Well, I agree that patriarchy must have started in earnest as men started organizing the state as a macro level, which culminated with the killing of the Great Mother Goddess Tiamat by city-bred Marduk ... snif Thus, the roots for it may already be found in Sumer ... buahhhhh
Now, Jacobsen also says that Inanna is the Lady of the Storehouse, Nisaba the Lady of Grain and Master Scribe, who will be then absorbed by Nabu in Babylon and Assyria.
Thus, I donīt think Inanna would object to the plow, as Dubsar pointed out, I add... because according to Jacobsen She blessed the storehouse and commanded all Her Shepherd kings to manage them well for the people
Isnīt it great to have all these questions and the guts to find out our own answers based on the right sources????
And ask questions and wonder about all back again?
Sorry for not being more scholarly. Have had a day of stomach ache (my fault) and am here just to say hello. Have healed.
Just wanted to post of my pleasure of seeing such great questions and answers!!!
Ainīt we great??? Yeahhhhh!
going to bed again,
to wake up at the usual time,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Poor Tiamat (no relative of Inanna)
Hi, Lishtar. Glad you are feeling better. I still suspect that Marduk's execution of Tiamat is a second (or first) millennium religious concept brought in by Amorites or Babylonians. It is likely to have no roots in Sumer of the third, fourth, or fifth millennia BCE. What is the earliest reference to Tiamat or Marduk that you have seen? Do Sumerian gods order the execution of Sumerian goddesses? Isn't Ninlil's punishment of Enlil or Inanna's punishment of Dumuzi very different from the Amorite or Babylonian perspective? Silim!
Re: Poor Tiamat (no relative of Inanna)
Agree totally with you. I have not found any reference in myths from Sumer of Gods commanding the killing of Goddesses. Have yet to study the strange Theogony of Dunny, which is a later work.
However, it is interesting to comment that as cities were being built (arrival of the Sumerians and their ideals of citylife and civilization?), gods and goddesses (or godwomen) seemed to work in more harmony in the pantheon than in later Assyrian and Babylonian times... when Sumer had disappeared, only the old teachings and myths had survived. This is just an educated guess, but makes sense.
I suspect the state rose because of the centralization needed to withstand the invasions.
The interesting thing is that myths normally encompass thousands of years in a few lines. So in the Enuma Elish, first part, we may have about a couple of thousand years abstracted in the first lines, when younger Ea defeats Apsu and Tiamat as a younger mother protected her offspring which was growing up. Later, when She is older, Tiamat rose to avenge Her husbandīs death. These are some points I will mention in the coming post in the Gendered Old Age in Mesopotamia thread. In the first part, Ea is young and strong, and then he becomes depressed and unable to respond to Tiamat and fight her. Another interesting point is that goddesses decrease in importance, Ishtar rises. The same happened to Isis in Egypt, and even with Mary in the Middle Ages. Mariology was responsible for the appeal to Xtianity, She also working as a Bridge to the Gods, but never as a Goddess. hmm... I never mention post-Meso, but this is an interesting parallel to establish.
I try to give the respect to post-Mesopotamians... which they never gave us. In this board at least, we try hard not to make the same mistakes others did to us...
Dubsar errr... hmm... Melissa and I are ... feminists but not fundamentalists. We canīt resist looking at the roots and sources of patriarchy in old texts. But we have looooooooots and loooooooots of common sense and are a bit scholarly... at least we try to!!!
It is great to have you and Frank to say "hang on, this is not exactly so!" as we go along...
And we will keep giving you some spice as well. In the end, feminist Assyriologists are trying to make sense of the role of women in ANE. And we are trying to make sense of this all too!
Thanks for the great posts and great replies!
best,
Lishtar
PS: Will start babysitting my niece and nephew while my bro and sis-in-law are in Spain. It is going to be hectic but great fun too! And surely will keep an eye in our board as well! 10 days of reading literature, Harry Potter style and little girls who luv fairies... and homeworks for school
I donīt need to EDUCATE them.
What is a cute magickal auntie for?
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Defining the Non-maternal dynamic feminine(2)
Thirdly, while Her predecessor Goddesses in Mesopotamia represented women in society and the home-related arts of civilization, such as healing (Bau and Gula), home administrators and managers (Ninlil), beer-brewing (Ninkasi), weaving cloth (Uttu), learning (Nisaba), etc. (Frymer-Kensky, 1992), Inanna shares with the Great Gods of Mesopotamia the astral aspect not present in the Great Goddesses, the radiant Morning and Evening Star, whose cult can be traced from archaeological records back from some of the oldest texts in of the Uruk IV, as shown by
Szarzynska (2000). The astral character of the Morning and Evening Star shows from the earliest records that Inannaīs/Ishtarīs powers are therefore as immanent as transcendent, thus Her being the Goddess of Love and Destruction/War, war/destruction here being understood as the absolute lack of fertility and fruition in all levels and spheres. Inannaīs astral character is so important that in some ancient texts She is referred to as the consort of Anu, the Skyfather and Chief God of the Mesopotamian pantheon through the millennia, and HerSelf together with Anu shared the main precinct of the holiest temple of Uruk, the Eanna. It also strengthens Her image as the Bridge to the Gods, the beloved Consort to kings and a brilliant archetype for normal women to follow.
Fourthly, Inanna/Ishtar shows extreme vulnerability from the position of strength and non-victim. When She is raped by Shukaletuda, the gardener, Inanna licks Her wounds and sets off to find the rapist and submit him to Her justice. Inanna/Ishtar also bows to the designs of the Underworld, and confronts Her double in the Agushaya Hymn without asking for help to be rescued.
We turn now to the literature, to scholar Gebhard J. Selz (2000), who wrote about Inanna quoting B. Gronemberg (1984:45) "Inanna/Ishtar perhaps remained so important because her most salient aspect was not that of a mother goddess"... and Selz continues:
' Indeed, a goddess of such overwhelming sexual prowess, who excels in battle and strife, and who probably controlled animal fertility, was a more enthralling concept that the magna mater of old" ... "beyond that, I suspect that it was her bi-polarity, her ambivalence, the fact that she encompassed contradictions and reconciled opposites, that appealed to so many people"...
Summing up, Inanna/Ishtar as the Dynamic Non-Maternal Feminine stands first as Her Own liberated and liberating Self and second not in opposition to the Great Mother archetype. Indeed, Inanna/Ishtar is a natural development for the Great Mother archetypal Self, conceived at the divine level by the Mesopotamians, but not fully actualized in society. She stands as the liberated version of the feminine power to generate life not from the womb, but from the domain of the spirit, ideas and deeds. Biological life from the womb through infancy is the domain of the Great Mother Goddesses. Inanna/Ishtar represents the blossoming of the inner life in connection, as we learn about love, physical and spiritual, to ensoul the outer life. Her High vision is the Spirit of Adventure and Drive to pursue our ideas and deals. Her counterpoint/unbalanced opposite is the absolute lack of Love and fruition symbolized by the destruction of war. She brings with Her Joy, Drive and boundless Energy, or the Life of the Spirit that comes to us, as we leave infancy of the spirit, mind body and soul, the moment we stand on our feet to decide and take control of our destinies now and beyond.
The human garment of the Dynamic Non-Maternal Feminine that stands out from the records is the figure of Enheduanna, the first known author in world literature, High Priestess of Nanna/Sin at Ur, daughter of Sargon, the Akkadian, the military genius and king who unified South and Central Mesopotamia for the first time as na empire ca. 2,300 BCE. Her Temple Hymns and poetry dedicated to Inanna are masterworks in style and creative effort. Not surprisingly, she wrote all her great poems to Inanna. Human priestess and Goddess were One with each other, and Enheduanna embodied the archetype of a high-born educated woman with spiritual and secular authority.
But Enheduanna was not alone. Sumerologist W.W. Hallo says that "she stands in along tradition of princely women of Sumer who enriched Sumerian literature with their creative talents". Religious authority is still denied to women in many of the great religions of our 21st century. In Sumer, this was not so, and after Enheduanna, for at least 500 years, the post of High Priestess of Ur was occupied by a royal princess. Thus, Enheduanna was not the shining exception, but the one who started a tradition that granted authority and power to women. An ideal yet to be achieved in our modern times.
Intend to expand on this for Gateways, but had to maintain a composed and soberer language for Helsinki.
Next, will skip the part on the Liberated and Liberating Goddess and will go straigth to the phases of the individuation process and the cycle of Inanna. All of them, fully referenced!
This is a first as well.
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
3. Cycle of Inanna/Ishtar and Individuation
In accordance with the stages of the Individuation process discussed above, we can identify the following steps towards individuation in the cycle of Inanna:
1. Inanna/Ishtar and the Hulupu Tree - the young goddess wants Her Throne and Bed, which in psychological terms can be understood as a young girlīs quest for Inner Sovereignty as the queen of the land and as the Beloved at the emotional level. At this stage Inanna/Ishtar is searching for her full inner potential; we can also say that in the subsequent myth in the cycle according to Wolkstein and Kramer (1983), called Inanna and Enki or Inanna and the Me, it is when Inanna achieves outer sovereignty in the eyes of the people of the land, when she acquires the Measures of Heaven and Earth from Enki in Eridu, fights to protect them and on arrival back to her city, shares the measures freely to her people in Uruk;
2. Ishtar and Saltu and the Descent of Inanna/Ishtar - Recognition and integration of Shadow - In Ishtar and Saltu or the Agushaya Hymn we have Ishtar fighting a battle for inner balance with Her double, the uncontrollable belligerant Saltu, created by Ea to appease the ferocious ways of the martial goddess. Saltu graciously concedes defeat to the True Self of the young goddess in the end. The motive of confrontation with the Dark Self is also seen in the myth of the Descent to the Underworld, when Inanna/Ishtar confronts Ereshkigal, the Great Goddess of the Underworld, and again is helped to return back to the world of the Living through Enkiīs/Eaīs intercession. Last but not least, another remarkable feature of Ea and Saltu which has been overlooked in the literature is that Ishtar fights rebellious and belligerent Saltu using Her own strength, although Ea/Enki in both the Descent and in the Agushaya Hymn has a fundamental role to play.
3. Redemption of the collective shadow both in the myth of Ishtar and Saltu and in the Descent to the Underworld. In Ishtar and Saltu, after Ishtar defeated Her belligerant double, Ea in his Wisdom institutes a festival where Ishtar as the fierce Warrior will be from then on celebrated. In other words, we can say that Ea creates the Festival of Agushaya to make the community aware of their own shadow by liberating the group energy not as war, but as a series of dances, within the festivities of sacred events which involved the enactment of the victory of Ishtar over Saltu. The Descent to the Underworld also has the redeeming aspect that both Inanna/Ishtar, Dumuzi/Tammuz and Geshtinanna, Dumuziīs/Tammuzīs sister, face the trials of the depths for us all. Moreover, as they return from the Depths Below every year, Inanna/Ishtar, Dumuzi/Tammuz and Geshtinanna bring back hope and renewal to the land.They descend and ascend for all of us.
4. The Cycle of Inanna and Dumuzi - recognition of the inspiring figures and motives that shape up oneīs life and integration of these values into oneīs life. Inanna is the sexual joy of the cosmos (hi-li), the goddess who brings the joy of life to humankind, the Beloved and empowerer of the kings of the land. As the Quintessential Beloved, She is the Bridge to the gods, because to transcend oneīs limitis is to expand oneīs possibilities, it is to to live our own humanity as wholer human beings. In this aspect, Inanna is the Guide of Souls, infinitely more interesting and integrated than Hermes/Mercury, the god of alchemical transmutations of Classical Alchemy. But Inanna/Ishtar came first and She is no trickster. However, as a demanding Beloved, She will "pester, insult, deride" to encourage positive action because "... and to venerate - is your domain, Inanna" as well as
" Downheartedness, calamity, heartache - and joy and good cheer - is your domain, Inanna.
Tremble, afright, terror - and dazzling and glory - is your domain, Inanna..." Because the Goddessī standards are high and She will not tolerate a lover lesser than the best he can possibly become.
5. Inanna/Ishtar as the Great Goddess of Love and War is also the Lady of a Myriad offices, who serves and guide Her people, and is remembered mostly by sharing Her deeds with the people of Uruk, Her city, in special.
6. Finally, frequently verlooked in the analysis of the myths of the cycle of Inanna/Ishtar is that as the Dynamic Non-Maternal Feminine and the Trespasser of Boundaries, She is an Image of Wisdom conquered through experience, and therefore the imperative for inner and outer growth at the individual level, and civilisation at the collective level.
Summing up, taking Inannaīs/Ishtarīs mythology as a whole, Her actions frequently lead to success and integration, Her myths show invariably success stories, where only the ones who ill-treat the Goddess have to face due punishment. Thus, the predator-gardener who rapes the young goddess Inanna is condemned to death, and so is the human girl who sleeps with Dumuzi (from a poem on Jealousy translated by Professor Thorkild Jacobsen in The Harps that Once...). Inanna/Ishtar also condems Dumuzi/Tammuz to the Underworld only because he had not missed Her during the three days that Inanna was in agony in the Land of the Dead.
Thus, for millennia, the Divine Non-Maternal Feminine has been neglected or unrecognized as for what it is: dynamic, passionate, the imperative to reach out for oneīs own uniqueness, self-respect and integration that is uncompromising in the pursuit of higher goals. This is the appeal of the Great Non-Maternal Dynamic goddesses like Athena, Arthemis, Sekhmet, Bast, Freya, the Morrighan, Morgan Le Fay, etc. But Inanna/Ishtarīs cycle give us a wholer picture from early infancy to full maturity for us to retrieve the joy and guts of the Dynamic Non-Maternal Feminine as a model of self-defined integrity that is, most of all, independent and very self-suficient.
----------
Loved doing this part Totally Jungian and mythologically correct! Will certainly expand it for Gateways, but for the poster, it is ok...
Enjoy! I donīt need to tell you that all the myths are in the Gateways2Bab site.
Best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Obviously, Mesopotamian society was not completely at ease with the idea of non-domestic and non-maternal women, thus the presence of Inannaīs/Ishtar elicited as much adoration as awe and fear. From the cuneiform and archaeological findings, we know that Mesopotamian society was patriarchal and that normal women most probably never enjoyed the full extent of prerogatives Inanna/Ishtar possessed, Her freedom to move about, to choose consorts, to empower kings, Her non-domesticity.
But at least we can say that the ancient Mesopotamian psyche allowed for the existence in the divine domain for a goddess who enjoyed freedom to act and decide, to choose and trespass boundaries far outside the domestic sphere. It is interesting to notice that such all-encompassing freedom for human women has only been achieved very recently, as feminism, comparative mythology and religion started to retrieve the wisdom of our ancient past to empower the present generations of men and women here and now.
Not surprisingly, Inannaīs freedom from domestic tasks, sovereignty, allure, ferocious energy and drive make of Her a powerful archetype of feminine wholeness and integrity for the present generations. Because if goddesses mirror women's experience in society, bright female professionals of the 21st century have in Inanna/Ishtar a venerable model of a goddess/woman who was not domestic or house-bound, but first and foremost a doer and trespasser of boundaries in all worlds, levels and spheres. Thus, Inannaīs/Ishtarīs freedom only frightens the ones who do not have within the generosity to allow for the full manifestation of the Feminine as non-maternal and non-domestic.
Inanna/Ishtar can well be described as the Liberated and Liberating goddess of Ancient Mesopotamia. This is why Inanna/Ishtar poses perhaps the greatest threat to patriarchy. Because by being the Liberated Goddess of Sumer She liberates us still today.
------
Note: invariably, when Egypt and Mesopotamia are compared, Isis and Inanna/Ishtar are also compared. Well, Isis is incredibly interesting, but She is more like the Avenging Mother and Great Magician. The truly non-Maternal Dynamic is Inanna/Ishtar. Feminine, ferocious sometimes, fiery passionate, self-defined. Moreover, She is also Wisdom Through Experience.
Next, the Cycle of Inanna and the Individuation process in our lives.
"At every generation, the Torch of the Mysteries is carried by the initiates of the Tradition, so that the Wisdom of the Stars can return to earth, renewed and yet the same".
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Inanna and Integrity
INANNA AND OUR QUEST FOR INNER AND OUTER WHOLENESS
Inannaīs integrity thus challenges us to go beyond our limits to search for our own inner wholeness. Most importantly, lack of understanding of what integrity is makes it very difficult the search for the Divine. Without integrity, the search for the sacred and the Divine cannot be unified. Why so? Because the Search for the Divine is ultimately about Transcendence, or Trespassing Boundaries so that the Reconciliation of all Dichotomies into a harmonious whole can take place. This was very likely the Ancient Mesopotamian mystical view of the Dynamic Non-Maternal Feminine, where Love/Connection and Energy/Libido could apprehend the full spectrum of being and becoming, thus including as well War and Aggression.
To understand better Inanna/Ishtar as an image of integrity in our lives we must first find out who and what we are (the Hulupu Tree as Inner Sovereignty and Inanna and Enki and the Sacred Measures as Outer Sovereignty). Secondly, we must strive to integrate the Shadow in us, the occult, unlived side we all have and that must be integrated into our True Selves. There is enormous power and healing in knowing one's limitations... exactly not to feel limited by what one finds. Inanna accepted her belligerent Other in Saltu, or the Agushaya Hymn, and Enki then transformed the occasion into a collective festival. This is perhaps one of the most complete fights with the Dark Self in world mythology, another Mesopotamian first, where the Divine Non-Maternal Feminine emerges with the Triumphant gift of Grace without starting a war or blood bath.
Thirdly, Inanna/Ishtar reached out for the Beloved in Dumuzi/Tammuz and became the Quintessential Companion and Consort to most Mesopotamian kings. The Quest for the Beloved though is only successful when we know who we are and love ourselves enough to give love and ask for it from the standpoint of equality. The Beloved is never all-forgiving, but can be surely convinced if the Lover presents well his case; moreover, life with Her is not easy but... is there life without the touch of the Beloved? .
Fourthly, Inanna/Ishtar shows transcendent humanity in Her acts especially when She descended to the Underworld, dies and is reborn there. The alchemical name for holding shame with integrity is mortificatio, the rot of human chemicals in a closed container- truly a mortifying experience. In this myth, Inanna shows us that spiritual survival has to do with enduring and transcending obstacles, which is facilitated by the flame of hope, the bedrock of faith, a strong sense of self, and integrity.
Fortunately, Inanna/Ishtar is resurfacing with strength and splendor because we need Her playfulness, inspiration, drive, power and most of all, Her integrity to guide modern women and men into the millennium. We need, most of all, Her Spirit to inspire our bodies, minds, hearts and souls so that armed with the arrows of our inner and outer desires can soar to the heavens and return to the earth with the power of dreams come true out of our deeds in all worlds here and now.
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Inanna and Integrity
A couple of words on the choice of terminology and the use of integrity to better understand the figure of Inanna/Ishtar. Integrity is about to make whole, and wholeness, or the on-going integration of the personality is both a Jungian goal, as well as a time-honoured maxim of all Mystery Schools of good repute. The ways the search for wholeness is expressed varies according to time and belief system, from Know Thyself in Delphi, to the May Thyself be True of the Theosophical Society (forgot the full expression, but it is along these lines).
Integrity/Wholeness therefore is not about perfection. Perfection is a Judeo-Xtian impossibility, once the standards for being perfect may lead to inflexibility, injustice, self-doubt, etc. In alchemical terms, the search for wholeness was expressed in the maxim Dissolve et Coagula, or to make the Spirit Material and the Material Spiritual. The neverending integration of all the elements of the personality seen in one of my favourite alchemical metaphors.
In Mesopotamia, the king did not need to be perfect, but had to be whole. Refer to the text Standing in the place of Ea in Essays. He had to be a scribe, a stragist, a priest, the champion of his people and the gods, the beloved of the goddess. Stand as tall and high as the Tree, which Professor Parpola says is the Cabala itself. Or the beginnings of it.
More on this later. Have to go and rescue mom. This morning I have to be most creative with two energetic kids...
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Inanna and Integrity
Integrity/Wholeness are not the passive acceptance of personal limitations, but the continuous process towards balancing the elements of the personality. Balance is never static, otherwise it becomes stagnation. Thus, it is of paramount importance to understand that the concept of integrity, as well as the search for wholeness ia a process that never ends.
All these concepts are difficult to understand if one works within the framework of opposites, i.e. dark vs light, good vs evil, sun vs moon. We may need oppositions to understand what things may not be, but the challenge is to see and understand that oppositions are just elements in the Greater Picture.
This is why Inanna/Ishtar shows transcending humanity and integrity in all myths, and as such is a powerful archetype for our times. Timless, youthful, passionate, gutsy, not complacent with the wrongdoers.
Her figure is very difficult to understand and make sense of, and not even the ancient Mesopotamians "approved" of Her totally. Inannaīs presence can only be fully apprehended in the very human figure of Enheduanna, whose literary legacy implies the dynamic motherhood of Spiritual Life.
Because motherhood and fatherhood have also a social function, the one that comes the Spirit, from the encouragement given so that others can pursue their own destinies using their own inner and outer resources.
It is easier to attribute the function of social fatherhood to men as mentors, or the magicians and empowerers of world mythology. But women can have this function, and Inanna as the Bridge to the Gods showed us at the beginning of consciousness how this might have been like.
Fantastic, isnīt it? and another Gateways2Bab first.
Bendis, I intend to go deeper into this for the festival next year, if Z honours me with giving a talk on this most important issue.
Nisaba be praised!
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Inanna and Integrity
Finally, Inanna/Ishtar and Integrity is a work of High Magick heavily based on Jungian psychology and using Mesopotamian myth and religion from reputed sources of ancient and modern scholarship, as well as texts translated direct from the cuneiform by some of the Greatest Assyriologists, whose legacy is a hymn of praise to the Wisdom of the Twin Rivers.
I work mostly with archetypes taken from Mesopotamian myth and religion, and try to see how valid they might still be for us here and now.
Mistakes, of course, are my own, but there is a genuine attempt to understand the wisdom of the soul ancestors of Mesopotamia from their texts.
The human mind, body, heart and soul are a thing of wonder, and all my work with Mesopotamia and Spiritual Alchemy has just reaffirmed the beauty and unity of the human soul under the countless names whereby it has called upon the Divine.
I just prefer to call the Goddess Inanna and the God Enki, but have met both under Their equally shining garments of Odin and Freya, Thoth and Maat, Hermes and Athena...
Love light and laughter,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Individuation therefore also means integration as well as separation, differentiation, the recognition of what is yours and what is not. It can therefore be said that there is just as much separation as integration, or true regeneration into a whole.
The whole process is described as the earth changing into water, water into air, air into fire and fire back into earth. There you have the classical idea of the circulatio, of moving through the four elements, of repeating the process again and again, but always on another level.
Thus, we have the coiunctio, of bringing the opposite together, where the body becomes spiritualized and the spirit in turn becomes concrete in oneīs life. A greater mystery takes place, or the end of the split between body and spirit.
It means being flexible but unshakable, to understand that one must sometimes bend so as not to break.
So you see the coniunctio (sacred marriage) ends with a new view of humanity, as we realize our own Divinity without inflation, because the gods come down into our very human beings, who do our best in our own reality. This is what Jung has formulated in saying that what is seen from the human angle as being the process of individuation, as seen from the angle of the image of the Godhead/Goddesshead is a process of living our full humanity, or the process of incarnation.
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Alchemy, an introduction to the
symbolism and the Psychology by Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz is the reference for the last post (1980, Inner City Books, Toronto, Canada).
I adore Dr. Von Franz and may have all her books in my shelves. How Dr. Jung came to work in Alchemy is described in Psychology and Alchemy, one of his encyclopaedic Complete Works, and one of the first books ever to touch the subject of alchemical symbolism for the mass public is Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts, by Herbert Silberer, originally published in 1917 as Problems of Mysticism and its symbolism.
I tend to prefer the classics for the background work. Jung himself said he was happy to be Jung and not a Jungian...
It is always much better and one saves lots of money by getting the classics.
best,
Lishar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Hello from Helsinki...
after the first day of the 47th Rencontre Assyriologique!
My poster is ... the nicest on display!!!! I promise to post to you the html version of it when I get back home. It is not such a big deal that the poster is so well laid out. I went to a professional designer to get it done! )) Background is the same of the University of Chicago's Abzu, and I worked with fonts to create a nice contract with the text Yeah, I am quite pleased with the two frames!
I saw 11 talks (yeah, I am exausted, but ... salmon and berries revived me I luv salmon and ... discovered I also adore berries .... and had a dessert for three days running.... normally, I don't eat sweets). The best to my mind were by Professor Dalley of Oxford, J. Cooper of a top American University and Professor Owens from Cornell University. Great to observe American and European styles... remember that I was trained in Europe... but am South American, so ... . yeah, I am having lots of fun here.... Talked with Betty De Shong Meador, who wrote the book on Enheduanna. She is lovely and ... blush blush said some very nice words about the poster... By the way, Dr. Betty travelled with ... her daughter.... I told her that I travelled with mom too
Most of the time I am very quiet here... but pay attention to everything!
Next year it is the Netherlands ....
Be there everyone!
more updates tomorrow!
anyone in Helsinki, do show up! I will love to meet you in person!
for now, cybergreetings from
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Hello from Helsinki...
Hi, Lishtar. Glad to hear things are going well in Helsinki. Tell us about the content of my mentor's presentation (Jerry Cooper of JHU). I have a lot of respect for David Owen who was greatly encouraging to me years ago. Give us some content on what you heard. Silim! If you get to talk to Dr. Owen, please send my regards. Also do the same with Marten Stol and Marcel Sigrist. The latter at least may remember me from years ago. They are both great scholars and great human beings.
Re: Hello from Helsinki...
Hello hello hello Dubsar! Mom and I have just been back from dinner ... at the Helsinki Town Hall!It was great, they served.... salmon and the Mayor is a Lady!
Lectures have been fantastic. Professor Jerrold Cooper talked about virginity and how much it was worth in Mesopotamia. He has great scholarship and flair. Professor Owens was equally brilliant and talked about the private archives of the household of the sister of Su-Suen.
Today Professor Asher+Greve was flawless and the list of outstanding women speakers was great Two wonderful surprises also took place. First, Professor Hurowitz, the Jewish Professor who wrote to me a couple of months back, is here. Thus, I had the pleasure to meet him personally. I also could talk with Professor Dalley from Oxford and .... had the opportunity to show her BaBras and Gateways.... This was a major for me, especially because it was Professor Dalley's Myths from Mesopotamia who got me started with Meso Mythology.... I guess she liked to hear about this because.... she was most wonderful to me.... Indeed, I don't know why some people find Europeans cold.... I never get this impression from the ones I had the pleasure to meet all these years.
The good thing is that the poster is making a very good impression in those who come to it. I had the pleasure to meet Professor Johanna Stuckey from Canada, and Julia Assante, who did a fantastic paper fully illustrated on men looking at men... There was a great Masculinity session this afternoon.
I should give the board a longer and deeper report. Am too tired though but very happy.
Melissa and ladies in the board, next year the 48th RAI is in the Netherlands. Why not to present a paper??? Yeah, I am energizing you all already We need more goddess women here and ... there and everywhere!
best regards,
Lishtar.... who wants to be with you all in Leuven 2002
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Helsinki July 4th
Today I met a wonderful Soul sister called Nina. We had a most special time in Helsinki. I took a day off from lectures because the congress was going to Estonia. As Mother is also here, I decided not to join them. Thus, Nina and I agreed to meet and it was... amazing
May the joys of the day get back to you all sevenfold!
best wishes from Suomi (Finland)
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Helsinki, RAI July 5th
Hello everyone!
There is still one lecture to go, and then there is a reception at the Asian and Oriental Studies Department tonight. I confess that after about 10-11 lectures per day, I am not very much in a mood for partying or receptions... but....well, I really will love to see the department, so... will go...
There were two great sessions this morning. The first was by Prof. Miguel Civil on Mysoginist terms in Sumerian literature, the second was by a Cypriot professor on the birth of Aphroditis and Her oriental origins, and the third exceptional talk has just finished and it was by Professor Biggs on Sexual potency incantations... Along the very modern lines of rubbing vigorously with oil ... and stuff... let's face it... rub vigorously and ... errrr.... things get veeeeeeeeeeeeeeery fine anyway .... or ancient natural Viagras....
best to you all from the Rencontre Assyriologique,
Lishtar
These brilliant thoughts were triggered by John Gonce...
in his mail to me this morning. Surprised? Donīt be! You are all encouraged to write as mad to each other and to everyone as much as your heart desires here...
Lish luvs to be errrrrrr... grandiose and magnanimous, to see you all making friends in the board and everywhere and anywhere in all worlds.
You all know that Johnīs essay is the highlights of the coming update in this site too! *fireworks John is also one of US...
Ok, here I go:
John writes:
1.- >The re-edited manuscript for THE NEC FILES has been approved for publication and has been sent on to the copy editor. Daniel and I have been paid the rest of our advance money (Lish speaks now with you all, I am sure: Many CONGRATS! WE ARE DELIGHTED FOR THIS!
2.- > Inanna has just inspired (nagged, intimidated, coerced) me to make another cult image or icon of Her. This > one is based on the Sumerian terracotta image (alam) of Her standing with feet together lifting Her breasts with both hands. I believe this figure presently resides in the Lourve, if I'm not mistaken. At any rate, She has > been pushing me for some time now to get ever more deeply in touch with
Her > aspect as "Mistress of the Storehouse" -- as a Goddess of prosperity and fertility rather than just a War Goddess. Most of us moderns fail to understand that any fertility deity from ancient times relates to us today as a deity of *prosperity* (i.e. M-O-N-E-Y). Among ancient agricultural
peoples, and among tribal peoples of today, crops and livestock equal money. My good friend Tommy Muller, the Zulu sangoma, helped me to recognize this. When Inanna descended into the underworld and animals refused to mate, date palms refused to pollinate, and plants wouldn't germinate, it was the Sumerian equivalent of a stockmarket crash! Anyway, She has been leading me to get in touch with
the prosperity-generating aspect of Her personality, and to recover the lost art of making and consecrating divine images. Remind me to give you an update on my experiments with the *mis-pi* ritual."
Great stuff, isnīt it? I guess most Meso in the soul, or at least the ones I had the pleasure to meet personally, live the side of generating wealth, even if it is not lots of it! Letīs face it, you can be Celt with almost no money at all... but being a Meso in the soul requires books and a little sophistication as well...
I find the physical and practical helps to ground magick. We need time and space and to have the basic needs of life fulfilled first if we want to allow the Spirit to fly. Yes, I did write this once: it is the integrity of the body that helps the soul to fly. Fertility as a wealth-generating mechanism is an awesome insight. Or ... our Material and Spiritual Gutsy Goddess!
Thanks a million for this John! It did brighten up my morning!
Best,
Lishtar... who has been dealing wildly with ... the wealth and splendor of Babylon in the last two days! Great resonance, John!
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
hmm... I never mention post-Meso, but this is an interesting parallel to establish. 
I luv salmon and ... discovered I also adore berries .... and had a dessert for three days running.... normally, I don't eat sweets). The best to my mind were by Professor Dalley of Oxford, J. Cooper of a top American University and Professor Owens from Cornell University. Great to observe American and European styles... remember that I was trained in Europe... but am South American, so ... . yeah, I am having lots of fun here.... Talked with Betty De Shong Meador, who wrote the book on Enheduanna. She is lovely and ... blush blush said some very nice words about the poster... By the way, Dr. Betty travelled with ... her daughter.... I told her that I travelled with mom too 
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