Sin is the Punishment

Just a quick list as to where I get the idea that sin is the punishment in and of itself. A list of Hebrew words and their actual meanings that are translated as "punishment" in the King James Version. The number is the Strongs concordance reference number. So in your Bible it says punishment but in the Hebrew...well take a look...

Words translated as PUNISHMENT in your Bible

H8433 Towcheleth-correct, rebuke

H6486 Pequddah-care, custody, visitation

H6485 Paqad-to attend to, to visit

H5352 Naquah-to be empty, be clear, be free

H4148 Muwcar-instruct

H5771 'Avon- guilt. {seen in the bible as the phrase "punishment of their iniquity" it is really just this one word in the Hebrew. See below}

H7725 Shuwb-turn back {seen in the KJV as the phrase "will not revoke its punishment" or in the NIV as the phrase "will not turn back my wrath". In the Hebrew just the one word.}

H7561 Rasha-wicked

H2403 Chatta'ath-sin

GOD DID NOT CURSE EVE

So over the past couple of months we have been talking a lot about the roll of women in the Bible and in ancient mythology. I find myself always going back to Genesis to look at what exactly happened there.  There are still things I am trying to figure out.  I have talked a bit about the fact that God did NOT curse Eve. {He only cursed the devil}I've talked about the Sumerian goddess Inanna and the myth of her garden tree. Now I want to put everything all together. I'm not totally sure on all my thoughts but really just thinking out loud and working some ideas out. As we approach good Friday I think it is important to see what Jesus accomplished and fulfilled on the cross in regards to women. So here are my latest thoughts on the subject.

In my research yesterday I came across a woman named Katharine Bushnell. She was a bible scholar, doctor and missionary in China in the early 1900s. She helped translate the Bible into Chinese{Mandarin or Cantonese; I'm not sure}. She has come across several interesting findings that co-inside with what we have been discussing. I have just begun to uncover her writings. So far I am in agreement with what she has to say about what happened in Eden and especially the mistranslation of Genesis 3:16. Which we will get to in a moment.

First let's recap some of the things that we have discussed in the other posts on Eden. I think that Eve was the one tempted by the Devil because of her dominion and her ability to bring forth life. I also believe that Eve could see in the spirit differently than Adam. This could of been part of how she was to "help" Adam, just as the Spirit a "helper" of God and those that yield to him. It's curious that Adam never mentions the serpent and I think that is because he couldn't see him. Notice it wasn't until after Adam ate the fruit that "both their eyes were opened" maybe Eve's eyes already were.

DON'T Be An Ass...but DO Let Jesus Use You.

Even the Rocks Cry Out

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”  Matt 21:5

Tear Down the Wall

{illustrations by William Blake}

Jesus and Gender

As I was reading through the gospels the other day looking for how Jesus related to women I was struck by two sets of verses. They are verses that I had read many times before but this time saw in a different light in regards to gender and how God relates to his people. Moreover the groundwork that Jesus was laying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts. For it is through the Spirit that man and woman become one and equal in Christ.

"Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. 12:47-50

"And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." Luke 8:21

I find it very interesting that Jesus spoke these words after he had been talking about the Devil and spiritual warfare. It where he says "every house divided can not stand"{Matt.12:25}. I have always read these verses to mean that God should be the most important. God should be number one in your life even above your family. And I think that is true. But this time when I read these verses again I heard Jesus speaking out against inequality in gender. Jesus was saying "Be One!".

In the body of Christ there should be no divisions. In the body of Christ male isn't above the female. In the body of Christ female is not above male. In the body of Christ male and female are equal! Not that we just both get to go to heaven. God's kingdom on earth should be as it is in heaven. We should be equal in our relation to one another so that we can be unified in our reaching out to the lost. We are both heirs{male} and we are both the bride{female}. This was ground breaking for the times. This shouldn't need to be ground breaking 2000 years later.

Yet there is still so much gender division in the body of Christ. And I believe that is part of the reason why we are not standing as a light to the lost; both male and female.  Only having respect for women is not the same as seeing them as equal.  People are finding their equality in places other than the church.  That is sad indeed!  This is part of the huge swell of women being drawn to Wicca and the goddess worship we have discussed in other posts.  The church should be the cornerstone of justice and equality of women, not the goddess. The church should be filling the hunger of these women to be healers, prophets and purveyors of the supernatural; not the goddess.

Feminine Spirit of the Gospels

This is just a list of some verses from the gospels of women who who could perceive the Spirit before the outpouring in Acts. I think it is so cool to see that women were already sensitive to the Spirit and moreover that the authors of the gospels mention them. These women were facilitating and acting in a Spirit of wisdom that should inspire all of us.

An angel appears to Zechariah to tell him he and Elizabeth will have a son. Zechariah questions the Lord, but Elizabeth believes.

"Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on [me], to take away my reproach among men." Luke 1:25

I am sure it is this attitude that had to do with the Lord choosing Mary to be the mother of our Savior.

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47
Anna, a prophetess at the temple, Recognises Jesus as Savior even though he is only a few days old.

"Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem." Luke 2:38

This woman knew Jesus was not like the other rabbis and would not think her "unclean" for her blood issue.

"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years...When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole." Mark 5:27,28

The rejected Canaanite women is not too proud to beg even for the crumbs of Jesus. She had a hunger even though she was rejected. Jesus honored her by saving her daughter.

"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, [thou] Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us...But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Matt. 15:22,26-27

Male & Female Function of God

Continuing from the last post{click here} we are discussing the male and female aspects of God. Not that God is part male and part female; God is a spirit. But God can and does function as both male and female. The male function tending to be through God the Father and Jesus His son; the female function being through the the Holy Spirit. We don't need the bible to make God neuter in order to see this. Any thought that the Bible needs to refer to God as an "it" instead of a "he" is silly and at the very least impersonal. God is a personal God and he personally functions as both male and female. I want to draw out these functions to give women especially a sense of who they are and who they can be in God.

On that same note we don't need the Bible to be neuter when referring to mankind either. The Bible is the word of God to his people, not just men and not just women. So if you come across verses that seem to be just talking to "men" don't think that you can glean from it as a woman. Same goes for the opposite. God tells us that male and female are mankind. So read His word as such.

"He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them Adam {mankind}." Genesis 5:2

Women were equally created in the image and likeness of God but have seemed to be but a shadow among their male counterparts through history. {We have discussed much of this in the last several posts}. So for a quick review lets look how it all started.

God is NOT a Man, God is a Spirit

So we have been talking about the goddess trough history and how the enemy has used to the goddess as a power and a comfort for women. We have discussed how through the ages that hasn't been hard to do since women have been faced by a largely misogynistic world or at the very least one that has been in large part run by men. Therefore women who have been hurt in this area have shied away from any association with a patriarchal God. And really who can blame them? But what needs to be clarified is that any hurt or fear that has come in the name of a patriarchal God is Not God, because God is not in the business of fear and hurting people.

So where does a woman find her place within a patriarchal faith? I have touched a bit on what God intended when he created the two sexes and how the enemy screwed that all up. How the enemy used what happened in Eden as a catalyst for his role as goddess and gender confusion through the ages. So now that we know that it is the enemy behind the goddess how can women find what they were searching for from the goddess in God? That is what I am in the process of trying to figure out. So I will share what I have come up with so far. Starting things off with one of the ten commandments from God.

From Goddess to Witch

So we have been discussing the time of the middle ages after the fall of the Roman Empire. Speaking in very general terms covering many years. We find that the church fathers had fallen into a fear of women's sexuality and closeness to the spirit realm. So if you were a woman in the church at that time{speaking in very general terms} you were kept close to home. Sex was only for procreation , if at all, as we know most catholics of the time were celibate. Woman had no role in the church and only learned of God what the men taught them which was most often skewed.

So during this time throughout we have a resurgence of pagan folklore sort of mixing with the old Greco-Roman pantheons. It was mostly woman who were involved in these practices and they became known as witches. We could spend a lot of time discussing all the evil practices, the witch hunts, the trials. But what I want to focus on is the scheme of the enemy and his arsonist firefighter trick. Once again he had created a misogynist oppression{this time within the church} then created a goddess to save them. What I find very interesting is that the principle goddess was Diana{Artemis}.

Remember Artemis/Diana was the goddess with the most disdain for men. She was the one that required virginity as a part of her worship of being subject to no man. We also found that much of the practice of infanticide in that time seemed to be loosely connected to her. Women would either consume or sit in baths of wormwood{artemisia vulgaris} to induce abortion. What changes about the goddess Diana/Artemis in the middle ages is that she is no longer a virgin. Given that the oppressive spirit of celibacy was already being taken care of by the church the devil used Diana to loose the chains of chastity or "procreation only" sex. But being the devil of course he didn't create a freedom of sexuality in a Godly sense but instead hearkened back to the damaging sexuality of blurred gender and lack of intimacy or relationship.

Slay the Woman Loose the Dragon

Out of the wonderment and the power that was the very early church came a very angry dragon. The time of equal right and unity between men and women within the new faith was unfortunately short lived. The dragon had lost his hold over the woman and the huge polytheistic pantheons had begun to crumble. So the devil had to come up with a new way to revive the goddess and the catalyst came from within the church.

Remember how I discussed earlier that the woman seem to have a better perception of the spirit realm? I believe that is a gift that God gave woman that was intended to be coupled with mens strength of sober evaluation. So that together the perception of the woman and the evaluation of the man could produce proper judgement in situations. In Eden Eve could perceive the serpent but Adam was silent in his evaluation of the situation. Therefore proper judgment was not made. Maligned judgement of the situation lead to deception for both Adam and Eve.

Now we saw that the devil chose the woman not only because she was the one that bore the seed of man but also because of her spiritual perception. In this way the devil could use her for his spiritual deception via her sexuality and power of persuasion based in her spiritual sensitivity. This is how the role of the goddess flourished from the time of the Sumerian Inanna all the way through to the Greek goddesses like Artemis/Diana. What added fuel to the flame is that spiritual power was the only power that women were "allowed" to have in a man driven world. Then we saw how Jesus changed all that. The very early church was a spiritual power to be reckoned with because of the unity between men and women.

Greek Myth of Pandora

Before we move on I wanted to be sure to share one last Greek myth with you. You will see as we move into the time of the early church how this attitude towards woman was adopted by many a "church father". It was this attitude that fueled the fire while women were burned at the stake! If only these "fathers" had remembered the words of Paul to the Ephesians instead of seemingly ascribing to the paganist thought they were suppose to be rooting out! Again, you can not slay the dragon by killing the woman.

"For our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 5:12

The Greek Myth of the Mortal Pandora

"The gods keep hidden from men the means of life . . . Zeus in the anger of his heart hid it, because Prometheus the crafty deceived him; therefore he planned sorrow and mischief against men. He hid fire; but that the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men from Zeus the counsellor in a hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who delights in thunder did not see it. But afterwards Zeus who gathers the clouds said to him in anger : `Son of Iapetos, surpassing all in cunning, you are glad that you have outwitted me and stolen fire--a great plague to you yourself and to men that shall be. But I will give men as the price for fire an evil thing in which they may all be glad of heart while they embrace their own destruction.'

Slay the Dragon Not the Woman

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

I was going to try to avoid the verses in the new testament that have caused so much division in the church between men and woman. These verses have been re-hashed so many times you almost don't want to hear of them again! But because of what we have been discussing I find it necessary to visit a few of them. Many women have been deeply hurt by the way these verses have been taught. Which is a big indicator to me that they are not being taught correctly because God is not in the business of hurting people. I am hoping that you maybe see them in a different light putting them in context as to what type of women Paul was speaking to.

The words of Paul to women seem very harsh at times. But we have to remember that many of the people he was writing had never heard the gospel. The most common explanation is that the majority of the female coverts of the new testament church were prostitutes. It is true that prostitution was rampant throughout the Roman empire; both street and temple. They were always scantily clad, loaded with make-up, jewelry and spoke brazenly. Like most sexuality during that time there was an attitude of "anything goes". Sexuality was not an intimate male/female thing it was a ritualistic/hedonistic thing{as we have discussed in the other posts}. Infidelity, adultery, drugs and alcohol fueled the fire!

Power of the Goddess

So we have been discussing the word of the goddess through the old and new testament. I find it so interesting that in the way of "fertility goddesses" we went from Inanna and Ishtar whose temple practices involved copious amounts of sexual activity, a generous blurring of the lines between genders, and the consecration of any virginity or loss there of to the goddess herself.

As we moved into the new testament we have the goddess Cybele who still requires copious amounts of sexual activity for her worship but it is done in such a way that there in no fertility. Meaning that the sexual activity was between same sexes making it impossible to produce a child. Then we found Artemis to really be the antithesis of fertility in that she required anyone who worshipped her to never marry. This wasn't for virtuous reasons, this was because of the refusal to be attached to any man. Not only that but if one did marry and have a child it was quite possible you would suffer her wrath. Remember any woman who died in childbirth was attributed to Artemis. Their tunics would be taken to her as sacrifice. {according to the picture above maybe it was their bodies too!?!}We also discovered the eerie connection between a known abortion causing herb of the ancient world wormwood and the goddess. The herbs Latin name was Artemisia Vulgaris.

Artemis Peter Pan?

OK, so I know this is a little random and a bit of a detour...my brain does that from time to time...LOL. If you have been reading along for the last few posts we have been discussing goddesses of the ancient world. The last goddess we just discussed was Artemis of Ephesus fame.

So my kids {ages 6 and 3} have been watching Disney's "Peter Pan" off and on for the last couple of days. One of my favorites, although I have never read the original book by J.M Barrie. Remember how in the last post I said that Artemis was a female Peter Pan of sorts? Well I got to thinking...{remember my brain is a bit strange} that they do have quite a bit in common...at least with the Disney movie. Let me explain....

Blueprint of a Goddess...Artemis

So now we have come to the best known new testament goddess, that is Artemis. Artemis is a many faceted goddess whom I have not totally figured out. Some say she was a fertility goddess other say she was goddess of the hunt. Most seem to say that she was the goddess of both. So in that respect she will fit in quite nicely with the other goddess we have been discussing. Her most famous temple was in Ephesus on the west coast of Asia Minor but she also had temples in Sparta and Brauron.

In the Roman world she was assimilated with the goddess Diana. However when you look at the sculptures of Diana and Artemis side by side you see two very different looking goddesses. Where Diana looks very refined; Artemis has a more bohemian feel. {see pics} One theory is that the Artemis of Ephesus was an incarnation of the goddess Cybele because of the close geographically proximity and the similar look. For the sake of this post we will discuss the general consensus that Artemis and Diana are one in the same.

Artemis was known as a virgin goddess much like the others we have discussed. However with Artemis the term 'virgin' didn't mean 'single and having sex' as it did with the others. From what I can tell she was truly chaste. In fact I haven't found any evidence of ritual sex associated with Artemis or her temple. Which was a big surprise to me too! It is for this reason that Artemis became the patron goddess of young unmarried woman.

Blueprint of a Goddess...Cybele

So we have discussed some of the goddesses during the old testament times; mainly Inanna and Ishtar. Now we will jump ahead to the new testament times.

I have chosen to discuss the goddess Cybele because of her androgynous beginnings and her very interesting temple rites. When we think of the Greco-Roman world during the times of the new testament the more commonly known gods and goddesses come to mind...Aprodite/Venus, Dionysus/Bacchus, Eros/Cupid etc. While these gods and goddesses were no strangers to orgastic temple rites with sexuality of all kinds it is the myths of Cybele that have intrigued me.

Cybele was known as 'The Great Mother' or 'Great Virgin', guardian of the dead, goddess of fertility and wild life. Her myths actually date back to about 1500BC in Asia Minor{modern day Turkey}; specifically the region of Phrygia{yellow region on map}. In the older original myths Cybele is called Agadistis who possessed both male and female attributes. It was said that this gave rise to such wild and uncontrolled nature that the other gods began to fear her/him. So the gods gave Agadistis a potion to put her/him to sleep. While asleep Dionysus{god of intoxication} put a rope around her/his phallus so that when she/he awoke to get up her/his phallus was riped off. This blood dripped into the ground and a almond tree sprouted.

Blueprint of a Goddess...Pictures & References.

It really is amazing to see these fertility goddesses side by side. They all have the same symbolism; just from different times and different places. Most all have a serpent of some kind. We all know what that represents.  Here is an interesting take from a secular point of view---

"The serpent first appears as a serpent mother goddess in the Neolitic era, and is also drawn coiling around the womb and the phallus as principle of regeneration.  In the Sumerian cities of Ur and Uruk, in the lowest level of excavation, were found two very old images of the Mother Goddess and her child, both having the heads of snakes.  As the male aspect of the goddess was differentiated, the serpent became the fertilizing phallus, image of the god who was her son and consort, born from her, married with her and dying back into her for rebirth in unending cycle.   As we have seen, in images of the goddess in every culture the serpent is never far away, standing behind her, eating from her hand, entwined in her tree...Genesis is no expection to this, unless it be that, formally, there is no goddess, only a woman..."
The Myth of the Goddess, Anne Baring and Jules Cashford

Might I add that Genesis is no different!  The serpent hoped to make Eve the first goddess, but instead found a woman of God!  Also notice many of them also have wings, which makes it clear to me that they were a favorite manifestation of the Devil. Almost all of them have a lion in one way or another. It is my understanding that in mythology a lion represents the sun and earthly dominion. Therefore is usually in reference to the principle male deity. Remember, the fertility goddess is a moon goddess. So I am assuming that the symbolism is to show her power over the earth and the male deity.  In alchemy the lion is the symbol of sexual passion where as the serpent/dragon represents the circular nature of things or constant re-invention.  In alchemy this symbol is called 'ouroboros'.

In this post I will also include some of the biblical references where they apply.

Inanna/Ishtar{Sumerian/Babylonian}

'Queen of Heaven' Jer. 7:18, Jer. 44:17-19,25

'Morning Star' Isaiah 14:12

'Lilitu'{screech owl} Isaiah 34:14

Blueprint of a Goddess...Ishtar

In the last post we discussed the Sumerian fertility goddess Inanna. In this post we will see the next incarnation that was the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Ishtar and Inanna are nearly the same goddess. Both are moon goddesses, both are related to Venus. Both call themselves the Morning and Evening Star. Ishtar is often depicted with lions, serpents or dragons. Both descend to the underworld. The parallels go on and on. Ishtar was just the latest incarnation of the goddess.

Now the in the last post we read of Inanna descended to the underworld, passing through the gates, then presenting herself naked before her sister, the queen of the underworld. Then she is killed by her sister and left hanging on a post. In the meantime her faithful friend goes to her father Enki{god of wisdom} to tell him she has not returned. So Enki creates two beings {neither male or female} to take her the water and food of life. Inanna comes back to life but the queen of the underworld tells her someone must die in her place. So Inanna goes to look for someone. When she comes upon her husband, Dumuzi{the shepherd god} she discovers that her was not mourning her death. In her anger she chooses her husband to take her place in the underworld. Therefore Tammuz is sacrificed for the sake of fertility.

Blueprint of a Goddess...Inanna

Continuing from our last post. We are discussing the very first fertility goddess; Inanna. She was the sex, fertility and goddess of war to the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. We discussed in the last post the Sumerian creation myth that there were six people created in the beginning. Four of whom were androgynous and the other two a barren female and a castrated male eunuch. So we can see the death wish that the devil had for both Adam and Eve. He was furious that Adam and Eve had the capability to produce life.

We also discussed the myth of Inanna and the Huluppu Tree. This was a tree that the god of wisdom had planted and that Inanna took and planted in her own sacred garden. She makes a throne in her tree, to rule. She makes a bed in her tree to reproduce. Later the serpent, the Anzu bird and the Lilitu all make a nest in her tree. We see later that these three beings were all aspects of Inanna's personality.

So this gives great insight as to the enemies side of the story. As I have discussed in other posts, I do not believe that God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil {or function and dysfunction, in the Hebrew} in the garden. It was God's Tree of Life that was in the midst of the garden, the other tree was a tree that the devil had made his nest in. To make his throne and his bed as the myth points out. The Devil wanted to be ruler of the earth and he also wanted rule over the seed of the woman. So he tempts the bearer of the seed; Eve. More on this in a bit. First lets discuss 'Inanna and the Mes'.

According to the Sumerian myth, once Inanna made her throne out of the Huluppu Tree she decided she would need more power than what Enki{the god of wisdom} had given her. Enki was the keeper of the Mes or Me. The Me was the wisdom of civilization. It was the code of how the spirit world and the physical world interacted. So one day Inanna goes to Enki and asks for a larger allocation of the Me; since it was handed out among all the other gods each with their own sphere of influence. Enki denies his daughter Inanna her request and Inanna is not happy. So she gets him drunk. Then in his drunkenness he hands over ALL the Me to Inanna. Inanna flees quickly in her boat up the Euphrates.

When Enki comes to and realizes that he has been tricked, he is furious. So he sends out demonic creatures of all kinds to retrieve the Me. But Inanna's trusty female companion Ninshubur fights off all the demons. So what do you think was the prize of all the Me to Inanna? Choice!

"Of all the Me Inanna received, the one she valued most, as did Enki, was the power of making decisions. Knowing the other gifts would be worthless without this power -- which involves will, initiative, and independence." from Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth by Eloise Hart

So a background picture should be forming in your mind as to what was behind the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Isn't interesting to see how the Devil made myths to show himself the good guy in all this? Or actually good gal! LOL. Seriously though. The devil knew he could tempt Eve because he knew she had the freedom of choice. That is why he set up shop in the garden. He wanted Adam and Eve to worship him in place of God. He wanted Adam and Eve to think that he was the one that would make them 'fruitful and multiply'. He wanted Adam and Eve to think he was the one with all the wisdom. But as we know it was a lie. Adam and Eve gained no good knowledge from the tree, they only gained the death of the devil. There is another eerie parallel and that is Inanna's decent to the underworld.

It is still unclear to me as to why Inanna decides to go to the underworld. However her sister Eriskegal is the goddess of the underworld and the dead. As Inanna descends she passes through seven different gates guarded by demons. At each gate she is required to remove a piece of clothing or earthly attribute including her priestly office, her sexual power and her royal power. By the time she gets to the underworld she is naked before her sister the goddess of the dead.

"Naked and bowed low, Inanna entered the throne room.
Ereshkigal rose from her throne.
Inanna started toward the throne.
The Annuna, the judges of the underworld, surrounded her.
They passed judgment against her.
Then Ereshkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death.
She spoke against her the word of wrath.
She uttered against her the cry of guilt.
She struck her.
Inanna was turned into a corpse,
A piece of rotting meat,
And was hung from a hook on the wall...."www.inanna.virtualave.net/tammuz.html

So here we really have the culmination of what took place in the garden. The Devil as Inanna has built his throne in the garden. He thinks he has outwitted God by using his choice to make his throne in the garden. The devil thinks that he can 'get' Adam and Eve by offering 'his' wisdom. But what he really wants is the seed of man, that is born of the woman. So the temptation of Eve was that she would 'be like God' or in this case be a goddess. This temptation goes against what God had already put in place by His truth.

Man and woman were created male and female, separate but equal. They were to take dominion over the earth together. They were to be fruitful and multiply together. They were to be in intimate relationship with God and in an intimate marital relationship together. But the Devil doesn't like that idea. So he seeks to destroy. But the trick offered to Eve was that she didn't need Adam as an intimate husband to co-rule with. The way of the goddess is to rule over man and use him only as a fertilizer. So Eve fell for it and Adam stood there like a future male fertility prostitute; succumbed to the way of the goddess and ate the lie as well. Then the lie was revealed.

They stood there naked and laid bare just like Inanna before the queen of the underworld. And part of the death was to their sexuality. Remember the Sumerian creation story? A barren woman and a male eunuch. That was how Adam and Eve stood. The Devil had made that which was male and female, married, intimate and able to produce life---androgynous, unequal, ritual and dead. Women are reminded of the death every month! That is what menstruation is; death of a potential life. This was part of the consequence for Eve's choice. Pain in conception and childbirth because of the 'death' caused by the Devil. This wasn't Gods plan. Sin is the punishment. Sin is causing the will of the Devil to take place. Moreover what the Devil accomplished is the unequal state between a man and a woman. Again not God, remember he has given them equal dominion, they were to be co-rulers. So God's response to this now unequal relationship is...Eve desire your husband{not the schemes of the enemy} and Adam take care of your wife! In other words look out for one another and be aware of the destructive plans of the enemy.

So in a way we can look at what happened in the garden as a victory. Or at the very least God working a seemingly hopeless situation for good. Adam and Eve repented. Adam and Eve were covered by God in skins of atonement. The next we hear of the couple it is that Adam knew his wife in the intimate, marital, sexual union. Eve conceives life by her husband and gives birth to life in her son Cain. Eve exclaims "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth the life of a man." {Gen 4:1} Proclaiming the life of God's truth and at the same time discounting the lie that the enemy had told.

So the Devil creates his own story. He dreams up the goddess Inanna as the one he wished Eve had become so that he would have held the power to use her to his evil purpose. In a weird way it almost seems that the Devil himself takes on the personae of the goddess. It's like the fireman who is an arsonist by night. He lights the fires of destruction in the shadows then by day shows up as the hero who saves everyone. That is the narcissistic character of the enemy. You will see as we follow the other fertility goddesses through ancient times that the are the ones who claim fertility but always have a dark side of war and death. It was the devil that gave birth to misogyny, but he covered his evil intentions in a the form of a goddess so that he might cause the most damage against her.

Next we will look at the transformation of the Sumerian Inanna into the Babylonian Ishtar. We will also be discussing where the female aspect fits into a patriarchal God.

Blueprint of a Goddess

So as discussed in the last post we are going to take a dive into the world of ancient mythology. This is in no way to glorify the devil or discount the Bible. This is to instead expose the schemes of the enemy and see things from "his" perspective. You will see very quickly how the devil created his own history in which he is the giver of life, sex and fertility. So for this post I will presents some of the myths of Inanna--Sumerian goddess of sex, fertility and war. She is considered the first fertility goddess. Then in the next post we will compare it with our story of Adam and Eve and how the devil assaulted sexuality.

I have never been more grateful for God as the true God and his Word. He is straightforward, simple and to the point. The polytheistic pantheons of the ancient world attest to the panic of the devil, that somehow "quantity" would make up for the "quality" that is "I AM". The myths are very complex and confusing. I have only been studying them for a few weeks, so it is hard to keep them straight. But it is obvious that the enemy used these gods and goddesses to destroy the truth and principles God had created. All the while he takes on the role that he was the one screwed over by God. Moreover that Adam and Eve had been screwed over by God as well.

Sacred Sex & Ritual Marriage

So I have been spending a lot of time looking at mythology and ancient religions. Most of this was research for my "Bible Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll" post that I am adding to as I find new information. What I began to notice is how big a role the ancient fertility cults played in the world at that time. Also how under the guise of "sexual freedom" the devil was destroying sexuality and intimacy. Seeing that we have been discussing sexuality I thought it would be interesting to see how the devil has blurred the lines of sexuality from the very beginning. I believe it is part of the reason that he was in the garden.

Yesterday I read an interesting description of alchemy. Alchemy was known throughout the ancient world. But it really had a large following through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Alchemy on one hand was the study of chemistry and paved the road for our modern day chemists. That side of it I think is wonderful...I have nothing against science! :D But the dark side of alchemy was the quest for a sacred elixir. A potion that would cure all diseases and give eternal youth. So in that sense it was more along the lines of the occult. Here is the definition I read.

Light in the Darkness

Relationships: The One

Relationship Series...Click here to read the overview.

Fulfilling***Married***Passion***Ardent***Secret***Intimacy***Private***Unity

So we have made it to the very top of the list for loving relationships. This is when you and your beloved become one. Now I have already talked about "Why Marriage ?" in other posts so in this post I want to focus on the sexual side of marriage. It seems like the Bible is fairly silent as to what is to take place within the marriage. It tells us what NOT to do, but not real what we should do. In the new testament it basically just says to love and submit. Therefore I believe that even in Christian married circles the act of sex still seems a little un-spiritual. Even though...GOD INVENTED SEX FOR PLEASURE AS WELL AS PROCREATION!

So let go back to the Song of Solomon. Some say that this book is to be an allegory of God and the church in hopes to "spiritualize" the book. Look guys...this is a book about the courting, marriage and expression of two human people in love. This is a book that show the celebration of the two sexes becoming one in spirit and body. Intimate, sensual, passionate, steamy yet totally holy and ordained by God!