Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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| Gates as Shamanic Passageway Entrances to Life and Exits to Death Inanna was a Babylonian deity, also known as Ishtar in Sumer and Astarte to the Hittites of Ugarit. In the tale of Inanna’s journey to the underworld, she must pass through seven gates on her arrival and at each passing she is required to remove one article of adornments until she passes through the final gate with nothing but herself. In similar fashion, an initiate into the mysteries of Isis, according to Apuleius (Metamorphoses, Golden Ass), must pass through twelve hours of night. (25) In this way, the passage of time has become like a gate through which one must enter to pass through. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, in the text called the Chapters of the Secret Pylons, the soul has to pass through twenty-one gates of the underworld. (26) The underworld of Osiris consists of seven halls with seven gates. (27) Whenever the number seven is encountered and its relation is to the underworld, or passing through gates, it will almost always refer to the seven days in relation to the passage of time, usually, a seven-day week. We also have, in the Book of the Dead, the Chapter of the Seven Houses and the Chapter of the Seven Cows. (28) Hell and the Underworld From the German we get words which stand for this abyss or cauldron like the word for cave, “Hohle,” the name of the Germanic goddess of death, “Hel,” the word for hall, “halle,” the word for hallow, “hohl,” a covering, “hulle,” the word for a pod or husk, “hulse,” and the word for helmet, “helm,” all derive from the root word “hel” for shelter. (29) Fire Fire plays an important role in symbolism and in the physical world, in all kinds of manifestations from sexual energy and kundalini to the fiery light of wisdom and enlightenment. The spark which ignites was thought by ancient people to have a spirit unto itself. (30) Many times, A. muscaria is referred to as “fire.” This may be a reference to the face of those intoxicated as it is said to get very blushed red. It is written, this is how Moses looked upon coming down from the mountain after his visit with the Lord, and as mentioned, we have the birch tree association and connection to flint. Deer and Bull Horns Deer and the bull, both, sacred animals to the goddess, have horns, and those horns are shaped like a uterus. (31) In fact, it’s generally recognized by scholars of the goddess traditions that the shaman wore the horns or antlers of the deer or bull to mimic this aspect of female fertility. When studying symbolism, sometimes it’s best to see how all the symbols are used, then see how all those uses fit together. |
This helps to recognize the true mystery of the symbol. Early shamans were always seen wearing these horns and both the deer and the bull have direct relations to the mushroom. To the Sioux-Ponka Indians, the deer still represents the women. (32) In Sumerian cultures the woman was identified with the deer. There is a Sumerian saying: “My mother is a mountain deer.” (33) Horns on the goddess shown on sculptures and statues during the Greek and Roman era were an evolution of the original bull or stag horns as the uterus symbol which had evolved into a lunar symbol on the head. This may have had something to do with the “authorities” desire to remove connotations with plants and animals and remove it to something in the sky. This would lead people away ultimately from realizing the shamanic nature of the entheogens and their historical relation to culture and place the ideas “among the stars.” In other words, what we now recognize as a lunar symbol (Islam), I believe, was originally a symbol for bull horns. It was later changed to represent the moon, which may have been a method of occulting its original meaning. In Dibel, a late Neolithic settlement in western Macedonia, a pottery relief was uncovered which has a horned snake on it. The horns are distinct and yet we know of no horned snake, which would indicate it may have been anthropomorphous and included bull horns in the imagery. This is just a suggestion however and it may be a very rare anomaly. But it makes sense in light of the mythology of the cosmic egg. (34) We have seen a horned serpent at Petroglyph Hill, N.M. (4c). The “Horns of Consecration” once stood at the Palace of Knossos in Crete (27k).  (27k) The “Horns of Consecration” once stood at the Palace of Knossos (25) Roeder, Die Religion der Babylonier und Assyrer, p. 142 (26) Book of the Dead (tr. Budge), p. 447ff (27) ibid, Ch. CXLIV (28) The Great Mother, p. 159-60 (29) ibid, p. 46 (30) ibid, p. 310-11 (31) Language of Goddess, p. 265; Dorothy Cameron, Symbols of Birth and Death in the Neolithic Era, 1981, p. 4,5 (32) A. Marriot- C.K. Rachlin, "Kizilderili Mitolojisi" Ank. 1995. ss 224-226 (33) Mythology and Symbols of the Mother Goddess, p. 141; S.N. Kramer, "Tarih Sumerde Baslar". TTK. Ank. 1990, p. 268 (34) The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, p. 96 |
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