This topic should be fleshed out

[percival]

Wow nothing yet on this important strand of mythology?I'm just starting to look into the whole Sumerian,Babylonian,Mesopotamian mythos so i have nothing to add but i encourage those who do know a thing or two to chime in and get this party started.;)

[Harlock]

it is a very interesting mythology but not many people know much about it, so it tends to get left in the dust, if you have some info please put it on here

and if anyones interested

Godchecker.com - Your Guide To The Gods. Mythology with a twist! (http://www.godchecker.com) hes info on all sorts of dieties including mesopotamian

[Manbearpig]

Yeah, it's a shame that it is quite an obscure mythology. I've tried oftentimes to co-relate the somewhat bastardized myth of the Necronomicon with the tablets containing the Enuma Elish, etc., but it's hard going. One problem I find is that, as stated in the Simon necro, it can be quite hard to figure out exactly who the "good guys" are. For instance, Marduk can be seen as a hero and champion in his slaying of Tiamat however many of the fifty names appear to be "demonic".

I like to know what's swimming in the water before I dive in.

However, in my opinion...Inanna/Ishtar is one of the most omniscient, attentive and loving goddesses in any pantheon from any time.

But yes, it would be great to get some discussion going on this subject.

[Lady Dunsany]

I am ashamed to say, I have just put the tip of my toe into this, having paid more attention to Greek and Roman Mythology and Egyptian Gods. I myself would like to learn more.

[redhand]

We are working on this one as well. Please give us a little time to help flesh this out. We do have several members who have experience and knowledge in this area.

[Enlilki]

It depends on what everyone wants to know... Like others here who might work with Egyptian energies or other people working with other Gods/Godesses.

My partner and I have spent years working with the Sumerian energies... Of course the pantheon is too large and our personal experience doesn't cover all of them, we're getting there though.

Most of what we have learnt basically goes against what a lot of books say, so it's up to you what you want to know. There are a tonne of books out there on Mesopotamia which mention Babylonian and Akkadian beliefs and practices.... But by these time periods Sumer itself was already lost and altered for the most part.

Sitchin I hate as an author...Lovecraft is entertaining enough but for a work of fiction, I dont see how people like using it as an occult/spiritualist/religious book.

Leanord w king (I think) and Samuel noah kramer are supposed to be pretty good in the field.

[RichardCranium]

I have to agree, Sitchin is garbage.

[Wulzirik]

Yeah, Sitchin is a nutter. He completely butchers ancient Mesopotamian mythology, twisting it to fit his own nutball agenda.

[iamthisillusion]

no one likes sitchin? ive only read *hells which one was it?* The Wars of Gods and Men? yes thats it =) i rather enjoyed it but anyways...

If your using the Simononmicon as an intro to Sumer mythos it will be tough time considering the book is part Lovercraft, part Crowley teaching and part Sumer mythos. Like Azagtoth (lovecrat diety) but works nonetheless if you invoke him i dont care what anyone says, that book works! (maybe not in the best sometimes but still...)

Ya, sometimes its hard to tell bad form good but I was reading somewhere (forgot where) that they (that general region) that most of the Gods had both good and bad qualities like Pazuzu for instance, the demon of air and diseases, but yet watched over newborn babies (?!)

Ya Marduk may have been a 'good guy' but he was still a power hungry prick *saying that nicely that is* but those seals showing him as a 'devil' is just more parts of his nature. Much like the many names and seals of YHVH some are good, some are bad, etc.

:at:"However, in my opinion...Inanna/Ishtar is one of the most omniscient, attentive and loving goddesses in any pantheon from any time.":at:

*cough* ya but i think she was more power hungry then ol' Marduk not to mention more deciving, now dont get me wrong though, love the diety chosen her as one of my patron dieties...
but most loving of all time? no
lol no :)

[Enlilki]

Finally someone who agrees with our experience of Inanna, many claim her greatness and worship her, she can do know wrong by some peoples claim.
Illusion mentioned power hungry, deceiving and not the most loving.. This goes against what many people believe but from experience, Illusions description is more accurate.
It was more about games and what was in it for her, with a love/sexual twist as a general vibe.

[iamthisillusion]

:lol for sure! many seem to forget the goddes of love AND war.

"In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar tries to make Gilgamesh her husband. Recalling numerous lovers whom Ishtar had killed or mutilated in the past, Gilgamesh refused. Ishtar ran to her father, Anu, who sent the bull of heaven after Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, though, killed the bull with the help of his friend, Enkidu and sent the headless bull back to Ishtar as an insult. In response, Ishtar gave Enkidu a disease that killed him."

and heres a tranlsation from one of Enheduanna's hymns:

"Queen of all given powers/unveiled clear light/

unfailing woman wearing brilliance/cherished in heaven and earth/

chosen, sanctified in heaven/you/grand in your adornments/

crowned with your beloved goodness/rightfully you are High Priestess/

your hands seize the seven fixed powers/my queen of fundamental forces/

guardian of essential cosmic sources/you lift up the elements/

bind them to your hands/gather in powers/press them to your breast/

vicious dragon you spew/venom poisons the land/like the storm god you howl/

grain wilts on the ground/swollen flood rushing down the mountain/

you are Inanna/supreme in heaven and earth..."

ah thats we love her :D

[Karel2121]

Inanna or Ishtar is great goddes. In old Babylon called her the Queen of the Heaven. And her symbol is often in Middle Ages magick books too, by example by Aggrippas Occult philosophy.
http://www.esotericarchives.com/agrippa/op2_49.gif
One of theire symbols was a scepter with a fivepoint or eightpoint star.
So, Fivepoints star - pentagram - is one of symbols of Inanna.

[JohnSm]

Hello everybody new poster here.

Yes most definitly agree about sumerian gods being different from the "all loving" example- particularly powerhungry part.

And does anybody here has an experience with using ceremonial magic (Middle Pillar ritual and similar), however using sumerian deities names instead of YHVH ones? Been experimenting with it for sometime, would be interesting to compare it with others who tried it.

[ZeldaFitz]

I haven't done it with Sumerian but have used Celtic Gods and Goddesses.

[JohnSm]

How did it went?

Personal opinion btw is that while you are summoning the same powers into the construct no matter how do you call them, using different pantheons with different attributes of the powers means, in practical terms, summoning a different aspects of the same basic powers (with possible different practical effect- Inanna for example as she is described is pretty different from say Netzah sphere or parallel YHVH name, so while you might be calling the same power the exact effect that the ritual will have might be different, whatever in result or in how exactly the result is achieved).

However i also suspect that Sumerian version is the closest to the way the powers really are- Sumerian descriptions based more on the knowledge of the powers and less on how did sumers wished to see the powers (while later interpretations were gradually turning the opposite way, the more the more recent the interpretation is).

Also one of main practical purposes of using Cabalistic Cross and Middle Pillar rituals is summoning basically a basic power (energy) of a correct sphere (which then is used for example to make an amulet). Did you (or somebody else that you know that worked along the similar lines) ever tried to use that power as a sort of a primer, used then to evoke (hopefully im using the correct term) the actual god/divine name representing the power in the system that you use, then to direct it (the god/name) to achieve the desired result of the ritual?

[abyss_mystic]

I find most pantheons fit into ceremonial magicks quite well I never use any thing to do with YHVH in my magicks as I consider him a usurper and a despot. A tri-god that feeds on the souls of thousands of ignorant followers who die in his name from three major religions. Sumerian stuff works ok but I work better with the ancient ones rather than the elder gods.

[Gemnus32]

I have done a little reading on Sumerian mythology. One interesting point is that the earliest archaeology shows that the Sumers did not make a difference between deities and spirits. There were spirits in general. Then the spirits were divided up into, 'clean spirits,' and, 'unclean spirits.' I think that later Sumerian civilization did have separate classifications.

There are some good resources on the archeology of Sumer, but I'll have to come back and provide links later.