purify” my mind so I can stand before the Gods, made up by me and I’ve used it since like …2013 or something. I want incense but I’m a chicken and won’t use it because I have no windows to air out my room if need be….. so I use a feather symbolically.

I write my own praise and prayers. I also edit the existing ones so they are coherent and I can use them in ritual.

…… I think that’s what I have to offer 😅

[edit add: never go to wikipedia and avoid anything that says “first race” “aliens” “dna” “astronauts” stuff like that; when researching Mesopotamia]

Links

[1] ETCSL 4.14.1 http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.14.1&charenc=j#

[2] ETCSL 4.14.3 http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.14.3&charenc=j#

[3] ETCSL 4.14.2 http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.14.2&charenc=j#

[4] https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Ancient-Near-Eastern-Mythology/dp/0415198119

[5] https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Demons-Symbols-Ancient-Mesopotamia/dp/0292707940

[6] PLEASE DO NOT REBLOG THIS LINK. https://michitimeline.tumblr.com/post/171001570275/michi-izkur-ereshkigal-may-13th-2017-set-up