Red Deer:

Should I review class etiquette before we begin?

Boudica:

yea, just for practice, red

Red Deer:

1. Please keep MMs, BBs, and MPs in IM until class is done.

melilot:

{---being good

Boudica:

who is logging?

Burningwolf:

{...............logging on

Red Deer:

2. Please hold questions and comments until Boudica asks for them.

melilot:

{-----STILL being good

Boudica:

ok, mel, your being good

Red Deer:

3. If your friendly doorward (namely me) calls for an exclusion, please do not talk to or about the excludee until class is over...

melilot:

{G}

Gibron:

sh...

Red Deer:

and 4. Please log (thanks Burningwolf)

Burningwolf:

my pleasure

Red Deer:

With that, the virtual floor is yours, Boudica...

Boudica:

THANK YOU ALL FOR COMMING TO WICCA 101 CLASS TONIGHT and thanks Red Deer.

Boudica walks to the middle of the room, and sits on a stool and begins. The history of man can be traced through artifacts to the time of the first human colonies in the upper Paleolithic period, more than 35 thousand years ago. We then see early farms circa 12,000 BCE and small village settlements circa 7,000 BCE and cities circa 4,000 BCE. The earliest Mesopotamian settlements are dated by artifacts to 7000 years ago (or 5,000 BCE).

The villages adapted their own individual Gods and Goddesses. In among the broken shards of everyday dishes are fragments of the household Gods and Goddesses that protected families and flocks. Who they were, what their function was, is unsure. But they were there. It wasn't until writing was developed that the stories of the Gods and Goddesses could be passed to future generations. Earliest known examples are found on clay tablets from Uruk circa 3,300 BCE, and was already developed into a system of over 700 signs.

Religion appears to have been a driving force behind the transformation from villages to city life. Rulers considered themselves agents of the gods, and their duties included ceremonies and religious obligations to the temple. There were hundreds of Gods. The Sumerian and Akkadian Pantheons merged at an early date and their individuals can no longer be separated. Gods had human form and are believed to have behaved like humans with the same emotions and needs. There were also supernatural beings, good and bad, of various forms. The Dating of the stories is tough. The texts we have are from the Old Babylonian. If we place the Sumerian/Akkadian stories written at circa 3,000 BCE, then it follows, the Old Babylonian stories are circa 2,200 to 1,200 BCE and the Assyrian/Babylonian stories (from which the biblical stories are derived) written at 1,200 to 625 BCE. Dates vary according to who you read, but these are good round numbers.

I would like to tell you three stories from Mesopotamia. The first is the Creation Story, which will introduce the Pantheon to you, in all their natural glory, the second is the Flood story which goes with the Creation Story and will make itself clear. The third is the Story of Ishtar and Tammmuz (Inanna and Damuzi) which is the love story of the Mesopotamian Myths, and is a true Goddess story. I feel that just describing the Pantheon does not do the Gods and Goddesses justice. From the Sumerian/Akkadian, the Gods and Goddesses had a beginning, before which was nothing. From the nothing came two aspects, one male, Apsu, the fresh water ocean which surrounded the world and one female, Tiamat, the sea. From them came all beings. The opening line of the poem: "When the heaven above was not named, and the sea beneath had no name, of Apsu, primordial, their father, and of tumultuous Tiamat, the all-mother, the Waters mingled in one." From their union came Lahmu and his consort, Lahamu, whose purposes have been lost in time.

From them came Anshar and Kishar, who represented the totality of heaven and earth. And from them came the supreme triad of the Babylonian Pantheon, Anu, Elill and Ea. They divide the universe between them - Anu reigned in heaven, Ellil was lord of the Sky and Earth, and Eas was lord of the Ocean. Each God has his own path and dwelling in the sky. Apparently the Children of Apsu and Tiamat became rowdy and upset Tiamat and Apsu greatly to the point where they become angry and Apsu could not quiet them. Tiamat threatens her own children and Apsu confers with his Vizier Mummu to destroy the children. But Ea is he who knows everything and puts Apsu and Mummu to sleep and kills them, taking the place of Apsu. He and his spouse Damkina create Marduk. Tiamat seeks vengeance for the death of Apsu. Ea fights with Tiamat and fails. Marduk then does battle with Tiamat and after a moment of indecision, defeats Tiamat. Marduk then proceeds to create the universe. He acquires the Tablet of Destines and from the parts of Tiamat he creates the stars, moon, earth, and sky, the Euphrates and Tigris. When he is done, the gods show him gratitude by making him king. For his final act of creation, he makes man "from the blood and bone" of a sacrificed god. And man is created to do the work of the gods so the gods can be at leisure. A temple is built, feast held and Marduk is given the 50 Names of Honor.

The flood story is an offshoot but separate of the creation story from the Akkadian myth. It begins with the Gods doing the servile work and not liking it. After 3,600 years, they decide to confront Ellil. He goes to Belet-ili, the womb-Goddess, who creates 7 pairs of mortals. After 600 years, the mortals propagate and start making too much noise and Ellil can't take it. He decides on pest control and sends plagues, drought and famine, to no avail. He then he decides on flood, but Ea warns Atrahasis, a wise man and servant to Ea, and tells him to build a boat as the flood will last 7 days. To quote the text, "The flood roared like a bull, like a wild ass screaming the winds howled, the darkness was total, there was no sun." Though the text is incomplete, in the end the gods decide that mortal reproduction needs to be curbed. They introduce the barren woman, create a demon who kills at childbirth, and establish several categories of priestesses for who child bearing is taboo. The story if Inanna and Dumuzi (the Sumerain/Akkadian names, also known as Ishtar and Tamuz in the Babylonian) begins with the courtship and wedding story, which, in terms of early poetry, is one of the most beautiful pieces from any ancient time period. Though I am not going to go into this, as this is not the focus of my class, a line in which Inanna tells of her love of Damuzi: "Not only is it sweet to sleep hand in hand with him, sweetest of sweet is too the loveliness of joining heart to heart with him." Its worth the read if you want to pursue it.

The last story I wish to relate is Inanna's Decent into Hades. This story is separate from the other stories, a separate set of tablets. The story begins with Inanna wishing to go to the Neatherworld. She decks herself out in all her royal regalia and proceeds to the gates. She instructs her servant woman what to do if she does not return. She proceeds to the gatekeeper, who is not impressed. He goes to the Queen of the Neatherworld, Ereshkigal, who is Inanna's sister, and who is not too happy. She tells the gatekeeper to deliver Inanna to her, stripped and in a crouched position. This, by the way, is the way the ancients were buried, stripped and crouching, so Inanna is to be delivered as one dead. Once in the presence of Ereshkigal, Inanna makes her visits intention known, as she removes her sister from the throne and Inanna sits in her place. But the powerful Anunnaki gods do not look kindly upon Inanna's attempt and, being the 7 Judges of Hades, judge her and condemn her to death. She is killed and turned into a slab of rotten meat and hung on the wall. All this time, her servant woman awaits her return. After three days, she realizes that Inanna is not returning, and the servant goes to Anu, and pleads for Inanna, asking that Inanna be treated as the Goddess she really is, not as a mortal. Anu, however, is not willing to go against Ereshkigal, saying, "The underworld is for Ereshkigal and Ereshkigal is for the underworld." The woman servant then goes to Ellil, who is just as reluctant. She then goes to Ea (Also known as Enki) and he has an idea. He fashions two mourners from spit and mud and sends them to Ereshkigal. He also gives each the water of life and the grass of life to use on Inanna. The two mourners are taken to Ereshkigal, she is impressed and, when she is not looking, the figures throw the grass of life and the water of life on Inanna and she is returned to original form. She is about to ascend from the netherworld when the Anunnaki gods again interpose. She must make a substitute to take her place. She is to return to the Overworld and send a substitute. She encounters her woman servant. She does not send her, though, for what payment is that for such loyalty. She then encounters her husband, Dumuzi, who she agrees to send. But her husbands sister, Geshtinanna, the wine goddess, intervenes, offering herself instead. Please note that Dumuzi is to represent the God of the fields crops. The agreement is reached that Dumuzi is to be sent to Hades for half a year and his sister is to take his place for the other half a year. Also note that in the Mesopotamian area, the grapes grow at a different tie of the year than m the field crops, and are not in bloom together. We can draw similarities here with stories from other cultures.

The cycles of life are universal, and adaptation of older stories is not uncommon. At this point, I would like to leave this and let you ask questions and draw your own conclusions and discuss what you think. A list of books that this research is taken from is as follows:

Mesopotamian Myths, Henritta McCall.

The Treasures of Darkness - A History of Mesopotamian Religion, Thorkild Jacobsen.

Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Michael Roaf.

Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, D A Mackenzie.

Babylonian Life and History, E A W Budge.

Any ideas??? The floor is open...

Quandary:

Earlier you mentioned that Marduk used the body of a sacrificed god...who was this god and who sacrificed him and how???

agathodaimon:

boudica the story of mummu tiamat and marduk is about a planetary collision

quandary that blood was of tiamat

Boudica:

The part about Marduk varies in two different stories quandry

Reb n Tyl:

One quick question Sis ({{{}}} MM by the way) Where does Marduk "acquire the tablets of destiny", if there is NOTHING out? {when you get a chance.. {G}}

agathodaimon:

because marduk was a planet and Ea named his son marduk

Djaeby:

Who is Marduk

agathodaimon:

reb

Boudica:

Interesting Agathodaimon

JonGino:

Do you people really believe in these Goddesses, or as Joseph Campbell suggested they are metaphors for the forces in nature?

agathodaimon:

the tablets of destiny are nothing more than orbits

Gara Dun:

Boud the Babylonian stories are copies of older myths that where written down correct? So are they general of the area's belief's?

Reb n Tyl:

Okee.. Thanks :)

agathodaimon:

marduk established tablets of destiny for the planets

Red Deer:

{--- is a believer

Boudica:

Reb, that is a different part of the story that i was not willing to get into because it is different in two different tablets also

Reb n Tyl:

{-- are believers

UsagiTsukino:

Good evening, everyone. :) Merry meet, and all that jargon.

Djaeby:

Its as real as Christ is to Christians

Reb n Tyl:

'kay.. Thanks anyway Boud.. {GGGGG}

agathodaimon:

and laid the upper half ,the cleaved part of tiamat, around the earth to keep the ancient ones out

Boudica:

The Stories i covered here Gara are from the Sumerian and Akkadian tablets

UsagiTsukino:

What's the chat tonight?

Boudica:

not the Old Babylonian

Quandary:

Okay Boudica...I should look it up, right ??

Djaeby:

BB room, I have been traveling all weekend and my brain wont work

Boudica:

That would be the proper course Quandry

Quandary:

{s}

Boudica:

I tell you the stories to make you think and read, not to answer all the w

Gara Dun:

But the general aspects of the stories are found throughout the region?

Boudica:

questions for you

agathodaimon:

quandary zecchariah sitchen is an excellent reference on the Sumerian and Akkadian myths

Boudica:

Yes gara

Gara Dun:

Thanks

Boudica:

and the books i listed have all the stories and all the versions in them books I took the best and most complete stories, to peak your interest and flame the imagination

UsagiTsukino:

Oh drat. It seems I walked in late.

Gara Dun:

Now to raise a real firestorm. All these myth's have a great similarity to the book of Genesis, Just wondering who copied who. Eh?

Boudica:

Agathodaimon has presented an interesting viewpoint on these stories

Quandary:

Yes, I agree.

Reb n Tyl:

Gara- many countries, many religions, many of them very far removed from each other, all have flood myths.

UsagiTsukino:

Gara, are you speaking of Mesopotamian myths?

Boudica:

The books of Genesis are from the Neo-Babylon area, or Assyrian/Babylonian era circa 1200 to 625 BCE

agathodaimon:

are you familiar with sitchen boudica?

Reb n Tyl:

You can't say the Hebrew influenced the N.A. cultures, yet they have a myth about a flood.. {not being confrontational as Tylwyth would say I'm being} {G}

Gara Dun:

True & yes I am the thought occurred because of the origins of the Hebrews

UsagiTsukino:

The Cheyenne religion's story of how the world was created is strikingly similar to the Christian one, there's even the rib! {G}

Boudica:

The tablets i have presented here are dated from the Sumerian Akkadian era circa 3000 BCE

agathodaimon:

usagi they are all the same story

Burningwolf:

I must be going.........Boudica, you did a good job tonight

UsagiTsukino:

But why, agathodaimon, do they mean different things to different religions?

Burningwolf:

Blessed Be and Merry Part everyone

Boudica:

no agathodaimon i am not

Gara Dun:

MP Burning your still a ghost to me

agathodaimon:

by the way the annunaki labored for 426,000 yrs before the revolted

Boudica:

mp burning

Reb n Tyl:

MP Burning :)

Boudica:

and thanks

agathodaimon:

they sorry which is a play on precession

Red Deer:

aye

agathodaimon:

you agree? 3,600 yrs is the orbit of nibiru/marduk

Red Deer:

yup... they were marvelous astronomers, and their mythology contains much of that knowledge... hidden in the stories for initiates to know

UsagiTsukino:

I am curious how Christians interpret the similarity between myths.

Gara Dun:

So what your saying Aga is that the "gods" are celestial bodies?

Boudica:

As far as my readings go, the Christians do not yet recognize the similarities between these stories and their own

Gara Dun:

Or won't

xKelila:

I do, Boudica.

UsagiTsukino:

How could you not recognize the similarities!? I think Gara is right, they don't want to.

agathodaimon:

gara in an allegorical sense

Reb n Tyl:

Then you're the rarity rather then the usual, Kelila!

agathodaimon:

and only during the creation stories

xKelila:

I have been told. {g}

Gara Dun:

Understood Aga

agathodaimon:

you see

ChameolEon:

similarities between which stories?

Reb n Tyl:

Well, you have my respect! :)

xKelila:

::nods:: Thank ye.

Reb n Tyl:

most welcome :)

agathodaimon:

the biblical raka'i which is translated heavens means the hammered out bracelet the asteroid belt

xKelila:

In truth, I have found that many Christians simply do not know their own history or background.

Gara Dun:

:::Bows::: your welcome to my hearth lady

agathodaimon:

it was lain around earth to protect it from the ancient gods Saturn Jupiter

xKelila:

Thus they do not know how to recognize links with other belief systems.

Boudica:

Thank you Kelila

agathodaimon:

Uranus

UsagiTsukino:

It's important to know where you've been. It lets you know where you might be going. ;)

agathodaimon:

Neptune Pluto and nibiru

Quandary:

nibiru ??

UsagiTsukino:

That's very observant of you, Kelila, when your religion is "the one true way" you can't very well link it with other religions.

Reb n Tyl:

They have to feel that their religion is the only that is right, therefore, to recognize that any religions might be similar proves that theirs is incorrect..

Gara Dun:

Is nibiru the 10th planet?

agathodaimon:

nibiru is where Anu held his throne

Boudica:

yes gara

agathodaimon:

it is the tenth member of our solar system having an elliptical orbit that lasts 3,600 yrs

Quandary:

so, when is it due back ??

Boudica:

i have seen that somewhere, interesting you should bring that up agathodaimon

agathodaimon:

the Olmecs say around 2019

xKelila:

Usagi, hon, was that a dig? {g}

Boudica:

one of the sacred numbers also, isn't it

agathodaimon:

it is a play on the perfect number

UsagiTsukino:

Nah, I'm in too good of a mood! =)

agathodaimon:

the base number 60

xKelila:

:}

agathodaimon:

the

Quandary:

Aga...then this is the source of the disturbances in the Oort cloud ??

agathodaimon:

Oort cloud? please clarify

Quandary:

the ring of comets that surround this solar system.

agathodaimon:

have not heard of that but it is the cause of perturbations in Pluto's orbit that cannot be blamed on Uranus and Neptune

Gara Dun:

Boudica a good class gives me lots to think on. I must go. May the sky lord watch over all you do.

UsagiTsukino:

BB Gara!

Boudica:

mp gara and thank you for coming

Gara Dun:

And his lady guard your hearth

agathodaimon:

boudica do you know the meaning of annunaki those who were sent from heaven to earth

Boudica:

Aga, the 7 Judges

agathodaimon:

Ea = whose house is water

Reb n Tyl:

Blessed be Roomies...

agathodaimon:

mummu tiamat = watery monster

Reb n Tyl:

Time to wander.. {S} {{{{{{{{{{{}}}}}}}}}}}} :)

agathodaimon:

when Ea landed his name changed to Enki, Enki = lord earth

Quandary:

Boudica.. the further back I study, the older the myths become without too many distinct changes. Is there a starting point??

agathodaimon:

see the connections?

Boudica:

I wish to thank everyone for coming tonight and participating in my class

Quandary:

You are welcome Boudica !! Thank you !

agathodaimon:

great class boudica thanks

xKelila:

And thank you, Boudica, for sharing!

Red Deer:

Enjoyed it, folks - Brightest Blessings and Merry Part