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Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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1. Ea [opened] his mouth
2. And addressed the gods [his brothers],
3. ‘What are we [accusing] them of?
4. Their work was heavy, [the distress was much]!
8. While [Belet-ili, the birth goddess, is present],
9. Let her create Lullu-[man]
10. Let him bear the yoke [….
12. Let man carry] the toil of the gods.’
189. While [Belet-ili, the birth goddess], is present
190. Let the birth goddess create offspring (?),
191 And let man bear the toil of the gods,
192 They summoned and asked the goddess,
193. The midwife of the gods, wise Mami,
194. You are the birth goddess, creatress of mankind,
195. Create Lullu that he may bear the yoke,
200. It is not possible for me to make things,
201. Skills lie with Enki
202. Since he can cleanse everything
203. Let him give me the clay so that I can make it.’
206. ‘On the first, seventh, and fifteenth day of the month
207. I will make a purifying bath.
208. Let one god be slaughtered
209 So that all the gods may be cleansed in the dipping.
210. From his flesh and blood
211. Let Nintu mix clay,
212. That god and man
213. May be thoroughly mixed in the clay,
214. So that we may hear the drum for the rest of time
215. Let there be spirit in god’s flesh
216. Let it proclaim living (man) as a sign,
217. So that this be not forgotten let there be a spirit.’
218. In the assembly, answered ‘yes’
219. The great Anunnaki, who administer destinies
221. On the first, seventh, and fifteenth day of the month
222. He made a purifying bath (104)

    Summing up the preceding texts we find that Ea (Enki) ordered the creation of man by the birth goddess Belet-ili “Mami” the midwife of the gods, to create man or “lullu” from clay to relieve the burden of the work of the Igigi, or Lesser gods. This does not mean man was literally “made from clay” as some scholars are interpreting it. It means that man was created from the fires and earth, with minerals and substance, as opposed to the air, and rain. What we see here is the separation of the four elements represented in myth.

    We also see here, the creation of a type of war based mythology, very early on, in the “kingship” period. The revolt of the lesser gods against the higher gods, reflected the growing revolts of the people who were taken as slaves by the Kings of Sumer and Akkad, who themselves claimed to be representatives of the gods, like the Braham priests later laid claim to.		  

1. [Prince] Ea spoke
2 ….]. he was prompting her 3…. She] recited the incantation After she had recited her incantation
4. [She] put [her hand out] to the clay,
5. She nipped off [fourteen] pieces of clay, Seven she put on her right,
6. [Seven] she put on her left,
7. […] .. hair (?), she …. The cutter of the umbilical cord.
8. The wise and learned
9. Twice seven birth-goddesses had assembled, Seven produced males.
10. [Seven] produced females.
11. The birth-goddess, creatress of destiny -
13. They completed them in pairs in her presence,
14. Since Mami conceived the regulations for the human race.
15. In the house of the pregnant woman in confinement Let the brick be in place for seven days,
277. The birth-goddesses were assembled
278. And Nintu sat counting the months.
280. [At the] destined [moment] the tenth month was summoned.
281 The tenth month arrived
282. And the elapse of the period opened the womb.
294. Let the brick be in place for nine days,
295. That Nintu, the birth-goddess may be honored.’
303. Let there be rejoicing for nine days,
304. Let them call Istar Ishara
352. Twelve hundred years [had not yet passed]
353. [When the land extended] and the peoples multiplied.
354. The [land] was bellowing [like a bull],
355. The gods got disturbed with [their uproar].
356. [Enlil heard] their noise
357 [And addressed the great gods,
358. ‘The noise of mankind [has become too intense for me],
359. [With their uproar] I am deprived of sleep.
360 ….] Let there be plague
(In another text fragment of the same story, we find these lines which supplement the storyline.)
9. Cut off supplies for the peoples,
10. Let there be a scarcity of plant life to satisfy their hunger
11. Adad should withhold his rain,
12. And below, the flood should not come up from the abyss.
14. Let the wind blow and parch the ground,
16. Let the clouds thicken but not release a downpour
18. Let the fields diminish their yields,
19. Let Nisaba stop up her breast
20. Let there be no rejoicing among them,
21. […..] must be suppressed. (105) (Then we pick up where the old Fragment continues…)

(104) ibid, p. 55-59
(105) Atra Hasis, p. 73

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