Lilith, Inanna, Ishtar and the Huluppu Tree

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

 Lilith, Inanna, Ishtar and the Huluppu Tree

 

Before one can correctly begin to analyse ancient and contemporary documents relating to the Goddess, one thing has to be taken into consideration. As the ancient Klingon proverb states: “History is written by the victors”

This is certainly true – just imagine how his-story would be read right now, if Adolf Hitler , who was backed fully by the Vatican, had won the Second World War, for example?

Well, our history is only about 6000 years old, or so we are told today. And yet, the first anatomically identical Homo Sapiens has been dated back to around 180 000 years ago. Now what has happened to the records of our herstory before the advent of patriarchy? For the remaining 175,0000 odd years our collective herstory remains untold…more than 90% untold.

We have the medieval Catholic priesthood , the Monks and the Conquistadores, the missionaries and the Arabic fundamentalists to thank for the near-total absence of any records prior to the takeover of the male-dominated religions, and for the near obliteration of our collective heritage. Mostly, the his-story of our ancient and glorious Pagan heritage and most surviving documentation has clearly been written by patriarchal authors. And modern Pagans are to believe and follow these warped and factually incorrect accounts of our Ancestors ways?

It is easy to selectively re-write and edit texts to suit the interests of the ruling or controlling powers-that-be at any given time ~  and, within a generation or so, that new and revised version of history would be accepted as the truth.  And why?  Simply, because every generation from that point on, would be denied the actual truth and fed whatever rubbish suits the powers-that-be. All the true facts are called “fairy-tales” or “superstitious mumbo-jumbo”, and those freedom-loving individuals who know these Faery tales for what they are,  are ignored, stifled and ridiculed by the mainstream establishment.

In ancient times, science complemented religion, or to be more accurate, the Spirituality of our ancestors was Nature-based with an emphasis on the Equal and Complementary interactions between the Masculine and Feminine Divine.

In modern times, anyone who challenges the scientific and religious/political mainstream is either ridiculed, barred from expressing their views publicly, excommunicated, banished, murdered, their careers ruined, or burned alive at the stake after being cruelly tortured in the name of the dominant god  -  or written off as a mentally affected person, even though these individuals may have the actual facts and truth to present.

It is testament to the actual strength and enduring radiance of Nature spirituality, that we now have a worldwide revival of Paganism and a return to the Divine Feminine . And despite all the attempts to kill , torture and brainwash, more and more people are beginning to accept that what we have been told, is actually a bunch of lies, elaborate and twisted, designed to enslave the human race to the controlling interests within the mainstream churches.

More and more people are searching for the remnants of our glorious past – our actual heritage - and there is much that has come to light over the past decades that one can work with, even if this is fragmented and incomplete.

Accordingly, the good news is that history is being re-written as the correct and true herstory.

The Bible itself is a highly edited and re-edited cultural artifact, or relic, a shadow of the vast Wisdom that was previously available to Pagans before the sacred texts were destroyed, the Temples demolished, the Priestesses raped and burned alive, and the ancient, sacred groves of Trees razed to the ground by zealous Jewish and Christian priests who were determined to completely wipe out any last vestige of the Old Religion and all of the rich and unique traditions of Nature –based Paganism.

The name Bible comes from the ancient literary centre of Byblos, dedicated to the Goddess ~ a vast and comprehensive collection of sacred texts that were burnt to heat the bathwater of the conquerors; and the name Bible deliberately selected to symbolise the carefully-edited word of the patriarchs in one book, having "replaced" the value of that entire library of accumulated Wisdom. 

 

Let’s now have a good look at the legend of the Huluppu Tree.

The story of the Huluppu Tree is significant for contemporary Pagans, as it is one of the oldest available texts whichmention Inanna and Lilith. The story of the Huluppu is to be found within the Epic of Gilgamesh which is a tale describing the adventures of the hero, Gilgamesh.

This is one of the very first patriarchal texts, as it was revised by the patriarchs . This is proven by the fact that it is a male hero who plays the leading role in the saga ;  and as we go along, we can clearly see that the role of the  Goddess, Inanna, has already been reduced from Goddess of Heaven to a warlike, domesticated and really subordinate deity, who takes orders from Enlil and the other Gods ~ and, in another story, has to seduce Enki and make him drunk , in order to “steal” the secret formulas from him in a seemingly devious manner.

Hmm...

A subordinate woman?

Here are some excerpts from the Epic of Gilgamesh ~ do you by any chance, notice a slight bias within the text against the Divine Feminine?

“GILGAMESH Washed out his long locks and cleaned his weapons; he flung back his hair from his shoulders; he threw off his stained clothes and changed them for new. He put on his royal robes and made them fast. When Gilgamesh had put on the crown, glorious Ishtar lifted her eyes, seeing the beauty of Gilgamesh. She said, .Come to me Gilgamesh, and be my bridegroom; grant me seed of your body, let me be your bride and you shall be my husband. I will harness for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and of gold, with wheels of gold and horns of copper; and you shall have mighty demons of the storm for draft mules. When you enter our house in the fragrance of cedar-wood, threshold and throne will kiss your feet. Kings, rulers, and princes will bow down before you; they shall bring you tribute from the mountains and the plain.

Your ewes shall drop twins and your goats triplets; your pack-ass shall outrun mules; your oxen shall have no rivals, and your chariot horses shall be famous far-off for their swiftness.’

 

Gilgamesh opened his mouth and answered glorious Ishtar, .If I take you in marriage, what gifts can I give in return?

What ointments and clothing for your body? I would gladly give you bread and all sorts of food fit for a god. I would give you wine to drink fit for a queen. I would pour out barley to stuff your granary; but as for making you my wife - that I will not. How would it go with me?

 

Your lovers have found you like a brazier which smoulders in the cold, a backdoor which keeps out neither squall of wind nor storm, a castle which crushes the garrison, pitch that blackens the bearer, a water-skin that chafes the carrier, a stone which falls from the parapet, a battering-ram turned back from the enemy, a sandal that trips the wearer. Which of your lovers did you ever love for ever? What shepherd of yours has pleased you for all time? Listen to me while I tell the tale of your lovers. There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year. You loved the many coloured roller, but still youstruck and broke his wing; now in the grove he sits and cries, "kappi, kappi, my wing, my wing." You have loved the lion tremendous in strength: seven pits you dug for him, and seven. You have loved the stallion magnificent in battle, and for him you decreed whip and spur and a thong, to gallop seven leagues by force and to muddy the water before he drinks; and for his mother Silili lamentations. You have loved the shepherd of the flock; he made meal-cake for you day after day, he killed kids for your sake. You struck and turned him into a wolf, now his own herd-boys chase him away, his own hounds worry his flanks. And did you not love Ishullanu, the gardener of your father’s palm grove? He brought you baskets filled with dates without end; every day he loaded your table. Then you turned your eyes on him and said, "Dearest Ishullanu, come here to me, let us enjoy your manhood, come forward and take me, I am yours.’ Ishullanu answered, "What are you asking from me? My mother has baked and I have eaten; why should I come to such as you for food that is tainted and rotten? For when was a screen of rushes sufficient protection from frosts?" But when you had beard his answer you struck him. He was changed to a blind mole deep in the earth, one whose desire is always beyond his reach. And if you and I should be lovers, should not I be served in the same fashion as all these others whom you loved once?.

 

Note ~ a great and flattering description of the Divine Feminine?

 

When Ishtar heard this she fell into a bitter rage, she went up to high heaven. Her tears poured down in front of her father Anu, and Antum her mother. She said, .My father, Gilgamesh has heaped insults on me, he has told over all my abominable behaviour, my foul and hideous acts.’ Anu opened his mouth and said, .Are you a father of gods? Did not you quarrel with Gilgamesh the king, so now he has related your abominable behaviour, your foul and hideous acts.’

 

Ishtar opened her mouth and said again, .My father, give me the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. Fill Gilgamesh, I say, with arrogance to his destruction; but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts; there will be confusion of people, those above with those from the lower depths. I shall bring up the dead to eat food like the living; and the hosts of dead will outnumber the living.’ Anusa d to great Ishtar, .If I do what you desire there will be seven years of drought throughout Uruk when corn will be seedless husks. Have you saved grain enough for the people and grass for the cattle? Ishtar replied. .I have saved grain for the people, grass for the cattle; for seven years o£ seedless husks, there is grain and there is grass enough.’

 

When Anu heard what Ishtar had said he gave her the Bull of Heaven to lead by the halter down to Uruk: When they reached the gates of Uruk the Bull went to the river; with his first snort cracks opened in the earth and, a hundred young men fell down to death. With his second snort cracks opened and two hundred fell down to death. With his third snort cracks opened, Enkidu doubled over but instantly recovered, he dodged aside and leapt on the Bull and seized it by the horns. The Bull of Heaven foamed in his face, it brushed him with the thick of its tail. Enkidu cried to Gilgamesh, ’my friend, we boasted that we would .leave enduring names behind us. Now thrust in your sword between the nape and the horns.’ So Gilgamesh followed the Bull, he seized the thick of its tail, he thrust the sword between the nape and the horns and slew the Bull. When they had killed the Bull of Heaven they cut out its heart and gave it to Shamash, and the brothers rested”

The Bull of Heaven and the close association with Goddess ~ the reader should be able to see where the author of this story is coming from? Shamash is a Sun god, one of the first to replace the Solar Goddess. By giving the heart of the sacred Bull to the all-new sun god, the symbolism of this section of the story is laid out clear as daylight.

Goddess Ishtar astride the Bull of Heaven; later to be named "Behemoth" in Biblical texts.

And yet, many take the Epic of Gilgamesh as being a factual narrative, and even worse, an “accurate” description of the Goddess Inanna and Her Dark Goddess sister, Lilith.

This has caused a division , yet again ~how much longer are modern Pagan Goddessians going to be fooled by patriarchal nonsense? It’s enough to make a princess weep.

Gilgamesh , the King, is, significantly, a King . Long before Kings were granted the exclusive right of succession, Matriarchal Queens ruled.

This story, or collection of stories, is nothing more than a patriarchal fabrication, designed to replace ages-old Goddess spirituality with the new, male-dominated mythologies, and introduce the all-new concept of ruling male gods and dominant male Kings who can insult the Divine Feminine and slay the sacred Bull at their pleasure.

But it gets even worse – let’s have a look at the tale of the Huluppu Tree, as narrated :

The Huluppu-Tree

In the first days, in the very first days,

In the first nights, in the very first nights,

In the first years, in the very first years,

In the first days when everything needed was brought into being,

In the first days when everything needed was properly nourished,

When bread was baked in the shrines of the land,

And bread was tasted in the homes of the land,

When heaven had moved away from earth,

And the earth had seperated from heaven,

And the name of man was fixed;

When the Sky God, An, had carried off the heavens,

And the Air God, Enlil, had carried off the earth,

When the Queen of the Great Below, Ereshkigal, was given

the underworld for her domain,

He set sail; the Father set sail,

Enki, the God of Wisdom, set sail for the underworld.

Small windstones were tossed up against him;

Large hailstones were hurled up against him;

Like onrushing turtles,

They charged the keel of Enki's boat.

The waters of the sea devoured the bow of his boat like wolves;

The waters of the sea struck the stern of his boat like lions.

 

At that time, a tree, a single tree, a huluppu-tree (Willow)

Was planted by the banks of the Euphrates.

The tree was nurtured by the waters of the Euphrates.

The whirling South Wind arose, pulling at its roots

And ripping at its branches

Until the waters of the Euphrates carried it away.

 

A woman who walked in fear of the word of the Sky God, An,

Who walked in fear of the Air God, Enlil,

Plucked the tree from the river and spoke:

"I shall bring this tree to Uruk.

I shall plant this tree in my holy garden."

 

Inanna cared for the tree with her hand

She settled the earth around the tree with her foot

She wondered:

"How long will it be until I have a shining throne to sit upon?

How Long will it be until I have a shining bed to lie upon?"

 

The years passed; five years, and then ten years.

The tree grew thick,

But its bark did not split.

Then the serpent who could not be charmed

Made it's nest in the roots of the huluppu-tree.

The Anzu-bird set its you in the branches of the tree.

And the dark maid Lilith built her home in the trunk.

 

The young woman who loved to laugh wept.

How Inanna wept!

(Yet they would not leave her tree.)

As the birds began to sing at the coming of the dawn,

The sun God, Utu, left his royal bedchamber.

Inanna called to her brother Utu, saying:

"O Utu, in the days when the fates were decreed,

When abudance overflowed in the land,

When the Sky God took the heavens and the Air God the earth,

When Ereshkigal was given the Great Below for her domain,

The God of Wisdom, Father Enki, set sail for the underworld,

And the underworld rose up and attacked him....

At that time, a tree, a single tree, the huluppa-tree

Was planted by the banks of the Euphrates.

 

The South Wind pulled at its roots and ripped its branches

Until the water of the Euphrates carried it away.

I plucked the tree from the river;

I brought it to my holy garden.

I tended the tree, waiting for my shining throne and bed.

 

Then a serpent who could not be charmed

Made its nest in the roots of the tree,

The Anzu-bird set his young in the branches of the tree,

And the dark maid Lilith built her home in the trunk.

I wept.

How I wept!

(Yet they would not leave my tree."

 

Utu, the valiant warrior, Utu,

Would not help his sister, Inanna.

As the birds befan to sing at the coming of the second dawn,

Inanna called to her brother Gilgamesh, saying:

"O Gilgamesh, in the days when the fates were decreed,

When abundance overflowed in Sumer,

When the Sky God had taken the heavens and the Air God

the earth,

When Ereshkigal was given the Great Below for her domain,

The God of Wisdom, Father Enki, set sail for the

underworld,

And the underworld rose up and attacked him.

 

At that time, a tree, a single tree, a huluppu-tree

Was planted by the banks of the Euphrates.

The South Wind pulled at its roots and ripped at its

branches

Until the waters of the Euphrates carried it away.

 

I plucked the tree from the river;

I brought it to my holy garden.

I tended the tree, waiting for my shining throne and bed.

 

Then a serpent who could not be charmed

Made its nest in the roots of the tree,

The Anzu-bird set his young in the branches of the tree,

And the dark maid Lilith built her home in the trunk.

I wept.

How I wept!

(Yet they would not leave my tree.)"

 

Gilgamesh, the valiant warrior Gilgamesh,

The hero of Uruk, stood by Inanna.

Gilgamesh fastened his armor of fifty minas around his chest.

The fifty minas weighed as little to him as fifty feathers.

He lifted his bronze ax, the ax of the road,

Weighing seven talents and seven minas, to his shoulder.

 

He entered Inanna's holy garden.

Gilgamesh struck the serpent who could not be charmed.

The Anzu-bird flew with his young to the mountains;

And Lilith smashed her home and fled to the wild, uninhabited

places.

Gilgamesh then loosened the roots of the huluppa-tree;

And the sons of the city, who accompanied him, cut off the

branches.

From the trunk of the tree he carved a throne for his holy

sister.

From the trunk of the tree Gilgamesh carved a bed for Inanna.

From the roots of the tree she fashioned a pukku for her brother.

From the crown of the tree Inanna fashioned a mikku for Gilgamesh

the hero of Uruk.

 

Wolkstein, Diane & Samuel Noah Kramer. (1983). "Inanna queen of

heaven and earth: Her stories and hymns from Sumer." New York: Harper & Row.

 

Firstly, it is clear from this narrative that Inanna represents the “good”, submissive and compliant and ideal feminine from a patriarchal viewpoint. Secondly, one of the most potent spiritual poisons used by the male-dominated religions appears – and that is, the division of the Great Goddess into separate, unrelated and opposing fragments representing "good" and "evil".This concept is one of the main weapons of the patriarchy, as every strategist knows that to conquer, one must divide.

Inanna and Lilith are separated in this story. Lilith is banished from the Tree, which is actually the Tree of Life ~ and the Dragon is slain by the male hero-god – on behalf of Inanna ~ the wild Tree is cut up for the making of beds and furniture. Man now has dominion over Nature, the demotion of Inanna is made, to a minor, petulant and helpless goddess who has to rely on men to cut down the Tree of the Life - Eve's Tree; and the Anzu bird, or Phoenix of Enlightenment, is driven with Lilith into the wilderness.The Dragon, the symbol of Pagan spirituality, is slain by the male hero. This theme runs throughout the religions and times of patriarchy, beginning with the fundamental misinterpretation of the brother of Isis, the Serpent God Set employing Dragon Magick to channel the Cosmic Serpent Apophis; by the early Egyptian patriarchs to mean "slaying the evil serpent";

~ to the medieval St George or the Revelatory Angel Michael, supposedly, slaying the Dragon, representing merely the Life Force of the Universe and Mother Earth and being the Ancient symbol of Pagan spirituality.

The medieval Jewish religionists were quick to identify Lilith as an evil seductress, bent on strangling the life out of innocent and pious men, and later on, Lilith has become literally, “the devil” in female form according to these religions.Thus, they seek to diabolize the entire Goddess movement, making the Divine Feminine an aspect of their totally warped version of either the original Babylonian Underworld Deity, Ha-Satan, or Set, or any of the other pre-Abrahamanic Gods.

So, in patriarchal eyes, anyone who associates themselves with Goddess, particularly the Dark Goddesses, is now seen as a "Satanist" – which plays right into the hands of these patriarchs, who desperately need "the devil" to keep their religions afloat...

The identification of Satanism with Nature Paganism feeds and justifies their archaic and outdated male theories of Goddess and all women as being inherently weak and evil at the same time. Howww any self-respecting woman can support these patriarchal Abrahamanic medieval religious theorems is totally beyond me in this day and age. It is an insult to the intelligence.

It is the patriarchy who views Nature as expendable, and trees are there to cut down to make way for “civilization”. According to their book, mankind has dominion over Nature. This changeover from "Custodian of" to having "dominion over" Nature is a crucial one. Patriarchal religionists have it somehow that the Creator is separate from Nature, which is a philosophy that goes directly against the Laws of the Universe.

It was the Jewish Rabbis who invented the story that an evil Lilith lives in every tree, waiting to ensnare men.Trees have always been of Goddess, and that is why even to this day, devout Jewish people refuse to plant any trees in their gardens - as they have been affected by the lies of their religious leaders and see evil in Nature.

It was the Jewish zealots, following the example of the Sumerians, who cut down all the trees that made up the outdoor Temples of the original Hebrew Goddesses, especially the sacred groves of Lady Asherah.

It was the zealous missionaries who razed trees to the ground, and used the ancient heartwood of the Trees and the rubble from demolished Pagan temples of Love, to build their churches right on top of Pagan power spots, on Ley lines and on top of ancient Earth energy conjunctions.

It was the Muslim slave traders that sold the heart of Africa into bondage to the patriarchal controlling powers who instituted slavery as a way of life for millions.

It is patriarchy that has stolen the vast knowledge of our Ancestors, twisted the essential message by superimposing new values over the Old , and diabolized the Goddess in the process. Their devil and their god are part of the same pantheon, and the lies that are told about the Divine Feminine, all come from the same source.

Right, so let us return to the Tree.

It is fairly obvious to anyone who is familiar with the Quabalistic Tree of Life, that there are three tiers, or levels which form part of the Tree. These levels are personified by the Dragon, or Serpent at the roots of the tree, Lilith in the trunk , and the Phoenix which lives in the upper branches with it’s young. 

The Huluppu tree is thought to be a Willow tree, which is strongly associated with the Goddess and Nature Witchcraft . The Willow is a remarkable family of trees ~ usually found near or even marginally growing in water,although the botanical family or genus includes hundreds of species, from the twisted corkscrew type Salix matsudana, to the Salix babylonica, or Weeping Willow. The Willow is a serpentine tree, it’s weeping branches swaying like living, shimmering serpents in the slightest breeze ~ and is decidedly feminine in Nature, making it a favourite with tree spirits, serpents and witches alike.

Lilith is a much older Goddess than Inanna; as Inanna is older than Aphrodite ~ Inanna and Lilith are  Sisters, or if you prefer, aspects of the Divine Feminine, and are in fact complementary aspects, or faces if you like, of the same Great Goddess.

In early patriarchal texts, Lilith is known as the Right hand of Inanna, and this actually relates to the Sacred Priestesses of Goddess, of the Temples of Love, which along with the sacred groves of Lady Asherah, were razed to the ground as if to obliterate the living memory of the Old ways from the consciousness of future generations...

 Now mention this to the average person who has been deceived by patriarchy, and what do you get? Vehement denial, indignant justifications for the fact that all the Goddesses are either evil or good and not related at all, and that they have undeniable “proof” from “original source material” , that Lilith is in fact an evil demoness, and that Inanna is everything these texts describe Her as.

As if any one can say "I KNOW" the Great Goddess? Particularly those arrogant enough as to insult the Divine Feminine?

The Great Queen of Heaven, in patriarchal terms, changed into The Great Whore of Heaven and later still, the Great Whore of Babylon.

Actually, the term whore - actually, Hoar ~ was originally a sacred one denoting a Priestess; including the High Priestess; and was only changed to being derogatory after the values of the dominant religions were entrenched ~ after centuries of persecution, as the Priestesses and Priests of the Old Ways were turned into devil-worshipping witches and incubus demons according to the medieval religions, so women in general lost the respect and veneration accorded ever since the beginning, as sacred beings able to bring forth new life.

The meaning of the term prostitute was likewise turned from being sacred and spiritual, to being a derogatory one. And with this change in perception, porn and other forms of degradation of women, such as the portrayal of almost every single Goddess and God of Nature in the media, as “evil”, or somehow associated with this fictitious devil, who is nothing more than a phantasm of illusion, does not actually exist , and was invented by patriarchal religionists as a fear-based control mechanism.

Sex was turned from being sacred , to being devalued and made cheap and nasty. It’s quite acceptable for a TV Announcer to say “ Get ready for the weekend, baby! Get evil and seduce your man!” ~ without even thinking those words odd.

 Since when was sex, or the anticipation of enjoying sexual love, “evil” ? As concepts of evil and good are seen in terms of absolutes, this is a good example of the imbalance that is present in certain societies today.That sexual love is seen as evil – there are many different ways of expressing Love, and sex is probably the most Natural. As sex came from the Goddess, so did the porn industry come from man ~ as he lost respect for women, and thus along with that loss, the loss of his own dignity and sense of self-respect.

And when women and men awake to the Cosmic reality that making love is so much better than "having sex"; things will get much better for everyone.

To sum up:

All mythology presented in the patriarchal texts of Gilgamesh and certain of the texts of the other male-dominated religions regarding the Divine Feminine is false and designed to denigrate and diminish the Goddess and all women by extension. 

The Bible is an edited, watered down version of Sumerian and other pre-Abrahamanic Patriarchal myths, and anyone doubting this is welcome to do a comparative study between these, and then of the Hebrew, Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts ~ simply compare the mythologies with the original, and it is plainly obvious to anybody with even half a functional brain what the truth of the matter really is. And it all begins with this tale of Gilgamesh.

The Mother Goddess of myriad aspects as One; is fragmented into two opposing and differing aspects in this story. Another directly related myth which springs to mind is the myth of the slaying of the Serpent Kundalini Goddess Medusa  by another male “hero” acting on behalf of the Goddess; or the defeat of the Titans by the male-dominated Classical Greek pantheon, assisted by the new and revised, subordinate and warlike Goddesses.

Divide and conquer through the imposition of lies which leads to ignorance, fear and the separation from and hate for ones inner self as well as others, is the tactic of the male-dominated, fear-based religions who clearly profit from this fear.

The Old Religion of Serpent and Goddess Worship  has been replaced by the controlling religions, or Book religions with modified myths and stories to serve their own interest of control – to serve themselves at the expense of the Truth and humanity in general, as well as the very living Planet that we all call home in this Time.

In this story, the Goddess Tree of Life is cut down by the male hero, on behalf of Inanna, to serve the interests of the patriarchy.

Nature is “conquered” by the male demigod, Gilgamesh, who first insults Inanna and then slays the Dragon and vanquishes Lilith , the primordial Goddess of the Tree and Nature together with the Phoenix of Enlightenment to the wilderness.

 Nature make way for the new civilization , a male-dominated one ~ and the “new” Inanna has her furniture made from the heartwood of the Tree in this patriarchal myth.

This is meant to symbolize the replacement of Nature Goddess spirituality and Nature-based Paganism with the New, male-dominated religions.

To all of these religions, man(sic?) is the supreme being close to a male god, and females are second rate ~ at best, working for the man, at worst, the evil devil woman who is wild and free to do as she wishes without any fatherly approval.

Being free and uncontrollable are qualities that these male religions do not approve of ~ in fact, anything which contradicts their theories and laws based on these values, is “evil” according to the holy books. The female was, after all, made from the second-hand rib of Adam in the second tale of Creation?:(

The Truth is that before the introduction of the patriarchy, the Goddess was One Supreme Goddess. This always has, and will always be  true, and nothing has actually changed in reality, but only in the minds of those who have been fooled by the lies of patriarchy.

Simply,  Lilith, Inanna and Ishtar are One Goddess; the Great Goddess, and any attempt to divide the Goddess into distinctly "evil and good"  unrelated parts, is a transparent tactic used by the patriarchy to destroy Pagan unity and detract from the truth.

 

 

 

And the moral of the story is ;

“Trees ~ Some plant them, some cut them down”

 

 

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

Yes, I agree ~ the diffrence as I see it, is the intimate relationship that one has with the Divine Feminine, as opposed to being separated, and having to rely on an intermediary person to commune with the Higher power.

This also leads to people not taking responsibility for their own actions, for example, it seems to be alright for these people of whom we are speaking, to do whatever they wish and then "be forgiven" just like that. In my experience, the universe doesn't work this way.Well , no wonder Hitler had a thriving relationship with the Catholic church during WW2. Probably for insurance purposes?

Oh well, I just lay out the facts and it's not up to me to interfere - each to their own, I guess. Just feeling very blessed to be liberated from fear-based ideologies and thought-patterns, that's all :)

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

Yes, I have to agree, Swirls Dancing ~ I mean, it is exactly the same as getting an insurance policy for the car or home ~ at the end of so many years of paying out the dosh every month, month after month, like clockwork - does one ever get paid out when it's needed ?

What a waste of money, which is after all just another form of energy in a way.It is a fear-based industry, operating on the "what if..." principle.

So it is the same thing, then ~ let's see, so a person can do anything bad they want to , as long as they attend church every Sunday and let the Higher power take the fall for it all -" just in case, what if...I dont, then hell is waiting for me - imagine burning alive for all eternity" - whew, no thanks,I am not ever gonna be a part of that dream.. Hm. A spiritual insurance policy ? Yes, also a fear control mechanism. Wise? Lets say, quite the opposite?

If one takes the wide, well-travelled road, it is convenient and "safe" ~ except that at the end of it all, the gains are few and the burden only heavier ... that is why many never learn the vital lessons.

There are two other paths to take ~ one is a narrow and thorny path, which does eventually lead to the desired place, just nine times longer, what with all those thorns ~

and the remaining path is the path of Nature, that leads to where one is supposed to go. To me that is the path of Goddess :)

See you on the way, Sister!

[L. Love]

This is the first time I have read this story and I cried! Thank Goddess the balance is being restored.

Thank you for sharing this dearest Zu.

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

Hi ~ that's why it took me so long to complete. I found myself between research just staring at the words and my mind was revolving at full speed as I again was amazed at the synchronicities - impossible to be mere co-incidences - between the myths and others which were invented to create an imbalance ` and as you say, dear Boudicca, the Balance is now being restored, as women are finding themselves within and both men and women are discovering the Divine Feminine within :) which gives men their self-respect back and more than they could ever imagine.

Thanks for reading, and I sure hope that your'e smiling right now :))

[L. Love]

Yes dearheart...I am smiling again today :)  And thank you for such a comprehensive read!

Love and blessings to you )O(

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

Yes, Lilith appears as various characters or figures throughout the Bible, Richard ~ and though Lilith retained a powerful presence in the earlier Jewish canonical works as well as in folklore, She was written out of the Bible as such except for a reference to Her abode in the desert or wilderness where the screech owls, Jackals and Djinn or Satyrs were Her companions.

Then one looks at the Great Whore of Babylon in Revelations and this is the Biblical interpretation of the Great Mother.

Delilah is one of Lilith's Namesakes, as is the Queen of Sheba, who enacted the ancient sacred marriage or Hieros Gamos with the Pagan King Solomon.

Queen Jezebel and her story in the Bible also has much to reveal

And, beware the Scarlet Woman who ensnares the "innocent" youth and drags him under to the pits of hell forever, for a kiss...

On the other hand, we have Sophia Queen of Wisdom and Light, actually the complementary other half of Lilith before patriarchy made Dark, "evil".

Eve was created as a substitute wife for Adam by mutual consent between Jahweh and Adam, whom he placed above the Angels. Adam wanted to lay on top of Lilith , according to this version of the story, in the missionary position, which is symbolic of male sexual domination. Lilith obtained the secret Name of Power from Jahweh, ( no-one really knows how :)) and flew of to the wilderness to procreate with the Djinn; as She did not accept the domination and chauvanism of Adam and Jahweh ~ these are some of the origins of Lilith as the First Feminist..

Until very recent times in more advanced countries, women as we all know were treated as second rate and to be "good" a woman should know her place and submit to the man's wishes in traditionally male-dominated societies.

It was even seen as a joke by the authors of the satirical Alphabet of Ben Sira, that a woman would even concieve or dare to stand up to her husband or be independent in any way whatsoever.

Lilith is viewed as the archetype of the woman that patriarchy both hates and fears, as She is uncontrollable.

Independent, strong women who can look after themselves are a direct threat to patriarchal interests, and that is why Lilith, originally the Hebrew Great Goddess of Death and Love, was changed in to a baby-killer, an evil seductress, and then excluded in Name altogether from the Bible.

Mary is of course an aspect of the Divine Feminine, although the Great Mother's true Nature cannot be denied or twisted to suit any particular brand of religion, as Catholicism has done.

Mari, is a Name of Goddess Isis, and the herstorical progression from The Great Mother, Au-Set and the Divine Child, Horus; to Mary and Jesus, is quite obvious.

Christianity and Judaism are actually just Paganism in a very differently interpreted format - Dualism imprinted on Pagan spirituality. Thus you are correct in saying that there is much evidence of the Goddess within Patriarchal traditions ~ however, always in a secondary and diminished role in the mainstream dominant forms of these religions . There is no Equality or Balance in my opinion, as a Goddessless religion is unbalanced.

The Goddess is at the roots of all true spirituality, and nothing is going to change that ~ so eventually, things will return to a natural balance. Blessed Be