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rhodewitchcraft · 2 months

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An anointing oil dedicate to goddess Ishtar/Inanna

This one is my old recipe of anointing oil dedicated to Inanna/Ishtar, which I decided to post on my Wordpress almost three years ago, and it is contributed in the book ‘Inannanthology’ published by EANNA PRESS with the more in-depths detail, prayers and incantations that is not provided both here and my personal blog. My preferred name for this contribution is Yoneviv, as you can see in the contributor lists.

While this is an old article, it is a pinned post in the Sumerian devotee discord servers since I’m posting it there first time, and still pinned until today. I think this might shed some light towards anyone who wants to make their own crafts to their own deities. It contains a lot of information regarding the goddess Inanna/Ishtar. You’ll see how I slowly developed the recipe, choosing the elements for the work, and so on, and I hope this can be an example for anyone who wants to bend the main structure of my work into their own, as anointing oil is one of the popular tools among others on the altar too.

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An anointing oil dedicate to goddess Ishtar/Inanna

Many people love to craft things for their own gods/goddesses, and I am one of them who love to craft anything, especially useful things for my practices. In my perspective, crafts dedicated to the gods/goddesses can be anything, as long as you did it from your good intent.

First step into the craft of an oil

Making things for use in the ritual should have correct correspondences. And there is no exception for this anointing oil.

First question on making this oil is that I did research on ‘what are correspondences with Ishtar/Inanna?’

Before looking into that, I need to point out my perspective towards her. What I see in her is the goddess of love and war. The mistress of heaven and earth. The goddess who rendered the fate of mortals, and the whole celestial body over Venus, as both morning and evening star. There’s more to explain about her, but I think this should be enough to frame the line for my research onto what corresponded, or linked with her.

I started with the number. I’m still looking for a primary source about the number that corresponds with each gods and goddesses of the pantheon. From the source I cannot remember, Ishtar’s number is 15, which I put this aside because it seems too much for me. So I stepped to the next number that resonated with me, which is Venus’ number as 7, and a number from her eight-pointed star symbol as 8. So I decided to pick number 7 which seems to be better than 15 to make the oil.

The source of Venus number in my point of view is taken from Kameas of Magic squares, which I think everyone should be familiar with. It is the square containing various number correspondences with each planet.

Here’s some information about Kameas I read a while ago and decided to quote them here. You’ll see the Venus square that is 7×7 square, which is her number :

“The traditional magical squares or kameas, the sigils and the hierarchical names that form part of talismanic magic, have come down to us through the works of the Abbot Trithemius, Peter de Abano and Cornelius Agrippa. Most of these were reprinted in the famous treatise by Francis Barrett, The Magus, which is perhaps one of the most poetically beautiful books ever written on the subject of magic. The magical squares of the planets are an important part of the science of talismanic magic. To each planet belongs the number of the Kabbalistic sephira to which it corresponds, as well as the other numbers, which are the sum of the various horizontal and vertical rows of the square. For example, Jupiter is a planetary symbol of the sphere of Chesed in the Tree of Life, whose number is 4. Thus the square of Jupiter has four boxes or divisions, both horizontally and vertically, resulting in sixteen individual units, each line adding up to 34, with a grand total of 136. In other words, all the squares total the same number on each vertical and horizontal row. See, for example, the square of Mars, which represents the fifth sephira of the Tree of Life, Geburah. Each side has 5 units for a total of 25 squares, each line totaling 65, vertically and horizontally. ” (Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, P.246-248)

Ingredients

Now go next to the ingredients that I will put inside the jar.

The first thing that flashes into my head is : I need to use whatever existed in Mesopotamian that time.

While I used to discuss this with some of my friends, I still insist that if I will make some kind of ritual oil, whatever I use must exist in the historical sources. It’s just, if the ingredients didn’t exist at that time, it means whatever we choose isn’t used for their ritual purpose back then. Of course we can adapt many things into our craft nowaday. We can substitute one thing for another thing while the meaning of the ritual or process is still the same. But for me, this oil I made under her name, so I won’t put anything that never existed in their history as ingredients.

With the basic knowledge I had, I listed some sort of things that I thought corresponded with Ishtar/Inanna. Date palm, Lapis Lazuli, are the two things we commonly know are linked with the goddess in one or another way. But what about other ingredients for the oil? What kind of ingredients the Mesopotamian used at their time besides these?

I listed plenty of things without truly knowing if they are related to the goddess, or existed in Mesopotamia or not. For instance, I listed coconut, almond, pine, cedar, and other that pop up in my head at that time.

Gold

Let’s look into the first ingredient of all : Gold.

This precious metal basically appears everywhere around the world. Either trading for them or just mining them up. I’m sure Mesopotamia used this to make their decorations, but was there any other purpose of using gold back then besides as a decoration? Where I was born and currently live using gold in a lot of rituals and corresponded with many spiritual activities, I just want to confirm if the Mesopotamian saw the gold in some sort of similar way too.

“It was amassed in temple and royal treasuries, where it was largely reserved for the decoration of buildings and furniture, for the adornment of high-ranking people, or for gifts and offerings in both religious and secular contexts.” (Moorey, P.221)

According to the quote from Moorey’s book, He said gold is one kind of precious metal that appears in Mesopotamia. Also people use it in various ways, and I decided to grab this because it had been used as an offering. By doing an oil craft, I saw this as one kind of offering towards the goddess. So this would be a great option for putting into the jar.

I use the edible grade of gold leaf, which is pure gold that can apply on the skin directly. In my area where I currently live, it is not hard to find this kind of gold leafing. So I bought some for this oil.

Too bad that I didn’t have any gold leaf left so I can’t shoot the photo and show them to you here.

Lapis Lazuli

Next Ingredient is what we are well-known for : Lapis Lazuli.

I saw in many new-age paganism books about the deity and their associated materials, which I love to read, but not immediately believe in them at first sight. Finding the stone that corresponded with Ishtar is not too hard, because it was written on plenty of sources that she is associated with Lapis Lazuli, and in some other source, Carnelian.

Let’s take a look at the use of Lapis Lazuli in ancient Mesopotamia.

“The great prestige and value of lapis lazuli lent it a special role in cult, as in its use for foundation inscriptions (Ellis 1968), gave it a wide metaphorical role in literature, and ensured its place in magic texts. ‘Lapis-like’ was a standard metaphor for unusual wealth from early in the extant literary tra~ dition, and this stone was for long synonymous with gleaming splendour, an attribute of gods and heroes. Although the stone was imported into Mesopotamia, the majority of manufactured lapis lazuli so far recovered from ancient sites there is recognizably local in style. ” (Moorey, P.85)

We’ll see that Lapis Lazuli has a wide role in Mesopotamian, either in myths or metaphor texts. Also evidence of using Lapis Lazuli can be found from the excavation sites. It can guarantee us about the existence of Lapis Lazuli and its wide use at that time. But while it is widely used, it doesn’t seem to specifically connect with Ishtar/Inanna at first sight.

I’ll jump into another source that made me decide to put this stone into the ingredient list, besides it was well-written in many books as her associated stone.

Ishtar’s celestial body is a planet Venus. There’s two reliable major sources about planetary correspondences that are widely used by the practitioner nowaday. The first is ‘Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Henry Cornelius Agrippa’. I think most practitioners know this book so well, and another book is ‘The book of instruction on the elements of the art of Astrology by Al Biruni’.

Here is Agrippa’s on Venus :

“Chapter xxviii. What things are under the power of Venus, and are called Venereall. … the stone Aetites, the Lazull [lazuli] stone, Corall, and all of a fair, various, white, and green Colour …” (Agrippa)

We’ll see that the stone under Venus’ power, which is equivalent to Ishtar/Inanna in Agrippa, is Lapis Lazuli stone. Now I’m switching sides to Al-Biruni’s to see what he said about Venus. And here’s Al-Biruni on Venus:

“Venus: Magnesia and antimony. Silver and gold and jewels set in these, household vessels made of gold, silver and brass, pearls, emeralds, shells. Figs, grapes, dates, origanum and fenugreek.” (Al-Biruni, P.409-411)

At this point, it seems he didn’t states a thing about Venus’ minerals much so I turned back to Agrippa’s and pick the Lapis Lazuli stone as one of ingredient for my oil, which it had the quality of Venus that equivalent to Ishtar/Inanna in some sense, and has been used in ancient Mesopotamia. Also these resonate for me too.

Pomegranate

Move on to another ingredient from my list that I use for this oil. It’s a bit weird compared with other ingredients I chose before : Pomegranate.

I should state that this plant does not have any clear evidence that it corresponds with Ishtar/Inanna directly. But when I asked myself about which fruits can represent the quality of Ishtar/Inanna’s power of fertility? Beside the Date palm we are familiar with, the first fruit that came into my mind is pomegranate.

I searching for any evidence if the pomegranate connected with fertility in some way, and found in one academic paper, which I quote below :

“The brilliant red and the yellow of its skin, the blood-red juice and the abundance of its stuffed up seeds, make the pomegranate suitable for symbolic associations with human fertility, and thus life and death. For this reason, in ancient Mesopotamian art it is often represented with the deities of fertility, fecundity, and abundance.” (Lorenzo Nigro and Federica Spagnoli; Pomegranate (Punica Granatum L.) from Motya and its deepest oriental roots)

“A paramount example of how pomegranate could be employed in personal ornaments and robes’ decoration is offered by the Queens’ tombs discovered underneath the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud. Some outstanding pieces of jewellery, including diadems, pendants, earrings, beads, but also engraved representations on ivory boxes, are decorated with pomegranates as symbols for fertility” (Lorenzo Nigro and Federica Spagnoli; Pomegranate (Punica Granatum L.) from Motya and its deepest oriental roots)

There seems to be evidence about pomegranates as a symbol of fertility in ancient Mesopotamia, but not directly connected with the goddess anyway. So I search further into this topic to make sure about this.

There is one chapter from the book ‘Goddesses, Elixirs, and Witches’ by John M. Riddle interprets the connection between pomegranate and power of Ishtar/Inanna, and that’s really interesting for me.

“Equal to grain in the depiction is the pomegranate. If the throwing of grain was an important clue to Inanna, women, and marriage, what happened to the pomegranate, I asked in my class? In the class was an Iranian student who said that in her country on a wedding day, the mother of the bride gave her daughter a pomegranate. Why, I asked the student. “Because it is traditional,” she replied. Why was there continuity in the pomegranate and grain on the vase with present Iranian wedding practices, I asked, and now I seek an answer in this book: simply Googling “pomegranate,” “Iran,” and “wedding,” confirms the current practice of pomegranates associated with weddings (and Greek nuptials as well).9 Heretofore, scholars advance no reason for the pomegranates on the Uruk vase, but there is a reason, and it is the key to understanding Inanna’s power.” (John M. Riddle, P.8-9)

As I said above, there’s no clear evidence that this plant is connected with Ishtar/Inanna. And this is just one of a person’s interpretation of ancient sources in their own perspective, which resonates for me. But of course, before deciding to use it, I need more of a connection between the fruit and the goddess.

So I go back to her quality as Venus again. I look into Agrippa’s on Venus’ plants that is the best source on planetary correspondences for me, which I will quote it below :

“Chapter xxviii. What things are under the power of Venus, and are called Venereall. … amongst Plants and Trees the Vervin [vervain], Violet, Maidenhaire, Valerian, which by the Arabian is called Phu; also Thyme, the gum Ladanum, Amber-grise [ambergris], Musk, Sanders [sandalwood], Coriander, and all sweet perfumes, and delightfull, and sweet fruits, as sweet Pears, Figs, Pomegranats [pomegranates], which the Poets say was, in Cyprus, first sown by Venus. …” (Agrippa)

There’s the pomegranate associated with Venus on Agrippa’s. So I combined both qualities of pomegranate, as a symbol of fertility used in ancient Mesopotamia, and the fruit of Venus for picking this as an ingredient for my oil.

This might be some sort of UPG. But with the strange ingredient I picked, I need to check if whatever I researched and understood is not wrong. I did some tarot check for this, and the result is fine. So It’s in the queue now.

Date Palm

Next ingredient is what we are familiar with : Date palm.

As we know from many pagan sources. Date palms associated with goddess Ishtar/Inanna and her spouse Dumuzi/Tammuz. As a divine offering. As a gift from Dumizi/Tammuz towards Ishtar/Inanna. I remembered clearly when I learned about Ishtar/Inanna of her association with this plant, as I will quote this from the book ‘Ishtar’ by Louise M. Pryke :

“Inanna-Dumuzi love poetry displays a high level of interest in luxury goods and prestige. Dumuzi is depicted bringing many gifts to Inanna, such as dates and gems of lapis lazuli. It seems probable that the emphasis on luxury goods is more in line with considerations of status and the theme of abundance than with materialism and avarice.” (Louise M. Pryke, P.52)

“Dates feature in royal hymns as divine offerings (Iddin-Dagan A, ETCSL 2.5.3.1), and are given by Dumuzi to Inanna in love poetry (Dumuzid-Inanna T, ETCSL 4.08.20). When Ishtar is reported by Gilgamesh as propositioning Ishullanu, she asks for a ‘taste’ of his delights.” (Louise M. Pryke, P.150)

Besides, there’s an incantation to the date palm against infertility, which represented the quality of the date palm very well.

“(b) THE DATE PALM O date palm, who receives whatever the wind bears, Receive from me misdeed, offense, crime, sin That I, who dwell in this house not die From misery, sleeplessness, disease, anxiety, childbirth. Or from any male or female slave whatsoever around me. You make late grain come up where there was early grain, You make early grain come up where there was late grain. You let the [damaged] tree produce fruit, You let the non-bearing tree produce fruit. Receive from me in full whatever unsoundness of mind or body or litter from my (personal) god or my (personal) goddess. Which, unknowing, I may have seen or trod on, I don’t know what it is. That I may sing your praises.” (Benjamin Foster, P.980)

I think there’s not much to clarify on this as it is clear on our sight. So I pick the date seed as an ingredient for my oil.

Juniper

Onto the next one that we are familiar with in both Mesopotamian myths, and paganism use of this one : Juniper

First, I need to clarify to all of you that juniper had no connection with Ishtar/Inanna. The reason I pick this plant as one of my ingredients is I go with my senses. And the juniper appears a lot in their ritual as their incense. Various sources included juniper as a part of the ritual, to burn as incense.

Where I remembered seeing juniper with this goddess is from ‘The Great Ishtar Prayer’, or we might have heard this in the name of ‘prayer of the lifting of the hand’. This one instructs the ritual at the end of the prayer line, which I will quote them below :

“… 107. Its ritual: In an inaccessible place (lit., where the foot is kept away) you sweep the roof, you sprinkle pure water, (and) you lay four bricks at right angles to one another. 108. You heap twigs of the Euphrates poplar (on the brazier), (and) you kindle the fire. Aromatic plants, scented flour, juniper wood 109. you strew. You pour out beer. You do not prostrate yourself. This recitation before Ishtar 110. you recite three times. You prostrate yourself, and you do not look behind you. ” (Alan Lenzi, P.284)

You’ll see the use of juniper as an incense from this ritual towards Ishtar/Inanna. And here, take a look at the ritual towards Marduk, another god in the pantheon. This one was taken from ‘A Shuilla : Marduk 4’. Juniper was used in the same purpose as in Ishtar’s prayer, as an incense to burn in the active ritual.

“42. Its ritual: In front of Marduk you place an incense burner with juniper. 43. You set up a portable altar. You set out a mersu-cake, honey, and ghee. 44. You libate first-class beer. The seed of mashtakal-plant you toss into the oil. 45. Before Marduk you set (it). You say a recitation, and you smear the oil.” (Alan Lenzi, P.309)

Another place that juniper had been mentioned, but not as an incense, is in Šurpu, the collection of incantation, prayers of the magic practices. As part of incantation dedicate directly to this plant is quote below :

“49. Incantation: Juniper growing from the sprout! 50. Young Juniper growing from the sprout, 51. Juniper whose boughs (and) intertwining branches are precious, 52. Great pillar of heaven, great foundation of the earth, 53. Resplendent doorpost of Eridu, 54. Strong look of the temple of Enlil, 55. Who on a dat fit for …. has come from the mountain, 56. you cleanse, you purify the mouth of humans, 57. may the evil tongue stand aside!” (Erica Reiner, P.46)

Juniper seems to be used as the universal scent of the incense that people in ancient Mesopotamia can burn and then continue their ritual they desire. It won’t be too wrong if I would say : The scent of incense is the bridge between us humans towards the god or goddess we are currently praying to. And for me, the use of juniper is to bridge us with our gods/goddesses. This plant might not be associated directly towards Ishtar/Inanna, but juniper is associated with the heaven itself as a bridge, which I don’t feel wrong to put this into my oil jar.

Cedar

Let’s get into the next ingredient of this oil : Cedar.

We all know that in this tradition, cedar has a major role related to purification. Not even in the role related to purification, but also in the literature related to Ishtar/Inanna too. Cedar is one of the sweet aromatic plants, and its essential oil is used to create various perfumes nowadays. Back to an ancient time, the use of cedar as an aromatic scent is still the same.

“Inanna, … it is I who … I, Inanna, personally intend to go to the abzu. I shall utter a plea to Lord Enki. Like the sweet oil of the cedar, who will … for my holy …perfume? It shall never escape me that I have been neglected by him who has had sex.” (Inanna and Enki: c.1.3.1)

“In order to find sweetness in the bed on the joyous coverlet, my lady bathes her holy thighs. She bathes them for the thighs of the king; { she bathes them for } { (some mss. have instead:) with head held high she goes to } the thighs of Iddin-Dagan. Holy Inanna rubs herself with soap; she sprinkles oil and cedar essence on the ground.” (A šir-namursaĝa to Ninsiana for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan A): c.2.5.3.1)

And here’s further info on cedar as aromatic wood.

“In fact, Milgrom goes so far as to say that cedar was chosen for these particular rituals because of its reddish color and thus its association with blood (note also the use of a crimson yarn).2 There is no indication that such a symbolic association between blood and cedar existed in Mesopotamia.3 Rather, one gets the impression that it was the aromatic nature of the wood that commended its ritual use.” (Alan Lenzi, P.99)

I wouldn’t say that cedar is associated directly with Ishtar/Inanna. This plant had evidence of being used by the goddess, which I frequently interpret as it is not associated with her as symbolic of her qualities or powers, but associated with her as it is used by her, as her tools.

Now let’s take a look at cedar in the ritual performed by Mesopotamian. I found one ritual involving cedar called ‘An OB Ikribu-Like Prayer to Shamash and Adad’, which contained both incantation, prayer and ritual in this one.

“1. O Shamash, I place to my mouth pure cedar. 2. I tie (it) for you in/with(?) a lock of my hair. 3. I place in my lap 4. . . . cedar. 5. I washed my mouth and my hands. 6. I wiped my mouth clean with . . . cedar. 7. I tied pure cedar in/with(?) a lock of my hair. 8. I have poured out . . . cedar. 9. I am pure. I draw near to the assembly of the gods 10. For judgment. …” (Alan Lenzi, P.100)

Now back to my point of view about cedar. Why do I choose this plant as one of ingredients for Ishtar/Inanna oil? The fact that this plant has a very sweet aromatic scent is one reason to put it into the jar.

As I said above. The association of cedar is different from other materials. Cedar in my point of view is Ishtar/Inanna’s perfume. Should I ignore this lore-riches plant and looking for another plant instead? The answer is no. For me, this plant had plenty of roles in the day of the Mesopotamian, so I view this as a kind of universal plant that can be used widely in the tradition.

Cypress

Here we are at the final ingredient before moving to the carrier oil : Cypress.

Same as juniper above. Cypress has no connection, or correspondences with Ishtar/Inanna. This plant appears a lot in the Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti Witchcraft. While the juniper appears to be the universal incense that bridges us with our deities, this cypress plant plays the same universal role of cleansing, which is the main purpose of anti-witchcraft ritual. I will quote some of them below :

“You pound together atāʾišu-plant, kurkanû-plant, ‘heals twenty’-plant, lupine (and) n[īnû]-plant. You rub his body (with the powder mixed) in(to) cedar-scented oil, cypress scented oil, oil scented with burāšu-juniper (and) fine oil.” (Tzvi Abusch and Daniel Schwemer, P.26)

“Its ritual: Before Orion you s[weep] the roof; [you sprinkle pure water]. You set up a censer with burāšu-juniper; you pour a libation of beer. [You recite] this incantation.[…] … (of) a green frog, tamarisk, [ … ],[ … sa]wdust of mēsuwood [(…)]: (with these ingredients) [i]n cypress-scented oil you rub him.[ … ‘heals]-a-thousand’-plant, ‘heals-twenty’- plant, root of the pil[lû-plant][yo]u pound [together]; [you pu]t (it) [in beer]; you leave (it) out[side overnight] under the star(s).[In the morning, you have him drink (it) on an empty stomach, [then] any evil [will] not [come near him].” (Tzvi Abusch and Daniel Schwemer, P.354)

“So that ditto not approach a man: you ((dry and)) [pound together] the head of an eagle (and) lup[ine]; you mix it in cypress-scented oil. You rub him regularly (with it), then ‘cutting-of-the-throat’ magic will not approach him; also that man [ … ].” (Tzvi Abusch and Daniel Schwemer, P.365)

And another example of cleansing properties this plant had is presented in the diviner prayer toward Shamash and Adad, in the divination ritual as I will quote it below :

“(a) THE CLEANSING WATER O Shamash, lord of judgment, O Adad, lord of divination, cleanse yourselves! O Shamash, lord of judgment, O Adad, lord of divination, [here are brought you] pure water of the Amanus, sprigs from the mounts o f apples(?) and cedar, fruit of cedar, cypress, alum, juniper, reed, and incense from the abode of [Irnina?]. The “ pure mountains,” the “ children of Anu,” are set up for you and fully purified, their [ ] are provided. Stand by me, O Shamash and Adad! In whatever I ask your blessing on, in what I [say] or pray, in whatsoever I do, in the inquiry I ask your blessing on, let there be truth!”

And same as juniper, cypress plays the role of an incense burn to the gods. But not frequently found as much as juniper. Only a few quotes address this plant as incense.

“You strew a censer with (lit.: “of”) cedar and cypress wood before Marduk.” (Tzvi Abusch and Daniel Schwemer, P.330)

So back to our purpose. Why do I choose the plant that doesn’t even correspond with the goddess?

In my perspective, whatever existed in ancient Mesopotamia can be used as a candidate for this oil’s ingredients. Cypress is not an exception. While juniper acts as a universal bridge between us and gods, this plant in my perspective acts as a protector of impurities that might come into the target. I might state that I use cypress to guard unwanted spirits, or harmful spirits from this oil.

Sesame Oil

Now we arrived at the real final ingredient of this oil : Sesame Oil.

When making anointing oil, we should select our base oil, or carrier oil for the work. My favorites are fractured coconut oil, and sweet almond oil, due to the light scent of them, and the bright, clear color of them. Fractured coconut oil has a very long shelf life which is easy to pick up and use to make any kind of anointing oil. Sweet almond oil has a shorter shelf life than fractured coconut oil. I personally added some drops of vitamin into it to prevent the rancid and longer shelf life of it.

But after taking a look into the historical source, I found no evidence on both my favorite oils in ancient Mesopotamia.

According to ‘The Babylonian World’ by Gwendolyn Leick, I found out that an oil used in Mesopotamia is sesame oil and olive oil.

“The staple fat in the Babylonians’ diet was oil from the pressed seeds of the sesame plant (Charpin et al. 2004: 941–43, 975; Powell 1991). Sesame oil also had its elite uses, as in the Yale recipes and a dish of ostrich eggs for the king’s table at Mari (Bottéro 1995: 161; Sasson 2004: 187). Olive oil was imported into Mari from the west, although not always as a foodstuff (Stol 2003: 33).” (Gwendolyn Leick, P.179)

About the process of the work

Now talking about the process of each ingredient.

Gold and Lapis Lazuli can be added on the final day after other infused oils are ready. So I won’t mention them much.

The process of this oil is cold-infused herbal oil.

The process is very easy. I just put the dried material of each thing into the mason jar, then filled them with an oil of my choice. I frequently put dried material in about ¾ of the jar, and pour an oil just to cover them all. Keep them in the dark-cold place for at least 6 weeks. For this oil, I kept them infused for 8 weeks, corresponding with her number from her eight-pointed star symbol.

For the infusion method, you can use hot infused method too, which will shorten the process a lot. Using a slow cooker at low temperature to infuse the herb. It will take around one day total for each time. The process can be repeated for the same jar if you weren’t satisfied with the first round of hot infusion.

You can see the method of doing hot infusion here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDLvzUU3oTQ

Remember that when everything is ready to mix together, you need to consecrate them in your own way. It is your own designed ritual which empowered an oil into whatever you desired them to be. If you just mix them together without any consecrate process, you’ll get one aromatic anointing oil, not a ritual oil of your purpose.

Citations

Abusch, I.T. (2016) The magical ceremony maqlû: A critical edition. Boston: Brill.

Abusch, I.T. and Schwemer, D. (2011) Corpus of Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals. Leiden: Brill.

Abusch, T., Schwemer, D. and Luukko, M. (2016) Corpus of Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals. Leiden: Brill.

Aḥmad Bīrūnī Muḥammad ibn and Wright, R.R. (1933) The book of instruction on the elements of the art of Astrology. London: Lund Humphries & Co.

Cornelius, A.von N.H., Tyson, D. and Freake, J. (2020) Three books of occult philosophy. Woodbury, Minneapolis: Llewellyn Publications.

Foster, B.R. (2005) Before the muses: An anthology of Akkadian literature. Bethesda, MD: CDL Press.

González-Wippler Migene (2013) The Complete Book of Amulets & Talismans. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications.

Leick, G. (2010) The Babylonian World. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Lenzi, A. (2011) Reading Akkadian prayers and hymns: An introduction. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Pryke, L.M. (2019) Ishtar. London: Routledge.

Riddle, J.M. (2010) Goddesses, elixirs, and witches plants and sexuality throughout human history. Basingstoke, : Palgrave Macmillan.

S., M.P.R. (1999) Ancient Mesopotamian materials and industries: The archaeological evidence. Winona Lake (Indiana): Eisenbrauns.

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