Having only once started a sentence with the word, Ishtar, I'll try it again here. Ishtar was the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of love, war, sex --a celestial yard-duty lady. She was the counterpart to the north-west Semitic goddess Astarte and cognate Asherah who, according to the Book Of Kings, was once worshipped beside Yahweh in Israel. Amulets and figurines unearthed in ancient Ugarit (see Syria) identify Asherah as a powerful goddess who articulated the universal language of Nature. Asherah's connection to Yahweh is spelled out in both the Bible and 3000-year-old inscribed pottery found in the Sinai desert. She was Nature and espoused to the Universe: Mrs. God.
Then came prophet Jeremiah who aimed Jeremiads at her, and Gideon (see Judges 6:27, 28 --21st cent. King James Bible) and Josiah (see 2nd Kings 23:14) who took exception and axes to her. Asherah was mainly edited out of Judaism, Christianity and Islam --understandable given the political climate of the past 3000 years. Nomography, the drafting of laws, grew into an art form, so did punishments. The world forgot the simple and conscientious yard-duty of Mrs. God ( "Butt on the bench until you learn to behave!" She'd say.). Things got complicated and stayed that way, which is what you may expect of a world that grows up ignoring its mama.
[5 second Mother Nature Clip]
This brings us to the holographic universe. What is that? It means the whole is accessible from any given point in space and time. Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin --Saint Thérèse of Lisieux -- who was a very smart girl, reliably intuited the following: "Each small part of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe." It means we are in this together; that we cover the same phenomenon from different times and angles; that there's no other way to experience a holographic universe; we are united in continuum --a team.
Even in the eternal and infinitely divisible moment that is the universe, there are those who cannot appreciate what Mother Nature advises. She speaks through us too, though we don't always like what she says. Maybe we grew up wrong, couldn't expel blockages to open hearts and minds, endured childhoods inappropriate for adult recital. P.E. coaches say there is no "i" in "team". There's a rather important one in recital --which, when absent, indicates the anatomical area we must place on the bench until we learn to behave.
Nice little turn with the I in recital at the end there...
ReplyDeleteIshtar was also an entity in Dungeons & Dragons. I had a gnome thief character who married her. My friends and I weren't exactly sticklers for the "rules."
Ishtar was also a notoriously terrible movie. I've never seen it but I think it serves as an important reminder. Even generation defining actors like Dustin Hoffman occasionally make horrible films.
Her husband is a gnome thief? That's been summarily overlooked by theology, but would explain the current scarcity of gnomes in the world.
DeleteI think they had children, too - little half-god gnomes.
DeleteI am not certain the benches are big enough or strong enough for the all butts which need to spend time there. Perhaps a time-share plan is needed.
ReplyDeleteI live in hope though.
And yes, we are (or should be) all in this together.
Not certain scriptural reformation ever worked out a time-share system, but there's some speculation about traffic cones being used to reserve space for repeat offenders.
DeleteI love that quote by Saint Therese of Lisieux - she was a smart gal, indeed.
ReplyDeleteI always learn here, Geo. I've been harden by the harsh years - which impedes my ability to absorb quickly - but I learn, nevertheless.
In her little book, "Story Of A Soul", she wrote things that never left me --even 30 years after reading it. I've had the privilege of living several times her age and think about her when I need to redefine bravery.
DeleteI am not so sure about your theological history but your last line is classic!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sage, I'm not so sure about my theology either. My brain is not very retentive --perhaps I should get it examined by a good proctologist.
DeleteSo true. We were never taught that each of us is part of the beautiful, harmonious whole. It's always been about others, being part of a team; we're only complete when others make us so...There's so much else in this post, Geo. I want to come back and re-read. I've learned a lot. You did a wonderful job consolidating a great amount of information into a digestible piece.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robyn. Sometimes I like to think there is a grand unified sentience in the universe that surveys all life-forms and asks, "What the heck am I doing in all these bodies, and why're they so excited about each other?"
DeleteThere is something deeply troubling and childish about a society that ignores the feminine side of the universe in the way that the west has done so for centuries. What is the male ego so afraid of? I think that maybe it was only a gardener who could have written this post.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to theology and psychology, I am at best a gardener. But I suspect the male ego, in Jungian terms, is afraid of its shadow.
DeleteMother Nature lets us experience the soft and pretty side of life. It is Mother Nature who encourages us to love. She also unleashes her fury to remind us to pay attention.
ReplyDeleteEmma, you articulate so well the reason I delight in Nature, became a gardener. However, next lightning storm I might now think, "Uh oh, Mom's mad."
DeleteA lovely meditation and reminder of an admonition. Your post also reminds of the effect and power of editors and writers of law-though even their influence pales next to Mrs. God.
ReplyDeleteAnd your last line is flash of cosmic brilliance! Wonderful! Even Mother Nature must be chuckling.
The invention of laws leads to legislatures, adaptable codes, bills of rights and finally, liberty, egality and government by discussion --which still has a ways to go but I think Mother Nature is inseparable from human nature and will help us along.
DeleteLike a true nature's child, we were born to be wild. I've said it before and I'll say it again (sorry about that) ..... the universe and we are one....we are all, stardust.
ReplyDeleteWell put, Delores. We are indeed the stuff of stars. Steppenwolf appreciated here.
ReplyDeleteEven though humans continue to try to fool Mother Nature, she will always have her way in the end.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, we who have planted our ends on the bench must attest.
DeleteWith all the recent news on Pluto, Kepear, New Horizons' journey, etc., I find my mind expanding daily. I think there should be more of this, more of the time. How can anyone resist the lure of new information about the universe? and following from that, how can anyone fail to marvel at it? and following from that, how can anyone fail to feel a duty to protect it? Butts on the bench, indeed. I wish it were that way!
ReplyDeleteoops - should have been Kepler (tried to fix one mistake and created another instead)
DeleteAlas, I have neglected recent astronomical news, missed the error and am improved by the correction. Thank you, Jenny. To the universe, your sense of duty is unimpeachable and I am learning.
DeleteYou did it again, dude. Somehow, you managed to tickle our gray matter and our funny bones all at the same time. You would have been an excellent teacher.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Mother Nature doesn't send people to their rooms, so to speak, and make them park their naked and afraid butts on a bench. A very hard bench. With long jagged splinters. And spiders.
Love that last line. Brilliant way to end this piece.
"And spiders"? You sure you're not Mother Nature's secret identity? Thanks for compliment but I don't think I would've made a good teacher --both parents were teachers but I was always happier outdoors.
DeleteI got back from the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit here in LA, which put any cogent thought about Gaia out of my mind.
ReplyDeleteBased on the fragments of their thoughts and writings, those dudes were all about getting medieval on our sorry asses. Maybe she has them as an advisory council?
It's great you got to visit that exhibition, Mike, which I read includes a new set of 10 scrolls. Arguably, good-Natured Gaia let her marl cliffs be carved to protect these antiquities.
DeleteAll of this sounds vaguely like season three of True Blood. And I thought they were making that stuff up! Remember the commercial from the 70's? The Native American who cried because people litter? I think of him every single day. Why do people throw their trash on the ground? I don't get it. I wouldn't wish spiders on anyone, but I'm in favor of splinters if that's what it takes. Or maybe we could just bring that commercial back.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. We're here to learn. We're here to learn to be stewards of the earth. The commercial was good, but we're living it now and need to be better. We are remarkable creatures but whether heroes of our planet or panic growth on the tree of life remains to be seen.
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