#sumerian pagan

[sag-dab-sar]

🎊🌎 Earth Day 2025 🌍🎊

April 22, 2025

Happy Earth Day!

Gods on Altar: Sunerian Uraš, represented by her cuneiform 𒀭𒅁 and the left candle; Hellenic Gaia, represented by her name in Greek Γαῖα and the right candle. A globe sits between them representing the physical Earth.

Individual libations of water given to each and a joint offering of strawberries and blue berries.

The "entertainment" for this ritual was reading various bits of the Smithsonian Earth book to appreciate its history and composition.

•Literature used

The Homeric Hymn 33 to Gaia — Link

•Original Writing

A Hymn to Uraš — Link

[thescarlettbitch]

Prayer

What is it?

Hello, I am Red, as you may or may not know. I am 22yrs old as of writing this. Raised southern Baptist with Appalachian folk influences, I've been pagan since I was roughly 11. I've been a devotee of the goddess Inanna since I was about 17. I am by no means an expert on anything, I speak from experience, and we are bound to disagree on some things, and that is okay.

This post is meant to help beginners, people who maybe don't understand how prayer works or even what it is, form their own opinions. This is a long post, so it'll be under the cut.

Prayer is a method of communication. It is not the only method, nor is there one correct way to pray. At its core, it is you talking to your deity or spirit.

For me, when I'm in prayer, it is very stream of consciousness. "Hello Inanna, it's been a very long day. This happened and I ate this and one of the stray cats at work finally let me pet him! My coworker is quiting and we're going to be understaffed again soon. Thank you for being here for me and helping me get through my day and advising me."

Some practitioners prefer to have a more structured prayer, and believe you should only pray if you have "something" to say, and that prayer shouldn't be scheduled or a routine. I don't really know if I agree with that, I think that it really is just up to you. I say a quick good morning and goodnight to Inanna (and Lady Ereshkigal) every day and whenever I want to talk to them.

The way you pray is entirely up to you. Prayer can be spoken, written, thought, typed, carved into a marble slab, it can take any form, it doesn't actually matter, no one way is inherently correct. The most important thing to remember is that it works for you. You can write all of your prayers in a prayer journal dedicated to the deity you work with, write them on a sheet of paper and burn it in a safe environment, whisper them into a brewing storm, or say them in your head over a cup of tea.

I don't structure or script my prayers as I feel it would be inauthentic. That said, if you would prefer to script them out, that's your prerogative. I won't tell you what to do.

If you have never prayed before, and you are struggling to find a rhythm, you can think of it as a letter. Here is a small outline for a first contact prayer:

"Dear deity, this is an introductory sentence. This is a brief statement of who I am and how I found you. I've noticed these signs, and they lead me to believe it's you reaching out to me. (Or, alternatively—) through my research, I resonate deeply with these aspects of your domain, and am hoping I could begin work with you. If you could give me a sign as confirmation such as (example) that would be much appreciated. Thank you so much for listening to me, even if we do not work together, it's been an honor. Thank you."

If you have an established relationship but still struggle with prayer, here is a different outline:

"Dear/Hello deity. I am trying something new, I don't know if it is going to work out long term but I hope you enjoy it. This is how my day has gone, thank you for guiding me and for being there for me while I'm at this point in my life. These little things that have happened during the day reminded me of you, and I wanted to share them. Thank you for being present, thank you for aiding me, and thank you for listening to me."

In my own prayer, I use "thank you" as a period, a way to signal the end of the prayer. The same way Christians use "Amen".

The original worshippers of the deity(s) you worship probably prayed a bit differently. Using grandeur and epithets, song and dance, and offerings. Prayer has evolved since then, but it is also good to go back to the roots.

This is an outline for that type of prayer:

"Oh, great and powerful deity, bringer of (thing), queen/king/ruler of (thing), please accept this humble offering as thanks for all that you do. It is my pleasure to offer this to you, and I would be most honored if you would accept it."

If that's a bit difficult to understand, here is an example of what I would say if I were doing this type of prayer/offering to Inanna.

"Oh my beautiful and powerful Lady Inanna, Ruling Star of Heaven, Great Lioness, hear my praise. I come to you with a humble offering of dates and wine, it is not much, but it is all that I offer as thanks for all that you do. You have been with me during my darkest times and helped me to rise beyond my wildest capabilities. It is my deepest pleasure to offer this to you, and if you would accept it would bring me great honor."

Again, I don't usually use those types of prayers, as my practice and relationship with Inanna are fairly casual, but certain things inspire grandeur, such as a holiday or a special ritual.

I'm not going to tell you how you should pray. The following is a very badly recalled from memory version of Moses and the Shepherd, and I'm gonna say I'm not Christian, I don't follow the Bible. I was talking to my Muslim friend about prayer, and she brought this story up, and I think my readers could benefit from it.

Moses sees a shepherd praying in a field and he stops the shepherd, telling him he is praying wrong. He shows him the proper way to pray and goes on about his day. The next morning, the shepherd prays the way Moses told him. God stops Moses and asks what he did. Moses says "he was praying incorrectly, so I showed him how to do it right." And God is like "Moses... before, when the shepherd would pray, he prayed with emotion and passion. Now he is only focuses on doing it correctly. No passion. No emotion. All prayers are valuable in their own way." Etc etc, you get the picture.

Moral is, as long as it feels correct to you, it'll get the point across.

[violetmoondaughter]

The star of Ishtar

The Octagram symbol is a star ideogram that commonly appears in ancient Babylonian iconography. The eight-pointed star is usually associated with ancient goddesses such as Ishtar, Innana, Isis and Venus. These goddesses were all seen as protectress of love, fertility, beauty, divine law and power.

The symbol was originally seen as a representation of the seven heavens ruled by the goddess and later became a representation of the planet Venus associated with fertility goddesses. The planet is the third brightest object in Earth's sky after the Sun and the Moon and in the past, it was referred to as the morning or evening star. In the Old Babylonian period, the planet Venus was known as Ninsi'anna translates to "divine lady, illumination of heaven".

In many myths, Inanna’s descend into the netherworld and return to the heavens may correspond with the movements of the planet Venus in the sky, setting in the West and then rising again in the East.

The discontinuous movements of Venus relate to both to the myth as well as Inanna's dual nature. Other theories recognize the story of Inanna's descent into the underworld as a reference to an astronomical phenomenon associated with retrograde Venus.

The symbol refers to the cosmic power of the goddess as ruler of sky and heavens and connected with the transcendental world. Her power stands in the mystery of magic and creation of the universe itself and for this reason the octagram became a powerful sigil used in antiquity as a devotional iconography connected with the goddess worshippers.

[dinolasagna]

In Sumerian mythology, the goddess Ishtar (or Inanna) was known for constantly changing gender!

[raceofseth]

INANNA / ISHTAR

mesopotamian goddess of love, war and fertility

sumerian / akaddian queen of heaven

[bolszaja-miedwedica]

all hail Inanna the goddess of justice, war, love, sexuality, power and law!

all hail the Queen of Heaven!

let your lions eat those who harm your followers, your daughters, your sisters and your wives, oh Great Goddess

[florian-luster]

I’d like to present to you all, my beloved Gilagmeš shrine!

———

Yes, I am fully aware Fate Gilgamesh is not the intended idol for Sumerian hero worship but separate to that devotion I also love Fate Gilgamesh so for the aid of my altar I have conflated the two 😌

[hallelu-adonai]

I molded the beautiful King Baal and Queen Ninanna in the form of cute bulls 🥰

[lady-of-heaven]

In light of unfolding international events, I would like to weigh in on the situation and hopefully cut through the chaotic flurry of breaking news stories meant to keep everyone too overwhelmed to respond.

Firstly, I'd like to state the obvious misdirection from the United States President in order to take control of the narrative. These tactics, including declaring the protests in L.A. an insurrection, deploying American military personnel to American cities to fight American citizens, and now waging an unprompted war with Iran over fictional nuclear weapons, are all to distract you from the Big Beautiful Bill on its way to the U.S. Senate, which would establish a dictatorship and abolish their beloved democracy. It also serves to drown out the nationwide protests, plummeting approval rating, embarrassing 'military parade,' and the fact that he was involved with Jeffrey Epstein.

On an international scale, there is an active genocide in progress in Gaza and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in-progress genocides planned for Armenia, India, and Lebanon.

My thoughts have continuously been with the people of Gaza, who have faced generations of cruel erasure at the hands of European settlers and suffered the consequences of colonial power in the region for decades. What I see happening in Palestine now, as it has been since the 1940s, is what happens when the rest of the world is complicit in the sadistic, hostile takeover of land from its native inhabitants for the sake of nationalist and imperialist agendas. The modern Israeli state is built on the ruins of Palestinian villages and the mass graves of the Palestinian people.

Many of you have probably been watching this evil unfold before your own eyes through social media, and feel unsure of how you can help the situation. Unfortunately, there is no easy or safe way to support Palestine. It is, by nature, a discouraged path to tread. You will be called anti-semitic and violent for protesting or speaking out. You will have to do the research and take the risk if you want to try and donate to Palestinians. And if you try to go there yourself to help, you will be detained, bombed, shot, or deported by the illegal Israeli occupation forces.

While I encourage as many people to do as much as possible, I know that not everyone has the privilege to be able to drop everything and campaign 24/7 or hop on the next flight to Israel. Many of you are just trying to survive, day by day, across the world. If nothing else, live, and make sure that everyone knows that the atrocities committed in Gaza will not be swept under the rug anymore.

✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎

I would now like to address the Mesopotamian polytheist community specifically. I would like to share with you a prayer that I have written that addresses the injustices of any state or entity and asserts the belief that injustice is an abomination to the Children of An. I will provide the Sumerian version with a Latinised transliteration, as well as an English translation below:

𒆠 𒀭 𒅗 𒋗 𒉡𒌦𒉈𒅁          𒈠𒀠𒇷𒀀 𒀾 𒌈𒁄                               𒆠 𒂟 𒃻 𒉡𒌒𒁀𒂊𒉈𒀀 𒉌𒋻𒊑                    𒆠 𒆬𒄀 𒆬𒌓𒌓 𒅇 𒀭𒈾                          𒂵𒆜 𒉡𒌒𒉘𒉈 𒆠𒇭𒀀                               𒆠 𒇽𒃻𒉡𒌇𒁉 𒀉 𒉡𒌦𒈾𒉌𒌈𒌓𒁺𒂊𒉈𒀀 𒉌𒄤𒂊     𒆠 𒈗 𒅆𒌨 𒀉 𒉣 𒌈𒋫𒀊𒈠𒀠 𒇷𒀀 𒉌𒊒𒁍                                        𒀭𒂗𒆤 𒅎𒈠𒉌 𒉡𒌦𒉈𒅆𒄄𒄄 𒀭𒌓 𒄑𒉢 𒌓𒉈 𒉡𒌓𒄀                              𒀭 𒈪𒈨 𒉡𒌓𒁺𒉈                                 𒀭𒂗𒆠 𒀀𒁉 𒉡𒌦𒉈𒇻                      𒀭𒈹 𒍠𒁉 𒉡𒌦𒉈𒅆𒈠𒀠𒇷 𒀭𒎏𒅁 𒄒𒁉 𒉡𒀳                                      𒋗 𒉽 𒋗𒉈𒉈 𒉌𒉌𒌈𒆪𒁉𒉈 𒂍𒃲𒂊𒉈 𒅆𒆸 𒌨𒅂 𒃻𒆠𒈠𒉈𒊏 𒉌𒅔𒅊𒁕𒀀𒀀𒀭

Ki diŋir giri šu nunebmaleya aš ibala,

Ki erin ninda nuba’eneya itare,

Ki kusig, kubabbar, še, u anna ga’eš nubaŋne kisuwa,

Ki luniŋnutukubi a nunanibedeneya igaze,

Ki lugal ḫul a nun ibtabmaleya išubu.

Enlil imani nunešigigi,

Utu ŋešnu ude nuzalage,

An mime nuwede,

Enki abi nunelu,

Inana zagbi nunešimale,

Ninurta alalbi nuru,

Šu kur šunene inibdabene,

Egalene iginiŋin uridim niŋkimanera insedayam.

"The land that does not honour the gods shall be cursed, the land that does not feed its people shall be torn apart, the land that does not trade its gold, silver, barley, or tin shall become barren, the land that does not care for its poor shall crumble, the land that is ruled by a wicked king shall fall. Enlil shall not send his rain upon it, Utu shall not shine his light upon it during the day, An shall not watch over it at night, Enki shall not make its waters abundant, Inana shall not defend its borders, Ninurta shall not tend its fields, a foreign hand shall be upon it, and its palaces shall become ruins for wild dogs and vermin to dwell in."

For anyone concerned about the possible repercussions of anything that could be construed as a curse, I will leave the following proverb for consideration:

"To a curse that is uttered, a curse is not reciprocated. A curse which is reciprocated will be retaliated against with yet another curse."

𒁲 • SILIM • salīmu • Peace

𒀭𒈹

[briar-witchy-things]

Hello witchy tumbler, I work in the Feri Tradition but before that spent many years following my own path. Devoted to Inanna-Ishtar but work quite closely with some other gods/goddeses. Really loving the pagan and witchy communities on here and appreciate any signposts to good blogs/communities to interact with.

[diana-thyme]

I’ve started working on my Greek Gods 101 project again. I am a little over halfway done, with only 120 posts left to make. So, when I am done, which pantheon would you like to see next?

For context, I would complete 101 projects on these pantheons the same way I have done with my Greek Gods 101 series. Name, domain, offerings, devotional acts, and holidays.

There are a few I will not be doing. This includes any closed religions and any non-pagan religions (like Hinduism or Shintoism). Most of these religions are closed to me and/or I do not experience the culture surrounding them (as in Shintoism, since it’s so connected to the typical culture).

[sag-dab-sar]

Hellenic Polytheist Reconstructionists

Am I a reconstructionist? No. And I do think there is a difference between Recon and Revival.

Here is my feeling of difference, some are absolutely going to disagree with this but its my perspective:

"Polytheist Reconstructionism & Revivalism is the worship of a pantheon of Gods heavily influenced by the original religion that worshipped them. It is not a claim of continuity with that religion, or a desire to reinstate the ancient culture & its morals/laws. Reconstructionism attempts to be as close as possible to actual ancient practice without forgoing modern morals. While Revivalism attempts to remain close to the meaning of the ancient practice— allowing for heavy modern adaptations while still fulfilling the ancient practice purpose."

My entire practice has to be modified for my disability, I had dreams of recon but the methods I can't preform.

My zero spoon praxis is all modern:

My method of low spoon / no spoon libations is entirely modern and not at all how the ancient people would do it. Purpose: Doing libations is better than not doing them.

The idea of just invoking them. Saying "Hygeia" before a shower. Saying Theoi's names before a sip or bite to make it an offering. Etc. Purpose: Again literally anything is better than nothing.

Watching TV "with" the Gods (no I don't believe they're sitting next to me or anything). Purpose: keep the Gods in my life and mind, as they were ever present for the ancient people.

Defining "purity" as being clean with the clear ability to focus on the Gods even if in PJs. Definitely not ancient standard. I'd worship if sick if I can get all the symptoms under control (like cough medicine for example), have clean clothes, wash hands and face, focus. I'd worship on a period so long as I was clean and could focus. Etc. Purpose: while it is not the ancient standard of purity, purity is important so I had to have some sort of bench mark (its even more important in Sumerian but thats outside scope of post)

New Festivals (I usually write low spoon versions). I'm trying out some ancient ones but I find them hard to connect to (or at least don't have energy yet to appreciate them), I make my own right now. Purpose: The ancient people really liked festivals

I could go on, point is adapting ancient practices to make an attempt to meet the purpose is my goal. I'm not focused necessarily on using the ancient methods (well not yet I take things as my disability allows)

But without reconstructionists (many of whom are classicists) I would not know:

Miasma vs lyma. And this is important because I had met people who head veiled specifically to protect themselves from miasma because they thought it was that common and bad

Different methods of purity: just washing hands face; barley throwing; fire extinguished in water; few others

How to structure ancient prayers if you want to write them in that way. And how it is interwoven with Kharis.

Literally any ancient Hellenic Festival outside the book by Labrys (and I suppose Kosmos but I don't trust the author)

Debunks of modern Hellenic Polytheist things people are claiming are ancient when they are modern

Anything that requires translation from ancient Greek to explain the concept because either no English language translation exists or more often the English translation leaves out significant valuable information for religious practice.

Explanations of ancient texts and their context

Epithet explanations

Explanations of various Theoi beyond the "God of ___" one finds in website info blurbs

Ancient Greek Calendars

Book resource recommendations and often free access.

Website resources recommendations.

Journal articles & authors recommendations

If I didn't know the ancient standards and methods I would not be able to adapt anything at all and meet the "purpose"

........ literally being able to ask questions from people who have actual knowledge of the ancient religion and are willing to take time out of their day to answer

Reconstructionists do so much damn leg work in Hellenic Polytheism. So much. And so many people seem to refuse to acknowledge that. We take it all but never appreciate their approach. And many reconstructionists have been run off this website for no good reason.

I have seen a grand total of one person claiming to be recon who disparaged non-reconstructionists, and he was a xenophobic douche regardless. Beyond that I haven't had any recon disparage revivalism [edit: as in disparage the fact that it exists or claim its not Hellenic Polytheism]. Correction on information =/= hate. Pointing out something is modern =/= hate. Having different opinions =/= hate.

So to all the Hellenic Polytheist Reconstructionists: Thank you.

-dyslexic not audio proof read-

[thescarlettbitch]

How do your Ladies communicate with you?

Mine seems to be trying to break through the wall of already formed dreams, they’re getting fuzzier and more jumbled when I sleep, almost like glitching between clips.

How do you pronounce your Ladies names? I think I may be saying them wrong.

Have they nudged or tried to nudge you to go somewhere or do something specific?

Sorry if it’s a lot of questions 😅

Never apologize I love talking about them!

I pronounce Inanna as Ee-Nah-Nah and Ereshkigal as Er-Ehsh-Kih-Gahl. I'm not 100% sure that pronunciation is correct, but it's how I say their names.

Inanna communicates with vibes, mostly. I can feel her presence, I can feel if she is pleased or displeased. When she is pleased, she feels pleasantly warm. When she is sad, she feels cold, and when she is mad, she feels hot. She's never been mad at me, but she's been mad at my situation and how people treat me. She also enjoys sending signs, like when I drive too fast, she will put me behind a slow driver, because my life is more important than being on time.

Lady Ereshkigal communicates with me through my tarot cards. If she has something to tell me, it's almost like she buzzes? If that makes sense. I can sense her presence and it feels like she's vibrating, almost, and I know she has something to say.

Dreams are not for me, my dreams are consistently weird beyond my own imagination, and I rarely ever remember them unless I write them down immediately. Maybe you can try reaching out to them in another form of divination?

As for if they've ever tried to steer me in a certain direction, yea, I think. I can't really tell if you mean this as "They want me to get up and take shower" or "they want me to sacrifice this lamb for them" (if your deities are asking you to do things you're uncomfortable with, that is not okay and you should reinstate your boundaries) but the former? Absolutely, all the time.

I am physically disabled, so I struggle to do a lot of basic tasks; showering, eating, getting dressed, and brushing my teeth, to name a few. Sometimes, I can feel Inanna taking my hand and helping me do those things. Other times, I can feel here staring at me until I take a break; as I have a habit of pushing myself to hard. Lady Ereshkigal pushed me to go and visit my grandmother's grave, to talk about her and learn about her and my ancestors in general. She's also pushing me to keep applying and interviewing for jobs.

I also think it's important to distinguish that I am devoted to Inanna, but I work with Lady Ereshkigal. I've been with Inanna for a little over four years, but I've only been working with Lady Ereshkigal about six months. Inanna is like my best friend, Lady Ereshkigal is more like my mentor. I have a different type of relationship with them, so the things we do together differ.

I will talk about them all day every day, I love talking about them and answering questions! I hope this answers your questions!

Blessed be!

[creature-wizard]

Norse Ice giants "Juton" is what the Christians know as "The Nephilim" which were spawned from the fallen angels.. Enki was an Anunnaki so was Gilgamesh. They may have been the Aesir Gods. Read about the Lyrans. Like the Sphinx a Feline humaniod race.. They give hints about this in the cartoon Thundercats Lyrans vs Reptilians.. We all know Loki had a serpent for a son jormungandr. This is why people associated Loki or Enki as Lucifer..

This is a great example of how New Agers get the old traditions they try to appeal to so incredibly wrong.

Norse paganism was animistic. Norse ice giants aren't some kind of half-human hybrids; they are nature spirits. Have you ever been caught in a blizzard? If you have, you have had an encounter with an ice giant.

Loki has been associated with Satan because modern Christians (and even culturally Christian pagans) projected a Christian moral worldview onto Norse mythology and spirituality. They assumed that since Odin was the supreme god, then his rival Loki had to be analogous to Satan. Once you start really digging into Norse mythology and start getting your head around Norse animism, you'll begin to see how wrong and ridiculous these people are.

And of course, all that stuff about the Annunaki actually being space aliens is total racist bullshit. And that shit about reptilians is literally just repackaged antisemitism. In fact, New Age mythology has quite a lot to do with Nazi racial ideology, even if a lot of New Agers don't realize it.

Also, citing Thundercats as evidence of your conspiracy theory is really damn silly. For one thing, many writers borrow ideas from fringe literature all the time because they sound fun (see: Roland Emmerich), so even if a piece of media echoes things you believe in, doesn't mean the creators "know the truth." Also, some of you people (actually, a lot of you people) literally just watch a TV show or movie that seems to confirm some of your beliefs, and you just add its other elements into your belief system.

[cultkinkcoven]

WITH HONOURS!! ✴️

[luckyluckyjesse]

🩸Lilith🦉