Goddess Ishtar: reborn religion

[Avesland]

Looking for meaningful discussion about non-Wicca Goddess revivial
religion. My theology began with study of Raphael Patai's book.
The Hebrew Goddess, but has since moved on to the entire range
of Goddess tradition in the ANE, centered on the Queen of Heaven
and Earth, Inanna / Ishtar. As an ecumenist my hope is to see
the ancient religion reborn incorporating principles derived from
several faiths with which I have been personally involved over
the years, Christian faith (including its Mormon variant), the Baha'i
Faith, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism (especially its Shingon form),
Judaism, Native American religion, self-critical Hinduism,and even Relgious Humanism. A tall order, to be sure, but something like this
seems to me to be a real necessity in our pluralistic world, a world in
which conventional religious views are invariably too narrow
no matter how well intentioned. Would really like to find someone(s)
who has similar interest to "talk" about all of the questions this
kind of new approach involves.

[I, Brian]

Hi Avesland, and welcome to CR.

You may find this a particularly valuable place for discussion, as a lot of the perceptions you covered are represented here to some degree or other.

[Avesland]

Brian :
Thanks for the reply. So far yours is the only commentary but maybe
in due course there will be others. Can tell you that I am in correspondence
form other sites with interested people from the Persian Gulf, from East
Africa, and Mexico.

Possible some of your members were perplexed when I said "non Wicca"
Goddess interest, but my experience has been that most Wiccans are
Eurocentric. No personal problem with that but my focus is the ancient
Mid East and the (henotheistic) antecendents of Biblical faith, something
that I find utterly fascinating as well as personally meaningful.

Best wishes Billy Rojas

[bananabrain]

you will get short shrift from me if you are attempting to revive ANE religion, as much of it is particularly associated with biblical idolatry, as you undoubtedly well know. i have great respect for patai and THG is a favourite of mine - though i think he has made some crucial mistakes and absolutely reject the notion that we should be making some kind of accommodation with "asherah", or that all manifestations of the Divine Feminine are necessarily a) equivalent b) linked or or c) acceptable. i find the idea of reviving the sort of practices that the prophets were objecting to utterly disgusting and objectionable. of course, i am sure you cannot be seriously intending to do so as this would involve temple prostitution, child sacrifice and the like. i expect you will respond by saying there is no evidence that this took place other than biblical propaganda, history is written by the victors etc., but frankly, this stuff died out for a reason. by the same token, modern neo-pagans are hardly likely to burn people in wicker baskets; however, it is the names and actions in particular that are objectionable.

i'm probably going to get carpeted for this by brian, but like so-called "messianic judaism", this is one thing i cannot and do not tolerate.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by bananabrain

i'm probably going to get carpeted for this by brian

I'd say a reasonable objection within Judaism, that invites a reasonable response from outside of it.

[alexa]

Hello Avesland. Nice to meet you and welcome to CR !

Interesting choice of religion. I didn't know there are followers of Ishtar alive. As long as you do not try to convert me, I'll look with interest and curiosity for your posts.

[Abogado del Diablo]

Originally Posted by alexa

I didn't know there are followers of Ishtar alive.

What about the extremely popular Spring fertility festival named for her?

[alexa]

Please forget my ignorance, but there is no such a festival in my area.

[Abogado del Diablo]

Originally Posted by alexa

Please forget my ignorance, but there is no such a festival in my area.

Nor anywhere else. It was a joke about the widely held notion that Easter is named after the Assyrian fertility goddess Ishtar.

[alexa]

Well, you had me. For a moment I thought you were serious.

[Awaiting_the_fifth]

Originally Posted by bananabrain

this would involve temple prostitution, child sacrifice and the like. i expect you will respond by saying there is no evidence that this took place other than biblical propaganda, history is written by the victors etc., but frankly, this stuff died out for a reason.

That does indeed sound like biblical propaganda, although I admit that the Hebrew Goddess is completely unknown to me. But doesnt all negative stereotyping of pagans and "Witches" (I dont know if that is the right word) come from the days of the expansion of the Catholic Church and the propaganda it used to gain converts? I heard this on the discovery channel and Im not sure how true it is. anyone have any idea?

[Abogado del Diablo]

Originally Posted by Awaiting_the_fifth

That does indeed sound like biblical propaganda, although I admit that the Hebrew Goddess is completely unknown to me. But doesnt all negative stereotyping of pagans and "Witches" (I dont know if that is the right word) come from the days of the expansion of the Catholic Church and the propaganda it used to gain converts? I heard this on the discovery channel and Im not sure how true it is. anyone have any idea?

Yeah. I imagine that if they were actually sacrificing their children as the Jewish scriptures record, it would have died out pretty quickly.

[bananabrain]

well, the idea that you should burn witches is not really anything to do with anything other than king james' agenda and translators. as for "pagans", the only pagans proscribed by the Torah are the "seven nations" of canaan - and these are no longer identifiable groups or individuals, so it's effectively not a problem. this is not to say that we would stand idly by while unclean names are introduced into G!Dspace. a knowledge of the practical application of the laws is necessary before drawing any conclusions.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[Abogado del Diablo]

Originally Posted by bananabrain

well, the idea that you should burn witches is not really anything to do with anything other than king james' agenda and translators.

It goes back a lot further than that. I think it's fair to say that the heart of the idea goes back to the anti-heresiologists of the late second century C.E.

My attitude is that even followers of traditionally shunned mythos should be listened to - perhaps especially carefully listened to.

[bananabrain]

My attitude is that even followers of traditionally shunned mythos should be listened to - perhaps especially carefully listened to.

well, perhaps, but if said followers are provably part of these mythos that causes certain unpleasant problems in terms of what my attitude is supposed to be, it is probably better to keep on shunning them. look - i do my best to be accepting, but certain things are beyond the pale. nobody expects me (i hope) to give a nazi a "fair hearing" and baal and ashera worshippers are from a religious point of view just as bad. should i listen to someone try and prove he's not a nazi or a baal-worshipper? i have better things to do with my time. there are few enough beliefs i object to, but i (like everyone else) have my limits.

b'shalom

bananabrain