Babylonian Myth & Magic & Sorcery ... oh my! Sumerian Anunnaki, New Age Magick

[nabu]

After spending nearly two decades in the underground, prolific writer and founder of the Mardukite Movement, Joshua Free, reflects on the core archaeological, anthropological and mystical points of Babylonian Myth & Magic.

This amazingly informative introduction to these topics not only provides evidence for the basis of a modern revival, but proves just how relevant the pursuit of these mysteries really are. Babylonian Myth & Magic by Joshua Free is unparalleled in displaying the post-Sumerian mystery tradition of the ancient Babylonians, now accessibly comprehensible to any seeker for the first time in modern history.

Revealed within Babylonian Myth & Magic are the very methods by which Babylon rose to power from seemingly prehistoric nothingness and how these very real systems born in the Ancient Near East are still with us today! This highly innovative work drives the emphasis home that memory of past and future are one, and uncovering the truth of yesterday will provide a stronger tomorrow!

Released for the first time in print to the public, the complete unabridged annotated edition of Joshua Free’s original underground academic classic (also known as Liber 51) is supplemented with a powerful foreword by Sortileges, Mardukite Bishop-Patesi of Canada.

The following is an excerpt on the ancient Babylonian practices of magick in Mesopotamia from Joshua Free’s Babylonian Myth & Magic:

Quote:In the midst of a relative ‘New Age movement’ led by ‘esotericists’ toward the uncovering of the pragmatic and ritualistic elements of pagan and occult methodologies, it should seem that we would have little trouble with this in Mesopotamia – being the origins of these later systems. Without some assistance, however, this is not necessarily as simply done as pouring through a kabbalastic grimoire written by some medieval sorcerer. While there was surely no shortage of ‘superstitions’ among the masses, such as the carrying of ‘amulets’ among commoners – certainly, this type of folk tradition does not constitute a real system of magic. For this, a seeker will have to dig a little harder in the desert sands.

During the era of the first ziggurat temples – the Anunnaki age – all of the magic constituted the ‘spiritual assistance’ that was governed by the state, ruled by priest-kings and other temple attendants. The ‘mystics’ of Babylonia were all employed by the temples and scribe-houses, though there were undoubtedly those who confined themselves to their arts in the out-lands, beyond the awareness of the societal realm. The peasant class, however, did not practice much by way of ‘magic’ (as classified by anthropologists) outside of their own personal religious devotions, which in itself was mostly restricted to hymns and prayers learned from the temples. These personal devotions were also completely inclination-based, as there does not appear to be any prescribed devotional method or temple attendance required of a Babylonian citizen, nor even participation in national festivals.

Tablets concerned with the conduct of various ceremonies describe religious artifacts that are not items the average person would have had possession of, initially suggesting that, indeed, any of the magic from this period was restricted to the priests. The use of a temple, for one, appears key. Access to the ‘incantation-prayers’ of the priests were also not generally given to just anyone – and you had to be able to read them, or at the very least memorize them. The Altar of Offering set before the ‘Boat of the Gods’ was also located at the official shrines – although personal altars could surely be constructed by a devotee to appeal to their god, this would have come much later during the era of ‘figurative mysticism’ because originally, these offerings would have been physically received by a god in person, or via their ‘priestly secretaries’.

Common religious offerings included food and drink, incense and oil, all the way to lavish jewelry and clothing – which were carried up the ziggurat steps of the ‘ladder to heaven’ to be placed before the feet of the god, or at the very least, at his ‘boat’ to be lifted to them. When the appearance of the gods, themselves, was not present, it was customary to have an official piece of statuary left in there place. This became more and more figurative with the passage of time, and it is easy to see how many of these originating concepts evolved into later magical and religious practices – which were one and the same at their start.

White was the most common color worn by the priests, although black was also used and was even favored by the temple-priestesses. The attire of the priests and priestesses would include the infamous ‘conical hat’ that has not only been popularly associated with classical ‘wizards’, but use of it can be found in the visual and literary depictions of the gods, kings and priests of both ancient Babylonia and Egypt. Several of these highly valued ceremonial implements used in the temple even appear in the mythic tales of the gods. For example, the shu-gu-ra, the conical ‘starry crown of Anu’ previously described.

Gold and lapis lazuli appear to be the two most commonly found elements or materials used as both ‘magical ritual aids’ and prestigious ‘offerings’ to the temples, suggesting that the later may have led to the former. Wands, necklaces and bags of loose lapis are mentioned often as well as golden rings and ‘amulet-plates’ marked with specific seals and cuneiform writing.

The implementation of a practical magical system from the Babylonian ideal is somewhat different than what the contemporary mind, even an ‘esoteric’ one, is fundamentally familiar with. As opposed to the later magicians who appear to have had to connive and fool the hierarchies of spirits into assisting them, sometimes threatening them and even in fear of some retroactive revenge – the original magical system used by the priests of Babylonia was rooted in the deep personal relationship – running as deep as blood – that the Sumerian priest-kings and Nabu priest-scribes maintain-ed with the sources of not only their religious power, but the basis of the entire system of civilization that allowed the progression of the human species into today. All of this, according to tradition, resided in the influence of the Anunnaki gods – and the priest-kings and scribes were installed to be sure no one forgot this.

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