Sumerian or Assyro-Babylonian Stuff
Shem
Hi ho there, this is Shemhazai.Endemoniado, Ceremonial Magician,
Babylonian Pagan, famous goofball, and maintainer of the Mesopotamian
Grimoire page for Mesopotamian pagans and magicians. I am searching
for any and all practical info on ancient Mesopotamia (Sumer, Akkad,
Babylon and Assyria) to create rituals out of and to study. I have
had a hell of a time finding practical info, and have started to
collect data and reconstruct a system myself, but it is extremely
difficult.
I am primarily focused on the Hermetic-Qabalistic traditions of
ceremonial magick but am interested in any and all practical materials
anyone could refer me to.
I am currently compiling tables of correspondences in all four worlds
of the Qabalah, Mesopotamianizing general CM rituals as the Golden
Dawn Egyptianized them, and seeking others for discussion. Divine
names in Atziluth are a special interest to me, as I do not feel
comfortable invoking the Briatic Gods by the power of old Nobodaddy.
If anyone has any practical material, books, tapes, music, art, that
would be of interest to me, outside of the resources I'm going to list
below, please contact me, I'd love to hear it at
<va...@pacificnet.net>. Especially useful stuff will go up on my
page. I'd love to collaborate on stuff.
An example of things I'd orgasm over:
A Sumero-Akkadian magickal order.
List of correspondences of Sumero-Akkadian Divine Names, Gods,
spirits, and demons in all worlds, ala 777
A book on Practical Mesopotamian Magick
Golden Dawn / Thelemic / Aurum Solis style rituals Sumero-Akkadianized
Seasonal Rituals
Inanna-Dumuzi mass or sacred marriage rituals
(Just ANY rituals)
Sumerian or Assyro-Babylonian Tarot Deck
Art, music suitable in ritual, etc.
Someone who actually made something good outta the Necronomicon
----
Resources for Mesopotamian Pagans & Magicians:
The Web
http://www.pacificnet.net/~valis/grimoire.html
My page, the Mesopotamian Grimoire, filled with prayers, hymns,
rituals, essays, resources, and links, including Chris Siren's
Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian mythology FAQ's, Dale Edmond's
Mesopotamian page, and the Coven of Twin Rivers Rising.
Books:
Outside of the general archaeological and mythological authors such as
Kramer, Jacobsen, etc, it is hard to find practical material - to find
a system, rituals, meditations, tarot cards. These don't exist, it
seems.
Generally available, good general books include
1 Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness, A History of
Mesopotamian Religion
Best introduction to the religious culture of Mesopotamia I've seen so
far, by an authority in the field.
2 Ancient Iraq, George Rouks
A decent intoductory book on history & culture.
3 History Begins at Sumer, Samuel Noah Kramer
A collection of "firsts" which illustrate the influence ancient
Mesopotamia has had on our culture, by the authority in the field of
Sumerology.
4 Myths From Mesopotamia, Stephanie Dalley
Extensive and nice translation of of core, major Mesopotamian myths
5 Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, by Black & Green.
Excellent guidebook to the spiritual inhabitants of Mesopotamia.
Near-practical books include:
1 The Phoenician Letters by Wilfred Davies and G. Zur.
An extremely obscure, utterly brilliant book dealing with a sort of
Babylonian retro-Qabalah. The sephirot of the Tree of Life are
explained in terms of the Mesopotamian deities they correspond to,
that is, Anu, Enlil, Ea and Damkina, Marduk, Nergal, Shemesh, Ishtar,
Nabu, Sin, and Rimmon. Inspiring.
2 Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, by Diane Wolkenstein and S.N.
Kramer
This book, written as collaboration of a feminist poet with a devotion
to the Goddess and the foremost expert in Sumerology, is a wonderful
source for Invocation of Inanna. Hymns and liturgies suitable for
devotion and contruction of rituals.
3 The Necronomicon, by Simon
For those of you who have a fondness for mishmashed
lovecraft-contaminated bad scholarship crapola. You'd be better off
writing your own rituals, seven planetary invocations, and seals for
the 50 names than using the poor job they did on this. Pathetic. But
it holds a special place in my heart since I was obsessed with it at
the age of 14, back when I used to listen to Death Metal!#
Other books:
There are a number of books by King, Lenormant, Thompson etc which
date from about 1904 and are completely out of print to my knowledge,
which I am dying to see but can't find or don't have the cash to buy.
In the same class are all these wonderful archaeological collections
of incantations and rituals, IN GERMAN. There is also good old Simo
Parpola, who has apparently demonstrated many proto-Qabalistic ideas
in Assyria, but whose works I can't find anywhere.
-----
Welp, that's it! Anyone with any info on other practical books,
translations & transliterations of actual rituals, good general
introductions, etc etc, please contact me, I'll post it on my page and
check it out.
Thank you for your time...
Shem
<va...@pacificnet.net>
<http://www.pacificnet.net/~valis/grimoire.html>
Charla J. Williams
Shem (va...@pacificnet.net) wrote:
: Seasonal Rituals
You don't mention the books by E.O. James. 'Seasonal Feasts and
Festivals' and 'The Ancient Gods' both include material from
Mesopotamia.
: Someone who actually made something good outta the Necronomicon
Az0th ought to write some stuff :)
: Near-practical books include:
: 1 The Phoenician Letters by Wilfred Davies and G. Zur.
: An extremely obscure, utterly brilliant book dealing with a sort of
: Babylonian retro-Qabalah.
I've come across 2 copies of this book in used book stores over
the last 4 years. It was published in 1979 by Mowat Publishing
in Manchester.
: Other books:
: There are a number of books by King, Lenormant, Thompson etc which
: date from about 1904 and are completely out of print to my knowledge,
: which I am dying to see but can't find or don't have the cash to buy.
Have you tried nearby University libraries. Some Universities will
allow you to check out books if you become a friend of the library
for a certain annual fee.
: Welp, that's it! Anyone with any info on other practical books,
: translations & transliterations of actual rituals, good general
: introductions, etc etc, please contact me, I'll post it on my page and
: check it out.
Here are some books you don't mention so I don't know what you think
of them:
James B. Pritchard. 'The Ancient Near East' vol. I and II.
'The Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament'.
E.A. Wallis Budge. 'Babylonian Life and History' which has chapters
on Babylonian Religious Beliefs and Religious and Magical Literature.
My copy is an inexpensive 1993 Barnes & Noble edition from their
sales tables.
Helmer Ringgren. 'Religions of the Ancient Near East' translated
by John Sturdy from 'Framre Orientens Religioner i Gammal Tid'.
Mine's a 2nd printing, 1974, by The Westminster Press, Philadelphia.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Spring 1984, Ancient
Near Eastern Art. These definitely show up in used books stores.
I'm no expert in this subject, it's a side interest at present.
I'm glad to see some good resources on the net.
Regards, Charla