Journey through the attributes, rituals, healing gifts, and histories of many of the world's great goddesses. Learn about the necessity to manifest the Heiros Gamos, or Sacred Marriage of the masculine and feminine housed within each of us. Choose to see and unite dualities in order to bring about the higher frequencies of the ONE.
When the Antichrist (Abomination of Desolation) sits in the temple in Jerusalem and proclaims himself to be god, then the end is very very near. Jesus warns them to “head for the hills” because “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” This sounds pretty bad… Not Yet Fulfilled, but when it is, it’s just before when Jesus returns. As he said “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive (Mat 24:16-22).” This is when Jesus returns and stops all the madness, throws the Antichrist into the lake of fire, and establishes His Kingdom on Earth.
I have been studying the pagan origins of religions for twenty years and have been waiting for a platform to present the case. And, lo and behold Glenn Beck has accomplished what neither Oprah Winfrey nor Shirley MacLaine could. Miraculously he persuaded leaders of the religious right and evangelical leaders that it is acceptable for millions of "Christians" to embrace humanistic spirituality and paganism for the purpose of social activism and social change. He constantly directs his listeners to the founders of the American Constitution and his slogan Faith, Hope and Charity. Naturally I was disappointed that he did not expand on the subject and say that there is nothing new under the sun in Christianity as all its rituals are pagan. But hey—it’s a beginning.
Paganism/Idolatry...There is nothing new under the sun..Eccles 1:9Anthony Bravo
A large portion of The Word is dedicated to keeping us away from false gods. Many of our spiritual leaders either have no clue as to what paganism is or are directly involved in paganism thus leading the people astray from Yaweh. This is the 4th study which will tackle this issue as to who or what is paganism. So by the end of the study you will know who is Yaweh talking about when He asks you to "stay away from other gods."
The Whole World is Under the Control of the Evil OneFlaminioRanzato
"The whole world is under control of the Evil one" is a book that analyzes how the world is under control of an evil intelligence since its beginning and explains which strategies ( false religion, Freemasonry, music and culture in general, paranormal events like UFOs ) are used to achieve this goal. It explains also how we can fight all this evil and which hopes we have...
Most people acknowledge that x-mas is pagan, but where is the proof? This presentation not only brings forth the Biblical truth but also gives the historical proof of what this false festival really celebrates. Return to Yaweh, enjoy and Repent!
When the Antichrist (Abomination of Desolation) sits in the temple in Jerusalem and proclaims himself to be god, then the end is very very near. Jesus warns them to “head for the hills” because “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” This sounds pretty bad… Not Yet Fulfilled, but when it is, it’s just before when Jesus returns. As he said “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive (Mat 24:16-22).” This is when Jesus returns and stops all the madness, throws the Antichrist into the lake of fire, and establishes His Kingdom on Earth.
I have been studying the pagan origins of religions for twenty years and have been waiting for a platform to present the case. And, lo and behold Glenn Beck has accomplished what neither Oprah Winfrey nor Shirley MacLaine could. Miraculously he persuaded leaders of the religious right and evangelical leaders that it is acceptable for millions of "Christians" to embrace humanistic spirituality and paganism for the purpose of social activism and social change. He constantly directs his listeners to the founders of the American Constitution and his slogan Faith, Hope and Charity. Naturally I was disappointed that he did not expand on the subject and say that there is nothing new under the sun in Christianity as all its rituals are pagan. But hey—it’s a beginning.
Paganism/Idolatry...There is nothing new under the sun..Eccles 1:9Anthony Bravo
A large portion of The Word is dedicated to keeping us away from false gods. Many of our spiritual leaders either have no clue as to what paganism is or are directly involved in paganism thus leading the people astray from Yaweh. This is the 4th study which will tackle this issue as to who or what is paganism. So by the end of the study you will know who is Yaweh talking about when He asks you to "stay away from other gods."
The Whole World is Under the Control of the Evil OneFlaminioRanzato
"The whole world is under control of the Evil one" is a book that analyzes how the world is under control of an evil intelligence since its beginning and explains which strategies ( false religion, Freemasonry, music and culture in general, paranormal events like UFOs ) are used to achieve this goal. It explains also how we can fight all this evil and which hopes we have...
Most people acknowledge that x-mas is pagan, but where is the proof? This presentation not only brings forth the Biblical truth but also gives the historical proof of what this false festival really celebrates. Return to Yaweh, enjoy and Repent!
Describes how idolatry and paganism infiltrated the Church. Can be used effectively to teach Roman Catholics and Oriental Church members. Includes brief notes on middle eastern, mesopotamian, egyptian, sumerian, greek, Hindu religions and cults
There are two Messiahs running around in the churches. One claims the Ten Commandments are done away with, the other one came back to restore the people of Israel back to Yahweh's Commandments. Which one do you serve?
Book of Daniel, Gospels, Epistle to Thessalonian church and the Book of Revelation give details of an unholy alliance of wicked forces in spiritual realm and on earth. There have been 7 empires described in the Bible impacting God's people in one way or another. Behind each of these 7 empires were evil spirits of power controlling them for specific purpose. These spirits are at work even today working against God and His people, to bring in the unholy trinity of Satan, Antichrist and False Prophet into ultimate dominion on earth, very soon. Mysteriously United Nations, European Union, Statesmen of repute in world governments, financial institutions etc are controlled by highly secretive Illuminati and its tentacles like Freemasons, Club of Rome, New Age and so on. These are highly secretive in their strategy and manoeuvres but God's people can discern and identify them and keep themselves at a safe distance. This presentation helps identify these evil forces and their strategies. May this be an eye opener for the Church in spiritual warfare! Credit for this message goes to excellent in depth Bible study conducted over 7 days by TPM Church, Tamil Nadu, India from which this presentation has been put together.
The 4,000 Year HinduCalvinism Delusion The Kansas City Shuffle Part II- Sessi...Jeremy Richard
Calvinism. Reformed Theology. Hard Determinism. This is the major cancer in Protestant Christianity that many a Theologian have tried to combat but with very little success. Reformed Churches are exploding. Reformed Pastors are infiltrating churches and taking them over, satisfied if half the congregation leaves after their Calvinism is brought into the light since that still leaves them with the business organization and in charge. Calvinist board members are secretly recruiting these seminary-trained Pastors behind the backs of other board members and by the time the people of the church find out, it is too late.
Why is Augustine a hero to both the Roman Catholic Church and the Reformers? There was a huge, dangling thread on the sweater that the Church was wearing. That thread was pulled during the research which caused three more threads to be exposed and each time a thread was pulled more threads would show themselves until the entire sweater began to unravel to reveal the nightmare underneath. The answers that were found during this dig through history and the biblical texts will absolutely shock you as 1,600 year old truths will be revealed from under the Gnostic grime.
Christians tend to think that Calvinism only affects Calvinists and as long as they believe their nonsense over there then it doesn't affect them. But this mistaken view couldn't be more in error. HinduCalvinism affects almost everything you think you know about the bible and there is almost no subject in the biblical text that is untouched or unaffected.
Steel yourself for the millennia long adventure through history presented in these pages. They will change your life.
Buy it now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMT22STS
Top reviews from the United States
Kristina
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Thought-Provoking and Important Book!
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022
Buy it, read it. Then read it again. This book is not only a must-read for anyone coming out of Calvinism, but is also important for any Christian who is in a church.
For me, even just this first section of the book was amazing! If Calvinist doctrines have harmed the faith of yourself or someone you love, understanding its errors is the first step toward healing and renewed growth. As a parent, understanding the subversive infiltration of Calvinist teachings into Christian thought is the best way to inoculate your children against falling prey to its heresies.
But there is so much more to this book than just providing the reader with a solid defense against Calvinism. This book will turn everything you thought you knew upside down, from your perception of yourself to your conception of the Creator.
This is an excellent, important book, and I highly recommend it.
Latest updates - http://jmp.sh/H4jK8mj - Hae täältä päivitetty versio.
Tämä suomeksi, kts. http://jmp.sh/H4jK8mj
Pilgrimage to the st Peters Basilica.
The true cat-holy cult nature, IHS = Isis Horus Seth revealed - See this stolen from Egypt Obelisk Osiris-heretic view.
Repulsive Vatican Occultism revealed.
Crowley and Jung. The Book of the Law and Seven Sermons.Paul Weston
From the section 'Gnostic Revival' in my book Aleister Crowley and the Aeon of Horus, a strongly pictorial exploration of a mysterious commonality in the work of two apparently very different figures, Aleister Crowley and CG Jung. Their strangely channeled texts, both vital parts of their development, seem to come from a similar source, manifested through their differing temperaments, that expresses the dawning of a powerful new epoch.
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All ReligionsChuck Thompson
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All Religions. From the mystery schools. Secret teachings of Lucifer as given to humans for human consumption. Enjoy.
The Tarot, like Tiamat’s Table of Destiny, was revered as a testament to a lost civilization a testament of all that was known or would be ever known. Both contained Ideograms which are not meant to be translated but meditated upon, allowing the mind
to travel in the Multiverse.The Tarot Tree of Life
Dragon Lore
Authentic Imagery of the Tarot
Stargate Metaphysics and Black-Hole cosmology.
The Pineal Gland Stargate
The 22 Major Arcana in the Temple of Osiris
The Eye of Horus the True Third Eye
Parallel Universes
The Axis of the Universe is a Pregnant Hippopotamus
The Caduceus and DNA
Symbolism
Reprogram the DNA with Tarot Imagery
The Antiquity of the Tarot
The Hermetic (Starfire) Tarot
Quantum Jumping to Multiple Universes
The Keys to the Zodiac Cipher: The Tarot
As Above so Below Meaning.
En el libro de Apocalipsis capítulos 17 y 18 Dios condena un sistema religioso corrupto y apostata llamado la gran ramera. Vea las evidencia y saque sus propias conclusiones.
Describes how idolatry and paganism infiltrated the Church. Can be used effectively to teach Roman Catholics and Oriental Church members. Includes brief notes on middle eastern, mesopotamian, egyptian, sumerian, greek, Hindu religions and cults
There are two Messiahs running around in the churches. One claims the Ten Commandments are done away with, the other one came back to restore the people of Israel back to Yahweh's Commandments. Which one do you serve?
Book of Daniel, Gospels, Epistle to Thessalonian church and the Book of Revelation give details of an unholy alliance of wicked forces in spiritual realm and on earth. There have been 7 empires described in the Bible impacting God's people in one way or another. Behind each of these 7 empires were evil spirits of power controlling them for specific purpose. These spirits are at work even today working against God and His people, to bring in the unholy trinity of Satan, Antichrist and False Prophet into ultimate dominion on earth, very soon. Mysteriously United Nations, European Union, Statesmen of repute in world governments, financial institutions etc are controlled by highly secretive Illuminati and its tentacles like Freemasons, Club of Rome, New Age and so on. These are highly secretive in their strategy and manoeuvres but God's people can discern and identify them and keep themselves at a safe distance. This presentation helps identify these evil forces and their strategies. May this be an eye opener for the Church in spiritual warfare! Credit for this message goes to excellent in depth Bible study conducted over 7 days by TPM Church, Tamil Nadu, India from which this presentation has been put together.
The 4,000 Year HinduCalvinism Delusion The Kansas City Shuffle Part II- Sessi...Jeremy Richard
Calvinism. Reformed Theology. Hard Determinism. This is the major cancer in Protestant Christianity that many a Theologian have tried to combat but with very little success. Reformed Churches are exploding. Reformed Pastors are infiltrating churches and taking them over, satisfied if half the congregation leaves after their Calvinism is brought into the light since that still leaves them with the business organization and in charge. Calvinist board members are secretly recruiting these seminary-trained Pastors behind the backs of other board members and by the time the people of the church find out, it is too late.
Why is Augustine a hero to both the Roman Catholic Church and the Reformers? There was a huge, dangling thread on the sweater that the Church was wearing. That thread was pulled during the research which caused three more threads to be exposed and each time a thread was pulled more threads would show themselves until the entire sweater began to unravel to reveal the nightmare underneath. The answers that were found during this dig through history and the biblical texts will absolutely shock you as 1,600 year old truths will be revealed from under the Gnostic grime.
Christians tend to think that Calvinism only affects Calvinists and as long as they believe their nonsense over there then it doesn't affect them. But this mistaken view couldn't be more in error. HinduCalvinism affects almost everything you think you know about the bible and there is almost no subject in the biblical text that is untouched or unaffected.
Steel yourself for the millennia long adventure through history presented in these pages. They will change your life.
Buy it now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMT22STS
Top reviews from the United States
Kristina
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Thought-Provoking and Important Book!
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022
Buy it, read it. Then read it again. This book is not only a must-read for anyone coming out of Calvinism, but is also important for any Christian who is in a church.
For me, even just this first section of the book was amazing! If Calvinist doctrines have harmed the faith of yourself or someone you love, understanding its errors is the first step toward healing and renewed growth. As a parent, understanding the subversive infiltration of Calvinist teachings into Christian thought is the best way to inoculate your children against falling prey to its heresies.
But there is so much more to this book than just providing the reader with a solid defense against Calvinism. This book will turn everything you thought you knew upside down, from your perception of yourself to your conception of the Creator.
This is an excellent, important book, and I highly recommend it.
Latest updates - http://jmp.sh/H4jK8mj - Hae täältä päivitetty versio.
Tämä suomeksi, kts. http://jmp.sh/H4jK8mj
Pilgrimage to the st Peters Basilica.
The true cat-holy cult nature, IHS = Isis Horus Seth revealed - See this stolen from Egypt Obelisk Osiris-heretic view.
Repulsive Vatican Occultism revealed.
Crowley and Jung. The Book of the Law and Seven Sermons.Paul Weston
From the section 'Gnostic Revival' in my book Aleister Crowley and the Aeon of Horus, a strongly pictorial exploration of a mysterious commonality in the work of two apparently very different figures, Aleister Crowley and CG Jung. Their strangely channeled texts, both vital parts of their development, seem to come from a similar source, manifested through their differing temperaments, that expresses the dawning of a powerful new epoch.
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All ReligionsChuck Thompson
Mystery of The Ages Contained In The Secret Doctrines of All Religions. From the mystery schools. Secret teachings of Lucifer as given to humans for human consumption. Enjoy.
The Tarot, like Tiamat’s Table of Destiny, was revered as a testament to a lost civilization a testament of all that was known or would be ever known. Both contained Ideograms which are not meant to be translated but meditated upon, allowing the mind
to travel in the Multiverse.The Tarot Tree of Life
Dragon Lore
Authentic Imagery of the Tarot
Stargate Metaphysics and Black-Hole cosmology.
The Pineal Gland Stargate
The 22 Major Arcana in the Temple of Osiris
The Eye of Horus the True Third Eye
Parallel Universes
The Axis of the Universe is a Pregnant Hippopotamus
The Caduceus and DNA
Symbolism
Reprogram the DNA with Tarot Imagery
The Antiquity of the Tarot
The Hermetic (Starfire) Tarot
Quantum Jumping to Multiple Universes
The Keys to the Zodiac Cipher: The Tarot
As Above so Below Meaning.
En el libro de Apocalipsis capítulos 17 y 18 Dios condena un sistema religioso corrupto y apostata llamado la gran ramera. Vea las evidencia y saque sus propias conclusiones.
How to Become a Thought Leader in Your NicheLeslie Samuel
Are bloggers thought leaders? Here are some tips on how you can become one. Provide great value, put awesome content out there on a regular basis, and help others.
Theatre Studies and Performance: "Temple Culture" and myths are part of Indian folklore and tradition . Sara Caldwell's Oh Terrifying Mother is a peculiar example which deals in with a temple festival festival called "Mudiyettu" and also about the life of the performers..... Caldwell says ".The experiences chronicled ... and their intense emotional tenor were inseparable from the phenomenological reality of mutiyettu".Sara caldwell’s feelings and frustrations on having to observe Keralese conventions of womanly behaviour form an illustrative part of a chapter of "Female Frustrations" and give the subject an immediacy and degree of empathy that would otherwise be lacking.Emotional upheaval, life changes, intuitions, synchronicity and personal religious experience all become part of the text.
EcoSpirituality - A Woman's Rebirth ExperienceChoosingjoy
Intentional rebirthing experience from a microcosmic experience to a macrocosmic one and becoming the conduit, the "middle voice" between the two - committing to sharing the messages received.
Many myths picture goddesses and gods much like human beings with .docxtienboileau
Many myths picture goddesses and gods much like human beings with supernatural powers: They have families, love, rage, and sometimes can kill or be killed. Their duties often mirror the societies that produced them. In many myths, gods rule like earthly kings and the heads of households, commanding powerful natural forces, the course of war, and the fate of nations. Goddesses, often seen as wives and daughters, influence areas such as fertility, childbirth, domestic peace, and creative skills like weaving and song writing. Such myths come from ancient civilizations in Europe, Africa, and Asia and are still commonly told in many parts of the world.
Many scholars believe that in prehistoric times, all of Europe and parts of Syria and Libya worshiped one mother goddess who had many names. She was all-powerful and eternal, representing the nurturing earth, which was so vital to the hunting-gathering peoples whose survival depended on natural abundance.
Stories of gods and goddesses provide a revealing look at the societies that honored them and often shed light on the different roles assigned to men and women. For example, the ancient Sumerian Creation Epic tells how the mingling of fresh water (personified as the god Apsu) and salt water (the goddess Tiamat) brought forth all other gods and the earth. Apsu and Tiamat ruled until younger (male) gods rebelled. When Tiamat tried to crush the upstarts, she was defeated by the god Marduk. This story may express the shift from worship of the creator goddess to male-centered religions as the first city-states arose and people began to cultivate the land. Kingship was linked to the power of the gods, and women played lesser roles. Yet all worshiped the fertility goddess Inanna (also known as Ishtar, right).
Religion was an essential part of everyday life in ancient Egypt. Among countless major and minor gods, the most powerful was Ra, the sun god. Goddesses were creators and protectors of the pharaoh; most had their own temples or shrines. Their importante reflected the higher social status of women. Egypt even had a few female rulers. Key deities included Osiris and his wife, Isis (above), who embodied the fertility of the Nile River, on which Egypt's existence depended, and Seth, who represented the deadly heat and wind of the desert. Other powerful gods and goddesses ruled the realm of the dead. The Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife, as evidenced by monuments such as the famous pyramids at Giza and the tombs at Luxor up the Nile River.
Eight of the twelve main Greek deities were male. They ruled heaven, earth, the seas, and the underworld. They shaped human destiny and controlled the natural forces of weather, tides, volcanoes, fire, and the sun, as well as more human concerns like war and wine. The four major goddesses had much less collective power, mainly influencing childbirth, hunting, justice, wisdom, love, and fertility. The Romans, who borrowed the Greek gods and goddesses (merely ch.
A short presentation on the life of the middle ages mystic - Hildegard of Bingen and some of the visions she had which relate particularly to feminine spirituality
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way.pptxCelso Napoleon
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way
SBs – Sunday Bible School
Adult Bible Lessons 2nd quarter 2024 CPAD
MAGAZINE: THE CAREER THAT IS PROPOSED TO US: The Path of Salvation, Holiness and Perseverance to Reach Heaven
Commentator: Pastor Osiel Gomes
Presentation: Missionary Celso Napoleon
Renewed in Grace
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
The Good News, newsletter for June 2024 is hereNoHo FUMC
Our monthly newsletter is available to read online. We hope you will join us each Sunday in person for our worship service. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and social media.
In Jude 17-23 Jude shifts from piling up examples of false teachers from the Old Testament to a series of practical exhortations that flow from apostolic instruction. He preserves for us what may well have been part of the apostolic catechism for the first generation of Christ-followers. In these instructions Jude exhorts the believer to deal with 3 different groups of people: scoffers who are "devoid of the Spirit", believers who have come under the influence of scoffers and believers who are so entrenched in false teaching that they need rescue and pose some real spiritual risk for the rescuer. In all of this Jude emphasizes Jesus' call to rescue straying sheep, leaving the 99 safely behind and pursuing the 1.
What Should be the Christian View of Anime?Joe Muraguri
We will learn what Anime is and see what a Christian should consider before watching anime movies? We will also learn a little bit of Shintoism religion and hentai (the craze of internet pornography today).
Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2024.docxJames Knipper
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential pyramidal Trinity structure of God at the top and Son and Spirit in opposite corners. But what if we looked at this ‘mystery’ from a different perspective? What if we shifted our language of God as a being towards the concept of God as love? What if we focused more on the relationship within the Trinity versus the persons of the Trinity? What if stopped looking at God as a noun…and instead considered God as a verb? Check it out…
The Chakra System in our body - A Portal to Interdimensional Consciousness.pptxBharat Technology
each chakra is studied in greater detail, several steps have been included to
strengthen your personal intention to open each chakra more fully. These are designed
to draw forth the highest benefit for your spiritual growth.
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
A PowerPoint Presentation based on the Dhamma Reflections for the PBHP DYC for the years 1993 – 2012. To motivate and inspire DYC members to keep on practicing the Dhamma and to do the meritorious deed of Dhammaduta work.
The texts are in English.
For the Video with audio narration, comments and texts in English, please check out the Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2g_43NEa0
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptx
The Great Goddess
1. * The GREAT goddess in her many guises crystal lynne churchill
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3. “ We only now are beginning to realize that Western civilization has its roots in the Ice Age and that our family tree is a matrilineal one, traceable through the images of the Goddess.” -Elinor W. Gadon The Once and Future Goddess
4. Even though shunned and disparaged by the Western main- stream for over two millennia, the Goddess has found a way to make Herself known. Be it through the purity of the Virgin Mary or the naked, awe-inspiring Hindu Kali, the Goddess is alive and well.
5. Currently the subject of much research, the Goddess takes us back to cultures preceding Christianity. She can be seen as part of a larger continuum of ancient reverence for so much that our Western culture has marginalized or rejected: the body, the earth, the feminine, indigenous cultures, and people of color.
6. As a result of the denigration of the Goddess in our Western religious traditions, the “feminine” in the psyche of both men and women has become fragmented. Due to our focusing on and venerating Her lighter side, we have cast Her darker aspects deeply into our collective unconscious.
7. Owing to our ignorance of the strength and power held within the feminine, our exploitation of the earth (Her symbolic body), and the abuse of our own bodies, Pandora’s box (our unconscious) has been opened and the trans-formative chaos has begun.
8. The Anasasi have a saying, " self-contradictory qualities meld to create strength.”
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10. The hindu goddess KALI O Kali, my mother full of bliss. Enchantress of the almighty Shiva. In thy delirious joy Thou danceth clapping Thy hands together. Eternal one. Thy great first cause, clothed in the form of the void…Thou art the mover of all that moves, and we are but Thy helpless toys. We move along as Thou move us and speak as through us Thou speak. -Bengali poet Ramakrishna (1886) Sadashiva is without energy (lifeless) when Mahakali is manifest. He also is like a corpse when in union with Shakti. Clearly, without Shakti, the primordial god is lifeless and cannot act . - Todala Tantra, I
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17. Look upon a woman - as a goddess whose special energy she is, and honour her in that state. – Uttara Tantra
18. DEMETER The grecian Goddess And now let me sing Demeter, that awesome goddess, with her beautiful hair Her and her daughter with slender feet, whom Aedoneus carried away, and Zeus who sees far in his deep voice allowing it. -Homer To enter into the figure of Demeter means to be pursued, to be robbed, to be raped, to fail to understand, to rage and grieve, but then to get everything back and be born again. -C.G. Jung *
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23. Rituals The Eleusinian Mysteries ritualize the theme of loss and return, of death and rebirth. These rites were performed in Greece for two thousand years until their suppression in 396 A.D. "Thrice blessed are those who have seen these Mysteries for they know the end of life and the beginning." -- Pindar
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25. A Poem by D.H. Lawrence (just before his death) Not every man has gentians in his house in soft September, at slow, sad Michaelmas. Bavarian gentians, big and dark, only dark darkening the daytime, torch-like, with the smoking blueness of Pluto's gloom, ribbed and torch-like, with their blaze of darkness spread blue down flattening into points, flattened under the sweep of white day torch-flower of the blue-smoking darkness, Pluto's dark-blue daze, black lamps from the halls of death, burning dark blue, giving off darkness, blue darkness, as Demeter's pale lamps give off light, lead me then, lead the way.
26. Reach me a gentian, give me a torch! Let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of this flower down the darker and darker stairs, where blue is darkened on blueness even where Persephone goes, just now, from the frosted September to the sightless realm where darkness is awake upon the dark and Persephone herself is but a voice or a darkness invisible enfolded in the deeper dark of the arms Plutonic, and pierced with the passion of dense gloom, among the splendor of torches of darkness, shedding darkness on the lost bride and her groom.
27. The sumerian goddess INANNA We go down as she goes down We follow Her underground Hail to Inanna Who dies to become whole And deep calls to deep The veils drop by on our way We find truth in deepest night And deep calls to deep. --Suzanne Sterling As we pass through the gates With Inanna as our guide
28. Background Information *Sumer was located in the southern portion of what is now Iraq, where it is dry and arid and the soil is like sand. With the help of the Goddess Inanna, they turned this desolate land into a Garden of Eden –3,500 B.C.E. *Sumer was the home of the first urban centers. *The Sumerians developed cuneiform, a style of writing that was later used all over the Near East. It is written that recorded history began here.
29. Symbols Inanna’s animal is the lion. Inanna often bears Date Palms in her art images. The Date Palm is the oldest tree known and cultivated by man. Its fruit was a staple food for the Sumerians. In the Sumerian culture, the date cluster is also considered a symbol of male fertility and female fecundity. The goddess wears a double horned crown illustrating Her high rank as an influential goddess. Extending or growing from behind Inanna's shoulders are stalks of vegetation. These natural symbols included in Inanna's sacred art image reinforce Her role as a vegetation and fertility goddess.
30. Attributes Queen of all given powers unveiled clear light unfailing woman wearing brilliance cherished in heaven and earth chosen, sanctified in heaven You grand in your adornments crowned with your beloved goodness rightfully you are High Priestess your hands seize the seven fixed powers my queen of fundamental forces guardian of essential cosmic sources you lift up the elements bind them to your hands gather in powers press them to your breast vicious dragon you spew venom poisons the land like the storm god you howl grain wilts on the ground swollen flood rushing down the mountain you are Inanna - supreme in heaven and earth... The world's oldest attributable work, the work of priestess, princess, and poet, Enheduanna, goes back over 4,000 years. Written approx. 2,300 B.C.E.
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32. Rituals Sumerians celebrated the Holy Marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi yearly at the autumn equinox which brought the land fertility and growth again because Dumuzi had returned from the underworld and made love with Inanna. The courtly love poetry that was written during this era is both earthly and spiritual, because human partners represented their divine counterparts: lovemaking was seen as a religious experience to be shared by everyone in the land, especially during the time of the Sacred Marriage Rite. Seasonal male sacrifice of the king reverberates through the goddess myths from Greece to India, including Isis, Kali and Ishtar - as the renowned "women weeping for Tammuz" in the Old Testament. The king dies. The people weep and lament. They beat their breasts and search for the dead and resurrected God amongst the sand.
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34. The egyptian goddess ISIS "In the beginning there was Isis, Oldest of the Old. She was the Goddess from whom all becoming arose." - Egyptian scripture O Thou holy and eternal savior of the human race. Thou bestowest a mother's tender affections on the misfortunes of unhappy mortals. Thou dispellest the storms of life and strechest forth Thy right hand of salvation by which Thou unravelest even the inextricably tangled web of Fate. Thou turnest the Earth in its orb. Thou givest light to the Sun. Thou rulest the world. Thou readest Death underfoot. To Thee the stars are responsive. By Thee the seasons turn and the gods rejoice and the elements are in subjection. -Sekhemu
35. Background Information Isis was worshipped (and still is by pagans today) far beyond Egypt into the Roman Empire well into the third century A.D. Her cult died out in Rome after the institution of Christianity. Like the many Black Madonnas for whom Isis is said to have been a model (Carl Jung maintained that the Black Madonna of Einsiedeln, Switzerland was connected to Isis), She was renowned as a miracle worker and healer. Her main temple in Philae, was housed in Nubian territory. As a race, these people were black. Therefore, it is often said that Isis, Herself, was black.
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37. Attributes Isis, producer of corn, was called Demeter by the Greeks. Isis gave life and prosperity to people, as well as fertility to the animals and fields. Ancient beliefs attributed the annual rainfall, which sustained the people of the Nile Valley, to the tears Isis shed for Osiris. Isis is acknowledged as the prototype of the Mother Mary. She is often depicted suckling her son Horus. Isis was a virgin who brought her son forth “of Herself.” It is the throne that makes the king; the king receives his authority by taking his place on the throne. Isis was the personification of the throne. Her original headdress was an empty throne.
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39. Rituals Isis is a part of the sacrifice, death and rebirth myth through Osiris, Her consort. Osiris’ jealous brother, Set, murdered him, cutting him into pieces. The earth lay barren while Isis ventured forth to find Her love. While journeying over the ocean She finds and sews together several parts of his body, thus renewing the world. She mates with the lifeless form of Osiris, just as Kali mates with the lifeless Shiva, becoming pregnant to his lingering seed and conceives a son, Horus, to be ruler of the land. Osiris is said to have been resurrected in his son Horus. This myth evokes the role of Isis as devoted and loving wife and mother and protector of the royal succession. The myth of Isis contains all the same elements of tragic loss of a son to the sacrificial round of the young fertility hero who is, in a sense, at once bridegroom, king, lover and son, in the endless cycle of rebirth of fertility associated with the ebb and flow of the river Nile.
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41. "Immaculate is our Lady Isis...the very terms applied afterwards to that personage (the Virgin Mary) who succeeded to her form, titles, symbols, rites, and ceremonies....Thus, her devotees carried into the new priesthood the former badges of their profession, the obligation to celibacy, the tonsure, and the surplice, omitting, unfortunately, the frequent ablutions prescribed by the ancient creed. The 'Black Virgins' , so highly reverenced in certain French cathedrals - proved, when at last critically examined - basalt figures of Isis!" - King The Gnostics and their Remains
42. The babylonian goddess ishtar It is Ishtar who renders all decisions, Goddess of all that occurs, Lady of Heaven and Earth, Who receives our supplication, Who hears our requests, Who listens to our prayers. She is Ishtar the Queen, Oppressing all that is confused, Holding full powers of judgment and decision. Ishtar, whom we may also identify with Inanna, Ashtoreth, Aphrodite, Astarte, to a certain extent Asherah, and Oestre, Ostara, the sea goddess Mari, or Miriam and many others, is the evening star, the Babylonian Queen of Heaven .
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46. Attributes The book of Esther, in the Bible, is a story about the Goddess Ishtar (Esther is the Aramaic form of Her name) and the sacred marriage (Hieros-Gamos) to Marduk (Mordecai), the king, to validate his right to rule. She is a part of the sacrifice, death and rebirth myth through Tammuz, the dying and resurrecting Vegetation God. The story of Noah’s Ark is inherited from Her time-period. Alongside other lesser-known goddesses in the land of Canaan is the great Astarte, sometimes called Ashtaroth, whom we meet many times in the Old Testament. She has been called "the great universal female principle," Lady of the Heavens, the Sea, the Earth and the Underworld, in her hands are the life, death and renewal of all Nature. Astarte's name is another form of Ishtar, and the goddess is often called Ishtar-Astarte.
47. Archetypal Influence The followers of Ishtar-Astarte have always been noted for their ceremonies for the dead and for the dying and resurrecting god of fertility, in which the hair was cut off. At Byblos people shaved their heads in the annual mourning for Tammuz-Adonis. Women who refused to sacrifice their hair had to give themselves up to strangers on a certain day of the festival, and the money which they earned was devoted to the Goddess. It is said that Mary Magdalene also partook of this custom and cut Her hair for Her dying and resurrecting god, Jesus, the Christ.
48. Rituals The seasonal cycle of the goddess is represented in the passage from new life in the fertile period to death in the lean season. The first phase is the ritual marriage of Ishtar to Tammuz in the hieros gamos, the high point of the Babylonian sacred seasonal cycle. Within the story of Ishtar’s seasonal sacrifice, descent and subsequent resurrection of Tammuz, She becomes the goddess making Her journey from heaven to earth and finally to the realms of death - the almighty woman of the three spheres. While the story of Ishtar and Tammuz is the story of continuing love and marriage unto death, the descent instead elaborates male mortality in the face of the sexual fertility rites and sacrificial cycle of the Goddess.
49. HEALING QUALITIES Ishtar-Astarte was familiar to Jeremiah in Jerusalem (7:17). The children collected wood, their fathers lit the fire for Astarte, the women made bread for the Queen of Heaven, they burned incense and offered libations, and they offered sacrifice and cut their hair in mourning. The ritual coincided with astral and seasonal phenomena and its purpose was to celebrate life and to appease the power of evil and death. These strands of hair he trimmed as he entreated Astarte. Tamassos presented himself and made a complete offering, "May this rouse the weepers to look for their beloved". This passage is reminiscent of the Song of Songs and the offering of hair in fulfillment of the Nazirite vow, but its association with mourning for the dead was expressly forbidden in the book of Deuteronomy. The cult of Astarte included several rites in which the dead were honored to invoke the expectation of enduring life in succeeding generations.
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53. Attributes She is the Canaanite goddess of fertility, growth and renewal. She is associated with a symbolic understanding of the Tree of Life. The idea of a Tree of Life is a concept held by many peoples of different cultures, i.e.: Ygdrasil (Odin) Asherah and Her cult symbols were legitimate, not only in popular Yahwism, but in conservative circles as well. She was worshipped as consort of Yahweh, represented by Her sacred tree in the temple at Jerusalem for about 240 of the 360 years of its existence until the temple's final destruction in 70 A.D. Small household deity figurines of clay used in personal devotion have been found by the thousands in Palestine/ Israel. Unmatched by any male figurines, She must have been extremely popular in all segments of Hebrew society.
54. Archetypal Influence The temple of Jerusalem was simultaneously dedicated to Yahweh and to the Queen of Heaven. The pillars Jachim and Boaz were said to stand for the sun and moon. Before the temple stood, the 'asherah' or symbolic tree found throughout Semitic lands was associated with the female or “moon” aspect of the deity. Solomon introduced the worship of Ashtaroth into Israel -I Kings 11:4-5. But Jezebel, daughter of the king of Tyre, and wife to Ahab, principally established Her worship. She caused altars to be erected to this idol in every part of Israel; and at one time four hundred priests attended the worship of Ashtaroth, I Kings 18:7.
55. Rituals A pottery stand was uncovered at Tel Taanach in Israel and was identified as a cult stand or an object used in ritual and worship. Its form was the shape of the sacred Kabbalistic Tree of Life with seven branches. Upon making the first Menorah, the ancient Hebrews were instructed to make it in the image of the tree (linked to Asherah). While the Kabbala was practiced by men in the synagogues away from the domestic hearth, presided over by the woman in their homes is a powerful symbol of that same Tree of Life which was the heart of their own study. With the ritual lighting of the Menorah, homage to Asherah continues on even today.
56. HEALING QUALITIES Healing can arise by acknowledging that sensual and spiritual love are both divine. Stories from the time of the Goddess speak clearly to this. The Biblical Song of Songs also suggests such a path. It is a story of the love of a man and woman and their love for the Source of Love, making reference to the Hieros Gamos. It calls for reinstatement of the Divine Feminine who is personified as the Shulamite's "mother"—in veiled references to the Hebrew Goddess, Asherah. In it we see the balancing of masculine and feminine principles, energies, and values. See: http://www.song-of-songs.net/Goddess_Asherah.htm In her book, Sacred Pleasure, Riane Eisler talks about sacred sexuality, “ But here it is important to note …that this is not pleasure in a purely hedonistic or self-centered form, or as the frantic "fun" or escape from pain that is characteristic of much that is called pleasure in dominator societies. Rather it is a pleasure connected with awe at the miracle of of life and of nature, the ecstatic pleasure of altered states of consciousness, and the deep pleasure of caring connections, of caretaking, of creativity, of love. … It is a spirituality in which sex, the human body, matters we have been taught to associate with the obscene, are part of the sacred. It is also a view of the sacred in which images of sex, of the human body, of man's body, of woman's body, and of how two bodies should relate, are primarily life-affirming, pleasure-affirming images.”
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58. After all these before, in the future, but not a future that is too far-fetched to believe or hope for, at the beginning of Spring time in a healed Middle East, no more plagued by strife, war or hatred, and in all other worlds, She who is the Divine Inspirational Feminine throughout the ages, known in the Ancient Near East as Nammu, Ninhursag-Ki, Ninlil, Ningal, Inanna, Shamhat, Sarpanitum and Ereshkigal, but who also has 10,000 Names in all Worlds and spheres, meets the Divine Inspirational Masculine and her beloved Consort, who also once was An, Enlil, Enki, Nanna, Dumuzi, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Ninurta, Marduk and Nergal of 10,000 Names. ‘Here we are, beloved, at the entrance of the Underworld, standing at the very first step of the Stairway to the Heights and Worlds Above,’… Hieros gamos, c 10,000 BC Europe, Negev Desert Healing through the Union of the Masculine and Feminine
59. … He says to Her. ‘Will you take my hand and ascend with me? This time to stay? In all worlds as my Soul-Partner, Companion, Beloved and Best Friend?’ She laughs in pure delight: ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. Never to hide again, to be your Soul-Partner, Companion, Beloved and Friend in the open, never to leave you and forever to stay. This is the Desire of my Heart, the Longing of my Soul, the Delight of my Holy Body. Have you lost then the fear to be a triumphant feminine man, my beloved god?’ She had always been such a teaser. But he had learnt a lot with her: ‘As much as you learnt to be a delightful masculine woman, my dearest goddess. But it is high time for you, for we to return Together. Shall we then go?’ ‘Your wish is my command, beloved,’ She answered. So hand in hand, as Equals, Polarities without but Complementary Within, the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine crossed the Threshold to the Worlds Above to be welcomed as Goddess and God in all peoples’ souls. (by Lishtar - based on ancient myths and sources from the cuneiform + modern scholarship)
60. "I who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars and the mysteries of the waters, I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me. For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe. From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return. Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold - all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals. Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without. For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire."
Editor's Notes
1- Page 61 in Mookerjee, A. (1988). Kali: The feminine force. Rochester: Destiny Books.
Biblical story revises older legend – Ishtar got the story from Nueh (later Noah), a Moon Goddess. Ishtar prophesized a flood and she sailed the Ark and she sent out a dove, a swallow and finally a raven (did not return). Ishtar lifted up her jeweled necklace to the Heavens (the first rainbow) and rejoiced.