Description: Shamans and Shamanism by John Lee Maddox. NOTE: We have 75,000 books in our library, almost 10,000 different titles. Odds are we have other copies of this same title in varying conditions, some less expensive, some better condition. We might also have different editions as well (some paperback, some hardcover, oftentimes international editions). If you don’t see what you want, please contact us and ask. We’re happy to send you a summary of the differing conditions and prices we may have for the same title. DESCRIPTION: Softcover: 330 pages. Publisher: Dover; (2003). Acting as the intermediary between man and the spirit world, the tribal shaman, or medicine man, helps explain and resolve issues surrounding the personal misfortunes, calamities, physical ailments, and death. This comprehensive survey, unmatched in its breadth of perspective, applies the comparative method to the development of shamanism and the social evolution of this important practice in many cultures. Drawing from tribal societies around the world; from Australian aborigines to African Zulus, the author discusses perceived causes of personal afflictions (ill winds, evil spirits, taboo infringements, the withering glance of an evil eye), as well as cures (exorcism, charms, enchanted drinks). The study also takes a far-reaching look at the making of the medicine man, female shamans, charlatans, the social position and functions of the shaman, methodology, and the perils of a shaman’s failure along with the rewards of success. A classic in its field, this book will appeal to students of tribal societies, New Age advocates, and anyone interested in the practice of shamanism as an alternate spiritual path. This is an unabridged reproduction of “The Medicine Man: A Sociological Study of the Character and Evolution of Shamanism”, first published in 1923. CONDITION: NEW. New oversized softcover. Dover (2003) 330 pages. Unblemished, unmarked, pristine in every respect. Pages are pristine; clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! #2062. PLEASE SEE IMAGES BELOW FOR SAMPLE PAGES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK. PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW. PUBLISHER REVIEW: REVIEW: Here is a book that adequately treats a very important chapter in social evolution. It is in line with the best modern work, and it is believed that the industry and scientific candor of the author will inspire confidence. Scientific students of society will now have at their service a treatise which will not have to be substantially altered for a long time to come. And many a general reader will experience much enlightenment while he turns the following pages. Illustrated. Contents: Making of the Medicine Man; Medicine Women; Adventitious Aids; Charlatans; The Social Position of the Medicine Man; Functions of the Medicine Man; Perils of Failure; Rewards of Success Including Fees; Methods of the Medicine Man; History of Some Medical Remedies. PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS: REVIEW: Incomparable in its fullness and breadth of perspective, this survey compares the development of the shaman, or medicine man, among tribal societies. A go-between for man and the spirit world, the shaman helps explain and resolve issues surrounding misfortunes, calamities, bodily ailments, and death. A classic of the genre, this study will appeal to students of tribal societies, ancient mythology, ancient cultures, and as well to anyone interested in the practices of shamanism as an alternative spiritual path. REVIEW: An unabridged republication of a volume first published in 1923 by the Macmillan Company, New York under the title “The Medicine Man: A Sociological Study of the Character and Evolution of Shamanism”. Maddox, a philosophy scholar, addresses such topics as the perceived causes of personal afflictions as well as cures and the making of the medicine man, female shamans, charlatans, the social position and functions of the shaman, and many other details. READER REVIEWS: REVIEW: Shamanism started out innocently attempting to help ignorant tribal man explain the world around him, then developed mostly into a scam and ended up having beneficial consequences in laying the foundations for modern medicine and other sciences. The book is a reprint originally published early in the 20th century and contains many amusing terms and spellings no longer in use. It is refreshingly NOT politically correct and I would put it up there with The Golden Bough as a reliable source of information. REVIEW: This is a brief look into the roots and history of shamanism in many different cultures in the United States and around the world. Though not supporting the supernatural elements of the shaman's healing rituals, Maddox does state that 'science has come out of superstition' and that 'medicine had its origin in the ghost theory of disease'. The belief that a sick person had been possessed by a demon or 'evil spirit' was shared by many native healing men and women in various regions. Maddox also explores the social and economic value of the shamans and how their influence often affected the well-being of the entire social and economic structures of their People. Overall, the research is helpful and enlightening, though it is really only touching the surface of so many theories and facts regarding these early men and women of mystery. ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: The Religion of Ancient Etruria (the Etruscans, origins of Rome): The Etruscan civilization flourished from the 8th to 3rd century BC in central Italy. Like many other features of the culture the religion of the Etruscans has long been overshadowed by that of its Greek contemporaries and Roman conquerors. The polytheistic Etruscans had their own unique and distinct pantheon and practices. Chief amongst those practices were augury and haruspicy. Augury involved reading omens from birds and lightning strikes. Haruspicy involved examining the entrails of sacrificed animals to divine future events. The Etruscans were noteworthy for being particularly pious and preoccupied with destiny, fate, and how to affect it positively. These characteristics were singled out as being particularly noteworthy of the Etruscans by noted by ancient authors such as the 1st century AD Roman Historian Livy. Livy described the Etruscans as “a nation devoted beyond all others to religious rites”. Etruscan religion would go on to influence the Romans. The Romans readily adopted many Etruscan figures and rituals, especially those concerned with divination. The Etruscan gods have long been seen by some as mere equivalents of their Greek and Roman counterparts. They were so described starting with such early Latin writers as Cicero (1st century AD) and Seneca (1st century BC). While there may have been some similarities in certain deities across the three cultures, it is not always the case. One of the problems for historians of Etruscan religion is that Roman writers are one of the chief sources of information from antiquity. Although these Roman writers often quoted from now lost Etruscan texts, their labeling and descriptions are not always accurate. In addition Roman writers are sometimes biased in their descriptions. Many of them were determined to minimize the contribution of the Etruscans to Roman culture. Additional sources which help redress this imbalance include Etruscan inscriptions. Particularly significant are those especially on sarcophagi, votive offerings and bronze mirrors. Additionally useful is pictorial evidence such as tomb wall paintings and funerary sculpture made by the Etruscans themselves. Nonetheless given these difficulties with historical sources and the general lack of longer written texts on the subject, any summary of the Etruscan religion must for the moment remain incomplete. As with many other ancient cultures the Etruscans had gods for those important places, objects, ideas, and events. These deities were thought to affect or control everyday life. At the head of the Etruscan Pantheon was “Tin”, also known as “Tinia” or “Tina”. “Aita” was the god of the Underworld. “Calu” was the god of Death. “Fufluns” was the god of wine. “Nortai” was the god of destiny. “Selvans” was the god of fields. “Thanur” was the goddess of birth. “Tivr”, also known as “Tiur”, was the goddess of the Moon. “Usil” was the Sun god. “Uni” was perhaps the queen of the gods and most important goddess. The national Etruscan god seems to have been “Veltha”, also known as “Veltune” or “Voltumna”. Veltha was closely associated with vegetation. Lesser divine figures include the 12 advisors to the gods, the “dii consentes”. These had a reputation of acting without mercy. They included young female figures known as “Lasa” who were similar to the Greek nymphs. There were also winged females known as “Vanth” who seem to be messengers of death. There were also various heroes. These included most notably Hercules and the “Tinas Cliniar”. The “Tinas Cliniar” were the twin sons of Tin, and these were essentially the equivalent of the Greek Dioscuri. One figure who perhaps not surprisingly appears frequently in Etruscan tomb wall paintings is “Charu”, also known as “Charun”. Unlike the Greek version of the ferryman who transports souls to the Underworld, “Charun” has a hammer and key. Charu’s hammer and key is presumably a reference to his role as gatekeeper to the next world. Hammers in Etruria were used to move the heavy bar of city gates. By the 5th century BC many Etruscan gods became assimilated into Greek ones. This was a process seen in art objects such as black-figure pottery and mirrors. Images of the Olympian gods are given Etruscan names in added inscriptions. Thus Zeus is Tin, Uni is Hera, Aita becomes Hades, Turan is Aphrodite, Fufluns becomes Dionysus, and so on. It also seems that earlier Etruscan gods were depicted as somewhat faceless deities. The later Greek influence increased their “humanization”, at least as depicted in art. Known as “Cepen”, Etruscan Priests consulted the collection of sacred texts known as the “Etrusca disciplina”. This corpus of literature is now lost. It’s likely that it was deliberately destroyed by early Christian zealots. However it was is described and referred to by Roman writers. There were three main sections. The first detailed the reading of omens. This would include for example the flights of birds and lightning strikes. The second section dealt with the prediction of future events by consulting animal entrails following their sacrifice. The liver was considered to be the most valued object of examination. The last section described general rituals to be observed so as to gain favor from the gods. The “Etrusca disciplina” also covered other matters including instructions for founding a new settlement. It also outlined procedures for placing city gates, temples and altars, as well as guidance for farmers. The Etruscans believed that all this wealth of information came from two divine sources. First was the wise infant Tages and grandson of Tin. In legend Tages miraculously appeared from a field in Tarquinia while it was being plowed. The second source of this ancient wisdom was attributed as the nymph “Vegoia”, or “Vecui”. These two figures revealed to the early Etruscan leaders the proper religious procedures expected by the gods and the procedures to be followed for divination. Priests had important roles in government as there was no separation of religion from the state. In fact all subjects pertaining to the human condition were within the realm of the Etruscan religion, as all aspects of life were related to the gods. In this context, the mention in inscriptions that sometimes priests were elected is more understandable. Priests were predominantly males. However there is limited evidence that some women may have had a role in ceremonies. Priests learned their subject in university-type institutions of training. The facility at Tarquinia was particularly renowned. Augurs were the readers of signs. They were identified by the staff with a coiled top which they carried, the “lituus”. They were also distinguished by their dress. Their dress included a long robe, a sheepskin jacket, and conical peaked hat. Priests were depicted in Etruscan portrayals as clean-shaven, while trainees were not. Their knowledge of reading entrails was a deep one as a bronze votive liver from Piacenza illustrates. The piece is divided into an incredible 40 sections and inscribed with 28 gods. This gives an indication of the complexity of the subject. It provided an indication of exactly which god was likely in need of offerings. This was dependent upon where any imperfection of the liver might occur. Those priests who interpreted birds' flight or thunder and lightning had to possess a similar guide. They need to know just which part of the sky these phenomena occurred in. They needed to know the direction, the type of thunder or lightning and the time and date. This would give an indication of which of the thunder and sky gods was angry or pleased that day. Likewise similar guidelines were required when interpreting the characteristics of flights and types of birds. It is known for example that owls hooting and crows croaking were especially inauspicious events. The Etruscan preoccupation with knowing the future was not because they thought they could influence future events. The Etruscans believed that everything is already preordained. This abandonment of humanity's possibility to affect future events distinguishes it from other religions contemporary to the Etruscans such as the Greek. At best the Etruscans believed terrible events could only be identified and postponed. Perhaps it was possible to diminish the severity of catastrophic events. Perhaps it was even possible to deflect these catastrophes onto others. But it was not possible to entirely avoid unfortunate events. The focus of Etruscan religious ceremonies was animal sacrifices, which took two forms. The first was to burn the offering in honor of the gods who dwelt in the heavens. The second form of sacrifice was to honor underworld deities by offering the blood of the animal sacrificed. This was done by allowing it to drain into a special conduit which ran into the ground beside the altar. Similar libations were made in tombs when burials were made. The sacred precinct was also the scene of food offerings, prayers and hymn singing to a musical accompaniment. Votive offerings were made by all classes and both sexes as inscriptions on them by the donors attest. These could take the form of small terracotta figurines of animals and humans, including individual body parts. Other votive offerings included vases, bronze statuettes, and anything else the donor considered valuable enough to win the gods' favor. Offerings were left not only at temples. They were also left at natural spots considered sacred such as rivers, springs, caves, and mountains. Offerings were left in tombs too. These were intended to help the deceased in the next life and ensure the gods looked favorably on them. Another method to attract the favor of the gods and avoid personal calamities was to wear amulets or charms, especially for children. The most common were known as “bullae”. They were small lentil-shaped capsules worn on a string around the neck. Similarly one could do the opposite and inflict harm on others by preparing curse tablets or tiny figurines with their hands tied behind their backs. These would sometimes be thrown down into wells. The earliest Etruscan sacred spaces had no architecture to speak of. They were merely outdoor areas defined as sacred. There would be an altar erected and religious rites performed. Some areas had a rectangular podium from where omens could be observed. Over time buildings were erected. They were probably only of wood and thatch at first. The first Etruscan stone temple appears at Veii around 600 BC. Etruscan temple architecture has been difficult to reconstruct because of the lack of surviving examples. The 1st century BC Roman architect, engineer, and writer Vitruvius describes a distinct “Tuscan temple” type. He describes the style as characterized by a columned portico and three small chambers at the rear interior. However archaeological evidence points to a more variable reality. One of the best documented Etruscan temples is the “Portonaccio” Temple at Veii, built around 510 BC. With a front stepped-entrance, columned veranda, side entrance, and three-part cella, it does match Vitruvius' description. The roof was decorated with life-size figure sculpture made in terracotta. A figure of a striding Apollo survives. The temple was perhaps dedicated to Menrva. Menrva was the Etruscan version of the Greek Athena/Roman Minerva). As in Greek temples, the actual altar and place of religious ceremonies remained outside the temple itself. All towns had sacred precincts and usually three temples. Three was considered to be the most auspicious number. Some sanctuaries attracted pilgrims from across Etruria, even from abroad. The most famous included the large Temple at Pyrgi near Cerveteri. Also very famous was the “Fanum Voltumnae” sanctuary. This was possibly near Orvieto, though the exact location is as of now yet unknown. The elders of the various Etruscan cities met annually at this sanctuary for the most important religious festival in the Etruscan calendar. The burial practices of the Etruscans were by no means uniform across Etruria. They even varied over time. A general preference for cremation eventually gave way to inhumation. However some sites and some cities were slower to reflect this change. Early on simple stone cavities sufficed as tombs. The deceased's ashes would be contained within a jar, which at Chiusi have lids carved as figures. Votive offerings with the tomb would include a few daily objects. Such burials gave way to larger stone tombs enclosed in tumuli. Even later there would be free-standing buildings often set in orderly rows. These latter 7th to 5th century tumuli and block tombs had more impressive goods buried with the uncremated remains of the dead. The one to two people inhumed might be accompanied by jewelry, dinner service sets, and even chariots. The presence of these objects is an indicator of the Etruscan belief in the afterlife. The Etruscans believed the afterlife was a continuation of the person's life in this world, much as did the ancient Egyptians. There is no evidence the Etruscans believed in any sort of punishment in the afterlife. If their art is to be considered, then it would seem that the hereafter started with a family reunion. The reunion was followed by an endless round of pleasant banquets, games, dancing, and music. The walls of the tombs of the elite were painted with colorful and lively scenes from mythology, religious practices and Etruscan daily life. The tombs illustrated in particular banquets and dancing. The 4th-century BC Francois Tomb at Vulci is often cited as the finest example. Ornate sarcophagi become more common from the 4th century BC. Alongside inhumations during the Hellenistic period cremations returned in popularity. This time cremated ashes were kept in terracotta boxes with a large painted figure sculpture on the lid depicting the departed. Many tombs of this period were in use for several generations. The Etruscans were not the first civilization which endeavored to interpret signs in entrails and celestial phenomena or create calendars of significant events. The ancient Babylonians and Hittites were noted for their expertise in this field before the Etruscans. Nor would the Etruscans be the last. The succeeding Romans adopted these practices too. The Romans also adopted other features of Etruscan religion. These included such as rituals for establishing new towns and dividing territories. The Romans would gain ample practice at establishing new towns and dividing territories as they expanded their empire. The Romans were quick to suppress any idea that they were culturally influenced by the Etruscans. However Roman religion was one area where they acknowledged their debt more readily. Soothsayers and diviners became a staple member of elite households, rulers' entourages, and even army units. If the soothsayer or diviner was an Etruscan or of Etruscan descent then so much the better. The Etruscans were the acknowledged experts in such matters by the entire Mediterranean world [Ancient History Encyclopedia]. The Religions of Ancient Greece: The Mycenaeans appear to have been greatly influenced by the Minoans of Crete in their worship of earth goddesses and sky gods, which, in time, become the classical pantheon of ancient Greece. The gods and goddesses provided the Greeks with a solid paradigm of the creation of the universe, the world, and human beings. An early myth relates how, in the beginning, there was nothing but chaos in the form of unending waters. From this chaos came the goddess Eurynome who separated the water from the air and began her dance of creation with the serpent Ophion. From their dance, all of creation sprang and Eurynome was, originally, the Great Mother Goddess and Creator of All Things. By the time Hesiod and Homer were writing (8th century B.C.), this story had changed into the more familiar myth concerning the titans, Zeus' war against them, and the birth of the Olympian Gods with Zeus as their chief. This shift indicates a movement from a matriarchal religion to a patriarchal paradigm. Whichever model was followed, however, the gods clearly interacted regularly with the humans who worshiped them and were a large part of daily life in ancient Greece. Prior to the coming of the Romans, the only road in mainland Greece that was not a cow path was the Sacred Way which ran between the city of Athens and the holy city of Eleusis, birthplace of the Eleusinian Mysteries celebrating the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The Religion of Ancient Egypt: Egyptian religion was a combination of beliefs and practices which, in the modern day, would include magic, mythology, science, medicine, psychiatry, spiritualism, herbology, as well as the modern understanding of 'religion' as belief in a higher power and a life after death. Religion played a part in every aspect of the lives of the ancient Egyptians because life on earth was seen as only one part of an eternal journey, and in order to continue that journey after death, one needed to live a life worthy of continuance. During one's life on earth, one was expected to uphold the principle of ma'at (harmony) with an understanding that one's actions in life affected not only one's self but others' lives as well, and the operation of the universe. People were expected to depend on each other to keep balance as this was the will of the gods to produce the greatest amount of pleasure and happiness for humans through a harmonious existence which also enabled the gods to better perform their tasks. By honoring the principle of ma'at (personified as a goddess of the same name holding the white feather of truth) and living one's life in accordance with its precepts, one was aligned with the gods and the forces of light against the forces of darkness and chaos, and assured one's self of a welcome reception in the Hall of Truth after death and a gentle judgment by Osiris, the Lord of the Dead. The underlying principle of Egyptian religion was known as heka (magic) personified in the god Heka. Heka had always existed and was present in the act of creation. He was the god of magic and medicine but was also the power which enabled the gods to perform their functions and allowed human beings to commune with their gods. He was all-pervasive and all-encompassing, imbuing the daily lives of the Egyptians with magic and meaning and sustaining the principle of ma'at upon which life depended. Possibly the best way to understand Heka is in terms of money: one is able to purchase a particular item with a certain denomination of currency because that item's value is considered the same, or less, than that denomination. The bill in one's hand has an invisible value given it by a standard of worth (once upon a time the gold standard) which promises a merchant it will compensate for what one is buying. This is exactly the relationship of Heka to the gods and human existence: he was the standard, the foundation of power, on which everything else depended. A god or goddess was invoked for a specific purpose, was worshipped for what they had given, but it was Heka who enabled this relationship between the people and their deities. The gods of ancient Egypt were seen as the lords of creation and custodians of order but also as familiar friends who were interested in helping and guiding the people of the land. The gods had created order out of chaos and given the people the most beautiful land on earth. Egyptians were so deeply attached to their homeland that they shunned prolonged military campaigns beyond their borders for fear they would die on foreign soil and would not be given the proper rites for their continued journey after life. Egyptian monarchs refused to give their daughters in marriage to foreign rulers for the same reason. The gods of Egypt had blessed the land with their special favor, and the people were expected to honor them as great and kindly benefactors. The gods of ancient Egypt were seen as the lords of creation and custodians of order but also as familiar friends who were interested in helping and guiding the people of the land. Long ago, they believed, there had been nothing but the dark swirling waters of chaos stretching into eternity. Out of this chaos (Nu) rose the primordial hill, known as the Ben-Ben, upon which stood the great god Atum (some versions say the god was Ptah) in the presence of Heka. Atum looked upon the nothingness and recognized his aloneness, and so he mated with his own shadow to give birth to two children, Shu (god of air, whom Atum spat out) and Tefnut (goddess of moisture, whom Atum vomited out). Shu gave to the early world the principles of life while Tefnut contributed the principles of order. Leaving their father on the Ben-Ben, they set out to establish the world. In time, Atum became concerned because his children were gone so long, and so he removed his eye and sent it in search of them. While his eye was gone, Atum sat alone on the hill in the midst of chaos and contemplated eternity. Shu and Tefnut returned with the eye of Atum (later associated with the Udjat eye, the Eye of Ra, or the All-Seeing Eye) and their father, grateful for their safe return, shed tears of joy. These tears, dropping onto the dark, fertile earth of the Ben-Ben, gave birth to men and women. These humans had nowhere to live, however, and so Shu and Tefnut mated and gave birth to Geb (the earth) and Nut (the sky). Geb and Nut, though brother and sister, fell deeply in love and were inseparable. Atum found their behaviour unacceptable and pushed Nut away from Geb, high up into the heavens. The two lovers were forever able to see each other but were no longer able to touch. Nut was already pregnant by Geb, however, and eventually gave birth to Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, and Horus – the five Egyptian gods most often recognized as the earliest (although Hathor is now considered to be older than Isis). These gods then gave birth to all the other gods in one form or another. The gods each had their own area of speciality. Bastet, for example, was the goddess of the hearth, homelife, women's health and secrets, and of cats. Hathor was the goddess of kindness and love, associated with gratitude and generosity, motherhood, and compassion. According to one early story surrounding her, however, she was originally the goddess Sekhmet who became drunk on blood and almost destroyed the world until she was pacified and put to sleep by beer which the gods had dyed red to fool her. When she awoke from her sleep, she was transformed into a gentler deity. Although she was associated with beer, Tenenet was the principle goddess of beer and also presided over childbirth. Beer was considered essential for one's health in ancient Egypt and a gift from the gods, and there were many deities associated with the drink which was said to have been first brewed by Osiris. An early myth tells of how Osiris was tricked and killed by his brother Set and how Isis brought him back to life. He was incomplete, however, as a fish had eaten a part of him, and so he could no longer rule harmoniously on earth and was made Lord of the Dead in the underworld. His son, Horus the Younger, battled Set for eighty years and finally defeated him to restore harmony to the land. Horus and Isis then ruled together, and all the other gods found their places and areas of expertise to help and encourage the people of Egypt. Among the most important of these gods were the three who made up the Theban Triad: Amun, Mut, and Knons (also known as Khonsu). Amun was a local fertility god of Thebes until the Theban noble Menuhotep II (2061-2010 B.C.) defeated his rivals and united Egypt, elevating Thebes to the position of capital and its gods to supremacy. Amun, Mut, and Khons of Upper Egypt (where Thebes was located) took on the attributes of Ptah, Sekhment, and Khonsu of Lower Egypt who were much older deities. Amun became the supreme creator god, symbolized by the sun; Mut was his wife, symbolized by the sun's rays and the all-seeing eye; and Khons was their son, the god of healing and destroyer of evil spirits. These three gods were associated with Ogdoad of Hermopolis, a group of eight primordial deities who "embodied the qualities of primeval matter, such as darkness, moistness, and lack of boundaries or visible powers. It usually consisted of four deities doubled to eight by including female counterparts" (Pinch, 175-176). The Ogdoad (pronounced OG-doh-ahd) represented the state of the cosmos before land rose from the waters of chaos and light broke through the primordial darkness and were also referred to as the Hehu (`the infinities'). They were Amun and Amaunet, Heh and Hauhet, Kek and Kauket, and Nun and Naunet each representing a different aspect of the formless and unknowable time before creation: Hiddenness (Amun/Amaunet), Infinity (Heh/Hauhet), Darkness (Kek/Kauket), and the Abyss (Nut/Naunet). The Ogdoad are the best example of the Egyptian's insistence on symmetry and balance in all things embodied in their male/female aspect which was thought to have engendered the principle of harmony in the cosmos before the birth of the world. The Egyptians believed that the earth (specifically Egypt) reflected the cosmos. The stars in the night sky and the constellations they formed were thought to have a direct bearing on one's personality and future fortunes. The gods informed the night sky, even traveled through it, but were not distant deities in the heavens; the gods lived alongside the people of Egypt and interacted with them daily. Trees were considered the homes of the gods and one of the most popular of the Egyptian deities, Hathor, was sometimes known as "Mistress of the Date Palm" or "The Lady of the Sycamore" because she was thought to favor these particular trees to rest in or beneath. Scholars Oakes and Gahlin note that "Presumably because of the shade and the fruit provided by them, goddesses associated with protection, mothering, and nurturing were closely associated with [trees]. Hathor, Nut, and Isis appear frequently in the religious imagery and literature [in relation to trees]". Plants and flowers were also associated with the gods, and the flowers of the ished tree were known as "flowers of life" for their life-giving properties. Eternity, then, was not an ethereal, nebulous concept of some 'heaven' far from the earth but a daily encounter with the gods and goddesses one would continue to have contact with forever, in life and after death. In order for one to experience this kind of bliss, however, one needed to be aware of the importance of harmony in one's life and how a lack of such harmony affected others as well as one's self. The 'gateway sin' for the ancient Egyptians was ingratitude because it threw one off balance and allowed for every other sin to take root in a person's soul. Once one lost sight of what there was to be grateful for, one's thoughts and energies were drawn toward the forces of darkness and chaos. This belief gave rise to rituals such as The Five Gifts of Hathor in which one would consider the fingers of one's hand and name the five things in life one was most grateful for. One was encouraged to be specific in this, naming anything one held dear such as a spouse, one's children, one's dog or cat, or the tree by the stream in the yard. As one's hand was readily available at all times, it would serve as a reminder that there were always five things one should be grateful for, and this would help one to maintain a light heart in keeping with harmonious balance. This was important throughout one's life and remained equally significant after one's death since, in order to progress on toward an eternal life of bliss, one's heart needed to be lighter than a feather when one stood in judgment before Osiris. According to the scholar Margaret Bunson: "The Egyptians feared eternal darkness and unconsciousness in the afterlife because both conditions belied the orderly transmission of light and movement evident in the universe. They understood that death was the gateway to eternity. The Egyptians thus esteemed the act of dying and venerated the structures and the rituals involved in such a human adventure." The structures of the dead can still be seen throughout Egypt in the modern day in the tombs and pyramids which still rise from the landscape. There were structures and rituals after life, however, which were just as important. The soul was thought to consist of nine separate parts: the Khat was the physical body; the Ka one’s double-form; the Ba a human-headed bird aspect which could speed between earth and the heavens; Shuyet was the shadow self; Akh the immortal, transformed self, Sahu and Sechem aspects of the Akh; Ab was the heart, the source of good and evil; Ren was one’s secret name. All nine of these aspects were part of one's earthly existence and, at death, the Akh (with the Sahu and Sechem) appeared before the great god Osiris in the Hall of Truth and in the presence of the Forty-Two Judges to have one's heart (Ab) weighed in the balance on a golden scale against the white feather of truth. One would need to recite the Negative Confession (a list of those sins one could honestly claim one had not committed in life) and then one's heart was placed on the scale. If one's heart was lighter than the feather, one waited while Osiris conferred with the Forty-Two Judges and the god of wisdom, Thoth, and, if considered worthy, was allowed to pass on through the hall and continue one's existence in paradise; if one's heart was heavier than the feather it was thrown to the floor where it was devoured by the monster Ammut (the gobbler), and one then ceased to exist. Once through the Hall of Truth, one was then guided to the boat of Hraf-haf ("He Who Looks Behind Him"), an unpleasant creature, always cranky and offensive, whom one had to find some way to be kind and courteous to. By showing kindness to the unkind Hraf-haf, one showed one was worthy to be ferried across the waters of Lily Lake (also known as The Lake of Flowers) to the Field of Reeds which was a mirror image of one's life on earth except there was no disease, no disappointment, and no death. One would then continue one's existence just as before, awaiting those one loved in life to pass over themselves or meeting those who had gone on before. Although the Greek historian Herodotus claims that only men could be priests in ancient Egypt, the Egyptian record argues otherwise. Women could be priests of the cult of their goddess from the Old Kingdom onward and were accorded the same respect as their male counterparts. Usually a member of the clergy had to be of the same sex as the deity they served. The cult of Hathor, most notably, was routinely attended to by female clergy (it should be noted that 'cult' did not have the same meaning in ancient Egypt that it does today - cults were simply sects of one religion). Priests and Priestesses could marry, have children, own land and homes and lived as anyone else except for certain ritual practices and observances regarding purification before officiating. Bunson writes: "In most periods, the priests of Egypt were members of a family long connected to a particular cult or temple. Priests recruited new members from among their own clans, generation after generation. This meant that they did not live apart from their own people and thus maintained an awareness of the state of affairs in their communities." Priests, like scribes, went through a prolonged training period before beginning service and, once ordained, took care of the temple or temple complex, performed rituals and observances (such as marriages, blessings on a home or project, funerals), performed the duties of doctors, healers, astrologers, scientists, and psychologists, and also interpreted dreams. They blessed amulets to ward off demons or increase fertility, and also performed exorcisms and purification rites to rid a home of ghosts. Their chief duty was to the god they served and the people of the community, and an important part of that duty was their care of the temple and the statue of the god within. Priests were also doctors in the service of Heka, no matter what other deity they served directly. An example of this is how all the priests and priestesses of the goddess Serket (Selket) were doctors but their ability to heal and invoke Serket was enabled through the power of Heka. The temples of ancient Egypt were thought to be the literal homes of the deities they honored. Every morning the head priest or priestess, after purifying themselves with a bath and dressing in clean white linen and clean sandals, would enter the temple and attend to the statue of the god as they would to a person they were charged to care for. The doors of the sanctuary were opened to let in the morning light, and the statue, which always resided in the innermost sanctuary, was cleaned, dressed, and anointed with oil; afterwards, the sanctuary doors were closed and locked. No one but the head priest was allowed such close contact with the god. Those who came to the temple to worship only were allowed in the outer areas where they were met by lesser clergy who addressed their needs and accepted their offerings. There were no official `scriptures' used by the clergy but the concepts conveyed at the temple are thought to have been similar to those found in works such as the Pyramid Texts, the later Coffin Texts, and the spells found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Although the Book of the Dead is often referred to as `The Ancient Egyptian Bible' it was no such thing. The Book of the Dead is a collection of spells for the soul in the afterlife. The Pyramid Texts are the oldest religious texts in ancient Egypt dating from circa 2400-2300 B.C. The Coffin Texts were developed later from the Pyramid Texts circa 2134-2040 B.C. while the Book of the Dead (actually known as the Book on Coming Forth by Day) was set down sometime circa 1550-1070 B.C. All three of these works deal with how the soul is to navigate the afterlife. Their titles (given by European scholars) and the number of grand tombs and statuary throughout Egypt, not to mention the elaborate burial rituals and mummies, have led many people to conclude that Egypt was a culture obsessed with death when, actually, the Egyptians were wholly concerned with life. The Book on Coming Forth by Day, as well as the earlier texts, present spiritual truths one would have heard while in life and remind the soul of how one should now act in the next phase of one's existence without a physical body or a material world. The soul of any Egyptian was expected to recall these truths from life, even if they never set foot inside a temple compound, because of the many religious festivals the Egyptians enjoyed throughout the year. Religious festivals in Egypt integrated the sacred aspect of the gods seamlessly with the daily lives of the people. Egyptian scholar Lynn Meskell notes that "religious festivals actualized belief; they were not simply social celebrations. They acted in a multiplicity of related spheres" (Nardo, 99). There were grand festivals such as The Beautiful Festival of the Wadi in honor of the god Amun and lesser festivals for other gods or to celebrate events in the life of the community. Bunson writes, "On certain days, in some eras several times a month, the god was carried on arks or ships into the streets or set sail on the Nile. There the oracles took place and the priests answered petitions". The statue of the god would be removed from the inner sanctuary to visit the members of the community and take part in the celebration; a custom which may have developed independently in Egypt or come from Mesopotamia where this practice had a long history. The Beautiful Festival of the Wadi was a celebration of life, wholeness, and community, and, as Meskell notes, people attended this festival and visited the shrine to "pray for bodily integrity and physical vitality" while leaving offerings to the god or goddess as a sign of gratitude for their lives and health. Meskell writes: "One may envisage a priest or priestess coming and collecting the offerings and then replacing the baskets, some of which have been detected archaeologically. The fact that these items of jewelry were personal objects suggests a powerful and intimate link with the goddess. Moreover, at the shrine site of Timna in the Sinai, votives were ritually smashed to signify the handing over from human to deity, attesting to the range of ritual practices occurring at the time. There was a high proportion of female donors in the New Kingdom, although generally tomb paintings tend not to show the religous practices of women but rather focus on male activities". The smashing of the votives signified one's surrender to the benevolent will of the gods. A votive was anything offered in fulfillment of a vow or in the hopes of attaining some wish. While votives were often left intact, they were sometimes ritually destroyed to signify the devotion one had to the gods; one was surrendering to them something precious which one could not take back. There was no distinction at these festivals between those acts considered 'holy' and those which a modern sensibility would label 'profane'. The whole of one's life was open for exploration during a festival, and this included sexual activity, drunkenness, prayer, blessings for one's sex life, for one's family, for one's health, and offerings made both in gratitude and thanksgiving and in supplication. Families attended the festivals together as did teenagers and young couples and those hoping to find a mate. Elder members of the community, the wealthy, the poor, the ruling class, and the slaves were all a part of the religious life of the community because their religion and their daily lives were completely intertwined and, through that faith, they recognized their individual lives were all an interwoven tapestry with every other. [Ancient History Encyclopedia]. Ancient Celtic Religion: Like other European Iron Age tribal societies the Celts practiced a polytheistic religion. Many Celtic gods are known from texts and inscriptions from the Roman period. Rites and sacrifices were carried out by priests known as Druids. The Celts did not see their gods as having human shapes until late in the Iron Age. Celtic shrines were situated in remote areas such as hilltops, groves, and lakes. Celtic religious patterns were regionally variable. Nonetheless some common deities and worship rituals appeared over a wide geographical and temporal range. The Celts worshipped both gods and goddesses. In general Celtic gods were deities of particular skills. Examples would include the many-skilled Lugh and Dagda. Goddesses were associated with natural features, particularly rivers. Examples of these would include Boann, goddess of the River Boyne. This was not universal. For example goddesses such as Brighid and The Morrígan were associated with both natural features (holy wells and the River Unius) and skills such as blacksmithing and healing. Triplicity is a common theme in Celtic cosmology, and a number of deities were seen as threefold. This trait is exhibited by The Three Mothers, a group of goddesses worshipped by many Celtic tribes (with some regional variations). The Celts had hundreds of deities. Some were unknown outside a single family or tribe. Others were popular enough to have a following that crossed lingual and cultural barriers. The Irish god Lugh is a good example. Lugh was associated with storms, lightning, and culture. He was seen in similar forms as Lugos in Gaul and Lleu in Wales. Similar patterns are also seen with the continental Celtic horse goddess Epona. Her likely Irish and Welsh counterparts were Macha and Rhiannon (respectively). Roman reports of the Druids mention ceremonies being held in sacred groves. La Tène Celts built temples of varying size and shape. They also maintained shrines at sacred trees and votive pools. Druids fulfilled a variety of roles in Celtic religion. Of course they served as priests and religious officiants. But they also served as judges, sacrificers, teachers, and lore-keepers. Druids organized and ran religious ceremonies. They memorized and taught the calendar. Other classes of Druids performed ceremonial sacrifices of crops and animals on behalf of and to the perceived benefit of the community [Ancient History Encyclopedia]. The Most Ancient Religions of India: The people of the Harappan Civilization, one of India's most ancient cultures, worshiped many gods and engaged in ritual worship. Statues of various deities (such as Indra, the god of storm and war) have been found at many sites and, chief among them, terracotta pieces depicting the Shakti (the Mother Goddess) suggesting a popular, common worship of the feminine principle. In about 1500 B.C. it is believed that tribes of Aryan origin migrated into India through the Khyber Pass and assimilated into the existing culture, perhaps bringing their gods with them. While it is widely accepted that the Aryans brought the horse to India, there is some debate as to whether they introduced new deities to the region or simply influenced the existing belief structure. The Aryans are thought to have been pantheists (nature worshipers) with a special devotion to the sun and it seems uncertain they would have had anthropomorphic gods. At about this same time (around 1700-1500 B.C.) the Harappan culture began to decline. Scholars cite climate change as one possible reason. The Indus River is thought to have begun flooding the region more regularly (as evidenced by approximately 30 feet of silt at Mohenjo-Daro) and the great cities were abandoned. Other scholars believe the Aryan migration was more in the nature of an invasion which brought about a vast displacement of the populace. Among the most mysterious aspects of Mohenjo-Daro is the vitrification of parts of the site as though it had been exposed to intense heat which melted the brick and stone. This same phenomenon has been observed at sites such as Traprain Law in Scotland and attributed to the results of warfare. This fact has even been offered as “evidence” by some fringe theorists that the destruction of the city was caused by some kind of ancient atomic blast, possibly the work of aliens from other planets. Some scholars contend that between 1700 and 1500 B.C. the Aryan influence gave rise to what is known as the Vedic Period in India characterized by a pastoral lifestyle and adherence to the religious texts known as The Vedas. Society became divided into four classes (the Varnas). In time this became popularly known as `the caste system’. The castes system was comprised of the Brahmana at the top (priests and scholars), the Kshatriya next (the warriors), the Vaishya (farmers and merchants), and the Shudra (laborers). The lowest caste was the Dalits, the untouchables, who handled meat and waste, though there is some debate over whether this class existed in antiquity. At first, it seems this caste system was merely a reflection of one’s occupation but, in time, it became more rigidly interpreted to be determined by one’s birth and one was not allowed to change castes nor to marry into a caste other than one’s own. This understanding was a reflection of the belief in an eternal order to human life dictated by a supreme deity. The religious beliefs which characterized the Vedic Period became systematized as the religion of Sanatan Dharma (which means `Eternal Order’) known today as Hinduism. The name “Hindu” derived from the Indus (or Sindus) River where worshippers were known to gather, and eventually `Sindus’ became `Hindus’. The underlying tenet of Sanatan Dharma is that there is an order and a purpose to the universe and human life and, by accepting this order and living in accordance with it, one will experience life as it is meant to be properly lived. During the Vedic Period, governments became centralized and social customs integrated fully into daily life across the region. Besides The Vedas, the great religious and literary works of the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana all come from this period. In the 6th century B.C. religious reformers broke away from mainstream to eventually create their own religions of Jainism and Buddhism. These changes in religion were a part of a wider pattern of social and cultural upheaval which resulted in the formation of city-states and the rise of powerful regional kingdoms (such as the Magadha). [Ancient History Encyclopedia]. Ancient Persian Religion: Aryan tribes are thought to have initially migrated to the region of ancient Persia at some point prior to the 3rd millennium BC. Their country would later be referred to as Ariana and Iran, literally the land of the Aryans. The term 'Aryan' should be understood according to the ancient Iranian language of Avestan. The term literally meant “noble”, “civilized” or “free man” and designated a class of people. The term had nothing to do with race in general, or Caucasians specifically. The term refers to Indo-Iranians who applied the term to describe themselves in the religious works known as the Avesta. The term 'Aryan' interpreted as referencing racial Caucasians was not advanced until the 19th century. These Aryan tribes were made up of diverse people who would become known as Alans, Bactrians, Medes, Parthians, and Persians, among others. They brought with them a polytheistic religion closely associated with the Vedic thought of the Indo-Aryans. The Indo-Ayrans were the peoples who would settle in northern India. The religion was characterized by dualism and the veneration of fire as an embodiment of the divine. The Aryan tribes who settled in the Iranian Plateau and environs brought with them a polytheistic religion whose supreme being was Ahura Mazda, the “Lord of Wisdom”. Ahura Mazda was accompanied by many other lesser gods and spirits under his dominion. Among these the most popular were “Mithra” (the god of covenants and the rising sun); “Anahita” (the goddess of fertility, health, water, and wisdom; “Atar” (the god of fire); and “Hvar Khsata” (the god of the full sun). These forces of good stood in opposition to the evil spirit of chaos. Ahura Mazda, source of all good, was both invoked and worshiped through a ritual known as the “yazna”. This ritual took the form of a meal to which the deity was invited). At the yazna a drink called hauma was prepared from the juices of a plant and consumed. The identify of the particular plant has never been confirmed, but it did have the effect of altering the participants’ minds and allowing an apprehension of the divine. Fire kindled at the yazna was both a sacred element in itself as well as a manifestation of the divine presence in the form of Atar, god of fire. At some point between 1500 and 1000 BC the Persian prophet Zoroaster claimed to receive a revelation from Ahura Mazda. Also known as “Zarathustra” he preached a new religion known as Zoroastrianism. This developed the concepts of the earlier religion into a monotheistic framework. Zoroaster recognized Ahura Mazda as the supreme being. However the religion posited that Mazda was the only god. No other gods were required. Furthermore it was posited that Mazda was engaged in an eternal struggle with Angra Mainyu. Also known as Ahriman, this was the eternal spirit of evil. The religion held that the purpose of human life was to choose which deity one would follow. This choice would inform and direct all of one’s actions as well as one’s final destination. One who chose Ahura Mazda would live a life devoted to Asha, or “truth and order”. They would adhere to the practices of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds. One who chose Angra Mainyu would live a life attached to Druj, or “lies and chaos”. Their lives would be characterized by self-indulgence, faithlessness, and cruelty. After death Zoroastrianism taught that all souls would cross the Chinvat Bridge. Those who had been righteous would go to the House of Song, or paradise. On the other hand those who had followed Angra Mainyu’s path were dropped into the House of Lies. This was a vision of hell in which one was condemned to feel eternally alone, no matter how many other souls were near. Those individuals would also suffer various torments. At some point in the future the religion held that a messiah would come. He was known as the “Saoshyant”, or “One Who Brings Benefit”. At that point linear time would end in an event known as “Frashokereti”. Thereupon all would be reunited with Ahura Mazda in paradise, even those who had been led astray by evil. Zoroasterism retained the ritual of the yazna and the concept of fire as a divine element. However the two had morphed into a manifestation of Ahura Mazda instead of Atar. Scholars continue to debate the precise nature of Zoroastrianism. The Zoroastrian scripture (the “Avesta”) strongly suggests it is a monotheistic religion whose dualistic characteristics were exaggerated later in a movement known as Zorvanism. This movement was popular during the Sassanian Empire, which existed from 224 through 615 AD). Zoroastrianism lent many important elements characteristic of the faith to later religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These elements included a focus on a single, uncreated, supreme being. Also the importance of human free will and choice in living a good life. Significant elements also included judgment after death, the coming of a messiah, and final account at the end of time, These elements were not only adopted within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, they also influenced many other religions as well [Ancient History Museum]. The Babylonian Goddess Lilitu: Lilith (evolved from the Babylonian Lilitu) is a figure in Jewish mythology, developed earliest in the Babylonian Talmud (3rd to 5th centuries). Lilith is often envisioned as a dangerous demon of the night, who is sexually wanton, and who steals babies in the darkness. The character is generally thought to derive in part from a historically far earlier class of female demons (lilītu) in ancient Mesopotamian religion, found in cuneiform texts of Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, and Babylonia. In Jewish folklore, from the satirical book Alphabet of Sirach (circa 700–1000) onwards, Lilith appears as Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time (Rosh Hashanah) and from the same dirt as Adam – compare Genesis 1:27. This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam's ribs: Genesis 2:22. The legend developed extensively during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadah, the Zohar, and Jewish mysticism. For example, in the 13th-century writings of Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she had coupled with the archangel Samael. Evidence in later Jewish materials is plentiful, but little information has survived relating to the original Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian view of these demons [AncientGifts]. The Babylonian Goddess Ereshkigal: In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal ("Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian mythology. In later East Semitic myths she was said to rule Irkalla alongside her husband Nergal. Sometimes her name is given as Irkalla, similar to the way the name Hades was used in Greek mythology for both the underworld and its ruler, and sometimes it is given as Ninkigal ("Great Lady of the Earth" or "Lady of the Great Earth"). In Sumerian myths, Ereshkigal was the only one who could pass judgment and give laws in her kingdom. The main temple dedicated to her was located in Kutha. In the ancient Sumerian poem Inanna's Descent to the Underworld Ereshkigal is described as Inanna's older sister. The two main myths involving Ereshkigal are the story of Inanna's descent into the Underworld and the story of Ereshkigal's marriage to the god Nergal. In ancient Sumerian mythology, Ereshkigal is the queen of the Underworld. She is the older sister of the goddess, Inanna. Inanna and Ereshkigal represent polar opposites. Inanna is the Queen of Heaven, but Ereshkigal is the queen of Irkalla. Ereshkigal plays a very prominent and important role in two particular myths. The first myth featuring Ereshkigal is described in the ancient Sumerian epic poem of "Inanna's Descent to the Underworld." In the poem, the goddess, Inanna descends into the Underworld, apparently seeking to extend her powers there. Ereshkigal is described as being Inanna's older sister. When Neti, the gatekeeper of the Underworld, informs Ereshkigal that Inanna is at the gates of the Underworld, demanding to be let in, Ereshkigal responds by ordering Neti to bolt the seven gates of the Underworld and to open each gate separately, but only after Inanna has removed one article of clothing. Inanna proceeds through each gate, removing one article of clothing at each gate. Finally, once she has gone through all seven gates she finds herself naked and powerless, standing before the throne of Ereshkigal. The seven judges of the Underworld judge Inanna and declare her to be guilty. Inanna is struck dead and her dead corpse is hung on a hook in the Underworld for everyone to see. Inanna's minister, Ninshubur, however, pleads with Enki and Enki agrees to rescue Inanna from the Underworld. Enki sends two sexless beings down to the Underworld to revive Inanna with the food and water of life. The sexless beings escort Inanna up from the Underworld, but a horde of angry demons follow Inanna back up from the Underworld, demanding to take someone else down to the Underworld as Inanna's replacement. When Inanna discovers that her husband, Dumuzid, has not mourned her death, she becomes ireful towards him and orders the demons to take Dumuzid as her replacement. The other myth is the story of Nergal, the plague god. Once, the gods held a banquet that Ereshkigal, as queen of the Underworld, could not come up to attend. They invited her to send a messenger, and she sent her vizier Namtar in her place. He was treated well by all, but for the exception of being disrespected by Nergal. As a result of this, Nergal was banished to the kingdom controlled by the goddess. Versions vary at this point, but all of them result in him becoming her husband. In later tradition, Nergal is said to have been the victor, taking her as wife and ruling the land himself. It is theorized that the story of Inanna's descent is told to illustrate the possibility of an escape from the Underworld, while the Nergal myth is intended to reconcile the existence of two rulers of the Underworld: a goddess and a god. The addition of Nergal represents the harmonizing tendency to unite Ereshkigal as the queen of the Underworld with the god who, as god of war and of pestilence, brings death to the living and thus becomes the one who presides over the dead. In some versions of the myths, Ereshkigal rules the Underworld by herself, but in other versions of the myths, Ereshkigal rules alongside a husband subordinate to her named Gugalana. In his book, "Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.", the renowned scholar of ancient Sumer, Samuel Noah Kramer writes that, according to the introductory passage of the ancient Sumerian epic poem, "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld," Ereshkigal was forcibly abducted, taken down to the Underworld by the Kur, and was forced to become queen of the Underworld against her will. In order to avenge the abduction of Ereshkigal, Enki, the god of water, set out in a boat to slay the Kur. The Kur defends itself by pelting Enki with rocks of many sizes and by sending the waves beneath Enki's boat to attack Enki. The poem never actually explains who the ultimate victor of the battle is, but it is implied that Enki wins. Samuel Noah Kramer relates this myth to the ancient Greek myth of the rape of Persephone, asserting that the Greek story is probably derived from the ancient Sumerian story. In Sumerian mythology, Ereshkigal is the mother of the goddess Nungal. Her son with Enlil is the god Namtar. With Gugalana, her son is Ninazu. In later times, the Greeks and Romans appear to have syncretized Ereshkigal with their own goddess Hecate. In the heading of a spell in the Michigan Magical Papyrus, which has been dated to the late third or early fourth century A.D., Hecate is referred to as "Hecate Ereschkigal" and is invoked using magical words and gestures to alleviate the caster's fear of punishment in the afterlife [Wikipedia]. The Babylonian Goddess Ereshkigal: Ereshkigal (also known as Irkalla and Allatu) is the Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead who rules the underworld. Her name translates as "Queen of the Great Below" or "Lady of the Great Place". The word 'great' should be understood as 'vast,' not 'exceptional' and referred to the land of the dead which was thought to lie beneath the Mountains of Sunset to the west and was known as Kurnugia ('the Land of No Return'). Kurnugia was an immense realm of gloom under the earth, where the souls of the dead drank from muddy puddles and ate dust. Ereshkigal ruled over these souls from her palace Ganzir, located at the entrance to the underworld, and guarded by seven gates which were kept by her faithful servant Neti. She ruled her realm alone until the war god Nergal (also known as Erra) became her consort and co-ruler for six months of the year. Erishkigal is the older sister of the goddess Inanna and best known for the part she plays in the famous Sumerian poem The Descent of Inanna (circa 1900-1600 B.C.). Her first husband (and father of the god Ninazu) was the Great Bull of Heaven, Gugalana, who was killed by the hero Enkidu in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Her second husband (or consort) was the god Enlil with whom she bore a son, Namtar, and by another consort her daughter Nungal (also known as Manungal) was conceived, an underworld deity who punished the wicked and was associated with healing and retribution. Her fourth consort was Nergal, the only mate who agreed to remain with her in the realm of the dead. There is no known iconography for Ereshkigal or, at least, none universally agreed on. "The Burney Relief" (also known as "The Queen of the Night", dating from Hammurabi's reign of 1792-1750 B.C.) is often interpreted as representing Ereshkigal. The terracotta relief depicts a naked woman with downward-pointing wings standing on the backs of two lions and flanked by owls. She holds symbols of power and, beneath the lions, are images of mountains. This iconography strongly suggests a depiction of Ereshkigal but scholars have also interpreted the work as honoring Inanna or the demon Lilith. Although the relief most likely does depict Ereshkigal, and there are other similar reliefs of this same figure with varying details, it would not be surprising to find few images of her in art. Ereshkigal was the most feared deity in the Mesopotamian pantheon because she represented one's final destination from which there was no returning. In Mesopotamian belief, to create an image of someone or something was to invite the attention of the subject. Statues of the gods were thought to house the gods themselves, for example, and images on people's cylinder seals were thought to have amuletic properties. A statue or image of Ereshkigal, then, would have directed the attention of the Queen of the Dead to the creator or owner, and this was far from desirable. Ereshkigal is first mentioned in the Sumerian poem The Death of Ur-Nammu which dates to the reign of Shulgi of Ur (2029-1982 B.C.). She was undoubtedly known earlier, however, and most likely during the time of the Akkadian Empire (2334-2218 B.C.). Her Akkadian name, Allatu, may be referenced on fragments predating Shulgi's reign. By the time of the Old Babylonian Period (circa 2000-1600 B.C.) Ereshkigal was widely recognized as the Queen of the Dead, lending support to the claim that the Queen of the Night relief from Hammurabi's reign depicts her. Although goddesses lost their status later in Mesopotamian history, early evidence clearly shows the most powerful deities were once female. Inanna (later Ishtar of the Assyrians) was among the most popular deities and may have inspired similar goddesses in many other cultures including Sauska of the Hittites, Astarte of the Phoenicians, Aphrodite of the Greeks, Venus of the Romans, and perhaps even Isis of the Egyptians. The underworld in all these other cultures was ruled by a god, however, and Ereshkigal is unique in being the only female deity to hold this position even after gods supplanted goddesses and Nergal was given to her as consort. Although Ereshkigal was feared, she was also greatly respected. The Descent of Inanna has been widely - and wrongly - interpreted in the modern day as a symbolic journey of a woman becoming her 'true self.' Written works may be interpreted in any reasonable way only insofar as that interpretation can be supported by the text. The Descent of Inanna certainly lends itself to a Jungian interpretation of a journey to wholeness by confronting one's darker half, but this would not have been the original meaning of the poem nor is that interpretation supported by the work itself. Far from praising Inanna, or presenting her as some heroic archetype, the poem shows her as selfish and self-serving and, further, ends with praise for Ereshkigal, not Inanna. Inanna/Ishtar is frequently depicted in Mesopotamian literature as a woman who largely thinks only of herself and her own desires, often at the expense of others. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, her sexual advances are spurned by the hero and so she sends her sister's husband, Gugulana, The Bull of Heaven, to destroy Gilgamesh's realm. After hundreds of people are killed by the bull's rampage, it is killed by Enkidu, the friend and comrade-in-arms of Gilgamesh. Enkidu is condemned by the gods for killing a deity and sentenced to die; the event which then sends Gilgamesh on his quest for immortality. In the Gilgamesh story, Inanna/Ishtar only thinks of herself and the same is true in The Descent of Inanna. The work begins by stating how Inanna chooses to travel to the underworld to attend Gugulana's funeral - a death she brought about - and details how she is treated when she arrives. Ereshkigal is not happy to hear her sister is at the gates and instructs Neti to make her remove various articles of clothing and ornaments at each of the seven gates before admitting her to the throne room. By the time Inanna stands before Ereshkigal she is naked, and after the Annuna of the Dead pass judgment against her, Ereshkigal kills her sister and hangs her corpse on the wall. It is only through Inanna's cleverness in previously instructing her servant Ninshubur what to do, and Ninshubur's ability to persuade the gods in favor of her mistress, that Inanna is resurrected. Even so, Inanna's consort Dumuzi and his sister (agricultural dying and reviving deities) then need to take her place in the underworld because it is the land of no return and no soul can come back without finding a replacement. The main character of the piece is not Inanna but Ereshkigal. The queen acts on the judgment of her advisors, the Annuna, who recognize that Inanna is guilty of causing Gugulana's death. The text reads: "The annuna, the judges of the underworld, surrounded her. They passed judgment against her. Then Ereshkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death. She spoke against her the word of wrath. She uttered against her the cry of guilt. She struck her. Inanna was turned into a corpse. A piece of rotting meat. And was hung from a hook on the wall." Inanna is judged and executed for her crime, but she has obviously foreseen this possibility and left instructions with her servant Ninshubur. After three days and three nights waiting for Inanna, Ninshubur follows the commands of the goddess, goes to Inanna’s father-god Enki for help, and receives two galla (androgynous demons) to help her in returning Inanna to the earth. The galla enter the underworld "like flies" and, following Enki’s specific instructions, attach themselves closely to Ereshkigal. The Queen of the Dead is seen in distress: "No linen was spread over her body. Her breasts were uncovered. Her hair swirled around her head like leeks." The poem continues to describe the queen experiencing the pains of labor. The galla sympathize with the queen’s pains, and she, in gratitude, offers them whatever gift they ask for. As ordered by Enki, the galla respond, "We wish only the corpse that hangs from the hook on the wall" (Wolkstein and Kramer, 67) and Ereshkigal gives it to them. The galla revive Inanna with the food and water of life, and she rises from the dead. It is at this point, after Inanna leaves and is given back all that Neti took from her at the seven gates, that someone else must be found to take Inanna's place. Her husband Dumuzi is chosen by Inanna and his sister Geshtinanna volunteers to go with him; Dumuzi will remain in the underworld for six months and Geshtinanna for the other six while Inanna, who caused all the problems in the first place, goes on to do as she pleases. "The Descent of Inanna" would have resonated with an ancient audience in the same way it does today if one understands who the central character actually is. The poem ends with the lines: "Holy Ereshkigal! Great is your renown! Holy Ereshkigal! I sing your praises!" Ereshkigal is chosen as the main character of the work because of her position as the formidable Queen of the Dead, and the message of the poem relates to injustice: if a goddess as powerful as Ereshkigal can be denied justice and endure the sting then so can anyone reading or hearing the poem recited. Ereshkigal reigns over her kingdom alone until the war god Nergal becomes her consort. In one version of the story, Nergal is seduced by the queen when he visits the underworld, leaves her after seven days of love-making, but then returns to stay with her for six months of the year. Versions of the story have been found in Egypt (among the Amarna Letters) dating to the 15th century B.C. and at Sultantepe, site of an ancient Assyrian city, dated to the 7th century B.C.; but the best-known version, dating from the Neo-Babylonian Period (circa 626-539 B.C.), has Enki manipulating the events which send Nergal to the underworld as consort to the Queen of the Dead. One day the gods prepared a great banquet to which everyone was invited. Ereshkigal could not attend, however, because she could not leave the underworld and the gods could not descend to hold their banquet there because they would afterwards be unable to leave. The god Enki sent a message to Ereshkigal to send a servant who could bring her back her share of the feast, and she sent her son Namtar. When Namtar arrived at the gods' banquet hall, they all stood out of respect for his mother except for the war god Nergal. Namtar was insulted and wanted the wrong redressed, but Enki told him to simply return to the underworld and tell his mother what happened. When Ereshkigal hears of the disrespect of Nergal, she tells Namtar to send a message back to Enki demanding that Nergal be sent so she could kill him. The gods confer on this request and recognize its legitimacy and so Nergal is told he must journey to the underworld. Enki has understood this would happen, of course, and provides Nergal with 14 demon escorts to assist him at each of the seven gates of the underworld. When Nergal arrives, his presence is announced by Neti, and Namtar tells his mother that the god who would not rise has come. Ereshkigal gives orders that he is to be admitted through each of the seven gates which should then be barred behind him and she will kill him when he reaches the throne room. After passing through each gate, however, Nergal posts two of his demon escorts to keep it open and marches to the throne room where he overpowers Namtar and drags Ereshkigal to the floor. He raises his great axe to cut off her head, but she pleads with him to spare her, promising to be his wife if he agrees and share her power with him. Nergal consents and seems to feel sorry for what he has done. The poem ends with the two kissing and the promise that they will remain together. Since Nergal was often causing problems on earth by losing his temper and causing war and strife, it has been suggested that Enki arranged the entire scenario to get him out of the way. War was recognized as a part of the human experience, however, and so Nergal could not remain in the underworld permanently but had to return to the surface for six months out of the year. Since he had posted his demon escorts at the gates, had arrived of his own free will, and been invited to stay as consort by the queen, Nergal was able to leave without having to find a replacement. As in "The Descent of Inanna", the symbolism of The Marriage of Ereshkigal and Nergal (either version) touches on the same themes as the Greek story of the Demeter, goddess of nature and bounty, and her daughter Persephone who is abducted by Hades. In the Greek tale, having eaten of the fruit of the dead, Persephone must spend half a year in the underworld with Hades and, during this time, Demeter mourned the loss of her daughter. This story explained the seasons in that when Demeter and Persephone were together, the world was in bloom, but when Persephone returned to the underworld, nothing would grow and the earth was cold. The Descent of Inanna corresponds directly while The Marriage of Ereshkigal and Nergal explains the seasons of war since conflicts were waged only in certain seasons. Ereshkigal is always represented in prayers and rituals as a formidable goddess of great power but often in stories as one who forgives an injustice or a wrong in the interests of the greater good. In this role, she encouraged piety in the people who should follow her example in their own lives. If Ereshkigal could suffer injustice and continue to perform her tasks in accordance with the will of the gods, then human beings should do no less. Her further significance was as the ruler of the underworld by which she was understood to reward the good and punish the evil, of course, but more importantly to keep the dead in the realm where they belonged. The seven gates of the underworld were not constructed to keep anyone out but rather to keep everyone who belonged there in. A cult of the dead grew up around Ereshkigal to honor those who had passed into her realm and continue to remember and care for them. Since the dead had nothing but muddy water to drink and dust to eat, food was placed and fresh water poured on tombs, which was thought to trickle down to the mouth of the departed. Scholar E. A. Wallis Budge writes: "The tears of the living comforted the dead and their lamentations and dirges consoled them. To satisfy the cravings of the dead these offerings were sometimes made by priests who devoted their lives to the cult of the dead, and the kinsmen of the dead often employed them to recite incantations that would have the effect of bettering the lot of the dead in the dread kingdom of Ereshkigal...The chief object of all such pious acts was to benefit the dead but underneath it all was the fervent desire of the living to keep the dead in the underworld. The living were afraid lest the dead should return to this world and it was necessary to avoid such a calamity at all costs." Ereshkigal, as with all the gods of Mesopotamia, maintained order and stood against the forces of chaos. Those souls who had left the world of the living were not supposed to return, and Ereshkigal made certain they remained where they belonged. If a ghost should come back to haunt the living, one could be sure it was for a good reason and with Ereshkigal's permission. As in other cultures, the main reasons for a haunting were improper burial of the dead or impious acts which had gone unpunished. As queen and guardian of the dead, Ereshkigal stood as a potent reminder to the living to observe the proper rites and rituals in their lives and to act in the best interests of their immediate and larger communities [Ancient History Encyclopedia]. SHIPPING & RETURNS/REFUNDS: We always ship books domestically (within the USA) via USPS INSURED media mail (“book rate”). Most international orders cost an additional $17.99 to $48.99 for an insured shipment in a heavily padded mailer. 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Price: 99.99 USD
Location: Ferndale, Washington
End Time: 2024-08-30T15:52:55.000Z
Shipping Cost: 6.99 USD
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Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Book Title: Shamans and Shamanism
Signed: No
Book Series: Historical
Ex Libris: No
Narrative Type: Nonfiction
Dimensions: 8½ x 5½ x ¾ inch; 1 pound
Publisher: Dover Publications
Original Language: English
Intended Audience: Young Adults, Adults
Inscribed: No
Vintage: No
Publication Year: 2003
Format: Trade Paperback
Language: English
Era: Ancient World
Author: John Lee Madox
Personalized: No
Features: Illustrated
Topic: American History, Ancient World, Anthropology, Archaeology, Australian History, Comparative Religion, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Culture, History of Ideas, Regional History, Religions of the Ancient World, Religious History, Social History, Social Sciences, Wicca, World History, magick, africa
Number of Pages: 352
