“Atheist-Humanist-Leftists” World Mythology Series

I am for listening to whatever the FACTS best explain.

I am always open to evidence, but blind guessing is not my style of choice.

I need evidence to make my speculations from.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Lightning Gods are Younger Gods?

Proto-Indo-European mythology is dated to at least 6,000 years old in Ukraine. And the lightning god is later than this, it is some time after 5,000 to 4,000 years ago. Lightning/storm gods are not always supreme gods/king of the gods. High gods could be 12/11,000 years old, but lightning gods are closer to 5,000 years old. And yet another reason why it is wrong to think that lightning inspired all gods, as some atheists think. High gods/sky gods are likely related to star clusters/constellations.

“*Dyḗus (lit. ‘daylight’), also *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr (lit. ‘father daylight’), the “Sky Father” god, is 6,000 years old at least. Associated with the vast diurnal sky and with the fertile rains, *Dyēus was often paired with *Dʰéǵʰōm, the Earth Mother (8,000 years old at least), in a relationship of union and contrast.” ref

“Proto-Indo-European mythology is the myths and deities associated with speakers of the Indo-European, including Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Celtic, Germanic, Hellenic, Indo-Iranian, Italic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Dutch. The Proto-Indo-European pantheon includes a number of securely reconstructed deities, since they are both cognates—linguistic siblings from a common origin—and associated with similar attributes and body of myths: such as *Dyḗws Ph₂tḗr, the daylight-sky god; his consort *Dʰéǵʰōm, the earth mother; his daughter *H₂éwsōs, the dawn goddess; his sons the Divine Twins; and *Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not, a solar deity and moon deity, respectively. Some deities, like the weather god *Perkʷunos or the herding-god *Péh₂usōn, are only attested in a limited number of traditions—Western (i.e. European) and Graeco-Aryan, respectively—and could therefore represent late additions that did not spread throughout the various Indo-European dialects.” ref, ref

“Some myths are also securely dated to Proto-Indo-European times, since they feature both linguistic and thematic evidence of an inherited motif: a story portraying a mythical figure associated with thunder and slaying a multi-headed serpent to release torrents of water that had previously been pent up; a creation myth involving two brothers, one of whom sacrifices the other in order to create the world; and probably the belief that the Otherworld was guarded by a watchdog and could only be reached by crossing a river. Various schools of thought exist regarding possible interpretations of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology. One of the earliest attested and thus one of the most important of all Indo-European mythologies is Vedic mythology, especially the mythology of the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas. The main mythologies used in comparative reconstruction are Iranian, Baltic, Roman, Norse, Celtic, Greek, Slavic, Hittite, Armenian, and Albanian.” ref

It is a typical atheist movement thinking that “fear of lightning created religion and/or deities,” this is not true of religion or deities as a group, which emerged due to lightning; it seems to have been a later myth after there were already sky deities.  

There are some lightning gods, as other gods are called/referred to as “Lord”

“Leigong (Chinese: 雷公; pinyin: léigōng; Wade–Giles: lei² kung¹; lit. ‘Lord of Thunder’) or Leishen (Chinese: 雷神; pinyin: léishén; lit. ‘God of Thunder’), is the god of thunder in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, and Taoism.” ref

“Hadúr, or Hodúr in old Hungarian, short for Hadak Ura, meaning “warLord” or “Lord of the armies” in Hungarian, was the god of fire, later became a war god in the religion of the early Hungarians (Magyars). In Hungarian mythology, he was the third son of Arany Atyácska (Golden Father) and Hajnal Anyácska (Dawn Mother), the main god and goddess.” ref 

“Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms: thus lightning. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hurrians. Enlil’s name comes from ancient Sumerian EN (𒂗), meaning “lord”  and which has sometimes been interpreted as meaning winds as a weather phenomenon (making Enlil a weather and sky god, “Lord Wind” or “Lord Storm”).” ref

“Baal or Baʿal, was a title and honorific meaning ‘owner’ or ‘lord‘ in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have shown that the name Baʻal was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations. In the Northwest Semitic languages—Ugaritic, Phoenician, Hebrew, Amorite, and Aramaic—the word baʿal signified ‘owner‘ and, by extension, ‘lord’, a ‘master’, or ‘husband’. “Baʿal was also used as a proper name by the third millennium BCE or 5,000 to 4,000 years ago, when he appears in a list of deities at Abu Salabikh. Most modern scholarship asserts that this Baʿal—usually distinguished as “The Lord” (הבעל, Ha-Baʿal)—was identical with the storm and fertility god Hadad; it also appears in the form Baʿal Haddu.” ref 

“Scholars propose that, as the cult of Hadad increased in importance, his true name came to be seen as too holy for any but the high priest to speak aloud and the alias “Lord” (“Baʿal”) was used instead, as “Bel” was used for Marduk among the Babylonians and “Adonai” for Yahweh among the Israelites. A minority propose that Baʿal was a native Canaanite deity whose cult was identified with or absorbed aspects of Adad‘s. Regardless of their original relationship, by the 1st millennium BCE, the two were distinct: Hadad was worshiped by the Aramaeans, and Baʿal by the Phoenicians and other Canaanites. Baʿal is well-attested in surviving inscriptions and was popular in theophoric names throughout the Levant but he is usually mentioned along with other gods, “his own field of action being seldom defined”. Nonetheless, Ugaritic records show him as a weather god, with particular power over lightning, wind, rain, and fertility.” ref 

“The dry summers of the area were explained as Baʿal’s time in the underworld, and his return in autumn was said to have caused the storms that revived the land. Thus, the worship of Baʿal in Canaan—where he eventually supplanted El as the leader of the gods and patron of kingship—was connected to the region’s dependence on rainfall for its agriculture, unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, which focused on irrigation from their major rivers. Anxiety about water availability for crops and trees increased the importance of his cult, which focused attention on his role as a rain god. The Baʿal of Ugarit was the epithet of Hadad, but as time passed, the epithet became the god’s name while Hadad became the epithet. Baʿal was usually said to be the son of Dagan, but appears as one of the sons of El in Ugaritic sources. Both Baʿal and El were associated with the bull in Ugaritic texts, as they symbolized both strength and fertility.” ref

“Enki (Sumerian: 𒀭𒂗𒆠 ^DEN-KI) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge (gestú), crafts (gašam), and creation (nudimmud), and one of the Anunnaki. The name Enki is usually translated as “Lord of the Earth” in Sumerian. He explained his name ‘’Lord (productive manager) of the Earth’’ as a reflection of the role of water in the fertilizing of the earth. He was later known as Ea (Akkadian: 𒀭𒂍𒀀) or Ae in Akkadian (Assyrian–Babylonian) religion, and is identified by some scholars with Ia in Canaanite religion. Ai (Canaan), dating back to a site in the West Bank, that was there around 3100 BCE or 5,100 years ago until roughly 2400 BCE or 4,400 years ago.” ref, ref

“The Concept of the Desert Embodied by the God Ha, “Lord of the West” – Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 

“Ha was said to protect Egypt from enemies such as invading ancient Libyans. He is associated with Set, since Set represented the west of the Nile, and they both have similar attributes – the desert. It is unknown when Ha was worshipped in ancient Egypt. But at first he was the god of fertility, son of an almost unknown deity named Iaaw, but in the later period of Egypt, he took his place by removing the western desert god Ash.” ref

Thus, God Ha only later became “Lord of the West.”

So, what and when was the rise of the idea of “Lord?” 

“Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler.” ref

“Ensi (cuneiform: 𒑐𒋼𒋛 pa.te.si Sumerian: ensik, “lord of the plowland”; Emesal dialect: umunsik; Akkadian: iššakkum) was a Sumerian title designating the ruler or prince of a city-state. Originally it may have designated an independent ruler, but in later periods the title presupposed subordinance to a lugal. For the Early Dynastic Period (about 2800–2350 BCE or 4,800 to 4,350 years ago), the meaning of the titles en, ensi, and lugal cannot be differentiated clearly: see lugal, ensi, and en for details. Ensi may have originally been a designation of the ruler restricted to the cities Lagash and Umma. The ensi was considered a representative of the city-state’s patron deity. In later periods, an ensi was normally seen as subordinate to a lugal. Nevertheless, even the powerful rulers of the Second Dynasty of Lagash (c. 2100 BCE or 4,100 years ago) such as Gudea were satisfied with the title ensi.” ref

“During the Third Dynasty of Ur (about 2100–2000 BCE or 4,100 to 4,000 years ago) ensi referred to the provincial governors of the kingdom. These exercised great powers in terms of government, tax revenue, and jurisdiction, but they were supervised, installed, and dismissed by the lugal of the city Ur. Although the office could be inherited, all ensi had to be endorsed by the lugal. No independent foreign policy or warfare was allowed. In the city-state of Assur, the hereditary ruler bore the Akkadian-language version of the title ensi, while the patron deity was regarded as šarrum “king”. They held most political power in Sumerian city-states during the Uruk period (c. 4100–2900 BCE or 6,100 to 4,900 years ago).” ref

^{“Lugal is the Sumerian term for a ‘king or ruler’. Literally, the term means ‘big man.” It was one of several Sumerian titles that a ruler of a city-state could bear (alongside en and ensi, the exact difference being a subject of debate). The sign eventually became the predominant logograph for “King” in general. There are different theories regarding the meaning of the title lugal in 3rd-millennium Sumer. Some scholars believe that a ruler of an individual city-state was usually called ensi, and a ruler who headed a confederacy or larger dominion composed of several cities, perhaps even the whole of Sumer, was a lugal. The functions of such a lugal would include certain ceremonial and cultic activities, arbitration in border disputes, military defence against external enemies, and once the lugal has died, the eldest son must take over. The ensis of Lagash would sometimes refer to the city’s patron deity, Ningirsu, as their lugal (“master”). All of the above is connected to the possibly priestly or sacral character of the titles ensi and especially en (the latter term continuing to designate priests in subsequent times). Among the earliest rulers whose inscriptions describe them as lugals are Enmebaragesi and Mesilim at Kish, and Meskalamdug, Mesannepada, and several of their successors at Ur. At least from the Third Dynasty of Ur (22nd and 21st centuries BCE or 4,200 to 4,100 years ago) onwards, only lugal was used to designate a contemporary sovereign in Sumerian.” ref, ref}

“The Uruk period (c. 4000 to 3100 BCE or 6,000 to 5,100 years ago; also known as Protoliterate period) existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, after the Ubaid period and before the Jemdet Nasr period. Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization. King-Priests are likely 6,000 years old but at least 3,800 to 3,300 BCE or 5,800 to 5,300 years ago.” ref

“En is the Sumerian cuneiform for ‘lord/lady’ or ‘priest[ess]’. Originally, it seems to have been used to designate a high priest or priestess of a Sumerian city-state‘s patron-deity – a position that entailed political power as well. It may also have been the original title of the ruler of Uruk. See Lugal, ensi and en for more details. Deities including En as part of their name include ^DEnlil, ^DEnki, ^DEngurun, and ^DEnzu. Enheduanna, Akkadian 2285 to 2250 BCE or 4,285 to 4,250 years ago was the first known holder of the title En, here meaning ‘Priestess’.” ref

“Enmerkar (2750 BCE or 4,750 years ago) was an ancient Sumerian ruler to whom the construction of the city of Uruk and a 420-year reign was attributed. According to literary sources, he led various campaigns against the land of Aratta. The tradition of Enmerkar as the founder of Uruk seems to date from the Jemdet Nasr period (3100-2900 BCE or 5,100 to 4,900 years ago) as found in the Ad-gi4 list. The lexical list mentions Enmerkar and his wife Enmerkarzi as the builders of a town and the bringers of agriculture. Some scholars have looked for historical matter in the literature deeds of Enmerkar and the land of Aratta. For example, an archaic tablet from Uruk recording the title “Lord of Aratta” was given as a reason to believe the traditions surrounding Enmerkar’s deeds were based in reality. Moreover, there are suggestions that Enmerkar and his administration may be factually attributed as the first person/people to put cuneiform to clay tablets; and that writing did indeed exist before Enmerkar, citing the fact that the Lord of Aratta understood the message, but those writing were previously done in different materials” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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El (deity): LINK

EL is used around 250 times in the Bible: LINK

Yahweh (deity): LINK

Yahwism, also known as the Israelite religion: LINK

Deuteronomy 32:8-9: This biblical passage provides evidence of the El (supreme god of East Semitic speakers 2900-2350 BCE, god EL who is used around 250 times in the early bible) as the father of Yahweh (ancient Semitic deity god of the bible, national god of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel). It describes how El Elyon (God Most High) divided the nations among his sons, with Yahweh receiving Israel as his portion.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Harrat Ash Shaam: 2670 BCE Eruption: Link, Link

“Mount Ararat destroyed and buried at least one Kura–Araxes culture settlement and caused numerous fatalities in 2500–2400 BCE.” ref

Kura–Araxes culture: Link, Link

Minoan eruption: Link

Leviathan (Sea Monster/Sea Volcano): Link, Link

Kenites: Link, Link

Kenite hypothesis of the origin of Yahweh: Link

Yahweh Bible God: Link

Yahwism (ancient Israelite religion): Link

YHWH/Yahweh: Kenite God of Metallurgy and volcanic eruption: Link

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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AI Overview – “Shamanism, an ancient spiritual practice, often incorporates dogs as important figures, sometimes as guides, protectors, or even messengers of the spirit world. In shamanic traditions, dogs are frequently seen as psychopomps, guiding souls to the afterlife. They are also believed to possess unique intuitive abilities and can act as conduits for communication with the spirit realm.”

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Otiose meaning: “serving no practical purpose”

Religion: high gods

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Ancient North Eurasian (ANE)

Ancient Beringian/Ancestral Native American (AB/ANA)

Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG)

Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG)

Western Steppe Herders (WSH) 

Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherer (SHG)

Early European Farmers (EEF)

Jōmon people (Ainu people OF Hokkaido Island) 

Neolithic Iranian farmers (Iran_N) (Iran Neolithic)

Amur Culture (Amur watershed)

Haplogroup R possible time of origin about 27,000 years in Central Asia, South Asia, or Siberia:

• Mal’ta–Buret’ culture (24,000-15,000 years ago)
• Afontova Gora culture (21,000-12,000 years ago)
• Trialetian culture (16,000–8000 years ago)
• Samara culture (7,000-6,500 years ago)
• Khvalynsk culture (7,000-6,500 years ago)
• Afanasievo culture (5,300-4,500 years ago)
• Yamna/Yamnaya Culture (5,300-4,500 years ago)
• Andronovo culture (4,000–2,900 years ago) ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Milky Way Mythology: Often a Path to the Afterlife, Souls of the Dead on the Milky Way

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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I believe the father/grandfather, Sky Sun Spirit, and the mother/grandmother, Sky Moon Spirit, became the Sky Deities, Sky Father God, and Sky Mother Goddess in the Middle East around 13,000 to 11,000 years ago after the invention of beer and herding, respectively. The Bull or horned animals are generally related to females from at least 35,000 to 7,000 years ago, or so. What I am less sure of is when the Spirit versions arose. I could say the Middle East, as it is where they became gods, but this would deny all the older art that seems to express not only male and female spirit beliefs, but also astrological beliefs beyond just the moon and sun. It appears to have originated in the Totemic Aurignacian, then seemingly transferred to the shamanistic Gravettian culture, which subsequently shared it with the Kostyonki culture, and from there, it was passed on to the Ancient North Eurasians. The Ancient North Eurasian culture then shared it with the Middle East’s Kebaran culture.

Early modern human

European early modern humans

Aurignacian Culture

Gravettian Culture

Dolní Věstonice Culture

Kostyonki Culture

Ancient North Eurasian Culture

Kebaran culture

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Snake Symbolism

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Sun Snakes and Eclipses Mythology?

“In ancient Egyptian mythology, Ra is associated with the Great Serpent, a powerful creature that serves as Ra’s protector, embodying both the nurturing and destructive aspects of nature.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“The Heavenly Shepherd” or “Gigant Great Hunter”

“Depictions of the consistently phallic Egyptian god, Min, show the deity in a standing position in a stance that closely follows the Orion constellation. In Egyptian mythology, the god Min, associated with fertility, harvest, and male virility, was linked to the constellation Orion. Depictions of Min, often with an erect phallus, visually resemble the Orion constellation, particularly the alignment of stars in Orion’s belt.” ref, ref

“In ancient Egypt, the stars of Orion were regarded as a god, called Sah, representing a constellation that encompassed the stars in Orion and Lepus, as well as stars found in some neighboring modern constellations.” ref, ref

“The Babylonian star constellations of the Late Bronze Age named Orion meant, “The Heavenly Shepherd” or “True Shepherd of Anu,” Anu being the chief god of the heavenly realms. The True Shepherd of Anu (i.e., Orion) … is a human figure, clothed, bearded, and the Twins (i.e., Gemini), who stand in front of the True Shepherd of Anu…, are two human figures, clothed. The celestial body that stands below the True Shepherd of Anu is the Rooster (Lepus). Orion served several roles in ancient Greek culture. The story of the adventures of Orion, the hunter, is the one for which there is the most evidence (and even for that, not very much); he is also the personification of the constellation of the same name; he was venerated as a hero, in the Greek sense. The Seri people of northwestern Mexico call the three stars in the belt of Orion Hapj (a name denoting a hunter), which consists of three stars, and in China, Orion is related to Sieu, which, literally meaning “three,” refers to the stars of Orion’s Belt. In Siberia, the Chukchi people see Orion as a hunter, and in old Hungarian tradition, Orion is called Nimrod (Hungarian: Nimród), the greatest hunter, father of the twins Hunor and Magor.” ref, ref 

“In Greek mythology, Orion is a hunter, with hunting dogs (Canis Major and Minor) that mirror the Wild Hunt’s entourage. And whenever Scorpius appears, Orion hides away, for the two are never to be seen together. The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif occurring across various northern, western, and eastern European societies. The Wild Hunt typically involves a chase led by a mythological figure, escorted by ghostly or supernatural hunters engaged in pursuit.” ref

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Nabta Playa, God “Sah or Sahu” and Orion/Lepus Constellation?

Could Nabta Playa’s 8 stones, placed in a line in the circle and 2 by themselves also in the circle, relate to this picture of Sah, or Sahu, translating to the “Hidden One,” which corresponds to the modern constellation known as Lepus? ref, ref

Nabta Playa

“Although today the western Egyptian desert is totally dry, this was not always the case. There is good evidence that there were several humid periods in the past (when up to 500 mm of rain would fall per year). During this time, the area was a savanna and supported numerous animals such as extinct buffalo and large giraffes, varieties of antelope, and gazelle. Beginning around the 10th millennium BCE, this region of the Nubian Desert began to receive more rainfall, filling a lake. Early people may have been attracted to the region due to the source of water. Astrophysicist Thomas G. Brophy suggests the hypothesis that the southerly line of three stones inside the Calendar Circle represented the three stars of Orion’s Belt, and the other three stones inside the calendar circle represented the shoulders and head stars of Orion as they appeared in the sky.” ref

“These correspondences were for two dates – circa 4800 BCE and at precessional opposition – representing how the sky “moves” long term. Brophy proposes that the circle was constructed and used circa the later date, and the dual date representation was a conceptual representation of the motion of the sky over a precession cycle. Near the Calendar Circle, which is made of smaller stones, there are alignments of large megalithic stones. The southerly lines of these megaliths, Brophy argues, aligned to the same stars as represented in the Calendar Circle, all at the same epoch, circa 6270 BC. Brophy argues that the Calendar Circle correlation with Orion’s belt occurred between 6400 BC and 4900 BC, matching radio-carbon dates of some campfires in the area.” ref

“Archaeological findings indicate the presence of small seasonal camps in the region dating to the 9th–8th millennia BCE. Fred Wendorf, the site’s discoverer, and ethno-linguist Christopher Ehret have suggested that the people who occupied this region at that time may have been early pastoralists, or, like the Saami, practiced semi-pastoralism. This is disputed by other sources, as the cattle remains found at Nabta have been shown to be morphologically wild in several studies, and hunter-gatherers at the nearby Saharan site of Uan Afada in Libya were penning wild Barbary sheep, an animal that was never domesticated. According to Michael Brass (2018), early cattle remains from Nabta Playa were wild hunted aurochs, whilst domesticated cattle were introduced to northeast Africa in the late 7th millennium BCE, originating from cattle domesticated in the Euphrates valley.” ref

“Larger settlements began to appear at Nabta Playa by the 7th millennium BCE, relying on deep wells for sources of water. Small huts were constructed in straight rows. Sustenance included wild plants, such as legumes, millets, sorghum, tubers, and fruit. Around 6800 BCE, they began to make pottery locally. In the late 7th millennium BCE goats and sheep, apparently imported from Western Asia, appear. Many large hearths also appear. Early pottery from the Nabta Playa-Bir Kiseiba area has characteristics, unlike pottery from surrounding regions. This is followed by pottery with characteristics found only in the Western Desert. Later pottery from c. 5500 BCE (Al Jerar phase) has similarities with pottery from the Sudanese region. Pottery decorations included complex patterns of impressions applied with a comb in a rocking motion.” ref

“By the 6th millennium BCE, evidence of a prehistoric religion or cult appears. From 5500 BCE, the Late Neolithic period began, with “a new group that had a complex social system expressed in a degree of organisation and control not previously seen.” These new people were responsible for sacrificial cattle burials in clay-lined and roofed chambers covered by rough stone tumuli. It has been suggested that the associated cattle cult indicated in Nabta Playa marks an early evolution of Ancient Egypt‘s Hathor cult. For example, Hathor was worshipped as a nighttime protector in desert regions (see Serabit el-Khadim). To directly quote professors Wendorf and Schild: … there are many aspects of political and ceremonial life in prehistoric Egypt and the Old Kingdom that reflect a strong impact from Saharan cattle pastoralists … Rough megalithic stone structures buried underground are also found in Nabta Playa, one of which included evidence of what Wendorf described as perhaps “the oldest known sculpture in Egypt.” ref

“In the 5th millennium BCE, these peoples fashioned what may be among the world’s earliest known archeoastronomical devices (roughly contemporary to the Goseck circle in Germany and the Mnajdra megalithic temple complex in Malta). These include alignments of stones that may have indicated the rising of certain stars and a “calendar circle” that indicates the approximate direction of summer solstice sunrise. “Calendar circle” may be a misnomer as the spaces between the pairs of stones in the gates are a bit too wide, and the distances between the gates are too short for accurate calendar measurements.” An inventory of Egyptian archaeoastronomical sites for the UNESCO World Heritage Convention evaluated Nabta Playa as having “hypothetical solar and stellar alignments.” ref

“The ancient Egyptians considered Sah one of their most important constellations, especially as it rose directly before the adjacent star Sirius. Over time, Sopdet and Sah came to be seen as manifestations of Osiris and Isis in Egyptian mythology. In ancient Egyptian religion, the “sahu” was the incorruptible soul, but the god Sahu (or Sah – “the hidden one”) was also the personification of the constellation Orion. His consort Sopdet (or Sothis), represented the star Sirius (the “dog star”), and his son, Sopdu, represented Venus.” ref, ref

“According to ancient Egyptian myths, Sahu (Orion) was swallowed by the underworld at dawn, but arose again every night. Clearly, he was a stellar, not a solar god. Sahu was associated with the god Osiris because every year, Sopdet (Sirius) appeared again after a seventy-day absence just before the inundation, which was associated with the resurrection of Osiris. This association was strengthened by the association of Sopdet with the goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris. However, the Pyramid texts suggest that Sahu was the father of the gods (including Osiris), yet they state that his wife, Sopdet, was the daughter of Osiris.” ref

“In Heliopolitan theology, Atum created the first couple of the Ennead, Shu, and Tefnut, by masturbating or by spitting. Shu was the father of Nut and Geb and grandfather of Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. His great-grandsons are Horus and Anubis.” ref

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Male statues and male power: from Nevalı Çori, Turkey, to other areas, Egypt, Sumerian, Europe, and then Siberia.

I think emerging herding paganism was male-focused at the beginning, around 12,000/13,000 years ago, it was a shift from the older, more female shaman-focused tradition that had been the norm from 25,000 to 12,000 years ago, respectively, from Central Europe to the Middle East. After 12,000 years, the process in northern Mesopotamia of shamanism evolving into or emerging to become herding paganism with its Master of Animals. I believe it had at least three animals as deities: the bird, the bull, and the snake, and at least two deities in anthropomorphic form as the sky father/sun/day sky and the sky mother/moon/night sky.

“Atahensic, also known as Sky Woman (Sky Mother), is an Iroquois sky goddess. Atahensic is associated with marriage, childbirth, and feminine affairs in general.  Atahensic is the Sky Woman (or Tekawerahkwa, the Earth Woman in some versions of some myths). In others, Atahensic, the Sky Woman, had a daughter named Tekawerahkwa (or Earth Woman). As Tekawerahkwa Earth Woman died by childbirth, either she wished for her body to sustain the people, or Atahensic sowed on her grave the agricultural seeds she had brought when she fell to Earth, but never planted before. Out of Tekawerahkwa’s remains grew various plants: the sister spirits of the corn, beans, and squash came from her breasts, hands, and navel, respectively; sunflowers from her legs; strawberries from her heart; tobacco from her head; and purple potatoes or sunchokes from her feet.” ref, ref

I think that it was in Central Turkey, at sites like Çatal Höyük, between 8,500 and 8,000 years ago, that an early Earth mother goddess emerged, seemingly related to the domestication of wheat at Çatal Höyük.

“Ancient DNA from 8400-Year-Old Çatalhöyük Wheat: Implications for the Origin of Neolithic Agriculture. Although the Fertile Crescent is renowned as the center of wheat domestication, archaeological studies have shown the crucial involvement of Çatalhöyük in this process. 8400 years old Çatalhöyük wheat stock contained hexaploid wheat, which is similar to contemporary hexaploid wheat species, including both naked (T. aestivum) and hulled (T. spelta) wheat. This suggests an early transitory state of hexaploid wheat agriculture from the Fertile Crescent towards Europe, spanning present-day Turkey.” ref

“The 8,000-year-old Seated Woman of Çatal Höyük (Earth Mother/Earth Woman/Mistress of Animals) is a baked-clay nude female form seated between feline-headed arm-rests. Although a male deity existed as well, “statues of a female deity far outnumber those of the male deity, who moreover, does not appear to be represented at all after Level VI”. To date, eighteen levels have been identified. These figurines were found primarily in areas Mellaart believed to be shrines. The stately goddess seated on a throne flanked by two lionesses was found in a grain bin, which Mellaart suggests might have been a means of ensuring the harvest or protecting the food supply.” ref, ref, ref

“The Master of Animals, Lord of Animals, at least 12,000/11,000 years old, or Mistress of the Animals, at 8,000 years ago, is a motif in ancient art showing a human between and grasping two confronted animals. The motif is very widespread in the art of Mesopotamia.” ref 

“A mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated the Earth, sky, and/or the life-giving bounties thereof in a maternal relation with humanity or other gods. When equated in this lattermost function with the earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as the Mother Earth or Earth Mother, a deity in various animistic or pantheistic religions. The earth goddess is archetypally the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky Father or Father Heaven, particularly in theologies derived from the Proto-Indo-European sphere (i.e. from Dheghom and Dyeus). In some polytheistic cultures, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion which narrates the cosmic egg myth, the sky is instead seen as the Heavenly Mother or Sky Mother as in Nut and Hathor, and the earth god is regarded as the male, paternal, and terrestrial partner, as in Osiris or Geb who hatched out of the maternal cosmic egg.” ref

An ancient ‘female-centered’ society thrived 9,000 years ago in the proto-city Çatal Höyük in Turkey

“Genetic analysis of skeletons buried in a Neolithic proto-city in Turkey reveals that female lineages were important in early agricultural societies. Ancient DNA from Stone Age burials in Turkey has finally put to rest a decades-long debate about whether the 9,000-year-old proto-city of Çatalhöyük was a matriarchal society. The research finally confirms what experts have long suspected: Women and girls were key figures in this agricultural society. With Çatalhöyük, researchers now have the oldest genetically inferred social organisation pattern in food-producing societies, first systematic evidence of such a continuously matrilineally organised Neolithic community. A pattern of more burial gifts for female babies was also not something we were expecting. Which turns out to be female-centered, nuclear or extended families had a role in structuring Çatalhöyük households, which were based primarily on maternal lineages.” ref

“Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother’s lineage, and which can involve the inheritance of property and titles. A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant of either gender in which the individuals in all intervening generations are mothers. In a matrilineal descent system, individuals belong to the same descent group as their mothers. This is in contrast to the currently more popular pattern of patrilineal descent from which a family name is usually derived. The matriline of historical nobility was also called their enatic or uterine ancestry, corresponding to the patrilineal or “agnatic” ancestry.” ref

“The 9,000-year-old proto-city of Çatalhöyük was a matriarchal ‘female-centered’ society.” ref, ref

“The following list includes societies that have been identified as matrilineal or matrilocal in ethnographic literature:

Akan, Nso, Bijagós, Imazighen, !Kung San, Ngazidja/Grande Comore, Nubians, Ovambo, Serer, in Africa. ref

Alor, Batek, Billava, Bontoc, Bunt, Nairs, Garo, Iban, Jaintia, Karen, Kerinci, Khasi, Maliku, Minangkabau, Mosuo/Nakhi, Nair, Tai people, Wemale, Chams, Rhade, Amis, Han Taiwanese, in Asia. ref

Bribri, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Gitxsan, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Hopi, Lenape (Delaware), Mohican, Navajo, Seminole, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Western Apache, Akimel Oʼodham (Pima), Muscogee, Tsenacommacah (Powhatan confederacy), Wampanoag, Nipmuc, Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, Keres people, Zuni, in North America. ref

Huaorani, Jívaro, Guna people, Wayuu, in South America. ref

Danes, Greek, Basques, in Europe. ref

Chamorro, Marshallese, Siraya, in Oceania/Austronesia. ref

Boyowan, Chambri, Fore, Tiwi, Vanatinai, in Australasia. ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

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Kortik Tepe’s Master-of-Animals

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ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Master of the Animals in Ancient Times

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“The identity of the character depicted in the Coptos colossi and their chronology have become two controversial points in the study of these works of art. Soon after they were discovered, the idea that they could be a primitive representation of the god Min was proposed. Their location within the perimeter of the temple of Coptos, as well as the presence of certain iconographic motifs, led a priori to that conclusion. Nevertheless, some later works have opposed that hypothesis. Whether these statues belong to the Egyptian artistic environment or not has been the starting point of the formal and comparative study developed in the first part of this paper. Within the iconographic field, we have, in the second part of this study, evaluated every one of the motifs inscribed on the statues. Through the results provided by the evidence, we have concluded that the Coptos colossi were early representations of the god Min. Early because they belong to a chronological period situated between the end of Naqada II and the beginning of Naqada III. The differences in content between historical images of the god Min arise from representing an entity that ruled over the desert and the sea—a different Min, pertaining to the so-called “Preformal tradition”, which we consider a former sculptural symbol of the same principle, namely Fertility.” ref

Min: the most popular deity in the Eastern Desert?

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“Prior to a specific Mesopotamian influence there had already been a longstanding influence from West Asia into Egypt, North Africa and even into some parts of the Horn of Africa and the Sahel in the form of the Neolithic Revolution which from circa 9000 BCE or around 11,000 years ago diffused advanced agricultural practices and technology, gene-flow, certain animals and crops and the likely spread of Proto-Afroasiatic language into the region, with Semitic languages being introduced via the Arabian Peninsula and Levant into the Horn of Africa and North Africa respectively after 1000 BCE. Egypt–Mesopotamia relations were the relations between the civilizations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, in the Middle East. They seem to have developed from the 4th millennium BCE, starting in the Uruk period for Mesopotamia (circa 4000–3100 BCE or 6,000 to 5,100 years ago) and the half a millennium younger Gerzean culture of Prehistoric Egypt (circa 3500–3200 BCE or around 5,500 to 5,200 years afo), and constituted a largely one way body of influences from Mesopotamia into Egypt. Mesopotamian influences can be seen in the visual arts of Egypt, in architecture, in technology, weaponry, in imported products, religious imagery, in agriculture and livestock, in genetic input, and also in the likely transfer of writing from Mesopotamia to Egypt and generated “deep-seated” parallels in the early stages of both cultures.” ref

“There was generally a high-level of trade between Ancient Egypt and the Near East throughout the Pre-dynastic period of Egypt, during the Naqada II (3600–3350 BCE) and Naqada III (3350–2950 BCE) phases. These were contemporary with the Late Uruk (3600–3100 BCE) and Jemdet Nasr (3100–2900 BCE) periods in Mesopotamia. The main period of cultural influence, particularly consisting of the transfer of Mesopotamian imagery, symbols, and technology to Egypt, is considered to have lasted about 250 years, during the Naqada II to Dynasty I periods. Distinctly foreign objects and art forms entered Egypt during this period, indicating contacts with several parts of Western Asia. The designs that were emulated by Egyptian artists are numerous: the Uruk “priest-king” with his tunic and brimmed hat in the posture of the Master of animals, the serpopards, winged griffins, snakes around rosettes, boats with high prows, all characteristic of long established Mesopotamian art of the Late Uruk (Uruk IV, c. 3350–3200 BCE) period. The same “Priest-King” is visible in several older Mesopotamian works of art of the end of the Uruk period, such as the Blau Monuments, cylinder seals and statues. Objects such as the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, which has patently Mesopotamian relief carvings on it, have been found in Egypt, and the silver which appears in this period can only have been obtained from Asia Minor.” ref

• Mesopotamian-style pottery in Egypt (3500 BCE)
• Adoption of Mesopotamian-style maceheads 4000–3400 BCE
• Cylinder seals from Mesopotamia to Egypt during the Naqada II period
• Other objects and designs from the Iranian plateau to Mesopotamia 
• Adoption of the Mesopotamian temple architecture and pyramid-like like ritual buildings
• Sea trade: Transmission of ideas
• Importance of local Egyptian developments
• Development of writing (3500–3200 BCE) Egyptian hieroglyphs after Sumerian script

“Egyptians used traditional disk-shaped maceheads during the early phase of Naqada culture, circa 4000–3400 BCE. At the end of the period, the disk-shaped macehead was replaced by the militarily superior Mesopotamian-style pear-shaped macehead as seen on the Narmer Palette. The Mesopotamian macehead was much heavier with a wider impact surface, and was capable of giving much more damaging blows than the original Egyptian disk-shaped macehead. Egyptian architecture also was influenced, as it adopted various elements of earlier Mesopotamian temple and civic architecture. Recessed niches in particular, which are characteristic of Mesopotamian temple architecture, were adopted for the design of false doors in the tombs of the First Dynasty and Second Dynasty, from the time of the Naqada III period (circa 3000 BCE). It is unknown if the transfer of this design was the result of Mesopotamian builders and architects in Egypt, or if temple designs on imported Mesopotamian seals may have been a sufficient source of inspiration for Egyptian architects to manage themselves. The design of the ziggurat, which appeared in Mesopotamia in the late 5th millennium BCE, was clearly a precursor to and an influence on the Egyptian pyramids, especially the stepped designs of the oldest pyramids (step pyramid), the earliest of which (Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara) dates to circa 2600 BCE, well over two thousand years younger than Mesopotamian ziggurats/step pyramids. This again strongly suggests early cultural and technological influence on Egypt by Mesopotamia.” ref

“After this early period of exchange, and the direct introduction of Mesopotamian components into Egyptian culture, Egypt soon started to assert its own style from the Early Dynastic Period (3150–2686 BCE or around 5,100 to 4,686 years ago), the Narmer palette being seen as a turning point. Egypt seems to have provided some artistic feedback to Mesopotamia at the time of the Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia (2900–2334 BCE or around 4,900 to 4,334 years ago). This is especially the case with royal iconography: the figure of the king smiting his enemies with a mace, and the depiction of dead enemies being eaten by birds of prey appeared in Egypt from the time of the Narmer palette, and were then adopted centuries later (possibly from Egypt) by Mesopotamian rulers Eannatum and Sargon of Akkad. This depiction appears to be part of an artistic system to promote “hegemonistic kingship”. Another example is the usage of decorated mace heads as a symbol of kingship. There is also a possibility that the depictions of the Mesopotamian king with a muscular, naked, upper body fighting his enemies in a quadrangular posture, as seen in the Stele of Naram-Sin or statues of Gudea (all circa 2000 BCE or 4,000 years ago) were derived from Egyptian sculpture, which by that time had already been through its Golden Age during the Old Kingdom.” ref

Neith, female (or Intersex?) Egyptian Deity

“As a deity,  Neith is normally shown carrying the was scepter (symbol of rule and power) and the ankh (symbol of life). She is associated with Mehet-Weret, as a cow who gives birth to the sun daily, whose name means “Great Flood.” In these forms, she is associated with the creation of both the primeval time and the daily “re-creation”. As protectress of Ra or the king, she is represented as a uraeus. In time, this led to her being considered as the personification of the primordial waters of creation.” ref

“Some modern writers assert that they may interpret that as her being ‘androgynous‘, since Neith is the creator capable of giving birth without a partner (asexually) and without association of creation with sexual imagery, as seen in the myths of Atum and other creator deities; which in turn led to her being accredited as the creator of birth itself. However, her name always appears as feminine. Erik Hornung interprets that in the Eleventh Hour of the Amduat, Neith’s name appears written with a phallus. In reference to Neith’s function as creator with both male and female characteristics, Peter Kaplony has said in the Lexikon der Ägyptologie: “Die Deutung von Neith als Njt “Verneinung” ist sekundär. Neith ist die weibliche Entsprechung zu Nw(w), dem Gott der Urflut (Nun and Naunet).” She was considered to be eldest of the Ancient Egyptian deities. Neith is said to have been “born the first, in the time when as yet there had been no birth.” ref

“Neith form Ancient Egyptian: nt, also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an ancient Egyptian deity, possibly of Libyan origin. She was connected with warfare, as indicated by her emblem of two crossed bows, and with motherhood, as shown by texts that call her the mother of particular deities, such as the sun god Ra and the crocodile god Sobek. As a mother goddess, she was sometimes said to be the creator of the world. She also had a presence in funerary religion, and this aspect of her character grew over time: she became one of the four goddesses who protected the coffin and internal organs of the deceased. The Egyptian goddess Neith, the primary lordess, bearing her war goddess symbols, the crossed arrows and shield or sheath on her head, the ankh, and the was-sceptre. She sometimes wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt.” ref

“Neith is one of the earliest Egyptian deities to appear in the archaeological record; the earliest signs of her worship date to the Naqada II period (c. 3600–3350 BCE or 5,600 to 5,350 years ago). Her main cult center was the city of Sais in Lower Egypt, near the western edge of the Nile Delta, and some Egyptologists have suggested that she originated among the Libyan peoples who lived nearby. She was the most important goddess in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100–2686 BCE or 5,100 to 4,686 years ago) and had a significant shrine at the capital, Memphis. In subsequent eras, she lost her preeminence to other goddesses, such as Hathor, but she remained important, particularly during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664–525 BCE or 2,664 to 2,525 years ago), when Sais was Egypt’s capital. She was worshipped in many temples during the Greek and Roman periods of Egyptian history, most significantly Esna in Upper Egypt, and the Greeks identified her with their goddess Athena.” ref

“Neith is one of the most ancient deities associated with ancient Egyptian culture. Flinders Petrie noted the earliest depictions of her standards were known in predynastic periods, as can be seen from a representation of a barque bearing her crossed arrow standards in the Predynastic Period. In the very early periods of Egyptian history, the main iconographic representations of this goddess appear to have been limited to her hunting and war characteristics, although there is no Egyptian mythological reference to support the concept that this was her primary function as a deity. Neith’s symbol and part of her hieroglyph also bore a resemblance to a loom, and so in later syncretisation of Egyptian myths by the Greek ruling class of that time she was conflated with Athena, a Greek deity of war and weaving.” ref

“Her first anthropomorphic representations occur in the early dynastic period, on a diorite vase of King Ny-Netjer of the Second Dynasty. The vase was found in the Step Pyramid of Djoser (Third Dynasty) at Saqqara. That her worship predominated the early dynastic periods is demonstrated by a preponderance of theophoric names (personal names that incorporate the name of a deity) within which Neith appears as an element. Predominance of Neith’s name in nearly forty percent of early dynastic names, and particularly in the names of four royal women of the First Dynasty, clearly emphasizes the importance of this goddess in relation to the early society of Egypt, with special emphasis on association with the Royal House. An analysis of her attributes shows Neith was a goddess with many roles. From predynastic and early dynasty periods, she was referred to as an “Opener of the Ways” (same as Wepwawet), which may have referred, not only to her leadership in hunting and war but also as a psychopomp (escort newly deceased souls) in cosmic and underworld pathways, escorting souls.” ref

“Sometimes Neith was pictured as a woman nursing a baby crocodile, and she then was addressed with the title, “Nurse of Crocodiles”, reflecting a southern provincial mythology in Upper Egypt that she served as the mother of the crocodile god, Sobek. As the mother of Ra, in her Mehet-Weret form, she was sometimes described as the “Great Cow who gave birth to Ra”. As a maternal figure (beyond being the birth-mother of the sun-god Ra), Neith is associated with Sobek as her son (as early as the Pyramid Texts), but in later religious conventions that paired deities, no male deity is consistently identified with her in a pair and so, she often is represented without one. In the Pyramid Texts, Neith is paired with the goddess Selket as the two braces for the sky, which places these goddesses as the supports for the heavens. This ties in with the vignette in The Contendings of Horus and Seth when, as the most ancient among them, Neith is asked by the deities to decide who should rule. She was appealed to as an arbiter in the dispute between Horus and Seth. In her message of reply, Neith selects Horus, and says she will “cause the sky to crash to the earth” if he is not selected.” ref

Spirits to Gods

To me, deities originated in the Middle East 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, likely evolving from older beliefs and concepts such as Nature spirits, anthropomorphic personifications of wildlife, or various natural phenomena. Anthropomorphic Elementals, such as the elemental described as a mythic supernatural being in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, particularly elaborated upon in the 16th-century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent followers, there are four categories of elementals, which are gnomes, undines, sylphs, and salamanders. These correspond to the four Empedoclean elements of antiquity: earth, water, air, and fire, respectively. Terms employed for beings associated with alchemical elements vary by source and gloss. The Paracelsian concept of elementals draws from several much older traditions in mythology and religion. Common threads can be found in folklore, animism, and anthropomorphism. Examples of creatures such as the Pygmy were taken from Greek mythology. The elements of earth, water, air, and fire, were classed as the fundamental building blocks of nature. This system prevailed in the Classical world and was highly influential in medieval natural philosophy. Although Paracelsus uses these foundations and the popular preexisting names of elemental creatures, he is doing so to present new ideas that expand on his own philosophical system.” ref, ref, ref

Nature Spirits

“Animal spirits, Earth spirits, Forest spirits, Water spirits, Air spirits, ETC.” ref

“Animal spirits and spirit animals are supernatural entities resembling animals, as commonly depicted in folklore, legends, mythology, and religion. The Modern English word Earth developed, via Middle English, from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe. It has cognates in every Germanic language, from which Proto-Germanic *erþō has been reconstructed. In its earliest attestation, the word eorðe was used to translate the many senses of Latin terra and Greek gē: the ground, its soil, dry land, the human world, the surface of the world (including the sea), and the globe itself. As with Roman Terra (or Tellus) and Greek Gaia, Earth may have been a personified goddess in Germanic paganism: late Norse mythology included Jörð (‘Earth’), a giantess often given as the mother of Thor.” ref, ref

Spirit Animals

“An animal Spirit can be several things: Familiar, a supernatural entity, an interdimensional being, or a spiritual guardian that protects or assists witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic, divination, and spiritual insight. Power animal, a neoshamanic belief of a tutelary spirit/deity. Spirit guide, an entity that remains as a discarnate spirit to act as a guide or protector to a living, incarnated individual. Totem, a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe. Animal spirits or animal spirit may refer to: spirits of animals in the belief system of animism. Animal spirits (Keynes), the instincts, proclivities, and emotions that seemingly influence human behavior, which can be measured in terms of consumer confidence.” ref, ref

“The origin of the term spirit animal is unclear, but it means more than Your Favorite Animal. The diversity of Indigenous beliefs goes far deeper than the misused concept of a ‘spirit animal’. Learn the true cultural significance of these connections. “Animals have sustained our people for thousands of years, through food and medicine and clothing,” says Renee Gokey, teacher’s services coordinator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. “Clan and kinship systems are diverse among the 577 different Native American tribes,” says Renee Gokey. “Many of us still have our clan system in place.” In her Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, for example, clans represent ancestral relations to specific animals that have been in place for a long time. After an infant is born, an elder who speaks the language will give a name to the baby reflecting a different animal clan, though it can sometimes happen later in life as well. Renee Gokey’s own Shawnee name, which she doesn’t share outside of her people, translates to “when the turtle brings her head out of water and goes to land, there is strength.” Renee Gokey got the name, which indicates she’s part of the turtle clan, when she was about 25 years old. The inspiration for the name might be based on a dream the name-giver had, or based on observation of the baby. Or it could even be based on the needs of the community, as different clans play important roles in the Eastern Shawnee ceremony. “These things aren’t taken lightly. In our Shawnee tribe, there’s a particular ceremony,” Gokey says. “They’re these old ancestral relationships that have been in place for a long time.” Renee Gokey says.” ref

“Some of these clans have been lost over time through forced colonization, like much of Indigenous culture. “So much was taken from us or outlawed by government policy and colonialism: our land, our families, ceremonies, ways of life, foods, and education systems,” she says, adding that this loss of culture is partly what makes this is a sensitive issue. “It can feel trivial and shallow for people not part of our communities to try and take or mimic it themselves when they don’t understand it. The particular meaning of different animals to Indigenous people varies greatly based on which culture you’re talking about. The Heiltsuk Nation and people from the surrounding tribes in British Columbia typically identify with an animal that is often depicted artistically on a crest, says William Housty, conservation manager for the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department. In Bella Bella, where he lives, there are five main crests such as the eagle or orca. “It all goes back to mythical times in our oral history,” William Housty says. Heiltsuk believe humans could change into the animals of their crest in the distant past, he says. They eventually lost the ability when humans and animals diversified, but people still maintain a particular connection to their crest animal. “My grandmother is a wolf, and my grandfather is an eagle,” William Housty says, adding that his family’s crest design includes both animals together. Some Heiltsuk and other First Nations groups in the region put their ceremonial crest on blankets, or might get tattoos displaying them, while others will put their crest on totem poles, with animals strategically arranged based on family history. “They didn’t just put a grizzly bear there because the grizzly bear was cool,” William Housty says.” ref

Sky Father and Earth Mother

“In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a “father”, often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The concept of “sky father” may also be taken to include Sun gods with similar characteristics, such as Ra. The concept is complementary to an “earth mother“. “Sky Father” is a direct translation of the Vedic Dyaus Pita, etymologically descended from the same Proto-Indo-European deity name as the Greek Zeûs Pater and Roman Jupiter, all of which are reflexes of the same Proto-Indo-European deity’s name, *Dyēus Ph₂tḗr. While there are numerous parallels adduced from outside of Indo-European mythology, there are exceptions (e.g. In Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father). An Earth god or Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth associated with a figure with chthonic or terrestrial attributes. There are many different Earth gods and goddesses in many different cultures and mythology. However, Earth is usually portrayed as a goddess. Earth goddesses are often associated with the chthonic deities of the underworld. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra, Indic Prithvi, etc. traced to an “Earth Mother” complementary to the “Sky Father” in Proto-Indo-European religion. Egyptian mythology have the sky goddesses, Nut and Hathor, with the earth gods, Osiris and Geb. Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses.” ref, ref

“The ‘Sky’ is also expressed as a mother, seen in Atahensic, also known as Sky Woman, is an Iroquois sky goddess. Atahensic is associated with marriage, childbirth, and feminine affairs in general. According to legend, at the time of creation, Atahensic lived in the Upper World, but when digging up a tree, it left a hole in the ground that led to a great sky, under which was water. Atahensic fell through this hole. After her fall, birds carried her down the hole onto the water. A giant turtle then emerged from the underground waters for her to rest on. She then gave birth to her twin sons: Hahgwehdiyu (transl. Sapling) and Hahgwehdaetgah (transl. Flint). Hahgwehdiyu was born normally; Hahgwehdaetgah, the evil twin, killed Atahensic by bursting out of her side during birth. When Atahensic died, Hahgwehdiyu created the sky and, with her head, the Sun. Hahgwehdaetgah, however, created darkness to drive down the sun. Hahgwehdiyu then created the Moon and Stars from his mother’s breasts, and tasked them, his sisters, to guard the night sky. He gave the rest of his mother’s body to the earth, the Great Mother from whom all life came. Hahgwehdiyu then planted a seed into his mother’s corpse. From this seed grew corn, as a gift to mankind.” ref

“Queen of Heaven was a title given to several ancient sky goddesses worshipped throughout the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient Near East. Goddesses known to have been referred to by the title include Inanna, Anat, Isis, Nut, Astarte, and possibly Asherah (by the prophet Jeremiah). In Greco-Roman times, Hera and Juno bore this title. The forms and content of worship varied. Inanna is the Sumerian goddess of love and war. Despite her association with mating and fertility of humans and animals, Inanna was not a mother goddess and is rarely associated with childbirth. Inanna was also associated with rain and storms and with the planet Venus. The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa, believed to have been compiled around the mid-seventeenth century BCE, referred to the planet Venus in the tablet as the “bright queen of the sky” or “bright Queen of Heaven”. Although the title of Queen of Heaven was often applied to many different goddesses throughout antiquity, Inanna is the one to whom the title is given the most number of times. In fact, Inanna’s name is commonly derived from Nin-anna which literally means “Queen of Heaven” in ancient Sumerian (It comes from the words NIN meaning “lady” and AN meaning “sky”), although the cuneiform sign for her name (Borger 2003 nr. 153, U+12239 𒈹) is not historically a ligature of the two.” ref

“In several myths, Inanna is described as being the daughter of Nanna, the ancient Sumerian god of the Moon. In other texts, however, she is often described as being the daughter of either Enki or An. These difficulties have led some early Assyriologists to suggest that Inanna may have been originally a Proto-Euphratean goddess, possibly related to the Hurrian mother goddess Hannahannah, accepted only latterly into the Sumerian pantheon, an idea supported by her youthfulness, and that, unlike the other Sumerian divinities, she at first had no sphere of responsibilities. The view that there was a Proto-Euphratean substrate language in Southern Iraq before Sumerian is not widely accepted by modern Assyriologists. In Sumer, Inanna was hailed as “Queen of Heaven” in the third millennium BC. In Akkad to the north, she was worshipped later as Ishtar. In the Sumerian Descent of Inanna, when Inanna is challenged at the outermost gates of the underworld, she replies: I am Inanna, Queen of Heaven, on my way to the East. Her cult was deeply embedded in Mesopotamia and among the Canaanites to the west. F. F. Bruce describes a transformation from Venus as a male deity to Ishtar, a female goddess, by the Akkadians. He links Ishtar, Tammuz, Innini, Ma (Cappadocia), Mami, Dingir-Mah, Cybele, Agdistis, Pessinuntica, and the Idaean Mother to the cult of a great mother goddess.” ref

“The goddess, the Queen of Heaven, whose worship Jeremiah so vehemently opposed, may have been possibly Astarte. Astarte is the name of a goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic regions, cognate in name, origin and functions with the goddess Ishtar in Mesopotamian texts. Another transliteration is ‘Ashtart; other names for the goddess include Hebrew עשתרת (transliterated Ashtoreth), Ugaritic ‘ṯtrt (also ‘Aṯtart or ‘Athtart), Akkadian ^DAs-tar-tú (also Astartu) and Etruscan Uni-Astre (Pyrgi Tablets). Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. Pictorial representations often show her naked. Astarte was accepted by the Greeks under the name of Aphrodite. The island of Cyprus, one of Astarte’s greatest faith centers, supplied the name Cypris as Aphrodite’s most common byname.” ref

“The “Queen of Heaven” is mentioned in the Bible and has been associated with different goddesses by different scholars, including: Anat, Astarte or Ishtar, Ashtoreth, or as a composite figure. The worship of a “Queen of Heaven” (Hebrew: מלכת השמים, Malkath haShamayim) is recorded in the Book of Jeremiah, in the context of the prophet condemning such religious worship and it being the cause of Yahweh declaring that He would remove His people from the land.

Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger.” ref

“In Jeremiah 44:15-18:

Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.” ref

“There was a temple of Yahweh in Egypt at that time, the 6th-7th centuries BCE, that was central to the Jewish community at Elephantine in which Yahweh was worshipped in conjunction with the goddess Anath (also named in the temple papyri as Anath-Bethel and Anath-Iahu). The goddesses Asherah, Anat, and Astarte first appear as distinct and separate deities in the tablets discovered in the ruins of the library of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria). Most biblical scholars tend to regard these goddesses as one, especially under the title “Queen of heaven.” ref

“Isis was venerated first in Egypt. As per the Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC, Isis was the only goddess worshiped by all Egyptians alike, and whose influence was so widespread by that point, that she had become syncretic with the Greek goddess Demeter. It is after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, and the Hellenization of the Egyptian culture initiated by Ptolemy I Soter, that she eventually became known as ‘Queen of Heaven’. Apuleius confirms this in Book 11, Chap 47 of his novel, The Golden Ass, in which his character prays to the “Queen of Heaven.” ref

“The goddess herself responds to his prayer, delivering a lengthy monologue in which she explicitly identifies herself as both the Queen of Heaven and Isis.

Then with a weeping countenance, I made this orison to the puissant Goddess, saying: O blessed Queen of Heaven… Thus the divine shape breathing out the pleasant spice of fertile Arabia, disdained not with her divine voice to utter these words unto me: Behold Lucius I am come, thy weeping and prayers has moved me to succor thee. I am she that is the natural mother of all things, mistress and governess of all the elements, the initial progeny of worlds, chief of powers divine, Queen of Heaven… and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis.” ref

The Many Ways to Understand Religious Myths

“The Meteorological or Naturist School holds that Proto-Indo-European myths initially emerged as explanations for natural phenomena, such as the Sky, the Sun, the Moon, and the Dawn. Rituals were therefore centered around the worship of those elemental deities. Also, Proto-Indo-European myths can be understood as stories invented to explain various rituals and religious practices. Scholars of the Ritual School argue that those rituals should be interpreted as attempts to manipulate the universe in order to obtain its favours. Myths served as stories reinforcing social behaviours through the meta-narrative justification of a traditional order. A tripartite ideology reflected in a threefold division between a clerical class (encompassing both the religious and social functions of the priests and rulers), a warrior class (connected with the concepts of violence and bravery), and a class of farmers or husbandmen (associated with fertility and craftsmanship), on the basis that many historically known groups speaking Indo-European languages show such a division. Proto-Indo-European mythology was largely centered around the concept of dualistic opposition (Day and Night, Sun and Moon, Male and Female, Twins, etc., like “Yin and yang”). They generally hold that the mental structure of all human beings is designed to set up opposing patterns in order to resolve conflicting elements. This approach tends to focus on cultural universals within the realm of mythology rather than the genetic origins of those myths, such as the fundamental and binary opposition rooted in the nature of marriage. It also offers refinements of the trifunctional system by highlighting the oppositional elements present within each function, such as the creative and destructive elements both found within the role of the warrior.” ref

“Aggregate of articles for the personification of weather, such as Sky and weather deities, Deities and personifications of seasons, like Old Man Winter, a personification of winter. The name is a colloquialism for the winter season derived from ancient Greek mythology and Old World pagan beliefs, evolving into modern characters in both literature and popular culture. He is usually depicted as an old man, often blowing winter over the landscape with his breath, or simply freezing the landscape with his very presence. Humans have associated the winter season with deities, e.g., the ancient Greek god of winter, Boreas, and in other cultures, including Celtic mythology, with the goddess Cailleach and goddess Beira. Over time, the old gods of winter changed to new humanizations of the seasons, including Old Man Winter. Among the Potawatomi people of the Western Great Lakes region, there exists a myth about Old Man Winter, called Pondese in their language. Old Man Winter was a character in Iroquois legends.” ref, ref

“Or Mother Nature, Personifications of rivers, Personifications of death, as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother is a personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of a mother or mother goddess. The word “nature” comes from the Latin word, “natura“, meaning birth or character [see nature (philosophy)]. In Greek mythology, Persephone, daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest), was abducted by Hades (god of the dead), and taken to the underworld as his queen. The myth goes on to describe Demeter as so distraught that no crops would grow and the “entire human race [would] have perished of cruel, biting hunger if Zeus had not been concerned” (Larousse 152). According to myth, Zeus forced Hades to return Persephone to her mother, but while in the underworld, Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds, the food of the dead, and thus, she must then spend part of each year with Hades in the underworld. The myth continues that Demeter’s grief for her daughter in the realm of the dead was reflected in the barren winter months, and her joy when Persephone returned was reflected in the bountiful summer months.” ref, ref

“Algonquian legend says that “beneath the clouds lives the Earth-Mother from whom is derived the Water of Life, who at her bosom feeds plants, animals, and human” (Larousse 428). She is otherwise known as Nokomis, the Grandmother. In Inca mythology, Mama Pacha or Pachamama was a fertility goddess who presided over planting and harvesting. Pachamama is usually translated as “Mother Earth” but a more literal translation would be “Mother Universe” (in Aymara and Quechua mama = mother / pacha = world, space-time or the universe). It was believed that Pachamama and her husband, Inti, were the most benevolent deities and were worshiped in parts of the Andean mountain ranges (stretching from present-day Ecuador to Chile and Argentina). Amalur (sometimes Ama Lur or Ama Lurra) was believed to be the goddess of the earth in the religion of the ancient Basque people. She was described as the mother of Ekhi, the sun, and Ilazki, the moon. Her name meant “mother earth” or “mother land.” The Mycenaean Greek: Ma-ka (transliterated as ma-ga), “Mother Gaia“, written in Linear B syllabic script (13th or 12th century BCE), is the earliest known instance of the Greek concept of earth as a mother.” ref

Hunting Deities and Mastering of Animals

“A hunting deity is a god or goddess in mythology associated with the hunting of animals and the skills and equipment involved. They are a common feature of polytheistic religions. Herne the Hunter, leader of the Wild Hunt. The Horned God, the Neopagan god of the sun, masculinity, nature, and hunting. Wōden, leader of the Wild Hunt. The Master of Animals, Lord of Animals, or Mistress of the Animals is a motif in ancient art showing a human between and grasping two confronted animals.” ref, ref

“The motif of Mastering of Animals is very widespread in the art of Mesopotamia. The figure may be female or male, it may be a column or a symbol, the animals may be realistic or fantastical, and the human figure may have animal elements such as horns, an animal upper body, an animal lower body, legs, or cloven feet. Although what the motif represented to the cultures that created the works probably varies greatly, unless shown with specific divine attributes, when male, the figure is typically described as a hero by interpreters. The human figure may be standing, as found from the fourth millennium BCE, or kneeling on one knee, as found from the third millennium BCE. They are usually shown looking frontally, but in Assyrian pieces, they are typically shown from the side. Sometimes the animals are clearly alive, whether fairly passive and tamed, or still struggling, rampant, or attacking. In other pieces they may represent dead hunter’s prey. Other associated representations show a figure controlling or “taming” a single animal, usually to the right of the figure. But the many representations of heroes or kings killing an animal are distinguished from these. The motif is so widespread and visually effective that many depictions probably were conceived as decoration with only a vague meaning attached to them. The Master of Animals is the “favorite motif of Achaemenian official seals“, but the figures in these cases should be understood as the king.” ref

Ninurta, the Mesopotamian god of farming, hunting, and the “Master of Animals“

“Ninurta (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒅁: ^DNIN.URTA, possible meaning “Lord [of] Barley”), also known as Ninĝirsu (Sumerian: 𒀭𒎏𒄈𒋢: ^DNIN.ĜIR₂.SU, meaning “Lord [of] Girsu“), is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was first worshipped in early Sumer. Girsu was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Lagash, at the site of what is now Tell Telloh in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. At the Girsu site, a terracotta stamp seal with the Master of Animals motif was found, from the end of Ubaid period, c. 4000 BCE or around 6,000 years ago. Also found was Ubaid IV pottery 4700–4200 BCE with Horned animals like those of Iran (long-horned Goat/Sheep), standing female figurines dating to 4700–4200 BCE, and an Indus seal impression of an unreadable animal, possibly a bull or lion, a result of Indus-Mesopotamia relations. Girsu was possibly inhabited in the Ubaid period (5300-4800 BCE), but significant levels of activity began in the Early Dynastic period (2900-2335 BCE). At the time of Gudea, during the Second Dynasty of Lagash, Girsu became the capital of the Lagash kingdom and continued to be its religious center after political power had shifted to the city of Lagash. During the Ur III period, Girsu was a major administrative center for the empire.” ref, ref

“In the earliest records, Ninurta is a god of agriculture and healing, who cures humans of sicknesses and releases them from the power of demons. In later times, as Mesopotamia grew more militarized, he became a warrior deity, though he retained many of his earlier agricultural attributes. He was regarded as the son of the chief god Enlil, and his main cult center in Sumer was the Eshumesha temple in Nippur. Ninĝirsu was honored by King Gudea of Lagash (ruled 2144–2124 BCE), who rebuilt Ninĝirsu’s temple in Lagash. Later, Ninurta became beloved by the Assyrians as a formidable warrior. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (ruled 883–859 BCE) built a massive temple for him at Kalhu, which became his most important cult center from then on. In the epic poem Lugal-e, Ninurta slays the demon Asag using his talking mace Sharur and uses stones to build the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to make them useful for irrigation. In a poem sometimes referred to as the “Sumerian Georgica“, Ninurta provides agricultural advice to farmers.” ref

“In an Akkadian myth, he was the champion of the gods against the Anzû bird after it stole the Tablet of Destinies from his father Enlil, and, in a myth that is alluded to in many works but never fully preserved, he killed a group of warriors known as the “Slain Heroes”. His major symbols were a perched bird and a plow. It has been suggested that Ninurta was the inspiration for the figure of Nimrod, a “mighty hunter” who is mentioned in association with Kalhu in the Book of Genesis, although the view has been disputed. He may also be mentioned in the Second Book of Kings under the name Shendu. In the nineteenth century, Assyrian stone reliefs of winged, eagle-headed figures from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu were commonly, but erroneously, identified as “Nisrochs” and they appear in works of fantasy literature from the time period. The myth of the Slain Heroes is alluded to in many texts, but is never preserved in full. In this myth, Ninurta must fight a variety of opponents. Black and Green describe these opponents as “bizarre minor deities”; they include the six-headed Wild Ram, the Palm Tree King, the seven-headed serpent, and the Kulianna the Mermaid (or “fish-woman”). Some of these foes are inanimate objects, such as the Magillum Boat, which carries the souls of the dead to the Underworld, and the strong copper, which represents a metal that was conceived as precious. This story of successive trials and victories may have been the source for the Greek legend of the Twelve Labors of Heracles.” ref

“Second only to the goddess Inanna, Ninurta probably appears in more myths than any other Mesopotamian deity. In the Sumerian poem Lugal-e, also known as Ninurta’s Exploits, a demon known as Asag has been causing sickness and poisoning the rivers. Ninurta confronts Asag, who is protected by an army of stone warriors. Ninurta slays Asag and his armies. Then Ninurta organizes the world, using the stones from the warriors he has defeated to build the mountains, which he designs so that the streams, lakes, and rivers all flow into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, making them useful for irrigation and agriculture. Ninurta’s mother Ninmah descends from Heaven to congratulate her son on his victory. Ninurta dedicates the mountain of stone to her and renames her Ninhursag, meaning “Lady of the Mountain”. Finally, Ninurta returns home to Nippur, where he is celebrated as a hero. This myth combines Ninurta’s role as a warrior deity with his role as an agricultural deity. Sumerian cylinder seal impression dating to c. 3200 BCE showing an ensi and his acolyte feeding a sacred herd; Ninurta was an agricultural deity and, in a poem known as the “Sumerian Georgica“, he offers detailed advice on farming” ref 

“The title Lugal-e means “O king!” and comes from the poem opening phrase in the original Sumerian. Ninurta’s Exploits is a modern title assigned to it by scholars. The poem was eventually translated into Akkadian after Sumerian became regarded as too difficult to understand. A companion work to the Lugal-e is Angim dimma, or Ninurta’s Return to Nippur, which describes Ninurta’s return to Nippur after slaying Asag. It contains little narrative and is mostly a praise piece, describing Ninurta in larger-than-life terms and comparing him to the god An. Angim dimma is believed to have originally been written in Sumerian during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – c. 2004 BCE) or the early Old Babylonian Period (c. 1830 – c. 1531 BCE), but the oldest surviving texts of it date to Old Babylonian Period. Numerous later versions of the text have also survived. It was translated into Akkadian during the Middle Babylonian Period (c. 1600 — c. 1155 BCE).” ref

Nanna/Suen/Sin (god) and the “Master of Animals“

Lahar, a Mesopotamian deity of animals, herding, and “Mistress of the Animals” or “Master of Animals“

“Lahar (god), Lahar was a Mesopotamian deity associated with flocks of animals, especially sheep. Lahar’s gender is a topic of debate in scholarship, though it is agreed the name refers to a female deity in a god list from the Middle Babylonian period and to a male one in the myth Theogony of Dunnu. Lahar’s name was written syllabically as ^dLa-ḫa-ar or ^dLa-ḫar, or logographically as ^dU₈, “ewe.” The name is derived from Akkadian laḫru, also meaning “ewe.” The same logogram, ^dU₈, could also be used to write the name of another deity associated with herding, Šunidug (“his hand is good”) as well as of his father Ga’u (Gayu), the shepherd of Sin, and of the mother of Dumuzi, Duttur. A possible reference to Lahar occurs in a name from the Early Dynastic period in which the logogram ^dU₈ serves as a theophoric element, ^dU₈.DU.” ref

“While Samuel Noah Kramer‘s early translations treated Lahar as a goddess, according to Wilfred G. Lambert the deity should be considered male. He argues only evidence for female Lahar is a god list which has been composed in the Middle Babylonian period or later, which gives the equation ^dU₈ = ^dA-a šá ku-né-e, “Lahar is Aya (as the goddess) of caring for things,” and the astronomical compendium MUL.APIN in which ^mulU₈ is the star of the same goddess. However, Frans Wiggermann assumes that Lahar was a female deity, with Theogony of Dunnu being an exception. According to Lambert, the deity Ninsig known from the god list An = Anum, who according to him was male and whose name he translates as “lord wool,” is identical with Lahar. However, according to Dina Katz this deity was female. Lahar was associated with flocks of domestic animals, especially sheep. Less commonly he was also connected with clothing.” ref

“The main source of information about Lahar is the text Lahar and Ashnan, also known as Ewe and Wheat or Debate between Sheep and Grain. The text does not explicitly state who was considered the creator of Lahar and Ashnan, though due to the fact that their place of origin is the Apsu Wilfred G. Lambert considered Enki (Ea) to be a plausible candidate. The creation of Lahar and Ashnan is also attributed to Ea in a building incantation. In the discussed poem, after drinking alcohol Lahar starts to bicker with Ashnan over which one of them provides humans with more useful goods, and eventually the conflict between them has to be settled by Enlil, who at Enki’s suggestion proclaims the grain goddess the winner. According to Markham J. Geller, the passage about the origin of Ashnan and Lahar from this composition is directly quoted in the incantation series Udug Hul. A distinct version of Lahar is known from the Theogony of Dunnu, also known as the Harab Myth.” ref 

“This narrative is only known from a single tablet from the Neo-Babylonian or Achaemenid which according to its colophon was copied from older examples. The time of its composition is difficult to evaluate, and Wilfed G. Lambert suggested any proposal between 2000 BCE and 614 BCE is plausible. Frans Wiggermann due to presence of Hurrian loanwords assumes it was composed between 1500 BCE and 1350 BCE, when parts of Mesopotamia were under the control of the Hurrian Mitanni state. It is presumed that it represents a local tradition about the early days of the world which developed in a settlement named Dunnu, “fortified place,” though as multiple towns bearing this name are known, precise identification is uncertain. In this text, Lahar is a son of Šumugan and the personified sea, ^dA.AB.BA. He subsequently kills his father, marries the sea, and has a son whose name is damaged. Wiggermann suggests that he can be identified as the divine shepherd Gayu.” ref

Ninhursag “Mother of both Wild and Domesticated animals,” and “Mistress of the Animals” 

“Ninhursag is a significant mother goddess from ancient Mesopotamian mythology, revered as one of the seven great deities of Sumer. Her name translates to “lady of the sacred mountain,” reflecting her association with nature and the wilderness, where she is considered the mother of both wild and domesticated animals. Ninhursag embodies fertility, birth, and nurturing, often depicted as a midwife and protector of life. While her specific parentage is not well-documented, she is linked with several important deities, including Enki, the god of wisdom and water, and has many divine offspring, like Ninmu, the goddess of plants, and various deities of healing. Her mythology is rich, highlighting her interactions with Enki, which resulted in the introduction of disease to the land of Dilmun, a paradise that lacked water. Ninhursag’s temples were established across Mesopotamia from the 30th century BCE to the 1st millennium BCE, with notable cult centers in cities like Kesh and Tell al-Ubaid. Her worship emphasized themes of fertility, healing, and the essential role of water in sustaining life, making her a central figure in the spiritual and cultural practices of the ancient Sumerians. Icons of Ninhursag often feature symbolic elements such as her omega-shaped hair, a horned headdress, and sometimes a mace, reflecting her powerful maternal and protective qualities.” ref

Holy Cow & Sacred Bull – The Rise and Fall of the Bovine (Video)

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The Ibex as an Iconographic Symbol in the Ancient Near East

Körtik Tepe

“Körtiktepe or Körtik Tepe is the oldest known Neolithic archaeological site in Turkey. Together with Tell Mureybet and Tell Abu Hureyra in northern Syria, Körtiktepe is one of the only three securely dated Younger Dryas sedentary sites in Upper Mesopotamia. The habitation of the site began in the first half of the 11th millennium BCE, approximately 10700 BCE (12,700 years ago), and persisted with consistent density until approximately 10400 BCE. Analyses of human tooth enamel indicate that the inhabitants of the Younger Dryas occupations at Körtiktepe were born and grew up in or near the site. Although a potential minor flooding event transpired during the transition from the Younger Dryas to the Early Holocene, the site endured without evident abandonment, at least not for a prolonged interval. Occupation continued and thrived during the Early Holocene. The architectural tradition of constructing round plans established around 10400 BCE and continued without any fundamental alterations until the eventual desertion of the site. The site reached its peak in terms of occupation density around 9300 BCE. Subsequently, it experienced an unexplained abandonment, possibly attributed to natural disturbances such as flooding induced by the Holocene climate changes. Incised bone pendants and stone vessels with art somewhat similar to Iran with curved horned animals that may represent wild Goat or Sheep.” ref

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The Ibex as an Iconographic Symbol in the Ancient Near East

“The study of pottery design on hundreds of extant examples from the ancient Near East reveals the early popularity of one particular animal—the ibex. The treatment that this animal received on pottery from a wide number of Near Eastern sites, over a span of a thousand years, gives a clear picture of its reverential status, as well as providing us with possible clues toward a cosmology for the people of the ancient Near East. A brief review of the ibex’s appearance on Palaeolithic bone carvings demonstrates the longevity of this animal’s role as a cultural symbol, and, finally, the ibex’s demise in the fourth millennium B.C. marks a turning point in the cultural life of Near Eastern society.” ref

“Almost 90 percent of Iran’s rock art consists of the ibex motif. The ibex for the prehistoric inhabitants of what is now known as Iran appears to have received the same apotheosis as the eland for the San in what is now known as South Africa. Rock art is one of the oldest legacies of humankind. One could argue that rock art is the basis of a writing system, conveying cultural messages, beliefs and myths.  The ibex would have been a source of meat and secondary products such as horn and hide. Archaeological evidence shows that it was hunted in Iran from the Middle Paleolithic period onwards, at the Warwasi and Yāfte Cave (38,000-29,000 BCE) sites where it was the dominant species represented. Studies of horn cores from the early Neolithic sites of Tappe ʿAli Koš and Tappe Sabz indicate that ibex were being hunted in the late 8th and 7th millennia BCE. The ibex motif went on to be incorporated into decorative friezes on painted pottery in pre-Islamic Iran. The elegantly stylized ibex appears as a decorative motif on Chalcolithic pottery – in Luristan at Čeḡā Sabz, Se Gābi and Tappe Giān – with long, curving horns and a characteristic beard. Long-horned caprids, many of whom may be ibex, appear on pre-Islamic stamp and cylinder seals all over Iran. An ibex-headed figure – possibly a human wearing the horns of an ibex – appears in the guise of the ‘master of animals’ on stamp seal impressions from Susa dating to ca. 4000 B.C.E. Middle Elamite, Neo-Assyrian, provincial Neo-Assyrian, and Neo-Elamite cylinder seals from Čeḡā Sabz and Sorḵ Dom-e Lori in Luristan illustrate hunters with bow and arrow shooting leaping caprids. The symbolic and/or religious significance of the ibex in pre-Islamic Iran is unclear, although some argue that it was integral to a pre-Islamic creation narrative. According to the Zoroastrian – ‘Zarathusti’ in Persian – cosmogony, ‘Mashya and Mashyana’, or ‘mašyā and mašyānē’, were the first man and woman whose procreation gave rise to the human race. According to Mohammad Naserifard [pictured], it was the ibex that was chosen as the symbol of divine assistance. With the ibex carvings in the rock art sites of ancient Persia, this may have represented an over-riding belief in, and request for, the provision of water, the guarantee of fertility and birth, and a Divine – ‘hu’ – blessing and protection.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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The tree of life is closely related to the concept of “sacred trees” and a widespread myth or archetype in many of the world’s mythologies, religions, or traditions. Here are some sacred trees explained. The “sacred” tree of knowledge thought to connect heaven/Upper world and the underworld. The “sacred” tree of life, thought to connect all forms of creation, are both forms of the world tree or cosmic tree, and are portrayed in various religions and philosophies seemly as the same tree. ref

“Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture, and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility. They had their origin in religious symbolism. Trees are significant in many of the world’s mythologies, and have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages. Human beings, observing the growth and death of trees, and the annual death and revival of their foliage, have often seen them as powerful symbols of growth, death, and rebirth. Evergreen trees, which largely stay green throughout these cycles, are sometimes considered symbols of the eternal, immortality, or fertility. The image of the Tree of life or world tree occurs in many mythologies. Examples include the banyan and the sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil of Judaism and Christianity. In folk religion and folklore, trees are often said to be the homes of tree spirits. Germanic mythology as well as Celtic polytheism both appear to have involved cultic practice in sacred groves, especially grove of oak. The term druid itself possibly derives from the Celtic word for oak. The Egyptian Book of the Dead mentions sycamores as part of the scenery where the soul of the deceased finds blissful repose. The presence of trees in myth sometimes occurs in connection to the concept of the sacred tree and the sacred grove. Trees are an attribute of the archetypical locus amoenus.” ref, ref

Around 5,000-year-old Shared Idea of the “Tree of Life” Ritual Motif

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Menorah “Tree of Life” (Asherah goddess related) symbol with 7 or 9 branches?

Jewish sources: Etz Chaim and Biblical tree of life

“Etz Chaim (Hebrew: עץ חיים), Hebrew for “tree of life,” appears in the Book of Genesis and is part of the story of the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Thus the term is a common term used in Judaism. The expression, found in the Book of Proverbs, is figuratively applied to the Torah itself. Etz Chaim is also a common name for yeshivas and synagogues as well as for works of Rabbinic literature. It is also used to describe each of the wooden poles to which the parchment of a Sefer Torah is attached. The tree of life is mentioned in the Book of Genesis; it is distinct from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Remaining in the garden, however, was the tree of life. To prevent their access to this tree in the future, Cherubim with a flaming sword were placed at the east of the garden. In the Book of Proverbs, the tree of life is associated with wisdom: “[Wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy [is every one] that retaineth her.” In Proverbs 15:4, the tree of life is associated with calmness: “A soothing tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a wound to the spirit.” In the Ashkenazic liturgy, the Eitz Chayim is a piyyut commonly sung as the Sefer Torah is returned to the Torah ark. The Book of Enoch, generally considered non-canonical, states that in the time of the great judgment, God will give all those whose names are in the Book of Life fruit to eat from the tree of life.” ref

“The menorah is a prominent symbol in the Jewish faith and plays a central role in the celebration of Hanukkah. Likewise, the “Tree of Life” carries different meanings across faiths but holds special meaning in Judaism for its connection to the Torah, the Jewish people’s most sacred text. Genesis, the first book of the Torah, locates the “Tree of Life” at the heart of the Garden of Eden (2.4–3:24), and Proverbs 3:18 teaches: “[The Torah] is a tree of life to those who hold her close.” For many, the tree represents growth, stability, and fertility as well as hope for and connection to future generations. The extensive roots and intertwined branches illustrate family connections.” ref

Kabbalah: Tree of life (Kabbalah)

Jewish mysticism depicts the tree of life in the form of ten interconnected nodes, as the central symbol of the Kabbalah. It comprises the ten Sefirot powers in the divine realm. The panentheistic and anthropomorphic emphasis of this emanationist theology interpreted the Torah, Jewish observance, and the purpose of Creation as the symbolic esoteric drama of unification in the sefirot, restoring harmony to Creation. From the Renaissance onwards, Kabbalah became incorporated as tradition in Christian Western esotericism as Hermetic Qabalah.

Northern America

“In a myth passed down among the Iroquois, The World on the Turtle’s Back, explains the origin of the land in which a tree of life is described. According to the myth, it is found in the heavens, where the first humans lived, until a pregnant woman fell and landed in an endless sea. Saved by a giant turtle from drowning, she formed the world on its back by planting bark taken from the tree. The tree of life motif is present in the traditional Ojibwe cosmology and traditions. It is sometimes described as Grandmother Cedar, or Nookomis Giizhig in Anishinaabemowin. In the book Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota (Sioux) wičháša wakȟáŋ (medicine man and holy man), describes his vision in which after dancing around a dying tree that has never bloomed he is transported to the other world (spirit world) where he meets wise elders, 12 men and 12 women. The elders tell Black Elk that they will bring him to meet “Our Father, the two-legged chief” and bring him to the center of a hoop where he sees the tree in full leaf and bloom and the “chief” standing against the tree. Coming out of his trance he hopes to see that the earthly tree has bloomed, but it is dead. The Oneidas tell that supernatural beings lived in the Skyworld above the waters which covered the earth. This tree was covered with fruits which gave them their light, and they were instructed that no one should cut into the tree otherwise a great punishment would be given. As the woman had pregnancy cravings, she sent her husband to get bark, but he accidentally dug a hole to the other world. After falling through, she came to rest on the turtle’s back, and four animals were sent out to find land, which the muskrat finally did.” ref

Mesoamerica: Mesoamerican world tree

The concept of world trees is a prevalent motif in the Mesoamerican cosmovision and iconography, appearing in the pre-Columbian era. World trees embody the four cardinal directions, which represented also the fourfold nature of a central world tree, a symbolic axis mundi connecting the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world. Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in the art and mythological traditions of cultures such as the Maya, Aztec, Izapan, Mixtec, Olmec, and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of the Mesoamerican chronology. The tomb of Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal of the Maya city-state of Palenque, who became its ajaw or leader when he was twelve years old, has tree of life inscriptions within the walls of his burial place, showing just how important it was. Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as or represented by a Ceiba pentandra and is known variously as a wacah chan or yax imix che in different Mayan languages. The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright caiman, whose skin evokes the tree’s spiny trunk. Directional world trees are also associated with the four Year Bearers in Mesoamerican calendars and associated with the directional colors and deities. Mesoamerican codices which have this association outlined include the Dresden, Borgia and Fejérváry-Mayer codices. It is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept. World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth or water, sometimes atop a “water-monster,” symbolic of the underworld. The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the Milky Way.” ref

Egypt

“In Egyptian mythology, the Tree of Life is said to have been kept in an open courtyard on full display in the Sun temple of Ra in Heliopolis. It is believed to have been kept with the Ben-Ben Stone, which was a capstone in the shape of a pyramid that sat atop a sacred Obelisk. The Great Cat was a personification of the deity Ra, which is believed to have guarded the Tree of Life. In Egyptian mythology, the secretary of the sun god Ra and scribe of the underworld, Thoth, inscribed Ra’s name and the length of his reign on the leaves and fruit of the Tree of Life. The purpose of this was to protect Ra and preserve his name. Ancient Egyptians believed that eating the fruit of the sacred Ished Tree of Life that had been offered by the gods was a guarantee of eternal life. In Egyptian mythology, the Tree of Life was thought to have held the Knowledge of the Divine Plan. This was essentially a plan or timeline of all creation, starting at the very beginning of time. The Tree of Life in Ancient Egypt was home to the Phoenix, also known as the Bennu Bird. As such, it held strong links with resurrection and represented the rising sun. Egyptian mythology details instances in which the Sun god, Ra, would split the Ished Tree of Life in the morning after he was victorious over his enemies. The Tree of Life plays a key role in the creation story in Ancient Egyptian mythology. The myth goes that the Tree of Life rose from the Sacred Mound. Once it had risen, the tree’s branches reached up and out into the sky and supported the various stars and planets. Its branches also reached down into the watery abyss of the underworld. The trunk of the Tree of Life is also of individual significance. The trunk is believed to have represented the World Pillar around which the heavens would revolve. The World Pillar was the centre of the entire universe. At the foot of the Tree of Life were four river sources. The sources of these rivers would provide water to the world. The orientation of these four rivers was important, as they all correlated with a cardinal point of the compass. Each point of the compass, and its corresponding river, was associated with a specific element. For example, water was associated with the North Point, fire was associated with the South Point, air was associated with the East Point, and earth was associated with the West Point.” ref

The Baobab Tree: Africa’s Iconic “Tree of Life”

“Adansonia trees are known as baobabs. The eight species of Adansonia are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar, but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barbados, where several of the baobabs there are suspected to have originated from Africa. Baobab trees hold cultural and spiritual significance in many African societies. They are often the sites of communal gatherings, storytelling, and rituals. An unusual baobab was the namesake of Kukawa, formerly the capital of the Bornu Empire, southwest of Lake Chad in Central Africa. In West Africa, the South Asian Moringa oleifera tree is regarded as a “tree of life” or “miracle tree” by some because it is arguably the most nutritious source of plant-derived food discovered on the planet.” ref, ref

“Native to the African savannah, where the climate is extremely dry and arid, it is a symbol of life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive. Over time, the Baobab has adapted to its environment. It is a succulent, which means that during the rainy season it absorbs and stores water in its vast trunk, enabling it to produce a nutrient-dense fruit in the dry season when all around is dry and arid. This is how it became known as “The Tree of Life”. Baobab trees grow in 32 African countries. They can live for up to 5,000 years, reach up to 30 metres high, and up to an enormous 50 metres in circumference. Baobab trees can provide shelter, food, and water for animals and humans, which is why many savannah communities have made their homes near Baobab trees. Every part of the baobab tree is valuable – the bark can be turned into rope and clothing, the seeds can be used to make cosmetic oils, the leaves are edible, the trunks can store water, and the fruit is extraordinarily rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Women in Africa have turned to the baobab fruit as a natural source of health and beauty for centuries. Baobab is the only fruit in the world that dries naturally on its branch. Instead of dropping and spoiling, it stays on the branch and bakes in the sun for 6 months, transforming its green velvety coating into a hard coconut-like shell.” ref

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World Tree

“The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European, Siberian, and Native American religions. The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the Milky Way.” ref

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Asherah is related to the “Tree of Life” (Axis mundi: Snake/pole/piller/stele/world Tree/World Mountain/World Turtle/Mound of Creation: also related to the Milky Way: path/river/milk/smoke-fire/blood; all going to heaven/ancestors, “who are stars”).

Cannabis and Religion

“Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, weed, pot, and ganja, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. Cannabis is indigenous to Central or South Asia, and its uses for fabric and rope date back to the Neolithic age in China and Japan. Cannabis has an ancient history of ritual use and has been used by religions around the world. One of the earliest evidence of cannabis smoking has been found in the 2,500-year-old tombs of Jirzankal Cemetery in the Pamir Mountains in Western China, where cannabis residue was found in burners with charred pebbles, possibly used during funeral rituals. Cannabis has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Cannabis is a Scythian word. The ancient Greeks learned of the use of cannabis by observing Scythian funerals, during which cannabis was consumed. In Akkadian, cannabis was known as qunubu (𐎯𐎫𐎠𐎭𐏂). The word was adopted into the Hebrew as qaneh bosem (קָנֶה בֹּשׂם). Cannabis has held sacred status in several religions and has served as an entheogen – a chemical substance used in religious, shamanic, or spiritual contexts – in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period. The earliest known reports regarding the sacred status of cannabis in the Indian subcontinent come from the Atharva Veda. The Hindu god Shiva is described as a cannabis user, known as the “Lord of bhang.” ref

“It is unclear when cannabis first became known for its psychoactive properties. The oldest archeological evidence for the burning of cannabis was found in Romanian kurgans dated 3,500 BCE, and scholars suggest that the drug was first used in ritual ceremonies by Proto-Indo-European tribes living in the Pontic-Caspian steppe during the Chalcolithic period, a custom they eventually spread throughout Western Eurasia during the Indo-European migrations. Some research suggests that the ancient Indo-Iranian drug soma, mentioned in the Vedas, sometimes contained cannabis. This is based on the discovery of a basin containing cannabis in a shrine of the second millennium BCE in Turkmenistan. Cannabis was known to the ancient Assyrians, who discovered its psychoactive properties through the Iranians. Using it in some religious ceremonies, they called it qunubu (meaning “way to produce smoke”), a probable origin of the modern word cannabis. The Iranians also introduced cannabis to the Scythians, Thracians, and Dacians, whose shamans (the kapnobatai – “those who walk on smoke/clouds”) burned cannabis infructescences to induce trance. The plant was used in China before 2800 BCE, and found therapeutic use in India by 1000 BCE, where it was used in food and drink, including bhang.” ref

“Different religions have varying stances on the use of cannabis, historically and presently. In ancient history, some religions used cannabis as an entheogen, particularly in the Indian subcontinent, where the tradition continues on a more limited basis. In Ancient India The earliest known reports regarding the sacred status of cannabis in the Indian subcontinent come from the Atharva Veda, estimated to have been written sometime around 2000–1400 BCE, which mentions cannabis as one of the “five sacred plants… which release us from anxiety” and that a guardian angel resides in its leaves. The Vedas also refer to it as a “source of happiness,” “joy-giver” and “liberator,” and in the Raja Valabba, the gods send hemp to the human race so that they might attain delight, lose fear and have sexual desires- It is most often with the God Shiva known as the “Lord of Bhang“. In Ancient Egypt there is a written record of the medicinal use of hemp. Thus the Ebers papyrus (written 1500 BCE) mentions the use of oil from hempseed to treat vaginal inflammation. Cannabis pollen was recovered from the tomb of Ramses II, who governed for sixty-seven years during the 19th dynasty, and several mummies contain trace cannabinoids. The Assyrians, Egyptians, and Hebrews, among other Semitic cultures of the Middle East, mostly acquired cannabis from Aryan cultures and have burned it as an incense as early as 1000 BCE. Cannabis oil was likely used throughout the Middle East for centuries before and after the birth of Jesus.” ref 

“Cannabis has been used by shamanic and pagan cultures to ponder deeply religious and philosophical subjects related to their tribe or society, to achieve a form of enlightenment, to unravel unknown facts and realms of the human mind and subconscious, and also as an aphrodisiac during rituals or orgies. There are several references in Greek mythology to a powerful drug that eliminated anguish and sorrow. Herodotus wrote about early ceremonial practices by the Scythians, thought to have occurred from the 5th to 2nd century BCE. In addition, according to Herodotus, the Dacians and Scythians had a tradition where a fire was made in an enclosed space and cannabis seeds were burned and the resulting smoke ingested. In ancient Germanic paganism, cannabis was possibly associated with the Norse love goddess, Freya. Linguistics offers further evidence of prehistoric use of cannabis by Germanic peoples: The word hemp derives from Old English hænep, from Proto-Germanic *hanapiz. While *hanapiz has an unknown origin, some scholars believe it is a unreconstructed loanword of Scythian origin. The Greek word κάνναβις, which that cannabis derives from, is also thought to be a loanword of the same Scythian origin. While a loanword, *hanapiz was borrowed early enough to be affected by Grimm’s Law, by which Proto-Indo-European initial *k- becomes *h- in Germanic. The shift of *k→h indicates it was a loanword into the Germanic parent language at a time depth no later than the separation of Common Germanic from Proto-Indo-European, about 500 BCE or 2,500 years ago.” ref 

Funerary cannabis rituals in ancient China

“Marijuana chemical residue has been found in incense burners apparently used during funerary rites at a mountainous site in western China in about 500 BCE or 2,500 years ago. The evidence was found on 10 wooden braziers containing stones with burn marks that were discovered in eight tombs at the Jirzankal Cemetery site in the Pamir Mountains in China’s Xinjiang region, scientists said on Wednesday. The tombs also bore human skeletons and artifacts including a type of angular harp used in ancient funerals and sacrificial ceremonies. They found a higher level of THC, the plant’s main psychoactive constituent, than the low levels typically seen in wild cannabis plants, indicating it was chosen for its mind-altering qualities.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Proto-Indo Europeans and Indo-European Cannabis Cult

“There is a belief that proto-Indo-europeans were ritually using cannabis — a technique of worship that continued for thousands of years and spread throughout the ancient world, leading to its continued use in various religions. Proto-Indo-Europeans likely lived during the late Neolithic, or roughly the 4th millennium BCE. Mainstream scholarship places them in the Pontic–Caspian steppe zone in Eastern Europe (present-day Ukraine and southern Russia). It is in these same regions that we find the earliest evidence of the ritual use of cannabis, dating back to this same period. This was a technique of religious ecstasy still found at Indo-European sites thousands of years later at diverse locations. 5,000-Year-Old Cannabis Trade: Eurasian Steppe Nomads; from a multi-authored academic Paper, Cannabis in Eurasia: origin of human use and Bronze Age trans-continental connections. Proto-Indo-European Yamnaya culture brought cannabis into Europe. Ritual use of cannabis in funerary rites in the region inhabited by the Yamnaya goes back at least 5,000 years, as evidenced by a find of skeletal remains and burnt cannabis seeds recovered at a burial mound.” ref

“Similar evidence that Proto-Indo Europeans burned cannabis in a cave in Ukraine 5,500 years ago was suggested by the late British archaeologist Andrew Sherratt, who has also suggested that the corded ware culture was evidence of a cannabis beverage in use during the Neolithic period. The Corded Ware culture spanned a broad archaeological horizon in Europe between approximately 3100 BCE and circa 2350 BCE, concluding in the early Bronze Age. Sherratt suggested that, like poppy-shaped vessels used to hold opium preparations, corded ware had hemp cords pressed into the clay, not only for a design but to indicate the contents, and a cannabis based beverage was widely in use throughout Europe. The use of tripod bowls, which he suggested were used to burn cannabis in the Ukraine region from 3,500 BCE, as evidenced by carbonized seeds. The authors of The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture note that “Hemp has not only been recovered from sites in Romania but also from a Yamma burial at Gurbanesti (Maldova) where traces were found in a ‘censer’ (a shallow footed bowl believed to have been used in the burning of some aromatic substance).” ref

“It has been found in a similar context from an early Bronze Age burial in the north Caucasus…. Ceramics were more elaborate than those of the Yamma culture and included, especially in female burials, low-footed vessels interpreted as ‘censers’, presumed to be used in rituals involving some narcotic substance such as hemp”. “It seems, therefore, that the practice of burning cannabis as a narcotic is a tradition which goes back in this area some five or six thousand years and was the focus of the social and religious rituals of the pastoral peoples of central Eurasia in prehistoric and early historic times. The cannabis burning braziers referred to above eventually went to the wayside and were replaced by a beverage, although he believes that cannabis use continued through this cultural shift. The “disappearance of ceramic braziers in northern and western Europe” was followed by the appearance… of prominent forms of pottery drinking vessels. Corded-ware beakers and early bell-beakers are ornamented with impressions of twisted cord: if these are hemp fibres, then the decoration may indicate that their contents were connected with cannabis.” A view shared by other researchers: “As cannabis can also be infused, i.e., served as a component in a drink, it has also been suggested that the spread of cord-(hemp?) decorated pottery from the steppe westward may also have been part of this same complex.” ref

“Evidence of cannabis in a grave where the body was laid over flowers has been discovered in Hattemerbroek in Gelderland, Amsterdam, at a tomb that showed characteristics of Corded Ware culture. Drinking cups were also found at the site, which dated to 2459 – 2203 BCE. There are… at least three chronological horizons to which the spread of hemp might be ascribed: the early distribution of hemp across Europe; during the Neolithic around 5000 BCE or earlier; a later spread of hemp for presumably narcotic purposes around 3000 BCE; a still later spread, or, at least, re-emergence of hemp in the context of textiles during the first millennium BCE, in regard to an association with burial rites. Celtic use of cannabis has also been identified through pollen analysis of a bowl from a rich woman’s grave of the late Hallstatt Period at Niedererlbach, Bavaria. Likewise, “hemp has… been discovered in an Iron Age context in western Europe, e.g., a Hallstatt burial, presumably Celtic, at Hochdorf in Germany, and cannabis was also found in later Viking burial sites.” ref 

“It was this sort of high mobility that led to the spread of cannabis throughout the ancient world, and in fact, the development of hemp rope has been attributed to the harnessing and domestication of the horse. It is unclear that archeologist Sergei Malyutin, was basing his research on the work of Prof. Victor Sarianidi at BMAC,  where claimed 4,000 year old archeological evidence of cannabis and ephedra, and in some case opium poppies, at a t temple site were suggested to indicate the plants were used in the preparation of soma/haoma. Or he may have came to his theories about the drink of the Indo-Iranians, based on another group known for both burning and drinking cannabis preparations, that came out of the Russian steppes, and spread across much of the ancient world, Western Europe, Persian, Israel, Egypt, India and even deep into central China, a series of Indo European tribes, now known to us collectively as the Scythians. Cannabis was also part of the earliest trade routes we know of as well, as noted in ‘Cannabis in Eurasia: origin of human use and Bronze Age trans-continental connections’, indicating it would have been part and parcel of any “Indo-Iranians” migration.” ref

“A marked increase in cannabis achene records from East Asia between ca. 5,000 and 4,000 years ago might be associated with the establishment of a trans-Eurasian exchange/migration network”. (Eurasia is the largest continent on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia). Descendants of the cannabis burners in the Ukraine region, the Scythians, would later spread the cultic use of cannabis, both burned as an incense and drank, and the root word kana, throughout much of the ancient world. One of the names of the Scythians was “Haomavarga” the Haoma gatherers, and ancient texts indicate they also burnt the haoma as well as drank it. A Scythian wineskin that had evidence of cannabis infusion, as well as gold cups, described by the Russian archeologists involved with the find as ritual vessels for drinking “haoma,” has also been discovered, and these contained residues of both cannabis and opium. Indo-Europeans in China, known as Gushi, likewise burnt cannabis in funerary rites similar to the Scythians 2,800 years ago, a ritual act that can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European homeland in Romania 5,000 years ago.” ref

Ancient Israelite Altar Burned Cannabis (VIDEO)

“Evidence shows that the mind-altering substance Cannabis was part of religious life in the ancient kingdom of Judah. Tel Arad contains the remains of a Canaanite city from the third millennium BCE, as well as Israelite fortresses from between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE. Excavations in the 1960s identified a pair of citadels that guarded the southern border of the kingdom of Judah during that time, as well as a well-preserved shrine dated to roughly 760-715 BCE. It was within this shrine that the two stone altars were discovered with the remains of what appeared to be burnt plant material. The stone altars were found at the entrance of the shrine’s inner sanctum, known as the “holy of holies.” The chemical analysis conducted by researchers helps provide a window into the rituals and spiritual life of the Judahites. This is the first time that cannabis has been identified in Israel; its use in the shrine must have played a central role in the cultic rituals performed there,” says Eran Arie, an archaeologist with the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.” ref

“Scientists discover 2,700-year-old remains of cannabis on a Tel Arad incense altar, paralleling details of the reign of King Ahaz. But does the ritual cannabis use reflect standard worship practices at Jerusalem’s temple, as the researchers suggest?” ref

Asherah

“Asherah was a goddess in ancient Semitic religions. She also appears in Hittite writings as Ašerdu(š) or Ašertu(š) and as Athirat in Ugarit. Some scholars hold that Asherah was venerated as Yahweh‘s consort in ancient Israel and Judah, while other scholars oppose this. Asherah was an important Goddess recognized across Northwest Semitic cultures. However, particularly in the Hebrew Bible, the term asherah and sometimes asherot, came to be identified with cultic wooden objects, sometimes referred to as asherah poles. In this context, in regard to certain attestations of Asherah, there is controversy about whether the inscriptions referring to Asherah indicate the deity, a “cultic object“, or both (de Vaux). Winter says the goddess and her symbol should not be distinguished.” ref

“A variety of symbols have been associated with Asherah. The most common by far is that of the tree, an equivalence seen as early as Neolithic times. Cultic objects dedicated to Asherah frequently depict trees, and the terms asherim and asheroth, regularly invoked by the Hebrew Bible in the context of Asherah worship, are traditionally understood to refer to sacred trees called “Asherah poles“. An especially common Asherah tree in visual art is the date palm, a reliable producer of nutrition throughout the year. Some expect living trees, but Olyan sees a stylized, non-living palm or pole. The remains of a juniper tree discovered in a 7,500-year-old gravesite in Eilat have been considered an Asherah tree by some.” ref

“Asherah’s association with fertility was not limited to her association with trees; she was often depicted with pronounced sexual features. Idols of Asherah, often called ’Astarte figurines’, are representative of Asherah as a tree in that they have bodies which resemble tree trunks, while also further extenuating the goddess’ connection to fertility in line with her status as a “mother goddess”. The “Judean pillar figures” universally depict Asherah with protruding breasts. Likewise, the so-called Revadim Asherah is rife with potent, striking sexual imagery, depicting Asherah suckling two smaller figures and using both of her hands to fully expose her vagina. Many times, Asherah’s pubis area was marked by a concentration of dots, indicating pubic hair, though this figure is sometimes polysemically understood as a grape cluster. The womb was also sometimes used as a nutrix symbol, as animals are often shown feeding directly (if a bit abstractly) from the pubic triangle.” ref

“Remarking on the Lachish ewer, Hestrin noted that in a group of other pottery vessels found in situ, the usual depiction of the sacred tree flanked by ibexes or birds is in one goblet replaced by a pubic triangle flanked by ibexes. The interchange between the tree and the pubic triangle proves, according to Hestrin, that the tree symbolizes the fertility goddess Asherah. Hestrin draws parallels between this and representations of Hathor as the sycamore tree goddess in Egypt, and suggests that during the period of Egyptian rule in Palestine, the Hathor cult penetrated the region so extensively that Hathor became identified with Asherah. Other motifs in the ewer, such as a lion, fallow deer, and ibexes, seem to have a close relationship with the iconography associated with her. Asherah may also have been associated with the ancient pan-Near Eastern “Master of animals” motif, which depicted a person or deity betwixt two confronted animals.” ref

“According to Beaulieu, depictions of a divine “mistress of lions” motif are “almost undoubtedly depictions of the goddess Asherah.” The lioness made a ubiquitous symbol for goddesses of the ancient Middle East that was similar to the dove and the tree. Lionesses figure prominently in Asherah’s iconography, including the tenth-century BCE Ta’anach cult stand, which also includes the tree motif. A Hebrew arrowhead from the eleventh century BCE bears the inscription “Servant of the Lion Lady”. The symbols around Asherah are so many (8+ pointed star, caprids and the like, along with lunisolar, arboreal, florid, serpentine) that a listing would approach meaninglessness as it neared exhaustiveness. Frevel’s 1000-page dissertation ends enigmatically with the pronouncement “There is no genuine Asherah iconography”. There is significant debate on whether Asherah was worshipped in ancient Israelite religion. Some scholars argue that Asherah was venerated as Yahweh‘s consort, while others oppose this arguing that the relevant Hebrew epigraphic evidence actually refers to some cultic place or object rather than a goddess.” ref

“Possible evidence for her worship includes an iconography and inscriptions at two locations in use circa the 9th century. The first was in a cave at Khirbet el-Qom. The second was at Kuntillet Ajrud. In the latter, a jar shows bovid-anthropomorphic figures and several inscriptions that refer to “Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah” and “Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah.” However, a number of scholars hold that the “asherah” mentioned in the inscriptions refers to some kind of cultic object or symbol, rather than a goddess. Some scholars have argued that since cognate forms of “asherah” are used with the meaning of “sanctuary” in Phoenician and Aramaic inscriptions from the same period, this may also be the meaning of the term in the two Hebrew inscriptions. Others argue that the term “asherah” may refer to a sacred tree used for the worship of Yahweh as this is the meaning that the Hebrew term has in the Hebrew Bible and in the Mishnah. In one potsherd there appear a large and small bovine. This “oral fixation” motif has diverse examples, see figs 413–419 in Winter. In fact, already Flinders Petrie in the 1930s was referring to Davies on the memorable stereotype. It’s such a common motif in Syrian and Phoenician ivories that the Arslan Tash horde had at least four.” ref

“There are references to the worship of numerous deities throughout the Books of Kings: Solomon builds temples to many deities and Josiah is reported as cutting down the statues of Asherah in the temple Solomon built for Yahweh (2 Kings 23:14). Josiah’s grandfather Manasseh had erected one such statue (2 Kings 21:7). The name Asherah appears forty times in the Hebrew Bible, but it is much reduced in English translations. The word ʾăšērâ is translated in Greek as Greek: ἄλσος (grove; plural: ἄλση) in every instance apart from Isaiah 17:8; 27:9 and 2 Chronicles 15:16; 24:18, with Greek: δένδρα (trees) being used for the former, and, peculiarly, Ἀστάρτη (Astarte) for the latter.” ref

“The Vulgate in Latin provided lucus or nemus, a grove or a wood. From the Vulgate, the King James translation of the Bible uses grove or groves instead of Asherah’s name. Non-scholarly English language readers of the Bible would not have read her name for more than 400 years afterward. The association of Asherah with trees in the Hebrew Bible is very strong. For example, she is found under trees (1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10) and is made of wood by human beings (1 Kings 14:15, 2 Kings 16:3–4). The farther from the time of Josiah’s reforms, the broader the perception of an Asherah became. Trees described in later Jewish texts as being an asherah or part of an asherah include grapevines, pomegranates, walnuts, myrtles, and willows.” ref

“Eventually, monotheistic leaders would suppress the tree due to its association with Asherah. Deuteronomy 12 has Yahweh commanding the destruction of her shrines so as to maintain purity of his worship. Jezebel brought hundreds of prophets for Baal and Asherah with her into the Israelite court. William Dever’s book discusses female pillar figurines, the queen of heaven name, and the cakes. Dever also points to the temple at Tel Arad, the famous archaeological site with cannabinoids and massebot. Dever notes: “The only goddess whose name is well attested in the Hebrew Bible (or in ancient Israel generally) is Asherah.” ref

“Some scholars have found an early link between Asherah and Eve, based upon the coincidence of their common title as “the mother of all living” in Genesis 3:20 through the identification with the Hurrian mother goddess, Hebat. Olyan notes that Eve’s original Hebrew name, ḥawwā^h, is cognate to ḥawwat, an attested epithet of Tanit in the first millennium BCE, though other scholars dispute a connection between Tanit and Asherah, and between Asherah and Eve. A Phoenician deity, Ḥawwat, is attested in the Punica tabella defixionis. There is further speculation that the Shekhinah, as a feminine aspect of Yahweh, may be a cultural memory or devolution of Asherah. Another such aspect is seen in the feminine treatment (grammatically or otherwise) of the Holy Spirit or Sophia. This transference of feminine aspects and attributes, some argue, can also be seen to be applied to male figures like Jacob or Jesus.” ref

The Asherah Altar

“Asherah, untangling the threads of her complex story. We’ll explore her roles as mother goddess, fierce protector, and consort to the sky, revealing the fascinating world of Canaanite religion and its contribution to our understanding of the divine feminine.” ref

Her Epithets: Queenly Titles:

• Qrt hšmym: Queen of Heaven
• Elath: Goddess (feminine form of El, the chief god, and Yahweh god of the bible)
• Gbtrt tbnwt ʼlm: Mistress of All Lands
• **Gbtrt kl tpt: ** Mistress of All Ends (possibly referring to her influence over all aspects of life) ref

Motherly and Fertility Titles:

• **ʼm ʼlm: ** Mother of Gods
• **ʼmt špš: ** Mother of the Sun
• **ʼmt yrm: ** Mother of the Sea (connected to her association with Yam, the god of the sea)
• **qny t ilm: ** Creatress of Gods ref

Protective and Warrior Titles:

• **gbtrt hlmh: ** Mistress of War
• **ʼaṯirat gpn: ** Asherah of the Vine (representing both fertility and potential wrath)
• **ʼaṯirat yam: ** Asherah of the Sea (possibly highlighting her association with storms and power) ref

Other Interesting Titles:

• **qdš: ** Holiness (linking her to sacredness and purity)
• **rbt ʼṯrt ym: ** Lady Asherah of the Sea (a particularly potent epithet showcasing her dominion over the sea) ref

“Who was King Hezekiah? What was he cleaning up? When looking into the several passages of II Kings and II Chronicles, we find a young king who was ready to work to eradicate the changes his father had made in worship in the cities of Judah. King Ahaz, his father, had brought Baal and Asherah worship to the streets of Jerusalem, which included child sacrifice. From II Kings chapter 16— A sketch of the Baal and Asherah Altar was taken during a visit to the King of Damascus in the eighth century BCE by King Ahaz of Judah. Ahaz was the twelfth king of Judah, and fell into jealousy after seeing how well his neighbors were doing. He sent his sketch of the altar to his priest Uriah, with the command to create these new altars and install them on the street corners of Jerusalem. They would serve the people as the new form of worship, borrowed from the Canaanite religion of Baal worship, with his consort Asherah as the focus of praise, the burning of incense, and the sacrifice of children. Author Ronald Hendel argues the Asherah pole is a symbol of the goddess and is believed to be the mediator between the worshipper and Yahweh, where she becomes the “effective bestower of blessing.”

Canaanite Culture and Its Pantheon of Gods:

In the land of ancient Canaan between the Bronze and Iron Age, where the Canaanites and Israelites both worshiped a pantheon of gods and goddesses. The land of Canaan is an ancient designation for that area in the Levant that is currently occupied by: Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Jordan. Despite what many people have assumed, the Israelites, too, worshiped many gods outright until Yahweh was transitioned into the role of “head” god in charge.” ref

“The Canaanites and Israelites believed the universe was ruled by gods and goddesses, and they worshiped them. The popular gods Baal, El, and Asherah, and a couple of other female goddesses. Baal was an important Canaanite god. We find him mentioned in the Old Testament. In Canaanite mythology, he is the son of the chief god El and his consort Asherah and the ruler of Heaven as well as a god of the sun, rain, thunder, fertility, and agriculture. Baal’s worship was prevalent in Canaan even prior to the Israelite exodus from Egypt. The God El was the name of the chief deity of the West Semites, including the Canaanites. In the ancient texts from ancient Ugarit (or now Ras Shamra) in Syria, El was described as the “titular head” of the pantheon, husband of Asherah, and father of all the other gods. The god El was viewed as the elder with gray hair and a gray beard. Despite his status as the supreme deity, he was not nearly as popular as the god, Baal. There is a figurine of a Canaanite fertility goddess that depicts the goddess from both the interior and the exterior perspectives, as she prepares herself for the delivery of twins. The twins, seen within her womb, clutch at her breasts. The figurine may represent Asherah, called the “sacred prostitute” or the “one of the womb.” According to myth, Asherah gave birth to the twin gods Shahar and Shalem. Symbols of Asherah, the sacred tree and ibex, appear on the goddess’s thighs. The figurine was probably an amulet for women in childbirth.” ref

“In the bible, scriptures provide a clear example of the believed result of worshiping other gods in II Chronicles 28:22:

In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me,” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.” ref

“And Israel and Judah’s downfall did come through conquering armies that took over two hundred thousand into captivity, for seventy years, until Darius, King of Persia, was moved by God to release the people and rebuild God’s Temple in Jerusalem.” ref

“The goddess Asherah is a primordial mother goddess or creatress of the gods, and mother of 70 gods. She is considered the matriarch (Creatress), and El was the Patriarch (Creator). She was the female consort to the Hebrew God Yahweh and was widely worshiped by Israelites, Canaanites, and many others. There is archaeological and textual evidence that in the early history of Israel, she may have been seen not only as the consort of El but also as the wife of the Israelite God Yahweh. El was recognized by the Canaanites as the supreme deity and by the Israelites as synonymous with Yahweh. Asherah was mentioned as a wet nurse in the Ugaritic myth. She is also associated with serpents (representing healing), lions (representing power), and trees (representing fertility). The goddess Asherah is further mentioned in Hittite mythology, where she has 77 and 88 children. The goddesses Astarte and Anath were also great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon, but they are considered separate goddesses.” ref

The Challenges in Reconstructing Asherah’s History

“Exactly how do we actually know about the goddess Asherah? We know this from not only the Old Testament, where Asherah is mentioned 40 times, and we will get to that shortly, but she is also mentioned in ancient Ugaritic texts (before 1200 BCE.. Let’s talk about the Ugaritic texts/tablets first, which she’s mentioned, given that they predate the Bible (Old Testament). In northwest Syria, an ancient tomb was accidentally discovered. The tomb was part of a cemetery located in the area of the ancient city of Ugarit. French excavators discovered the remains of two libraries of ancient clay tablets written mainly in alphabetic Ugaritic. Ugarit was a port at the entrance of the inland trade route to the Euphrates and Tigris lands. Ugarit is now known as Ras Sharma. It is near modern-day Cyprus, and it was the capital of a prominent city-state in modern-day Syria. Several texts were discovered once it was excavated, and these include the “Legend of Keret,” the “Aqhat Epic” (or “Legend of Danel”), the “Myth of Baal-Aliyan,” and the “Death of Baal”. Among the Ugaritic texts is a tablet that names the Ugaritic pantheon with Babylonian equivalents; El, Asherah of the Sea, and Baal were the main deities. In these texts, she is referenced as “ATRT” or “Athirat,” and “Ilit,” which simply means goddess. She is also referenced as the consort of the god, “El.” In Sumerian documents dating to 1750 BCE, she is referred to as Ashratum and the bride of Anu (Martin- Gardner 2020:9). In the Ugaritic texts, Asherah is known as the “creator of all the deities.” ref

“A number of potsherds that contained the following inscriptions: “I bless you to Yahweh of Samaria and to his Asherah,” and “I bless you to Yaweh of Teman and to his Asheah.” This does indicate that she was a partner to Yahweh. From another excavated site of Khirbet El-Qom, dating to the 700s BCE, reveals similar inscriptions “Uriyahu the Rich wrote it., Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh, for from his enemies by his Asherah he has saved him by Oniyahu, by his asherah and by his a[she]rah.” ref

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Asherah, at least a 7,500-year-old goddess?

THE FIRE SHALL BURN CONTINUALLY AT THE ALTAR

“Leviticus 6:12-13: 12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

Why is it so important that we keep this fire burning?

“An altar represents a place of consecration, a place of sacrifice, a place upon which an offering is made. The instructions to the priest were – And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning. This was meant to be every morning stoking of the fire; the fire was to burn 365 days a year.” ref

Hebrews 1:7:  7 And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits, And His ministers a flame of fire.”

Leviticus 9:24: “Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.”

Exodus 24:17: And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

“An Asherah pole is a sacred tree (stone pillar, ceramic altar) or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the goddess Asherah. The relation of the literary references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate. The asherim were also cult objects related to the worship of Asherah, the consort of either Ba’al or, as inscriptions from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom attest, Yahweh, and thus objects of contention among competing cults. Most English translations of the Hebrew Bible translate the Hebrew words asherim (אֲשֵׁרִים‎ ’ăšērīm) or asheroth (אֲשֵׁרוֹת‎ ’ăšērōṯ) to “Asherah poles.” ref

“Asherim are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy, Judges, the Books of Kings, the second Book of Chronicles, and the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah. The term often appears as merely אשרה‎, (Asherah) referred to as “groves” in the King James Version, which follows the Septuagint rendering as ἄλσος (alsos), pl. ἄλση (alsē) and the Vulgate lucus, and “poles” in the New Revised Standard Version; no word that may be translated as “poles” appears in the text. Scholars have indicated, however, that the plural use of the term (English “Asherahs”, translating Hebrew Asherim or Asherot) provides ample evidence that reference is being made to objects of worship rather than a transcendent figure. Asherah’s association with fertility was not limited to her association with trees; she was often depicted with pronounced sexual features. Idols of Asherah, often called ’Astarte figurines’, are representative of Asherah as a tree in that they have bodies which resemble tree trunks, while also further extenuating the goddess’ connection to fertility in line with her status as a “mother goddess”. The “Judean pillar figures” universally depict Asherah with protruding breasts. Likewise, the so-called Revadim Asherah is rife with potent, striking sexual imagery, depicting Asherah suckling two smaller figures and using both of her hands to fully expose her vagina. Many times, Asherah’s pubis area was marked by a concentration of dots, indicating pubic hair, though this figure is sometimes polysemically understood as a grape cluster. The womb was also sometimes used as a nutrix symbol, as animals are often shown feeding directly (if a bit abstractly) from the pubic triangle.” ref, ref

“The Hebrew Bible suggests that the poles were made of wood. In the sixth chapter of the Book of Judges, God is recorded as instructing the Israelite judge Gideon to cut down an Asherah pole that was next to an altar to Baal. The wood was to be used for a burnt offering. Deuteronomy 16:21 states that YHWH (rendered as “the LORD“) hated Asherim whether rendered as poles: “Do not set up any [wooden] Asherah [pole] beside the altar you build to the LORD your God” or as living trees: “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God which you shall make”. That Asherahs were not always living trees is shown in 1 Kings 14:23: “their asherim, beside every luxuriant tree”. However, the record indicates that the Jewish people often departed from this ideal. For example, King Manasseh placed an Asherah pole in the Holy Temple (2 Kings 21:7). King Josiah’s reforms in the late 7th century BC included the destruction of many Asherah poles (2 Kings 23:14). Exodus 34:13 states: “Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherim [Asherah poles].” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Cosmic egg/World Egg and the Mound of Creation/Mountain of God mythology, seen around the world, are loosely related?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Ket people/Yeniseian languages

Dené–Yeniseian

Tlingit people/Tlingit language/Na-Dené languages

S = Samara culture

M = Maykop culture

L = Leyla-Tepe culture 

Nordic Bronze Age/Norse mythology

Sumerians/Sumerian religion

Early Dynastic Period (Egypt 3150 BCE, or around 5,150 years ago)/Ancient Egyptian religion

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Confucianism’s Tiān (Shangdi god 4,000 years old): Supernaturalism, Pantheism or Theism?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

“Deities of war/violence” and/or “War Gods/Goddesses”

Myths and Folklore: “Trickster gods and goddesses”

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Duality in mythology: Dual Deities, Devine Couple, or Devine Twins beyond Proto-Indo-European

The broader definition of monotheism characterizes the traditions of Bábism, the Bahá’í Faith, Balinese Hinduism, Cao Dai (Caodaiism), Cheondoism (Cheondogyo), Christianity, Deism, Eckankar, Hindu sects such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism, Islam, Judaism, Mandaeism, Rastafari, Seicho no Ie, Sikhism, Tengrism (Tangrism), Tenrikyo (Tenriism), Yazidism, and Zoroastrianism, and elements of pre-monotheistic thought are found in early religions such as Atenism, ancient Chinese religion, and Yahwism. ref

Single God Religions (Monotheism) = “Man-o-theism” started around 4,000 years ago with the Great Sky Spirit/God Tiān (天)?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Creation of Life/Humans from Clay, seen around the World, loosely related as many other Myths do

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Weaving and Mythology: Spider Grandmother/Woman (rarely Spider Grandfather/Man), often related with moon deities, and/or WISE/Intelligent Creator/Crafter, seen in Indigenous Beliefs in the Americas as well as around the World

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Sumerians and Ancient Egyptians: mountains, mounds, and temples: Ziggurats or Pyramids, with related Deities, as well as Mythology

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Reincarnation/Rebirth in Indigenous Religions (Siberia, Americas, and Aboriginal Australians), Celtic druids, as well as “Indian Religions” such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism