18-24 Nisannu, Internet 45
Apr. 13th, 2015 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Whoa, have I not been keeping up the log properly. Have been lighting the ancestor candle daily, lighting the outdoor altar for a few hours per evening every day bar one, & have been lighting incense indoors (usually for Tiamat, Lahmu & Lahamu, and Anshar & Kishar, but occasionally for Asherah, Astarte, or other deities) whenever we did not have guests and outdoors every day.
The incense donated by JK has a lot of trouble staying lit. It must have gotten damp at some point.
I went on a candle restocking run this weekend and now have plenty of candles. I do wish it was easier to find colored non-scented candles, though.
I sent a description of the votive statues I want made to JK to forward on to his artist. Apparently the description confused her. I'm putting a copy behind the cut for my records & in case anyone else has an artist friend who might want to take a crack at it.
Okay, I finally got the time to do some serious divination (with a deck; I probably should have used a pendulum to save time, but I wanted there to be as little of my preconceptions as possible involved), and here's what I got from them:
First, here's a variation on the image you showed me the other day: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/EnlilandNinlil.jpg
As you can see from the label, this is usually identified as Enlil and Ninlil. There's some dispute, as it's not captioned in its original context, but the palm tree Tree of Life between them is associated with a number of goddesses, of whom Ninlil is the most prominent. However, it's a good starting point for Lahmu and Anshar (and it's possible that the image is actually supposed to be either An and Ki or, less likely, Anshar and Kishar rather than Enlil and Ninlil).
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3285/2768928306_ecdf436ce8_b.jpg
That's a figure who shows up in several different contexts; historians refer to him as the bull-man. In this image, he's wearing the triple horned crown, so this is a god, but his name isn't recorded. He's got a bull's legs, hooves, tail, ears, often horns, and phallus (usually erect), with the torso, arms, beard, and face of a man, and large eyes. This is more or less the image and pose I want for Lahmu, although Lahmu's hair is usually depicted as very curly. I'd also like him to have bull's horns of his own, separate from and in addition to the triple horned crown. He should either be wearing no clothing at all other than the crown, or a single sash at the waist, and he should have a staff of some sort.
I can't find any images that match what I want for Lahamu, but she should be a serpent (not a cobra) with the triple horned crown, large eyes, and curly hair that roughly matches Lahmu's. She should be roughly the same size as Lahmu.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/img/34000.jpg
That's an unknown/unlabeled deity, but it shows the deity double-wings that Mespotamia uses for its celestial gods from the side. (Most images labeled "Anshar" on the web are actually Asshur, the patron deity of Assyria, because Babylonian is like Hebrew and doesn't have vowels even when they actually spell things out.) Anshar has the beard and wings from this image, the same triple horned crown as Lahmu and Lahamu, and the lower legs and hooves of a bull, as in the image of Enlil. He does not have the bull's ears, tail, or horns, and unlike Lahmu, he should be wearing a kilt or short skirt, like the underlayer in the image above. He should either be empty-handed or holding a simple rod, and he should be either standing or taking a step forward.
https://covenantofbabylon.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/pse.jpg
This is the Burney Relief, and who it depicts is a matter of some dispute; proposed identities include Lilitu (unlikely, as she would not have been depicted with the horned crown of a god), Inanna (I think this is the most likely identification), and Ereshkigal (possible, but she's usually depicted seated and probably wouldn't be holding a measuring rope). Kishar should similarly have the feathered, owl-like wings and a raptor's talons instead of feet. However, unlike the nude depiction here, she should be wearing a layered skirt/dress like the one on the goddess in the image below:
http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/54/2454-004-0482B3DE.jpg
I'd prefer for her to be bare-breasted with just the skirt. Kishar should also be wearing the triple horned crown and holding one hand out towards the viewer, palm up; the other hand can be either at her side or holding a papyrus reed.
The incense donated by JK has a lot of trouble staying lit. It must have gotten damp at some point.
I went on a candle restocking run this weekend and now have plenty of candles. I do wish it was easier to find colored non-scented candles, though.
I sent a description of the votive statues I want made to JK to forward on to his artist. Apparently the description confused her. I'm putting a copy behind the cut for my records & in case anyone else has an artist friend who might want to take a crack at it.
Okay, I finally got the time to do some serious divination (with a deck; I probably should have used a pendulum to save time, but I wanted there to be as little of my preconceptions as possible involved), and here's what I got from them:
First, here's a variation on the image you showed me the other day: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/EnlilandNinlil.jpg
As you can see from the label, this is usually identified as Enlil and Ninlil. There's some dispute, as it's not captioned in its original context, but the palm tree Tree of Life between them is associated with a number of goddesses, of whom Ninlil is the most prominent. However, it's a good starting point for Lahmu and Anshar (and it's possible that the image is actually supposed to be either An and Ki or, less likely, Anshar and Kishar rather than Enlil and Ninlil).
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3285/2768928306_ecdf436ce8_b.jpg
That's a figure who shows up in several different contexts; historians refer to him as the bull-man. In this image, he's wearing the triple horned crown, so this is a god, but his name isn't recorded. He's got a bull's legs, hooves, tail, ears, often horns, and phallus (usually erect), with the torso, arms, beard, and face of a man, and large eyes. This is more or less the image and pose I want for Lahmu, although Lahmu's hair is usually depicted as very curly. I'd also like him to have bull's horns of his own, separate from and in addition to the triple horned crown. He should either be wearing no clothing at all other than the crown, or a single sash at the waist, and he should have a staff of some sort.
I can't find any images that match what I want for Lahamu, but she should be a serpent (not a cobra) with the triple horned crown, large eyes, and curly hair that roughly matches Lahmu's. She should be roughly the same size as Lahmu.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/img/34000.jpg
That's an unknown/unlabeled deity, but it shows the deity double-wings that Mespotamia uses for its celestial gods from the side. (Most images labeled "Anshar" on the web are actually Asshur, the patron deity of Assyria, because Babylonian is like Hebrew and doesn't have vowels even when they actually spell things out.) Anshar has the beard and wings from this image, the same triple horned crown as Lahmu and Lahamu, and the lower legs and hooves of a bull, as in the image of Enlil. He does not have the bull's ears, tail, or horns, and unlike Lahmu, he should be wearing a kilt or short skirt, like the underlayer in the image above. He should either be empty-handed or holding a simple rod, and he should be either standing or taking a step forward.
https://covenantofbabylon.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/pse.jpg
This is the Burney Relief, and who it depicts is a matter of some dispute; proposed identities include Lilitu (unlikely, as she would not have been depicted with the horned crown of a god), Inanna (I think this is the most likely identification), and Ereshkigal (possible, but she's usually depicted seated and probably wouldn't be holding a measuring rope). Kishar should similarly have the feathered, owl-like wings and a raptor's talons instead of feet. However, unlike the nude depiction here, she should be wearing a layered skirt/dress like the one on the goddess in the image below:
http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/54/2454-004-0482B3DE.jpg
I'd prefer for her to be bare-breasted with just the skirt. Kishar should also be wearing the triple horned crown and holding one hand out towards the viewer, palm up; the other hand can be either at her side or holding a papyrus reed.