The Story of Inanna Retold

 

Inanna : Book One of the Sumerians

By Emily H Wilson

Finally some good fiction about the Annunaki from Sumeria. I wish it would reach best seller status and become a movie but I guess that is wishful thinking. Great book and I mean it. Could not put it down. The story centers around Inanna , Although the point of view shift over to Ninshubar, Gilgamesh and some times Ereshkigal.  While te Annunaki are superior being they are more like super humans as opposed to invincible deities. Thus plugs into the mythos that if the Gods ate some food they could become immortal and live forever but do not get the food then they become like us. The story also plugs into the Ancient Aliens theory by having them say they came from heaven in a ship called the thunderird. The Mees they wear on their wrists are like superior technolgy and the melam or black pwder they use to give them their powers might be produced in a laboratory.

The story starts out about Inanna the first Annunaki who is born on earth who is actually Anunaki . Usually the Annunaki cannot breed or if they are lucky they come out as mortal. The melam makes them gods. Gilgamesh is mortal but was born of Anunaki parents. The story then switches over to Gilgamesh who is on the run from king Akka of Akkadia. Once he is captured he is a hostage in Akka's court. While in Akka's court he seduces the kings daughter which renews a conflict between Enlil, a god and Akka. Soon Gilgamesh is forced in to a marriage with Della , Enlil's daughter. Gilgamesh goes on to fight several battle. Ninshubar is a warrior who adopts a hairy man named Potta. Her adventures include getting captured and sold as a priest to lunar temple. SAhe ends up in Enki's prison and escapes to be united with Inanna.

Enki in Sumerian mythology is a good god who helps out mankind. In this tale he is cruel and sadistic. He arranges the marriage of Inanna to Dumuzi his son. Enki captures Inanna mom and imprison's her. While at Enki's castle Ningal, Inanna's mom tells her t o go to Ereshkigal in the underworld. The rest of the story follows the mytholgy but with a different interpretation. She goes down to get her Mee fixed so she can challenge the evil Enki. But Ereshkigal bears her sister no love and you know the story. In the end it is Enki who has the means to save her. An sends Gilgamesh to get more  Melam. In the end it will be Inanna vs Enki. Her Mee starts to work and she is ready to fight and assume control.

The book effectivey tells an alternate story to the mythology.

The History of Soma

 

Cannabis and the Soma Solution

by Chris Bennet

In India there was an elixir called Soma which brought one closer to the gods. In Iran it was called Haomas this too brought one closer to the gods. The big question is what is Soma or Haoma made of. There has lots of specuation. Author, Chris Bennett, makes the argument that the main ingredient was cannabis. Cannabis was introduced by to the world by the Scythians. At first they burned the seeds in an enclosed tent. Later they would graduate to smoking and then finally makin an elixir or drink out of it. The scythians went all over the place. They went to Europe, India, Iran and the use of cannabis spread with them. All the while making his argument that cannabis was the ingredient in Soma he goes through the history of how cannabis influenced many civiliations. Among the civilizations are Persia, India, Ancient Israel, Arabic world and european civilization. 

There has been debate that Soma or Haoma was made with Barsom, Ephedra, Cannabis and Amanita Muscaria.  The author desribes the effect of these herbs or substances on the human being and then he describbes the effects of Marijuana.  Over the years the original recipe for Haoma became lost.  there may have been substitutions.  Under Zoraster when he founded Zoroastrainism  began to limit the use of cannabis to the elect priesthood. In the bible the annointing oil may have been cannabis. It was healing and could bring about visions. It was used for annointing as well. Jesus may have imbibed a cannabis mixture before he got crucified. Enough cannabis can make someone appear dead.

buddha himself ate nothing but hemp seeds when fasting. His visions of nirvana may hve been induced by Marijuana. He was also called Saka which is the chinese word for Scythian. In Egypt it is not talked about too much. But it was used in medicine, food making and making clothes. In Greece there ar some mentions of it but not much. I might have been used to help induce vision. Dionysus was first a god of the bud before switching over to wine. In the Islamic world and India fakirs and mystical Islamic sects consumed cannabis to reach their ecstatic states. Hashishim are said to have used hashish to drug new recruits into thinking they had a taste of paradise. they got intoxicated then woke up in a  pleasure garden. Of course no evidence of these pleasure garden.

Cannabis has been used in spiritual system since time immemorial. Slowly the world is waking up to it's value.nabis and the Soma Solution

 

Realm of the Annunaki

 

the Land of the Watchers

By Dr. Heather Lynn

  In the ast few years there has been rather an intense amount of interest in the middle east. Skipping past the Gaza incident we look at American involvement in Iraq. After all Mesopotamia was the land o theAfter all Mesopotamia was our first civilization. It was the land of the watchers.  The watchers werer the Annunaki or the ones who came from heaven. It was the first civilization ever and a giant leap from hunter gatherers. Hunter gatherers can build temple complexes and simple dwelling but they could not build complex cities with a modern buracracy that takes care of all society's needs. No one knows where the annunaki came from. The Sumerians left behind several documents in Cuneiform. One of them was the "Tablet of Destinies"

The real reason why Iraq is of such interest is not because of the oil. There are other factors at play. Those factors are archaeology and documents. While ISIS was ravaging Syria and Iraq they also raided the museum and destroyed many ancient Mesopotamian artifacts. They knew what they were going after. They had expensive ear pieces and chose their target of destruction carefully. Why destroy this stuff and who sent these guys. The main interest is in the artifacts and documents. When people destroy archaeology you are cutting off humanity from it's origins. Why would they want to do that? There is something they do no want us to know.

As relics are destroyed or bought out by private collectors our access to the truth is cut off. To learn the history we have to ask and be dependent on so called experts. There is something they are trying to hide what is it? Humanities origins? After all they suppressed the book of Enoch. Technology? If they were aliens wouoldn't you want it. then there are the kings lists. this is what everyone is after . The names of kings and how long they lived. Many billionaires believe they are descended from Ancient Mesopotamian families.

Society is meant to serve people but it also controls them. Rulers set up institutions t promote their ideology. they tell us what we want. As Dr. Lynn went pursuing the bread crumbs she met retired professors nd UFO nuts. She was also followed by one of these rich families and taken to their head quarters with a bag over her head. In look forward t reading more of her works.

 

A return to the Grisaverse

 

King of Scars

Leigh Bardugo

Welcome to the Grisaverse! these days we are exposed to the monsterverse, DC Universe, Marvel universe . I think you get the picture. Now if you are familiar with the Netflix series "Shadow and Bone" you will find yourself very famiiar with this extension. Taking place after Sancta Alina defets the Darkling or the Starless one, King Nicolai is running the kingdom of Ravka. The kingdom is still beset by war, Fjerda eants to attack, Shu wants to attack and in different kingdoms the Grisha are being huntered down by Druxel . Grisha are witches and Druxell are witch hunters. The story starts off with a beast about to attack a young boy. Fortunately for the boy Zoya a general in the Ravkan army is there to save him. Yet, she does not kill the beast but rather leads him away. In the country of Fjerda they are rounding up Grisha. Nina has the job of getting them to Ravka safely. As Nina explores Fjerda she become aware that certain areas are contaminated with poison. The water is undrinkable.  Nina also gets communication from the dead. The dead are urging her to investigate the source of contamination.

The beast is in fact King Nicholai . When the Darkling was defeated he infected the king with part of his shadow. So every night the king must be chained up kind of like a werewolf to keep him from harming others and to keep his curse a secret. Ravka has no heir. He has got to get married. In Fjerda Nina investigates a factory where Grisha are being held like labrats forced to endure inhumane experiments. A drug that effects Grisha has been released out into the world. Parem is the name of the drug. It increases Grisha power manifold but it also wastes them away and kills them. Nina was hooked on that once before and beat the addiction. Not many cn beat the addiction. While spying on Fjerda they hole up in a nuns convent. They stay there and teach the language of Zemeni in exchange for food and lodging. The dead are calling out to Nina.

Back in the kingdom more statecraft ensues. Deals for new wr machines . Spies watching enemy countries trying to get wind of new miliatry machines. For king Nicholai the beast within is getting harder to control. The Apparat much like the clergy in Medievil Europe wileds great power and sometimes goes against royalty. A new monk arrives on the scene with other monks following. They wish to magnify the Darkling into a saint. The idea is appalling everyone wants this moink dead except for king Nicholai. He has a plan, a plan to help rid him of the beast and make use of Yuri the monk. So they take a journey to the Fold inn order to do a ritual to rid him o this beast. In Fjerda after securing lodging , Nina and her company investigate the factory that is dumping water into Fjerda's rivers. Inside the factory they are experimenting on Grisha with a synthetic version of Parem. They are weponizing magical workers.

Once in the fold both Zoya and Nicholai face sets of challenges and recieve some training as well. They will not leave the fold the same as when they went in there. Nina an company investigate the factory and attempt to rescue the imprisoned Grisha. A fine story to abn awesome series.

Surviving Prison Using High Magick

 High Magick

By Damien Echols

Damein Echols was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of three 8 year old boys in a Satanic ritual. For over twenty yers he languished in prison. Growing up in small town Arkansas , he had few options and parents who never saw beyond living from check to check. He had long hair an listened to heavy metal which made him an instant target. When he was accused of ritual murders he was not given a fair trial rather they wre just looking for way to lock him. In order to stay sane and ultimately get out out he relied on magick. As a youth he was drawn to magic and horror. He would go to the library and check out books.

In prison you do not have access to magical tools like athames or wands. One has to make do with the ultimate tool they have which is themselves. The author goes through the different kinds of magick. He spells out the difference between high and low magick, natural magic and ritual and non ritual magic. The focus of his work is box breathing. Box breathing has the practitioner work with breathing in to the count of four, holding the breath to the count of four, relesing he breath to the count of four and finally holding your breath again to the count of four.  This is a spiritual exercsise unto itself. It also forms the basis for several other meditations as well.  One aura strengthening exercise has the practitioner breath in energy and then exhale it out onto their aura, Another exercsie has the practitioner focus on different seasons during the different breathing cycles. there are lunar and solar meditations as well focusing on differnt solar and lunar phases in sync with breathing cycles.

the most important exercises he renders are the Lesser Pentagram banishing Ritual and the Middle pillar meditation. Both are based on ancient kabbalistic practices. Doing these alone for one year straight balances out the aura, cleans up the energy and can give one spiritual power similiar to being intitiated into the inner ring of the Golden Dawn. there are also some basic straight forward techniqes on raising enrgy and then programing it into a talisman or amulet.

The book is short an sweet and gets right to the point. While most book on Ceremonial Magick can be daunting this books strips it down to the bare bones so the practitioner can get working on it.

Becoming a Word Witch

 

The Magical Writing Grimoire

By Lisa Marie Basil

One of the most potent tools a witch has are his or her words.  Writing and more in particuar poetry or journaling can help one take control of their narrative and life. It lets you own your lifestory. The journal can be your quiet place , your respite from a crazy world. Most witches would want to use writing in order to help with manifestation but it is also helpful in healing from trauma and it can be helpful in moving through a difficult period in our life. It can help us acheive mindfulness. Writers use slogan, mantras and affirmations all the time as do witches but magical workers use sigils as well. The tools for the word witch are simple, your pen and paper, other tools are optional.afterall not all witches have access to expensive tools and that should never be a requirement.

What exactly are sigils? They were first popularized by Austin Osman Spare.  One could write out there intention for example "It is my well to become more productive" Every repeating letter is crossed out.  The remaining letters are fashioned into a design and the design could be burned or destroyed. It could also be turned into artwork an worn to attract more energy. Writing is also used to achieve mindfulness. This mindfulness is like being aware of everything that is happening in the moment. When your thought rise up your just going to recognize a thought and let them run their course. This enriches living and makes one more effective and more productive. Writing can also be used to help the disenfrachised. Especially with the internet an onlne forums our words can have a real strong impact and we can use that impact to create a loving environment or a bitter hateful one. We can support business of the under represented by not only frequenting their shop but also by writing very positive reviews fo the business.

Dream journaling is another effective use of writing. Constantly our dreams are trying to deliver us messages. Writing them down or making poems out of them can help us get the message an understand the meaning. Hypnos is the lord o dreams. He dwells with the poppies in the underworld. He can pull us into dreams aas they are liminal, between life and death. Things that are holy to hypnos are amethyst crystal, Valerian root, mugwort an stuff like stars an the moon. One can also write down a dream intention of what they want to dream about. There are other methods of divination.

Dreams and tarot card are not the only forms of divination out there. Bibliomancy is another form.  This means consulting a book and asking a question. You open the book to the age and line an your answer is right there. Of course you may need a little creativity. You can also put the book on it's spine and let it fall open to a given page. Another method I like is to place a card randomly in a book and se what comes up.

Writing can be used to craft your own rituals, poems to the gods etc. Writing can help release us from pain and abusive situations in the past. It helps us to let go. If you are an intuitive magic worker who is free spirited then this book is for you. Word smithing is a manifestation of free spirit as is dancing. Dancing puts us into ecstacy and connection with the gods. Use this book in good health.

Reflections of an Arab Jew

 

When We Were Arabs 

By Massoud Hayoun

Lately I have been reading memoirs about Jews who fled or left Arab countries with little more than their lives. Having fled the countries they lived in for many years these Jews left behind property, real esate and money. this story is a bit different. Massoud is a Jewish man of Middle Eastern descent. He describes himself as  Jewish Arab. Being Arab and being jewish are equal parts of his identity. He mostly tells teh story of his grandfather Oscar and his grandmother Dida. Oscar was Morrocan on his father's side and Egyptian on his mother's side. His Mother was Tunisian. Massoud culls his information from his grandfathers three Costco notebook and from a biography of his grandmother. He has fond memories of his Oscar tryin to teach him Arabic on Sunday's. Of listening to the classic arabic songsters and watching the old Egyptian cinema. Then there were the stories of their youth in those countries.

Remember that their growing up in an Arab country they were occupied by Ottoman powers, British and the French. In their countries they were considered Arab whether their religion was Judaism, Christianity or Islam. One never asked what faith you were as everyone was Arab back then. They would even go to each other's celebrations. their origin stories did not hearken back to Israel of the first and second temple period rather the stories carry back to what Middle Eastern region their family hailed from. The author discusses some possible convert origins for differnt Middle eastern jewish communities. Either way they were part and parcel of the countries they lived in.

things hen began to change with the coming o European powers. First it was he French and they came in and colonized Algeria and Tunis. their claim was to make things better for he natives but in fac they tended to look down on indigenous culture and their education system sought t inculcate that. The French imediately set up school system with the intention of cementing French culture and ways in the country's youth. Soon you had youth dressing and looking like the French an looking down on the ways of their elders. These yougsters knew French history but not the history of their own country. THe Jews were taught to be French and that they were unique to everyother Jewish community. The French saw the Jews as instruments for their own colonial designs. Classic divide and conquer. It would isolate the Jews from each other and their neighbors.

In the Arab countries the more like the colonizer you were the higher class you were. Europeans did not mix with the locals but lived in their own neighbohood.  Class was stratified. The Alliance Israelite schools taught a secular identity but one that also looked down on their middle eastern background. Their stress was that the Jews were a nation seperate from the others. This would pave the way for Zionism. The French schools also indoctrinated the youth against the British when they had control over Egypt. Often times Jews were seen as being connected with the occupying powers. If this would cause a division political Zionism would expand that breach even further.

Zionism in the author's opinion was aimed at divesting Arab land from the Palestinians. This angered many Arabs and caused many of the to turn against their Jewish neighbors. The Jews did not necesarily side with Zionism. Many of the wealthy sought to distance themselves from it. Mainly the poorer jewish Arabs were drawn to it. The author deplores some of the the tactics used by zionist agent to lure Jews to Palestine. He often called it human tafficking. Middle Eastern Jews were often used for menial labor jobs despite being well educated. Jobs the white Ashkenazi Jews would not do. The Zionist were deceptive. they wanted an Ashkenazi state with Middle Eastern Jews as a labor source.

Upon arrival to Palestine/Israel these Jewish Arabs who were well educated as much so as their Ashkenazi counterparts were given tin shacks and makeshift tents while the European jews were given houses or apartment right away. Many Jewish Arabs were sprayed wit DDt. While understandable to concentration camp victims not needed for Arab jews. the Zionist education system denigrated their arab background and made them look down on themselves. There was lots of violence against Arab Jews as well.

I found this memor enlightening. The colonialism divorce the Arab  Jews from their Arab identity both on the European front and the Zionist front. It shows you that no one in this conflict is entirely clean. Yet i cannot agree with him calling Israel occupied Palestine, nor do i think that a two state solution is still viable. While he focused on the wrongs of Zionism I feel that he left out the injustices suffered by Jews in Arab land over the years. It was second class citizenship. Prior to those golden years life could be harsh for Jews in Arab lands. Many Jews were displaced from Arab countries an left behind land, money and property and I wonder if they will get it back. I doubt it. The Palestinians have responded to Israeli peace overtures with rockets and suicide bombers. 

Yet on the other hand Jewish Arabs who find the terms Mizrachi and Sephardic misleading and degrading have not had a good time in Israel. Mizrachi means east but east of where. Morroco is not east of Poland and the term Sephardic denotes Jews who were exiled from Spain. two terms that do not apply the Jewish Arabs. Jewish Arabs are subject to harrasment due to their skin color. The Yemenite Jews ad their babies stolen fro them. Israel was not so good to them either.