Kinaʻani: Impressions of Tess Dawson, Canaanite Polytheist

I've Got Soul: Canaanite Magic and Napshu

2012-01-10T07:13:00.006+02:00

17 Khiyyaru (month), Shanatu (year) 84

When people ask me for “energy,” they don’t realize that what they’re really asking me is “send me a bit of your soul.” Unless the situation is dire, or unless I deem the situation appropriate, or unless someone consciously asks me knowing full well what they’re really asking me, I will send prayers instead. In addition to prayers, sometimes I will also send offerings to the deities on the requester's behalf, or I will make an offering of incense to aid the requester’s strength and wellbeing. Magic, or a full-on blessing, however, requires napshu.

I don’t work with “energy.” Canaanite magic works on a fundamentally different paradigm, using napshu as its key empowering factor. Napshu is a word that embodies many concepts in English: soul, vitality, will, charisma, appetite, and throat. The word napshu, from the Ugaritic language, is an earlier version of the Hebrew word nefesh. Canaanite magic (charshu) works with the napshu of the mage, and it can work with the napshu of a deity. Napshu is not an impersonal resource like coal or electricity. Napshu is the very signature of your being, and it should be treated carefully and conscientiously. When you send some of it out, presumably through magic or blessing, you are sharing your vitality, a part of your personal being, with another.

A charash (Canaanite mage) can also call upon the deities to assist in an act of magic: the deity would then use his or her napshu to empower your own, or in rare cases allow you to serve as a conduit for it. To do so, you must be in a purified state, you must be a respected and good member of the community, and you must develop a good relationship, aligning yourself with the deity you call upon. The deity’s napshu should be treated with the tremendous care and respect. As such, it cannot be forced against a deity’s will, and one who would try would accrue khats’a, misdeed, which will ultimately lessen the mage’s potency and damage future attempts to do magic. It can also reduce a mage’s overall physical and spiritual wellbeing.

Making offerings help strengthen a deity’s napshu, and when a deity has a revitalized napshu, the deity can more readily assist those who call upon her or him. Offerings for the wellbeing of the rapi’uma suggest that these deceased ancestors also possess napshuma (plural of napshu), which are strengthened through these offerings. It is interesting to note that people, regular human mortal people, can also receive offerings to strengthen the napshu: peace offerings, shalamuma, serve this purpose--I recall coming across this aspect mentioned in ancient Ugaritic text.

The napshu is connected with the throat and the appetite. Gauging the health of both appetite and throat can help you to assist your overall physical wellbeing as well as the vitality of your napshu. In the tale of Kirtu, the narrative describes the ailing King Kirtu as having a closed throat: when the dragon-golem Shaʻtaqat cures him, she uses a wand or staff to release the knot of illness, she wipes the fever-sweat from his brow, and she opens his throat. When his throat opens, his appetite returns, his vitality returns, and his soul is seated back in his body instead of poising to leave his body in death. In the tale of Aqhat, a narrative preserved in 3200-year-old Ugaritic tablets, the goddess ‘Anat has the hero Aqhat killed: the text’s author describes Aqhat’s napshu as a vaporous mist which departs the body through his nostrils.

As such, we know that the nostrils are a portal for the napshu’s leaving, but I believe it is safe to say that they are also a portal for the napshu’s entry as well, which connects the concept of napshu to the Jewish idea of ruach elohim, variously described as the wind, spirit, and breath of God(s). Based on what I understand of ancient culture and applying those ideas further into the modern day, I believe that the napshu can be revitalized and restored through healthful living (which aids the physical aspects of appetite and the throat), conscious breathing (which connects with the idea of napshu entering through the nostrils), and living a goodly life (which supports the spiritual aspects of the napshu).

We know that napshu is connected to blessings, for deities and legendary humans alike are cited in the Ugaritic texts as making blessings such as “By my napshu…” or “by [deity’s name]’s napshu may you be blessed.” And one scholar, Wright, in Ritual in Narrative: The Dynamics of Feasting, Mourning, and Retaliation Rites in the Tale of Aqhat, suggests that this blessing was accompanied by the gesture of holding or pointing to one’s own throat.

As such, if you ask me for a blessing--or for “energy”--you should know that it is a deeply personal thing that you request of me. In most instances, if I am healthy and in agreement with the blessing, I am happy to give it and I can give it whether I am nearby or far away from you. (I believe this works similarly with deities who make their blessings upon us when we ask it of them.) But know what you’re asking for, and know what you’re getting; and be prepared to make an offering in return for the gift.

Charshu: Types of Canaanite Magic

2012-01-09T22:14:00.007+02:00

16 Khiyyaru (month), Shanatu (year) 84
Malatu (Full Moon)

From liver and lung models to animal fetus divination, magic was a part of life in ancient Canaanite religion. Before I can delve deeper into these mysteries, it behooves us both to contemplate the very basics of charshu, Canaanite magic. Archaeological record includes Bronze Age Ugaritic texts regarding health, protection, cleansing, purification, blessing, and divination. A broader collection of amulets from the ancient Near East in Classical times attest to many of the same concerns. Charshu derives from a word that means “craftsmanship, creation, technology, skill.”

Like any other skill, a person can put charshu to good use or not. The ancient Canaanites distinguished between charshu and witchcraft. I use the word “witchcraft” here to mean malicious unlawful magic—this is the term scholars use when translating Canaanite words and concepts indicating undesirable magic. The word “witchcraft” has a long history in the English language of indicating undesirable magic, and its use here does not indicate any “earth-centered” religion like Wicca, nor does it indicate “good witchcraft” which would be a contradiction in terms to the Canaanites.

There are four types of magic typically used in the Canaanite world, and these overlap.

Official Magic is magic performed by priests in the temple setting, in an official religious capacity. This magic is always lawful. In this type of magic, the priest relied upon his own purity and vitality, his standing in the community, and his relationship with the deities. Official magic usually involved the deity’s assistance.
Unofficial Magic is magic performed outside of the temple setting. This type of magic is performed by professional priests wanting to make extra income and working outside the temple on a freelance basis; or it can be worked by laypeople who pick up a few skills in an non-professional setting. This magic can be either lawful or unlawful, depending on the magical acts, the goal, and the setting. In this type of magic, the charash (mage) had the option of relying only upon his vitality, strength, and charisma, or he could involve his strength plus the aid of the deities. Granted, if the charash had cultivated sound relationships with the deities, this would aid his magic more so than if he simply relied on his own means.
Lawful Magic includes magic done for benign reasons, such as healing, protection, conception, childbirth, abundance, and purification. Any magic performed by priests in a temple setting had the official sanction of the community and was, by definition, lawful. Aggressive magic is lawful if used for protection, in either a defensive or offensive capacity, especially in concerns of the city-state. In a private context, protection of the home and family through aggressive magic was completely acceptable: for example, a spell sending the Eye back to the person who originally sent it is typical in Canaanite magic.
Unlawful Magic includes any act performed by magic which would be considered unlawful even if accomplished through non-magical means; acts in this category constitute witchcraft. For example, it is unlawful (and grossly unethical) to poison a person out of dislike or a desire to take their property; therefore doing a spell to sicken and weaken that person for the same reasons is also unlawful. Magic performed out of the official context could be either lawful or unlawful. This category includes malicious, unethical magic done for harm, greed, envy, spite, and any number of self-serving purposes done at the expense of the community. Mesopotamian laws indicate that unlawful magic, witchcraft, could be subject to stiff punishments depending on the infringement.

Most people who perform Canaanite magic in the modern day do so outside of any official setting, and thus it is of great importance that any charash (Canaanite mage) carefully examine ethics, consult with the deities and ancestors through divination, and listen to the wise counsel of others before engaging in magic. Unlawful magic constitutes khats’a, misdeed.

A miscreant in ancient times would have had to contend with punishment under the law for these acts, and would be held accountable before the deities. In modern times, a person is held accountable to the deities and to the community. Performing witchcraft causes a person to lose face—and thereby lose strength and charisma. It accrues khats’a which mars a person’s “beauty,” serves as a barrier between the person and the deities, and weakens the person’s napshu. These factors limit the charash’s ability to do magic effectively.

Canaanite magic functions on a different paradigm entirely than New Age magic is often thought to work today. Napshu—not “energy”—is the key component in Canaanite magic: the napshu of the charash (mage, the one making the magic), and the napshu of a deity. Napshu is a concept-word that indicates a collection of ideas in English: soul, vitality, strength, power, charisma, appetite, and throat. The strength and efficacy of the magic at the very least depends on the charash’s own napshu. If the mage calls upon the deities to aid the magic, then the magic’s potency relies on the charash’s relationship with the deities and the charash’s purity.

I will cover napshu, and its involvement in magic, in another post.

An Offering to the Deities

2011-11-13T17:52:00.010+02:00

18 Pagruma-Dabchu (month), Shanatu 84 (year)

I invite you to join me in honoring the Canaanite, Phoenician, and Carthaginian deities. I will guide you through a virtual offering at the temple area I've dedicated to the deities.

Before you continue reading this blog post and viewing the photos, prepare yourself by washing your hands and face, and donning nice, clean clothing. Take off your shoes. Cover your head with a hat or scarf. Think about what you would like to offer the deities, or a vow you would like to make to them, or join me in my offerings of food, wine, and incense.

Play some music if you'd like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nECEF--Yw5U This hymn, called A Zaluzi to the Gods is a Hittite hymn to the Canaanite goddess Nikkal, preserved in the 3,200 year old tablets found at the city of Ugarit in southern Syria.

Approach the outer sanctuary of the altar. This area is denoted in my living space with a mat.

In this large urn there is a small bowl of water.

The water is fresh and cool, and I've added a little Lebanese rose water to it. Cleanse yourself here. I've blessed the water with a prayer to Choranu that he may cleanse you of khats'a, misdeed.

There is a tiny obsidian bowl on the left of altar. The bowl holds a blend of olive oil, frankincense essential oil (for sacredness), juniper essential oil (for strength), and bay laurel essential oil (for honor). I call the oil blend "Dedication." I reach my right ring and pinky fingers in the bowl and anoint your brow in the shape of a crescent and disk. Bow deeply before the deities' altar seven times.

Make your offering to the deities at their altar here in their temple: you can visualize yourself joining in the offerings I have given (for I have given them on behalf of all of us who honor these deities), or you can make a vow. Make certain you keep your vow. If you would like to make a prayer at this point, you are welcome to.

I've placed before them food, home made bread, lamb meat, olive oil and flour, wine, pomegranate arils, grapes, wine, frankincense, and an offering of light from a reproduction Canaanite olive oil lamp with a hand braided linen wick. The lamp sits on an alabaster pedestal. The cloth under the offerings depicts a stylized floral kappu (palm-of-hand) motif.

When you are finished with your offering, bow and back away from the altar. Do not turn around and do not turn your back on the deities, for this is disrespectful.

I keep the cabinet closed for the pictures because it serves as the "inner sanctuary," the "holy of holies" and I believe that it would be inappropriate to take a photograph of it that people can stumble upon without having respectfully prepared themselves to be in the deities' presence.

I took these photos this morning from the offerings I made last night for the Marzichu holiday and mlatu (the full moon).

Questions? Wonder what something is on the altar? Want to know why we do certain actions? Feel free to ask.

May the deities be strengthened and blessed by our offerings; may they bless our assembly with wellbeing.

Yishlam le-ilima, may the deities be blessed with peace and wellbeing.

Yishlam le-kumu, may you all be blessed with peace and wellbeing.

Missing Link: When Ancestors Don't Match Your Religion

2011-11-08T19:07:00.009+02:00

One issue in polytheism that does the Macarena on my last nerve is the insistence that a person must have an ancestral and ethnic connection to the polytheistic religion that the person practices. The deities call whom the deities call, and sometimes they ignore ethnicity and culture. There isn’t much arguing you can do--and it is pure hubris to try. And sometimes (usually) the deities know something you don’t: perhaps a hidden element of ancestry, perhaps a person of that culture or ethnicity has claimed you as kin without your knowledge, perhaps the deeds of a previous ancestor have endeared your family to these deities of different cultural backgrounds, perhaps there’s a past life connection there (if you believe in past lives). Or maybe they believe you will honor them well. Who can know?

Many people who insist that they have a direct line of ancestry back to their polytheistic religion may not actually be able to prove this without a DNA test. What if their ancestors weren’t actually Celtic just because they lived in France prior to emigrating to Canada? What if the family that family came to France so long ago it was forgotten that they are Frankish invaders with more in common with Germanic polytheists, and thus you “should” be practicing Germanic polytheism instead of Celtic religion. Oops. And what happens when your recent ancestors are all Christian and deny their polytheistic roots: do you honor these ancestors and their religion or ignore them? And what happens when you know your family isn’t telling you the whole story, whether they know the whole story and fudge the truth or whether the story has been hidden from them. Many of us carry ethnic ancestry that we may never know about because of the racial and ethnic prejudices of the past or because of absent records. How do we connect or reconnect with these hidden roots when we don’t even have a notion?

Ancestral Religions

To make a long story short, the relationship bears the status of “It’s Complicated,” and to oversimplify it discredits the situation and falls short of honoring the ancestors. I will explore my own story here in the case that it might help others in similar predicaments.

I practice a form of Canaanite polytheistic religion called Natib Qadish. I have no ethnic or ancestral connections that I know of to ancient Canaan. It surprises people because when they meet me, they assume I’m Jewish, and I look the part. Yet my family has consistently told me that I’m WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant): even though Aryan posterchild I am not. Unless I get a DNA test, which at some point I’d like to despite the expense, this is the only information I have to go on and genealogy has proven equally quiet. Were I to “practice the religion of my ancestors,” I know that at least four centuries into the past most of my ancestors are Christian, and thus I would practice Christianity. And yet…

And yet, despite my mixed feelings (mostly good, but some bad) towards my Christian upbringings, I realized I had a different connection with the divine. After a long period of prayer and contemplation, a deity communicated with me. The goddess told me her name and it was a name I hadn’t heard before from a pantheon I never knew about before--the Canaanite pantheon. So it is Canaanite polytheism I have honored since the winter of 1998. Since that time I have run into polytheists of various stripes who seem to believe that I am mistaken for honoring a pantheon belonging to a culture that is “foreign” to my own ancestry. On rare occasion, I’ve found those who assume a person should be or is ethnically Jewish if s/he honors the Canaanite pantheon, though I can guarantee my Lebanese friends would disagree with this idea. Some who emphasize Jewish ancestry might have forgotten or overlooked that much of Jewish ancestry comes from Europe long before it reaches back into Canaan. The fact remains that I have no heritage from the Near East and I have no Jewish heritage either. There are a few ancestral connections I could make to that area, but they are spurious, convoluted, and based on disputed theories from questionable connections: possible Spanish or French ancestry that could have connected with the Phoenicians, and perhaps even a few “Lost Tribes of Israel” speculations. I might as well try to hold the wind in my hands.

Monotheistic Kin

In the mean time, how do I venerate my ancestors, especially when many of them do not understand my religion, and how do I honor the Canaanite ancestors as well? I’ve found that the best way is to practice a skill they would have used, keep items around the house that would be familiar in some way to them, visit a place they would have been or a museum that focuses on their heritage, and to offer them a seat at the dinner table especially when making foods familiar to them. I have one particular relative who used to lounge on the couch, eat chocolate, drink a little booze, and watch alien conspiracy television shows while she was alive: it doesn’t hurt me a bit to do the same in her honor. Unlike setting up an altar--a foreign practice to them--these are activities they understand and appreciate. It took me a while to puzzle out this matter and I think it’s a favorable compromise amidst myself and my monotheist ancestors.

Canaanite “Kin”

The next question I need to work out regards Canaanite ancestors. By Canaanite ancestors, I am not referring to my own ancestors, since as I said before I have no biological claim to them that I know of, but to the ancestors of my religion. The best way to honor them is to learn how they honored their own and try to do likewise within my limitations.

The Canaanites and their ancestors, the Natufians, would sometimes plaster the skulls of ancestors. They’d paint features such as facial hair on to the plastered skulls and add cowrie shells for eyes. I obviously don’t have a human skull in my household nor would I go out and buy one for this purpose, but I did find a papier mache skull in the Halloween aisle of a craft store, and I’d like to do this skull up in this manner. Alternatively, I could decorate Mexican sugar skulls made for Dia de los Muertos. The Canaanites also visited the tombs of their relatives and dined with them: this is nearly impossible for me to do since I don’t live in the Near East and I don’t have ancestors there. The best I can do is leave flowers at cemeteries, make offerings near the makeshift plastered skull, or symbolically invite the Canaanite ancestors to a family dinner and set a place at the table for them--in this respect, I can engage in a Near Eastern practice called a kispu rite.

Working with these ancient adoptive kin is just as tricky as working with my monotheistic kin, but in a different way. With my monotheistic kin, it is the ancestors I know that sometimes pose problems. With my adoptive Canaanite ancestors, it is what I don’t know that proves problematic. Canaanite names, and later both Jewish and Muslim names include one’s ancestry right in your personal or familial name, and it serves to tell others that you are the son or daughter of so-and-so. Since I cannot claim any of my immediate relatives who would be ok with this practice, I feel the need to look to my unknown adoptive Canaanite ancestors. I have a choice on how to proceed. I can meditate and try to listen for a name, but I may never be certain I understood correctly or formed a connection. I can choose a name of a known Canaanite and claim adoptive ties, but this strikes me as hubris. I can see if any of my Lebanese friends who know of Canaanite ancestry would claim me. Or I could refer to myself as a ward of the state, a bitu ugariti or bat ugarit (“daughter of Ugarit” in Ugaritic and Hebrew, respectively) or bat kna’an (“daughter of Canaan”, in Hebrew), and so on. Sometimes I think of myself as a student of Ilimilku the scribe, since I study his works and I, too, am a scribe—talmidah le-Ilimilku (in Hebrew). I’ve found no word for “student” in Ugaritic, but were I to reverse engineer the word and frame it in Ugaritic, I would say talmidatu le-Ilimilki. Until I get a very clear and obvious sign that I have a specific adopted Canaanite ancestor, these options will have to serve. This would reflect my status as adopting the Canaanite ways without offending my recent biological ancestors who have no desire to claim as kin before the Canaanite deities, and without borrowing a Canaanite ancestor sans permission.

So there it is. For my non-Canaanite monotheistic kin, I focus on deeds, skills, familiar activities and items instead of making formal offerings at an altar. For the Canaanite ancestors, I plan to make a small altar with a plastered skull or a sugar skull and make offerings. If you are in the same situation, give these techniques a try: honor your own ancestors in deeds and skills, and honor the ancestors of your religion through learning how they honored their own and applying that information in their veneration. I would guess that the steps in this dance are familiar to many in similar situations and to others in mixed families who have ancestors that would have been at war with one another. Only time and practice will tell how suitable both sets of ancestors will find this arrangement.

Prayer for the Shades of the Dead, the Rapiuma

2011-06-17T20:24:00.005+03:00

Day 16 of the month of [Gapnu/Vine]

Rapiuma is a term which refers to the shades, the spirits of the dead. These can be your ancestors, the ancestors of Canaan, the ancestors who lived and died in your locale, or all three. It is said that they can come visit the living by navigating their chariots through a grain-threshing floor. In meditation today, this is the prayer I gave for the forgotten, ancient Rapiuma of Canaan:

“Hear me, ancient ones, you who have dwelt in this place for the ages. You are blessed among the assembled. You are remembered. You have reached the time of the returning, of the in-dwelling. May your hearts be lightened, may your livers be joyous. The remembering comes. Eat dust no longer, venerated ones, but join us at our tables. Eat with us. Lend us your wisdom. Let us be one people again. May we find restoration together. Let it be done.”

These are a few of the historic kings of Ugarit:

c. 1850 BCE Niqmaddu I (?)
c. 1825 BCE Yaqarum I (?)
[These two kings's names may be reversed.]
We know the names of the earliest kings of Ugarit from one poorly preserved tablet, KTU 1.113.
c. 1360 BCE 'Ammishtamru I
1360-1330 BCE Niqmaddu II
1330-1324 BCE 'Arhalbu
1324-1274 BCE Niqmepa
1274-1240 BCE 'Amistamru II
1240-? BCE 'Ibiranu
?-1225 BCE Niqmaddu III
1225-1180 BCE 'Ammurapi

Another important name to remember is Ilimilku, the scribe who wrote and signed the Ugaritic tablets.

Ditanu (or Didan, Ditan, or Didanu) is a legendary figure who may be the primary ancestor of all Ugaritic kings, and perhaps all Canaanite kings. His name is mentioned in Canaanite and Mesopotamian ritual texts and king lists. Ditanu is an Amorite name.

Two Winding Rivers: The Changing Face of the Pagan Movement

2011-06-14T18:31:00.005+03:00

Day 13, Canaanite Month of [Gapnu, the Vine]

Historic-rooted religions, like polytheistic, reconstructionist, or revivalist religions are wending away from Paganism like the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers meander away from each other from sources a mere nineteen miles apart, then return together as they flow into the Persian Gulf. There has been much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth regarding what exactly has led to this estrangement and what the fallout will be. In my opinion, this divergence is caused by misunderstanding the two different approaches historic-rooted religions and majority Pagans take in religious thought.

Euphrates: Majority Pagans
The majority of the Pagan movement, whether they realize it or not, tend to support a neo-romanticist philosophy. Romanticism is “a movement in literature, philosophy, and art which developed in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th cc. Starting from the ideas and attitudes of Rousseau in France and from the Sturm und Drang movement in Germany, it held that classicism, dominant since 16th c., denied expression to [hu]man’s emotional nature and overlooked [her/]his profound inner forces. Romanticism is above all an exaltation of individual values and aspirations above those of society. […] Through its concern with the hidden forces in man, Romanticism exerted a profound influence on modern thought, and opened the way e.g. to psychoanalysis” (from New Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus of the English Language).

Neo-romanticism, of course, means “new Romanticist” and follows in the footsteps of its predecessor. Neo-romanticists often focus on self, self expression, individuality, self enrichment, imagination, rebellion against the establishment, and love/worship of nature. In addition, they adopt philosophies from such thinkers as Freud, Jung, James G. Frazer, and Joseph Campbell. Often theories, or ideas based upon those theories, are considered truisms to the majority Pagans.

I see this neo-romanticism is a natural reaction when people are fleeing the religion of their birth—usually Christianity, and sometimes Judaism—often a dogmatic monotheism. As refugees of one of these monotheistic religions, people have a natural desire to rebel against authority, to embrace nature since their previous religions may have shunned it, and to see deities as archetypes or facets of one overarching divine force. Instead of submitting to church authority, for the first time a Pagan has the opportunity to free expression and deciding what is spiritual to her or him.

Tigris: Historic-rooted Religions (Reconstructionists, Revivalists, Polytheists)
Reconstruction, revivalism, and polytheism often focus on deities and community and/or kinship, and their religious structure and beliefs have their foundations in history. People who practice a historic-rooted religion tend to see religion less as personal development or therapy for the individual, and more as being in the service of the deities and the community. Individual historic-rooted religions rely on historians and scholars prominent in their fields, instead of upon broad theories that envelop several disparate cultures in an effort to see similarities. They often challenge or simply do not accept the theories built upon Jung, Freud, Campbell, and Frazer. Because historic-rooted religions do not accept theories of romanticism as truisms, they often find themselves at odds with the majority Pagans over many seemingly separate issues, most of which actually find their basis in these two divergent approaches to religion.

Because historic-rooted religions tend to be methodical in their approach, and because they rely on historic precedent, these religions have structure, hierarchy, ethics and values. These structures may allow for personal experience and inspiration, but they are not as wide-open as the less-structured neo-romantic Paganism. Because majority Pagans often seek refuge from organized religions that have become dogmatic, some of them may see in the organization of historic-rooted religions a dogma or structure that they sought to abandon.

Silt along the Rivers
Majority Pagans and the historic-rooted religionists find themselves at odds because they often talk past one another, not realizing the deeper basis of their differences. Conflict comes from a misunderstanding of the core philosophy of the historic-rooted religions, a glossing over difference in search of common themes and similarities, a reframing of what is only superficial similarity, or a reframing of elements in terms of romanticized truisms. Some adherents of historic-rooted religions feel their religions, deities, holy days, and beliefs are press into ill-fitting neo-romantic categories when they converse with majority Pagans. Though several historic-rooted religionists make great efforts to educate majority Pagans about the historic-rooted religions, the effort is gargantuan and is impeded by this lack of understanding of the different core philosophies. This effort is like digging in sand only to find the dent you make is filled in behind you. This fundamental miscommunication is leading to the divergence of historic-based religions from the Pagan movement.

Although from an emic (insider’s) approach, many Pagans want their movement to encompass different religions and believe that it does, from an etic (outsider’s) view this isn’t happening: “Although there are overriding similarities among Neo-Pagans, there are also distinctions and differences within the religion.” p. xvi of the preface from Voices from the Pagan Census by Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach, and Leigh S. Shaffer, 2003. Note “religion” singular, not “religions” plural—the implication is that from an etic view, Paganism is one religion instead of several individual religions with different core philosophies. We can argue what Paganism “should” be ideally, and we can argue how the definitions of “pagan” should be more encompassing, but this isn’t de facto what’s going on at a core philosophical level.

Ebb and Flow
Although the Pagan movement and the historic-rooted religions seem to be diverging from one another, like the Euphrates and the Tigris, they flow parallel to one another, supporting one another and the landscape around them. Eventually both movements will grow an understanding and appreciation for one another, but perhaps a little distance between one another will aid in that process. And maybe, one day when the historic-rooted religions grow and develop, and when Paganism can open itself up to religions with different core philosophies, the two can meet on equal terms and flow together.

To "Pagan" or Not to "Pagan": That is the Question

2011-06-07T04:04:00.002+03:00

January 9, 2012
16 Khiyyaru, Shanatu 84
Malatu (Full Moon)

Please note that I've taken down what was once this post: I am dissatisfied with its (lack of) organization. I may eventually put it back up if I can edit the mess into coherency. If you would like to read a better article about my views on considering oneself "Pagan" or not, please see: http://www.tessdawson.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-winding-rivers-changing-face-of.html Two Winding Rivers: the Changing Face of the Pagan Movement.

All Aboard the Crazy Train: Thoughts/Rants of the Week on Paganism, Aliens, Nematodes, and Mayans

2011-06-03T20:37:00.010+03:00

Hi all,
It seems I've encountered quite a bit of madness this week, and certainly plenty before this week. I would just like to make it clear where I stand on some issues. Granted I know it's likely I'm "preaching to the choir." Well, here goes:

I am *not* interested in discussing conspiracy theories about the "real" identity of Jesus as an extraterrestrial, a Sumerian god, or an Egyptian monarch.

I am *not* interested in the theories of Zecharia Sitchin or Erich Von Daniken, or the “ancient aliens” theories: aliens did *not* build the pyramids or create humans as a slave race. The Mesopotamian Annunaki gods are not extraterrestrials. Demon-nematode-worms were *not* created by fallen angels from outer space to kill us all. We humans built our magnificent ancient structures and created the ancient technologies upon which modern technologies were built, and to suggest otherwise is an insult to the ingenuity and brilliance of our ancestors and our abilities as human beings. I have no love of Dr. Zahi Hawass, but at least he doesn't think aliens built the pyramids.

2012 is *not* the end of the world. It is the Mayan version of Y2K—their calendar just runs out and resets. As far as “earth changes” the earth is dynamic and constantly changes. I’d be more worried if the earth weren’t changing.

I am *not* interested in discussing the deities as mere archetypal "energies," or as facets of one or two larger overarching deities. That’s not the way many ancient people viewed the deities, and it’s not how I view them. To view the deities as archetypes seems borderline agnostic or even atheistic to me.

I do not worship the Earth Mother Goddess. I do not view the earth as the body of a deity. The earth is important and beautiful yes, but not a goddess to me.

There is no such thing as “hard polytheism” or “soft polytheism.” What most people call “hard polytheism” is polytheism, plain and simple. “Soft polytheism” is *not* polytheism: it is typically monism, dualism, dualtheism, or a light (even if inadvertent) monotheism.

Do *not* try to get me to validate what you already want to believe. If you want an honest opinion, I’ll do my best, and I’ll usually try to be diplomatic. But I cannot be a yes-woman when I'm hammered with an oddball theory and I can’t verify it because my research and experiences tell me differently.

Lovecraft's Necronomicon is fiction. I know, you think Cthulhu is going to devour my immortal soul and eat all my snack cakes. What you don’t know is that Cthulhu is my lap dog and he doesn’t like snack cakes.

Tales of Canaanite sacred sex are exaggerations with no basis in primary sources. See my blog post on the subject: http://tessdawson.blogspot.com/2011/04/orgies-r-us-sex-lies-and-prostitutes-in.html

Lilith is a demon, not a dark goddess, and certainly not a Canaanite goddess. Neither the Bible nor the Talmud maligned her; they built on an earlier tradition from ancient polytheistic Mesopotamian (not Canaanite) peoples. http://canaanitepath.com/canaanfaq.htm#lilith Pazuzu is a Mesopotamian demon who guards against Lamashtu/Lilith, but who is not as evil as portrayed in the movie The Exorcist. His image is actually used to protect people. Be careful with him though, ‘cause as a demon of illness he’s not all love, light, and loyalty.

Not all of Paganism is Wicca, not all Pagans call the four elements, cast circles, or celebrate the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year, nor do I call my new or full moon celebrations “esbats” (for me, new moon = chudthu, full moon = mlatu). Wicca is a great religion: I’m just not an adherent. I am Qadish, I practice the religion of Natib Qadish, a Canaanite polytheistic religion. My seasonal cycles and holidays are completely different, and my beliefs are not entirely nature-based/centered. For more info, see http://canaanitepath.com/

I am *not* a witch. Witchcraft and sorcery mean something completely different in Canaanite religion than it does in Wicca or other beliefs. I do practice magic, but it is usually more a form of theurgy: divine-based magic. (If you must, and if it helps, think of a cleric in D&D only with more devotion and less whizz-bang.) I have nothing against those who wish to reclaim the word “witch” or “sorcerer” for themselves, just know that I do not use these terms and it is insulting in my tradition.

I don't work with "energy," such as it is called and used by many Pagans. My magic is based upon napshu, the soul/essence of myself or of the deities. Unlike the concept of "energy," napshu is not an impersonal resource to be ordered about.

I will never say to other women “you are a goddess,” or to men “you are a god” because humans are mortal and deities are divine. To claim deityship, even playfully, seems to me disrespectful to the divine. Also, I will not claim “Caffeina” or “Godiva” goddesses—saints, maybe ;)—but not goddesses.

I fiercely dislike being patronized. Not one of us knows all about life, the universe, and everything, and I’m not looking for a guru. Please take into consideration that I likely know as much as anyone, or even more in some subjects especially in my own tradition. It would truly surprise me if you find someone who is not a PhD who knows more about Canaanite religion than I do. Only one to maybe three people in the world have been Canaanite polytheists longer than I have, period. And I know them all.

Do *not* tell me eating meat is evil. I belong to a religion that believes giving meat is important. I am most certainly not going to give my warrior goddess 'Anat a nice plate of greens. I often eat vegan or vegetarian, but sometimes I will eat meat. I’m not going to apologize for that.
Do *not* tell me that [fill in ethnicity, religion, or orientation here: Americans, Israelis, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, people with blue spots] are all evil; I will not believe it and the chances are I'll avoid you.

I will not listen to rants about how awful and uneducated Pagan authors are, or how they’re just looking for the almighty dollar, pound, euro, peso. I would not be able to feed my family and keep a roof over our heads on just royalties: we authors make far less than you think, and most of the time our work is a labor of love for which we will never get adequately reimbursed. Indeed the proceeds from one of the books I’m editing, Anointed: A Devotional Anthology for the Deities of the Near and Middle East (published through Bibliotheca Alexandrina/Neos Alexandria) will all go to fund other books by the same small press with any profits going to charities (for a list of charities the money goes to see: http://neosalexandria.org/about/charitable-organizations/ )--I won’t see a cent from that book. As far as the uneducated part, try reading my works before you come to that conclusion. If someone believes s/he can write a better books, get them published and read, I hope they do so. I just might even buy them.

We can't share all the same opinions, and that's ok. Though we are different, we can get along without having to be the same or having to find similarities. If you’d still like to be my acquaintance, or even my friend, great! If not, that’s ok, too and I wish you the best on your journeys.

Thanks for listening. Yishlam le-kumu, peace and wellbeing to you all!

Orgies-R-Us: Sex, Lies, and Prostitutes in Canaanite Religion

2011-04-21T23:19:00.005+03:00

Temple prostitution and Canaanite religion go together like water and oil. Wait, water and oil don’t mix? Then yes, I have the correct metaphor. It may be common knowledge that the Canaanites practiced temple prostitution and sacred sex, but it was also common knowledge once that the earth is flat. Here we’ll be looking at evidence and historiography for sacred sexuality in ancient Canaan, and applying what this means in modern Paganism and modern Canaanite religion today.

Before taking a closer look at the issue, let’s consider provisional definitions for three aspects of sacred sexuality:

• Sacred Prostitution, Temple Prostitution
Budin defines sacred prostitution as “the sale of a person’s body for sexual purposes were some portion (if not all) of the money or goods received for this transaction belongs to a deity. […] At least three separate types of sacred prostitution are recorded in the Classical sources. One is a once-in-a-lifetime prostitution/or sale of virginity in honor of a goddess.[…] A second type of sacred prostitution involves women (and men?) who are professional prostitutes and who are owned by a deity or a deity’s sanctuary. finally, there are references to a temporary type of sacred prostitution, where the women (and men?) are either prostitutes for a limited period of time before being married, or only prostitute themselves during certain rituals.”1

• Hieros Gamos, the “Sacred Marriage”
Encyclopedia Britannica defines hieros gamos as “sexual relations of fertility deities in myths and rituals, characteristic of societies based on cereal agriculture, especially in the Middle East. At least once a year, divine persons (e.g. humans representing the deities) engage in sexual intercourse, which guarantees the fertility of the land, the prosperity of the community, and the continuation of the cosmos.”2 Typically, it is believed that this act occurs between a king and a priestess representing a goddess, thereby symbolically conferring the king’s authority and the deities’ blessing.

• Sacred Sex, Ritual Sex
These two “catch-all” phrases refer to sexual intercourse performed in a religious setting, or for religious reasons, or both. As such, they are broad terms which encompass both sacred prostitution and hieros gamos.

Temple Prostitution and Sacred Sex: Scholarship
After years of research, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is unlikely that temple prostitution, heiros gamos, or sacred sex existed formally in Bronze Age Canaanite religion. What I find interesting is that I came to my conclusions prior to reading Stephanie Budin’s work The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity, in which she draws similar conclusions based on an argument akin to mine.3 To me, this demonstrates that there is worth in reexamining the long-held notion of temple prostitution and sacred sex in Canaanite religion specifically and in ancient Near Eastern religions in general. The information on sacred sex in Canaan can be traced to the following items, or a combination of these items:

1) Biblical polemic
2) Herodotus, or other Classical bias4
3) Victorian scholars, especially the Frazerian Myth and Ritual School5
4) Other scholars who rely on 1, 2, or 3. (Scholars like Albright, Gordon, Gaster, et cetera), their theories, and their resulting translations of primary texts
5) Further scholarship or translations that build on work from scholars in item 4.

Refutation of Evidence

1) Information from the Bible is inaccurate in regards to historical fact--biblical authors had a particular story to tell and told it in the way they needed to. They weren’t interested in preserving unbiased historical accuracy for the ages.6 There may be grains of truth in biblical texts, but they are only grains and they are difficult or impossible to separate from narrative.

In another layer of meaning, the ancient Israelites likened their relationship, their covenant, with their chief god as similar to a marriage contract.7 A polytheist was considered a “whore” because a polytheist who worships gods other than the chief god of the Israelites commits a breach of the marriage-like covenant and is therefore symbolically “whoring” himself to other gods and committing an act of spiritual adultery.8

2) Modern scholars often take Herodotus’s accounts critically.9 His history on the subject of sacred prostitution is viewed as about as accurate as the history told by the Bible, and these Classical sources are not first-hand accounts nor are they primary sources.10 It is likely that his tale about how every Babylonian woman was mandated to serve as a temple prostitute and required to have sex with the first man to toss a coin in her lap, is a tall tale. The notion of
being forced to have sexual relations because of a state religious mandate is in opposition to rights of personal freedom. Indeed, it’s a form of theocratic government-sanctioned rape. It is not liberation when a person is told what she must do with her own body--on a related note, tales of Cybele and Attis supposedly involve self-castration: I don’t see volunteers eager to reconstruct this practice.

3) The sexually repressed Victorians allowed their own fascinations colored their theories, theories which have formed the basis for other scholarship. The Victorians developed and added to what they “knew” from biblical propaganda and Classical authors’ secondary accounts, then emphasized themes of fertility as represented by sexuality.11 In addition, the scholars of this time and into the early twentieth century supported the biblical notions of Canaanite religion as “depraved.”12 Yet we know from primary texts that the Canaanites had a sense of ethics similar to their Israelite and Phoenician descendants.13

4) These ideas on sacred sexuality as applied to ancient Canaanite culture came about before primary texts on Canaanite religion—written records from the rediscovered city of Ugarit—were excavated and translated.14 However, the first translations of these primary texts demonstrate a presupposition of these early concepts and biases. Early translators took into account the theories of sacred sexuality and fertility at the time and fished for evidence to prove the concept, which would verify Classic scholars and the Bible. This is bad scientific theory: one’s hypothesis should not presuppose a foregone conclusion and a scholar should not examine and interpret the evidence with a conclusion in mind.

5) Scholars rely on previous scholarship, and if the previous scholarship is problematic, it is incumbent upon the scholars to examine and resolve the problems. However a good dose of common assumption (the old “everybody knows...” and “it’s common knowledge...” argument) causes these problems to remain unexamined and often unknown. Without reexamination, scholars build on a house of cards. Sacred sex in Canaan has been a common assumption for so long that some scholars don’t bother to footnote where they get this idea, but when it is footnoted it’s from a combination of items 1-4. Any scholar who doesn’t do independent research often must rely on another scholar who likely makes use of items 1-5 and thus she unknowingly perpetuates the same misinformation as do the scholars who come after her.15

What we end up with is circular reasoning and a self-perpetuating historiographical mess.

Elusive Prostitutes and Sacred Marriages: Evidence?
The primary Canaanite material mentions one class of priests that has been labeled as temple prostitutes by later scholarship, and there is one ritual text that if read in a particular fashion is thought to reflect a heiros gamos

The “Sacred Prostitutes”: Qedeshim
There’s a term in Ugaritic which also occurs in Hebrew: q-d-sh (קדש ), most often vocalized as qedesh, qodesh, qadish, or qedesh; also as q-d-sh-m ( קדשם) the qedeshim (Hebrew) or qadishuma (Ugaritic)--the “-im” or “-uma” makes the word plural, the words qedeshah or qadishtu are the feminine singular forms of this word. This term is often translated as “hierodule,” i.e. “sacred prostitute.” The root word, q-d-sh translates as “holy, consecrated” and implies a sense of sacredness, of being set apart, and is used to identify clergy.16 To discredit polytheistic clergy, biblical scribes pair the word qadesh with the word zona, which means “prostitute.”17 Using the terms qadesh and zona together in a poetic technique called parallelism gives the impression that the terms are connected even if they are not: consider President G.W. Bush saying 9-11, Al Qaeda, and Iraq frequently together. The reason for the qadesh = zona equation originates from the biblical notion that a polytheist commits spiritual adultery by worshipping gods other than the chief god of Israel.18

All we know for certain about the qadish-priests comes from Canaanite-Ugaritic primary texts: the qadish-priests sing. They serve as cantors or as the choir, and possibly also as diviners.19 We have musical scores20 left behind from the city of Ugarit so I think it is unlikely that “sing” or “hymn” was a euphemism for sex. Nowhere and in no way do primary texts from Canaan associate qadish-priests with sacred sex.

In Ugaritic texts, the use of the word qadish or qadishuma is always masculine, thus we have no way of knowing whether this word includes females among this clergical class or not. Branching out beyond Canaan and into Mesopotamia, we have some evidence of qadishtu-priestesses: a qadishtu-priestess was of upper class; she could marry or be independent but she was typically disallowed from having children.21 She worked primarily as a midwife.22 A Mesopotamian unmarried naditu-priestess outranked the qadishtu-priestess; the naditu was expected to refrain from sex and she may have lived in a cloister.23 If the qadish-priests were serving in a primary capacity as sexual functionaries, then it’s likely that the scribes would have noted this in a more obvious way, as forthright as the Ugaritans were regarding sex and their deities.

A Sacred Marriage?
One text found amidst a body of about one thousand five hundred and fifty texts, if read with a preconceived assumption of sacred sexuality (see items 1-5 above), may indicate a hieros gamos. The text says: “On the nineteenth day of the month, you are to prepare the bed of Pidray with the king’s bedcovers.” One enigmatic sentence in one text amidst over a thousand texts. The rest of this text concerns to offerings during the month.24

There is no clear indication of what is taking place nor how the activity is carried out. If this is a hieros gamos, is the king having sex with a priestess—even though there is no solid evidence yet of priestesses except perhaps the king’s mother in Canaan?25 Is the sex purely symbolic, such as a Wiccan chalice-and-wand or athame practice? Or is this a practice where the king sleeps in a specially prepared bed to facilitate oracular dreams, and there is no sex either physically or symbolically occurring? We simply know too little to speculate. And to say that this text is solid proof of heiros gamos is to overstate the evidence.

Through Modern Eyes
I think some modern Pagans may forget that not only does sex = pleasure, but also sex = fertility, not just earth/land fertility, but human fertility. It seems some become fixated on the pleasures of sex (understandably so!), or tied to wanting to be and feel sexy. Some folks feel that they are incorporating the fertility aspect by honoring the growth of fields, fruits, and such. It is interesting to note that the theory of sacred sexuality as assuring the fertility of the land came about in the late 19th century CE, and may not have been originally an ancient idea after all.26

But I think some forget about human fertility: man + woman = baby. In the ancient world, birth control methods weren’t as reliable as modern methods, so heterosexual sex often resulted in pregnancy and birth and society would have to face legal and social concerns regarding children born of unions with hierodules.

Adultery was a punishable offense, especially for women, in ancient Near East and Middle East societies.27 Having a baby before marriage wasn’t exactly thought of as ideal, either. We should consider that at least in ancient Israelite culture, a man would be required to marry an unwed woman if he raped her.28 In ancient times, another man may not have wanted to marry a rape victim because he is unsure that a child born is his offspring and not the child of another man. If the unfortunate woman could not find a husband because of rape, she could become destitute because women often relied on their husbands for financial stability. At least having the rapist take care of her financially meant she wouldn’t be poor and starving on the streets, so this was a form of restitution, albeit an imperfect one.

The same rule about marriage likely applies if premarital sex was consensual, also because another man couldn’t be certain that the offspring was his otherwise.29 I think that an ancient Middle Eastern or Near Eastern man might have balked at the idea of nurturing and feeding an heir that wasn’t his own, unless he had no children and chose to adopt.

Some would point out that there was a caste of male hierodules who would have sex with men (these were the qedeshim, as explained above), so sex may not necessarily lead to offspring. As discussed above, the idea of qedeshim as hierodules (male or female) is mistaken. In addition it’s likely few ancient men would have been thrilled at a government-imposed obligation to have sex with the first man who would throw a coin in his lap, either.

If sacred prostitution were widespread and pervasive, legal codes should also demonstrate evidence.30 Law should answer questions such as: What to do with the children born of these unions? How were state orphanages organized, or were there laws requiring a man to adopt a child born of his union with a sacred prostitute (but then again, how would he know it was his child?). Must a husband to adopt the child his wife conceived while she served as a sacred prostitute? If a woman were unmarried, would her father or future husband have to adopt the baby? Would an unmarried woman be able to get married after serving her duties and possibly having a baby, or would she be looked upon no longer as marriageable? Canaanite and Mesopotamian records don’t mention these issues; another argument of silence, but the silence of primary texts is damning enough to cast doubt on a “common” and “widespread” practice. It’s clear that animal sacrifice and honoring moon phases are common Canaanite practices: primary texts document these practices plentifully,31 but there’s nothing about sacred sex.

In conclusion, the evidence and primary texts simply do not support the claims of sacred sex or temple prostitution in ancient Canaan.

Reevaluating Women and Sacred Prostitution in Paganism
It seems that in some circles of modern Pagandom, sacred prostitution is a sacred cow. And in reexamining whether or not sacred prostitution has an ancient precedent, people get as upset as if one brought up the “burning times” issue. Tempers rise and people may start flinging around the label “prude” as venomously as once others flung the label “whore.” That’s still indicative of defining a woman (or a goddess) through her sexuality, and only in two mutually exclusive categories: that has never been healthy. It is even now unhealthy; and it further obscures honest examination of the issue.

The concept of temple prostitution does not sexually liberate women because it continues the emphasis on a woman’s sexuality instead of focusing on a woman as a whole being and her many roles. Indeed, these questions don’t appear nearly as often for men as for women. As Budin concludes, “In the efforts to find a spirituality that values the (female) body and its sexuality, members of the New Age movement (and others) have retrojected this desire onto what is apparently the only comparable ancient institution. And, in so doing, they have completely re-created the myth. Although this recreation may serve positive psychological functions in modern times—several attestations do indicate this—it only serves to hamper the study of the actual ancient evidence.”32

Canaanite Revivalist Community and Sacred Prostitution
As for what I think all this means to the Canaanite religion revivalist/Natib Qadish community, specifically:

I’m suspicious that on occasion some folks seek modern Canaanite religion in hopes that we’ll declare a sexual free-for-all in the glorious name of a mythic past. There’s been too much biased information out there for too long, and I wonder if because of this accidental misinformation or out-right propaganda some people hope that we’re Orgies-R-Us. Some may consider modern Canaanite religion because they want to defy the establishment and their religious roots, Western culture, or authority; and/or want something ancient and religious to legitimize what they already do sexually. In my opinion, changing religion primarily just to rebel doesn’t usually make for a good reason to convert, and neither does sex. If people need a historic religious precedent --i.e. permission--to make natural human decisions about sexuality, then they may not be as disassociated from values they seek to reject.

The evidence for temple prostitution, heiros gamos, and sacred sex in Canaan simply cannot support the fantastical claims, thus sex rites were not likely a part of Canaanite religion and are not a part of modern pagan Canaanite religion today.

Final Thoughts
If people want to have modern sacred sexual rituals without any claim to Canaanite practices, that’s great—whatever shakes their sistrums.

However, modern claims asserting a historic Canaanite precedent for sacred sex are misinformed, claims of a modern Canaanite sexual clergy are misinformed, and claims of enacting Canaanite religious sexual practices are also misinformed. Despite genuineness of any practitioners and the best of motives, any modern sex rite based on “ancient Canaanite religion” is misleading. With all the confusion throughout scholarship, it understandable that these misinterpretations happen and that people are unknowingly misled.

I think we have to entertain the idea that if sacred sex was not occurring in the deities’ ancient temples and religion, then perhaps the deities do not want these practices their modern sacred temple spaces or religious practices. Simply because Bronze Age Canaanite religion has no evidence for temple prostitution or sacred sex doesn’t make sex any less sacred, pleasurable, wonderful, and honored by the deities than it already was and still is.

Endnotes for Orgies-R-Us: Sex, Lies, and Prostitutes in Canaanite Religion
1 Stephanie Budin. The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, USA, 2008, p. 3.
2 Encyclopedia Britannica, Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/265056/hieros-gamos
3 Budin defines three kinds of sacred prostitution, as listed above in the definition of the term “sacred prostitution,” and she concludes that “sacred prostitution never existed in the ancient Near East or Mediterranean.” (p.1)
Although I am not ready to make such a sweeping conclusion based on my limited knowledge, It is my conclusion that there is no evidence that any one of these three categories of sacred prostitution Budin listed existed in ancient Canaanite religion of the Bronze Age as exhibited in primary texts, and in addition to this there is also a lack of evidence of heiros gamos or sacred sex in general in an ancient Canaanite religious context.
4 For a further exploration and refutation of sacred prostitution in other Classical sources such as Lucian, Jeremiah, the Pindar fragment, Strabo, Klearkhos, Justinus, and Valerius Maximus, see Budin, Chapters 5-8.
5 See Budin 287-289 for examining how refuting sacred prostitution was less like through Victorian thought than its acceptance. See also Budin 312-315 for a further treatment on sacred prostitution and scholar James G. Frazer.
6 Jonathan N. Tubb. Canaanites. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 1998, p. 16-17.
7 Hennie J. Marsman, Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their Social and Religious Position in the Context of the Ancient Near East. E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2003, p. 114, 116.
8 Patai, Raphael. The Hebrew Goddess, 3rd Enlarged Edition. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI, 1990, p. 284.
9 Marsman 497-8. Herodotus dismissed as Greek propaganda.
10 Budin 12: “…there were, in fact, no references to sacred prostitution that claimed ‘we’ did it [i.e. primary sources]. Texts and inscriptions that referred to sacred prostitution in the here and now were either mistranslations or misattributions of the reference. (For example, Pindar did not refer to the prostitutes with whom he was drinking as sacred; Athenaios did, some 600 years later. …)”
11 Dever 216-7; Marsman 497-8.
12 Mark S. Smith. The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Volume I: Introduction with Text, Translation and Commentary of KTU 1.1-1.2. E.J. Brill, Leiden, the Netherlands, 1994, p. xxvii.
13 Gregorio del Olmo Lete. Canaanite Religion According to the Liturgical Texts of Ugarit. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, IN, 2004, p. 156, 158.
14 About 1550 Ugaritic texts have been discovered since the first excavations began in the area in 1928: these texts include about 50 poetic literary texts detailing mythology, and the rest concern themselves with ritual, omens, medicine, governmental administration, and scribal exercises. Pierre Bordreuil and Dennis Pardee. A Manual of Ugaritic. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, IN, USA, 2009, p. 9.
15“…the myth of sacred prostitution is quite tendentious, and Mayer Gruber was quite apt in describing it as a computer virus ‘copied from gook to book.’” Budin 17.
16 Stanislav Segert. A Basic Grammar of the Ugaritic Language. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1984, 1997, p. 199.
17 Marsman 497.
18 For a full exploration of the association of zona (whore) with qadish (priest), and an in-depth treatment of polytheistic worship as a form of “adultery” in the Bible, see Budin 35-42.
19 See Dennis Pardee, Ritual and Cult at Ugarit, Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2002, p. 38 for primary source material, see also Pardee 271-272, entries for “qdš” and “sing.” For further treatment of the term qadishtu as used in context in Mesopotamia, see Budin 23-4, for Canaanite and early Israelite context see p. 34-35.For further information, see also Marsman 520.
20 See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBhB9gRnIHE or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZatnTPhYWc or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nECEF--Yw5U for various interpretations of the same musical score of a Hurrian hymn from Ugarit.
21 This priestess role appears in Akkadian and Hebrew texts, but not in Ugaritic. Marsman 520. See also Budin, 23-6.
22 Marsman 501-3.
23 Marsman 501-3. For more information about the Phoenician Kelev, kalbu, kalbim, kelevim, or kalbuma, which mean “dog” or “dogs,” either the zona = kalbu, like the zona = qedesh equation is used in the Bible to discredit them, and/or it is likely that they are simply dogs, see Budin 47. The only time “dog” is mentioned in Ugaritic ritual texts—to my knowledge—is when Yarikh the moon god is likened to a dog in a marzichu text. Yarikh’s actions are clearly described as those of a dog waiting under the table for scraps, and this text takes place outside official temple context, so it cannot reflect a practice of temple prostitution. For this marzichu text, see Pardee, p. 168.
24 Pardee 98. For a further discussion of the Bed of Pidray text as a heiros gamos, or instead equally likely as an oracular rite, see Pardee p. 96-7.
25 Ahlström in Jack Sasson et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1995, p. 586.
26 Budin 328.
27 Budin 32. Sometimes adultery was punishable by death, Marsman 173.
28 Marsman 716.
29 Marsman 83, 462,
30 “The extreme concern shown by the legal documents over the legitimacy and parentage of children strongly argues against the notion that there was an entire potential class of bastards functioning invisibly in Mesopotamian society.”Budin 32.
31See Pardee’s text Ritual and Cult at Ugarit for several examples of offering, animal sacrifice, and monthly celebrations.
32 Budin 333.

The Gods Are Not Your Personal Biatches

2011-03-04T17:50:00.008+02:00

I think most people stumble through life, and religion, as best as we can and usually we do ok. But occasionally I run into a mindset that the deities exist only to help us. I think this mindset is borne not out of malice, but out of accident, misunderstanding, routine, oversight, or lack of deliberation. What an odd notion: the idea of the divine, the mighty and powerful, at our service twenty-four hours a day wanting noting better than to give us everything we want and religion is just a soft-serve self-help service. Excuse me, is that human ego streaking naked and flaming in Times Square?

And then we get angry or frustrated when magic and prayer fail us. Therapeutic religion--engaging in rites and prayers just for our own wellbeing without taking responsibility and without a sense of honor toward the divine--is backwards. This sort of practice elevates us as false gods and denigrates the deities to our personal servants. In an age of “what’s in it for me” it’s ever more important to realize that the world does not revolve around us and the gods are not our personal biatches. Through getting to know our deities, taking personal responsibility, and by making offerings we can establish and nurture our relationships with the deities so that we can be active partners with the divine in our lives.

Magic and/or prayer cannot work well when we fail to establish, acknowledge, and cultivate a relationship with the divine. It makes no sense, and worse it can be seen as rude, to make demands of a divinity without even bothering to get to know the deity’s personality. I would not go up to a wealthy person on the street and demand a couple of hundred-dollar bills to help me pay rent, so why would I even try to pull such a deed with the divine? Calling upon a deity with whom a person has no relationship is like “cold calling.” Worse, it’s like cold-calling royalty. Sometimes a person will get a response, sometimes he won’t, and sometimes he gets a response he didn’t expect or want.

Establishing a relationship with a deity can make all the difference: this way when you call a god, he’ll answer the phone. Relationships strengthen the lines of communication and help a prayer to be heard and heeded. Good communication requires both speaking and listening--take time during daily devotions for a moment of quiet, write down your dreams, pay attention to your conscience, and acknowledge interesting coincidences. Sometimes even snippets of overheard conversations or advertising billboards can bear messages. However, besides prayer and intuition, we must also rely on research.

It is helpful to read up on a deity and the culture from which the deity hails before calling her in ritual, prayer, or magic. By doing so, a person can know whom she’s calling, know what to expect, and know how to demonstrate respect to the deity. Research helps balance intuition: this balance ensures that we are not daydreaming or engaging in self-delusion. This work goes towards forming an alliance, strengthening the deity, and enhancing ritual experience. Forge an alliance with the forces you expect to ally you. When you cultivate this relationship even in the lull times of contentment, relative abundance, and good health, it will greatly help when your needs or the needs of your community are keen.

When you take these extra steps, the pathways in your mind are already established, the relationships are already in place, the lines of communication are open—contact is natural and normal, and therefore more easily made.

In a hectic world, people want a quick fix and we look to prayer for that quick fix. We fall off the bicycle and instead of practicing riding the bicycle so we don’t fall off as often, we want mommy-goddess to kiss the booboo and guide the handlebars--but these expectations hinder our opportunity to learn. By expecting a deity to solve every problem and by neglecting to take personal responsibility for our own affairs or the state of our communities, we stunt our growth as spiritual beings. What’s worse is that many of us expect the gods to micromanage our lives without even a thank-you. We forget that denying personal responsibility and demanding the deities do everything for us actually pushes us into a self-imposed slavery where we deprive ourselves of our own free will. We overlook which part of our situations we are capable of changing. Even as we ask a deity for assistance, we must remember to fix what we can of mistakes or circumstances we’d like to change. In addition to personal responsibility it is important to take responsibility for our communities as well.

Circumstances in ancient times were far from idyllic: life was short and life was hard. To combat this state-of-affairs, people were more community-oriented: giving to the community was less of an altruistic deed and more of a practical deed. Though you helped meet another’s need, one day the need may be your own and the help you gave might very well be the help you receive. Understanding that we are interdependent--not independent, and certainly not co-dependent--helps us to have an appreciation for our roles with other humans and indeed with the deities. It is a holy deed to become the vector through which a deity can act to alleviate suffering.

At least from a Canaanite point-of-view, offerings strengthen a deity’s vital essence and divine power (napshu, "soul, appetite, vitality"). These gifts serve a threefold purpose: they support the relationship between a person and a deity, they bring more strength to the deity so the deity will have more strength to help people who call her; and some gifts can help the deity bring wellbeing to others through your own acts of service and charity. It is a symbiotic relationship.

Offerings can include song; praise; incense; gratitude; good deeds; items given to charity; donations to a blood bank; food left out or buried as offerings; communal feasts in honor of the deities; items or money given for ritual use in a local charity or Pagan group; help or gifts given to mentors, clerics, or priests and priestesses for their hard work; and payment to teachers for their sweat, time, and accumulated knowledge. Make a silent prayer before giving these offerings alerting the deity that you are doing this in her/his honor, for her/his strength and for the good of the community. Even if you don’t think you are getting a response, realize that this activity is still beneficial: again, the blessings you give may one day be the blessings you receive, and you are starting a cycle of wellbeing. Instead of complaining that the world is in a terrible state, you are doing something to make the world right.

To have a better relationship with the deities, cultivate communication and interaction with the deity on a daily basis, make the time to get to know that deity through study and prayer, take responsibility for your life and your community, and make offerings through words and deeds.

A Holiday Procession

2010-12-15T00:04:00.006+02:00

Like many folks I hold on to autumn’s wealthy golds and lava oranges until the very last minute, and I deplore encroachment of the red and green season before Thanksgiving has passed. So in the late autumn, I grit my teeth and squint my eyes shut every time anything whiffs of evergreen or plum pudding. I get in the habit of gritting and squinting, even when the time for embracing winter holiday cheer has come. And I’m just not ready this year. After moving recently, the house still needs organizing. The last thing I want to do after putting everything away is getting all the holiday baubles out…and cards…and--uh oh!--gifts. I hope I remember where I put that stash of gifts I’ve collected over the year, but there’s still shopping left to do. Lo, internet and postal service, you are my friends.

After two years I have my household goods back: they’d been stuck in storage for a couple of years while I’ve been living in furnished apartments. You never know how much you miss your stuff--no matter how humble it is--until you’ve gone without it. The moving van didn’t need a large bow, and the packing tape made a perfect gift wrap. If someone sends me a fruitcake brick I can use as a doorstop, I couldn’t be more delighted. As it is, I do feel frazzled more than usual for the season.
So mentally, I shall take a step back and imagine myself sipping hot mulled wine…shall I pour you a mug, too? There. That’s better.

So what should I do for Aru this year? ‘Ashuru Ari is the holiday I celebrate at this time of year; it’s a modern version of an ancient Canaanite celebration. In the Bronze Age, the celebration involved making tithes to the community and to the temple in the form of offerings to the deities, and it included the procession of the goddess ‘Athtartu (in later times, her Greek name is Astarte). ‘Athtartu’s procession would lead from the countryside into the city’s center—perhaps to a temple or the palace. As part of a modern tradition, I like to light candles one each day for seven days starting at solstice to honor the return of Shapshu, the sun goddess, from the underworld.

My arched rainbow candelabra survived the move—an Aru tradition in my family for about five years now; I’ll light candles starting at the solstice. And as for a tithe, there’s nothing like a move for sorting what to keep and what to share with others; and other charitable organizations will benefit from my work editing an anthology in honor of Near and Middle Eastern deities. I’m thankful that my deities have a permanent altar again and I will have the opportunity to honor this occasion with a procession.

I’ll take images of the deities outside then symbolically bring them into the home and seat them at their shrine. I can think of no better way to honor the season than by taking a moment to usher the divine and the spirits of goodwill, peace and hope into the home and into my heart and liver. (The Canaanites saw the liver as housing emotion, while the heart housed the mind.) I hope you get the chance to do the same this season, no matter which holiday you celebrate.

A joyous season of light and abundance to you!

In the Queen’s Hands: Athirat, Goddess of Creation

2010-11-30T22:59:00.010+02:00

A bare-chested woman graces a three-thousand five-hundred year-old ivory jar lid. Her full pleated skirt decorated with a riot of stripes and zigzags swirls about bare feet. Thick ringlets escape her coiffure and tantalizingly caress her shoulders. She holds her arms aloft, full of dignity and authority: in her hands she offers life-giving sustenance. On either side of her stands an ibex, elegant goat-like animals, their horns crescent and curving. The woman embodies confidence and wisdom. She is Athirat, the Queen of Heaven.

The goddess Athirat hails from the ancient Near East, specifically Canaan. Although often associated with the Bible, the Canaanites were the indigenous people living in the area of Syria-Palestine before four thousand four-hundred years ago to three thousand two-hundred years ago. When the area underwent a Dark Age—a collapse that affected Greece, Crete, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Turkey—Canaanite culture split into the polytheistic Phoenicians and the emerging monotheistic Israelites.1

For a long time, scholars shoved Athirat into the shadows of her consort, Ilu (also known as El). However, neither Ilu nor Athirat’s relationship with Ilu define her: Athirat has her own separate dwelling and does not share a house with Ilu, which demonstrates her autonomy.2 Even deities who are not biologically her children still abide by her decisions and respect her judgment—therefore they call her “mother.” The literary texts found at Ras Shamra (Ugarit) in 1928 share with us these stories of the Canaanite deities.3 Scribes wrote the tablets around 1500-1200 BCE4 and perhaps transcribed the tales from earlier oral tradition.5

In the Ba’al Epic, we see Athirat as responsible for securing Ba’al’s kingship. Mot, god of death and drought, and Yamm, god of river and sea, war against Ba’al, god of rainstorms for dominion over the earth. Eventually Ba’al and his life-giving rain wins, but the strength of the other two gods ensures that Ba’al’s position remains tentative.6 For Ba’al to establish himself, he must construct his own home.7 Without this symbol, he has no real authority. Ba’al convinces his loyal friend, ‘Anat, the adolescent warrior goddess, to ask Ilu’s permission for building the palace. ‘Anat threatens to attack Ilu and make his beard run with his own blood, but to no avail. She and Ba’al realize that the only way they get permission is if Athirat speaks to Ilu on their behalf.

They bring the formidable goddess peace offerings. Athirat, who has an ambivalent history with Ba’al, finally sides with him and thus ensures his blessed rains upon the earth instead of flood or drought. Athirat’s servants prepare her donkey for travel: a royal method of transportation.8 Upon arriving, Ilu lavishes his consort with hospitality, but Athirat foregoes his courtesies and convinces him to authorize Ba’al’s palace.9

Our Lady in Canaanite literature concerns herself with fairness and righteousness. In another episode, King Kirtu seeks Ilu’s assistance to preserve his legacy and recreate a family: Ilu grants him a dream, instructing what he must do. Diverting from Ilu’s directions, Kirtu stops at a temple of Athirat, and promises her silver and gold for her blessings. She gives her blessing, but the king forgets his promise for seven years.10 Finally, Athirat strikes him with a grave illness for his broken vow. Not one of the deities will assist Ilu in curing the man; such is the power and influence of Athirat.11

Scholars translate her epithet rabatu Athiratu yami as “Great Lady Athirat of the Sea.” This does not necessarily mean that she is an ocean goddess, but may imply that she spends time by the sea or it may demonstrate that she is Yamm the sea god’s mother. One scholar has translated the epithet to mean “Great Lady Athirat of the Day,”12 tentatively connecting Athirat to sunlight, daytime, or perhaps as a creatress of days. Ilu is the Father of Years; it would be fitting to envision Athirat as the Mother of Days.

We can understand Athirat’s character through examining her actions in Canaanite literature. In the Ba‘al Epic, Athirat works at her chores: laundry, cooking, felting, tending a dye pot, or spinning thread with her spindle. One scholar translates the work as plaiting or looping thread in a method predating knitting,13 rather like Norse nällbinding, or sprang—needlework techniques used across the globe by Germanic, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, Mediterranean, and South American cultures. Although she is a queen goddess, as an example to goddesses and humans alike, Athirat maintains her mundane as well as cosmic responsibilities.

Ancient tales describe Athirat as the qaniyatu ‘ilima, the creatress14 of the deities, or even the “owner”15 of the cosmos. We can extend this idea to contemplate Athirat as the creatress of earthly and celestial order. Her seventy children, biological and non-biological, include Yamm; Mot; Shachar and Shalim, the twin gods Dawn and Dusk; ‘Anat, war goddess; Yarikh, lunar god; Shapshu, solar goddess; Kathir-wa-Khasis, god of craftsmanship and magic; Gapn and Ugar, Vineyard and Field; Rashap, god of plague and healing; and Choron, god of treaties and curses. Thus without Athirat and her children, earth would not have dusk, dawn, river, death, war, moon, sun, crafting, fields, vineyards, plague and healing, or treaties.

Qadish, another epithet, embodies multiple ideas, but pre-biblically qadish meant sacred and resplendent.16 Her title ilatu, or elat, means “goddess.”17 She is the Goddess of all goddesses, the supreme authority: the standard to which all measure.

Athirat was a guiding force for the early Israelites as a consort of Yahweh.18 The Bible and Israelite inscriptions, call her Asherah. Her symbols include an upright pole and small votive goddess figures, many of which were made of oak19 or clay. One Israelite inscription links her to the symbol of the palm of the hand20 as a sign of divine protection and abundance. Much to the chagrin of the dedicated monotheists, her image often shared the same temple as Yahweh.21 Wispy memories of Athirat have lasted even until today. Mary, mother of Jesus, demonstrates not just vestiges of the feminine divine in Christianity, but hearkens back to an earlier day. Perhaps in a way, Asherah still shares the altar with Yahweh.

Below is a list of animals, herbs, stones, colors, symbols, and sacred places associated with Athirat, as well as a prayer and a couple of recipes. Perhaps in cultivating a relationship with her, we learn, know, and honor more about ourselves and the magnificent cosmos that surround us.

Associations

Animals
• Fish: One of her servants is known as “The Fisherman.”22
• Lioness: Egyptian Hathor, and Hathor’s dark counterpart Sekhmet, or the Arabian goddess Al-Lat,23 as well as the Levantine goddess Qudshu. If Athirat is connected to these goddesses, she may share a link to the lioness. Lionesses are known as the primary hunters of the pride, fierce, loyal, and nurturing to their young.
• Snake: Since Athirat may be part of the Goddess identified as Qudshu (possibly a conglomerate of Athirat, Athtart, and Anat), she is associated with snakes. A biblical association of snake to the tree of knowledge—often linked to Athirat—could indicate a connection.
• Ibex: This association is seen in the ancient ivory lid from Ugarit, modern-day Ras Shamra in Syria. The ibex is an elegant goat-like animal with magnificent curving horns; they represent trusting in divine providence.
• Donkey: Athirat uses a donkey for transportation. Mother Mary of Christian tradition likewise travels by donkey to Bethlehem before she bears her son Jesus. Instead of symbolizing humility, the donkey symbolizes royalty and power.

Herbs and Plants
• Date Palm: This symbol reflects Athirat’s role as tree of life and knowledge, and demonstrates her nurturing qualities. From date-palms, the Canaanites received wine, fruit, shelter, sweetener, and fibers; date palms must always grow near some reliable source of rainfall or water, and thus they indicate oases in the desert.
• Oak: This tree is associated with Athirat in Israelite times. Ancient hands carved her small votive statues from oak24 or almond wood.25
• Myrrh: Although not strictly related to Athirat, the Canaanites highly prized an anointing oil made of olive oil infused with myrrh26 Both healers and clergy used myrrh to care for the physical and spiritual needs of those they served.
• Lily: Images from Canaan and Egypt depict the goddess Qudshu standing atop a lion, and holding lotuses or lilies. Lily is associated with Mother Mary in Christian tradition. Mary and Qudshu have tentative links to Athirat.
• Rose: This is a modern association. As Athirat often reflects the feminine divine, I often associate her with roses, preferably light colored roses.
• Henna: The ancient Canaanites painted themselves with henna before sacred rituals, and thus henna is associated with sacredness and the deities.

Stones
• Petrified Wood: This is a modern association stemming from Athirat’s connection to trees.
• Turquoise: If Athirat is associated with the Egyptian Goddess Hathor, or the Arabian Al-Lat, then she is also connected with turquoise.27
• Malachite: In ancient times, malachite may have been ground and used as a cosmetic. The ancient Egyptians used malachite in making green eye-shadow,28 although I advise against this use today—modern green eye shadow is safer to use. This modern association reminds me of Athirat’s qualities as qadish holy and beautiful.
• Gold: This modern association reminds me of Athirat’s power, wealth, abundance, and queenship.

Colors
• Purple: This color is associated with ancient Canaan and its daughter culture the Phoenicians. They made a purple dye from murex,29 a shellfish. This color was so beautiful and desirable that it became prohibitively expensive: only royalty and the very wealthy could afford it. The color suits a queen. This same dye was available not just in purple, but in deep blue violet and vivid red violet.
• Gold: Although this is a modern association of Athirat, the color represents her wealth, and royalty. Many statues of Canaanite deities were plated with gold.
• Blue: This is a modern association; as it is seen so often on Mary, the feminine divine of the Christian tradition, but it may extend from the connection to turquoise.

Symbols
• Tree of Life and Knowledge: In her posture on the lid found at Ugarit, she appears to represent a life-giving tree; however, Athirat is also known for her great wisdom. Thus I see her as the tree of life and knowledge.30
• Palm of Hand: The hand as a symbol of protection has been around a long time in the Near and Middle East and parts of Northern Africa as the hamsa and the Hand of Fatima. Athirat’s protective hand is associated with the symbol of the palm of the hand.31 In modern Canaanite practice, some adherents call this symbol a kappu.
• Pole: Because of Athirat’s association with Asherah, a wooden pole may be one of her symbols. Asherah’s name means “straight” and “upright” and she was often associated with a wooden pole.32

Sacred Places
• Grove of Trees: Athirat might be associated with worship in groves of trees,33 especially in Israelite times in the Iron Age.
• Sea Shores: This is a modern association. I associate shores as a sacred place to Athirat because mythology portrays her as working near the shore.
• Temples: In Bronze Age Ugarit, she was probably most often venerated in a temple or a temple courtyard setting. Temples would have a small foyer which would lead to a larger inner sanctuary—a “holy of holies—where statues of the deities would be house in a niche in the far wall with benches in front to receive offerings.

Prayer to Athirat for Wellbeing34
Give well-being, O Mother and the Deities,
Yea give well-being, give well-being,
O Athirat and the Gracious Gods.

Recipes
Note: Before using any herb or essential oil, do your research first to make sure that it is safe for the use you intend, and whenever in doubt consult a qualified medical professional.

Athirat’s Splendor: Bath Salts
• 2 cups of Epsom salt, mineral salts, or Dead Sea salts; or a mixture of all three
• Cedar essential oil, 12 drops
• Cistus/rock rose/labdanum essential oil, 12 drops*
• Myrrh or opopanax oil, 7 drops
• Lavender essential oil, 7 drops (optional)
Start adding the drops of essential oils to the salts one or two drops of each scent at a time, adding more or less of each as the scent and the strength of the scent suits you. Add a half cup or a full cup of salt mixture to warm bath. If you would like to, you can also add a fourth to a half cup of rose water to your bath. As you bathe, contemplate Athirat’s mysteries and chant a prayer to her.
*If cistus essential oil is too costly or difficult to obtain, consider using a high-quality lotus, lily, or rose fragrance oil.

Woman of Valor, a Near Eastern-Style Anointing Oil
• Oil of myrrh or opopanax, 7 drops
• Cedar essential oil, 5 drops
• Labdanum essential oil, 4 drops
• 2 T olive oil
Add drops of essential oil to olive oil, one drop at a time, adding more or less of each as the scent suits you. Store in a dark glass container in a cool, dark place. Anoint yourself, your sacred space, or the doorposts of your home with this oil.

Spirit Unfurled, “Imported” Kemet-styled Cologne (Egypt)35
• Ground Frankincense Resin, 1 teaspoon
• Ground Myrrh Resin, ½ teaspoon
• Ground Cinnamon, ½ teaspoon
• Sweet red wine, 1 teaspoon (optional)
• Lotus Absolute or a high quality fragrance oil, 7 drops (optional)
Blend myrrh, frankincense, cinnamon, and wine: let steep for seven days, starting with Sunday. When next Saturday comes, blend the wine, resin, and cinnamon mixture to a carrier oil such as olive oil or sesame oil, or a modern carrier such as almond oil and apply very low heat until the herbs and wine infuse the oil: the oil will cease bubbling when the wine has finished infusing. Filter the oil if desired and decant into a dark glass bottle. Add lotus if desired, one drop at a time until you reach the strength you like.
Alternatively, you can blend 14 drops of frankincense essential oil, 7 drops of myrrh essential oil, 1 drops of cinnamon essential oil (this can burn your skin, so be cautious) into ¼ c of carrier oil, then add lotus scent and wine or cognac essential oil if desired. Store in a dark glass container in a cool, dark place.

BIO
A Canaanite Pagan (Natib Qadish) for twelve years, Tess Dawson leads the largest online Canaanite group, gives workshops and rituals, and networks with Near Eastern and Mediterranean Pagans. Her book, Whisper of Stone: Natib Qadish, Modern Canaanite Religion was published in 2009. In 2010, she became an ordained minister through ULC. She has practiced dream interpretation for two decades, paganism for sixteen years, and Reiki for twelve years. She has her B.A. in Anthropology. Tess writes for Witches & Pagans, SageWoman, Pentacle, and more. Currently, she's editing a Near and Middle Eastern devotional anthology entitled Anointed. She resides in the U.S. with a wonderful hubby and a sexy-ugly sock creature named Jans.
Visit her at: http://canaanitepath.com/
or at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whisper-of-Stone-Natib-Qadish-Modern-Canaanite-Religion/108339231027
or join the online group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canaanitepaganism/

Endnotes
1 Jonathan N. Tubb, The Canaanites, The Trustees of the British Museum, 1998, p.16.
2 Handy, Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy, p. 92.
3 Simon Parker, Ed., Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, Society of Biblical Literature, U.S.A., 1997, p. 1.
4 Parker, Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, p. 1
5 J.C.L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends, T. & T. Clark, Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland, 1977, p. 1.
6 Smith, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Volume I, p. 104.
7 Smith, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Volume I, p. 361.
8 Parker, Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, p. 125.
Whiting, Robert M. “Amorite Tribes and Nations of Second-Millennium Western Asia” in Jack Sasson et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1995, p. 1240.
Tilde Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, Sheffield Academic Press, England, 1997, p. 74.
9 Handy, Among the Host of Heaven, p. 83.
10 Parker, Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, p. 26.
11 Parker, Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, p. 38.
12 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 43.
13 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 68.
14 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 50
15 Handy, Among the Host of Heaven, p. 76.
16 Jacob Rabinowitz, The Faces of God: Canaanite Mythology as Hebrew Theology, Spring Publications, Woodstock, CT, 1998, p. 34.
17 Smith, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Volume I, p. 295.
18 Handy, Among the Host of Heaven, p. 74.
19 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 135.
20 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 100.
21 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 116.
22 Tubb, The Canaanites, p. 68.
23 Lilinah Biti-Anat, Qadash Kinahnu: A Canaanite/Phoenician Temple
http://hub.webring.org/hub/natibqadishwebr1
24 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 135.
25 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 141.
26 Dennis Pardee, Ritual and Cult at Ugarit, Society of Biblical Literature, U.S.A., 2002, p. 63.
27 Kent R.Weeks, “Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health in Ancient Egypt” in Jack Sasson et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1995, p. 1796.
28 Weeks, “Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health in Ancient Egypt,” p. 1796.
29 Tubb, The Canaanites, p. 59.
30 Rabinowitz, The Faces of God, p. 83, 86.
31 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 100.
32 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 141.
33 Binger, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel, and the Old Testament, p. 130.
34 Pardee, Ritual and Cult at Ugarit, based upon a prayer on p. 151, and translated into the language of Ugaritic.
35 Geraldine Pinch. “Private Life in Ancient Egypt” in Jack Sasson et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1995, p. 368.

Chupacabra Lip Balm

2010-01-19T20:54:00.004+02:00

Like every winter, I found myself in desperate need of lip balm. While I was at the natural foods grocery store, I looked at all the marvelous lip balms available. My eyes rested on a burnt orange sign that read, “Avoid excess, embrace simplicity.” The sign directed viewers to a lip balm which was $8.95 a stick.

I began to wonder what in the world could make this lip balm any better than the others. I speculated that perhaps the ingredients were hand-picked by orphans in an undisclosed South American country. They collect the ingredients along a ley line during a lunar eclipse at a full moon during a saint’s holiday on a leap year, and lead the ingredients out of the mountains on specially blessed albino llamas. And each stick must have a half of a drop of real chupacabra blood in it. Virgins--male and female--blend the ingredients, roll the mixture by hand and shove it into tubes made of recycled Easter grass.

Their marketing team might have done well to reconsider the “avoid excess” angle. I ended up with something less than half what that stick costs, all natural, piña colada flavored with real coconut oil--and no chupacabra blood: I have to say that my lips feel quite silky just the same.

WWE: World Wrestling Entertainment…or World Wrestling in Egypt?

2010-01-13T17:56:00.004+02:00

As in my previous post, I spent an enjoyable Saturday winding through the venerated halls of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I spent most of my time gawking at the Egyptian artifacts.

Imagine my surprise when I turned a corner, and ran right into a god-like statue of…Vincent Kennedy McMahon. For those of you not in the know--I’m assuming you don’t have men in your life who watch wrestling--Vince McMahon is the CEO of the WWE. He is brash and unscrupulous; he has no problem getting in the ring and bashing wrestlers emotionally…and with chairs. Much of his bravado has to do with providing a good show, but I’ve often wondered how much of his foul attitude and god-complex follow him home from the job.

When my husband has wrestling on the TV and we sit together on the couch, we often have the same verbal exchange:

Me: “You know, dear, I’m pretty sure Vince is going to hell.”
Dear Hubby: “Yep.”
Me: “How much of his on-screen character is really him?”
Dear Hubby, who reads much about the WWE: “Pretty much all of it.”

I’m generally not in the habit of condemning anyone to hell, and in Vince’s case I see it less as a condemnation and more of an honest assessment. If you can think of a rotten idea for a story line, he’s exploited it: necromancy, incest, making fun of the handicapped, making fun of little people and throwing them into the ring, racial stereotypes, and more. What’s scarier still is that I’ve watched enough to know examples of each theme I’ve listed. Well, at least it makes for a good time knitting, although I end up feeling like an old lady who’s brought her handiwork to fuss with while watching the executions at Madame la Guillotine.

But that day as I strolled the venerated halls of the museum, he was where I least expected him: chiseled in stone, wearing a kilt and a crown, with bare chest, and square jaw, a god-king carefully wrought in an Egyptian-Roman style waiting coldly in the center of the room for offerings and worship. For a split second, I thought this was some kind of a joke. My husband also stopped short. We looked at each other and looked back at the statue.

Me: “Are you seeing what I’m seeing? It looks like Vince McMahon!”
Dear Hubby: “I was just thinking the same thing.”

I know that the real life Vince McMahon would probably appreciate the comparison.

If we can believe in reincarnation, and if we can believe that we keep something of ourselves—sometimes including physical characteristics—into the next life, seeing Vince McMahon as an Egyptian god-king explains a lot. It’s really not much different than how he may perceive himself currently, at the helm of a successful, if cutthroat (literally), business. As an afterthought, I wish I would have taken the time to write down the name of the king…

Reincarnation--ha! The truth is out. McMahon is probably an immortal. He probably gets the ring blessed with holy water so that when he goes into it, no other immortal can fight him. I wonder how long before Duncan McLeod of the Clan MacLeod will take his head?

Museum/Mausoleum

2010-01-12T18:20:00.007+02:00

Museums are mausoleums. A mausoleum houses the dead; a museum houses mummies and other members of our venerated dead; thus a museum is a type of mausoleum.

I spent a lovely Saturday delving into all things Egyptian at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I marveled at the fine model boats the ancients had jammed into Governor Djehutynakht’s tomb. I coveted the fine bracelets of gold, carnelian, and faience. I contemplated the healing amulet of Horus’s two straight fingers. I gazed deeply into each lapis-lined eye.

And I found myself disturbed by the attitude of some visitors.

In my experience, a funeral or a visitation rite is usually a solemn occasion unless the deceased, before dying, requested a celebration. Why is it, then, that sometimes people forget that mummies in museums are really the remains of once-living people?

I have mixed thoughts when it comes to studying the dead. Anthropology fascinates me, and I know how much we stand to learn from the dead through scientific studies: medicine, diseases, genetics, technology, burial rituals, average diet, local flora and fauna, textile sciences, stone carving, wood working, metalworking, social structure, just to name a few. Having the dead on display gives the average layman an opportunity she otherwise might not have to come into contact with the past and actually see in living color clues to ancient civilizations. Without this opportunity, she must always rely on scientists to dole out one dry fact after another in their unapproachable jargon and conflicting hypotheses.

However, I cringe when I see the dead disrespected by folks who don’t make the connection that in front of them lies someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s father or uncle, someone’s husband. I understand why some people are angry at having their dead in museums, displayed as curios for bored thoughtless people on a rainy day.

Giving the dead back is one solution, but I would lament the lost opportunities for scholars to understand more, especially with the advances in modern technology. I would mourn the lost opportunities the average person to learn more, and the lost opportunities to inspire the young to study anthropology, archaeology, and history.

Perhaps the best most of us can do right now is to make a conscious effort to be mindful of the dead lying there behind the plexiglass. They are eternal. We are not.