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ISHTAR
The great Mother Goddess of ancient Assyrian and Babylonian mythology. She was said to be either the daughter of the sky god, Anu, or the moon god, Sin.
Over the course of time, Ishtar absorbed the characteristics of other Goddesses and so represents different aspects. Worship of her spread throughout the Middle East, Greece and Egypt. She was an Oracle. She ruled over fertility, sex and war and protected man against evil.
As the many-breasted Opener of the Womb, she was the giver of all life; as the Destroyer and Queen of the , she also was the taker of all life. As Goddess of the Moon, her waxing and waning ruled the cyclical birth and death of the planet. She was the Heavenly Cow, the Green One, the Mistress of the Field.
Her son, Tammuz, also called the Green One, became her lover upon his reaching manhood. Ishtar descended to the realm of the dead to rescue Tammuz, a myth nearly identical to an earlier Sumerian myth of Inanna and Damuzi, and similar to the myth of Demeter and Kore. When Ishtar descended, both fertility and sexual desire went dormant, to await her seasonal return.
As Queen of Heaven, Ishtar replaced Sin as the moon deity; she rode through the sky at night in a chariot drawn by goats or lions. The Zodiac was known as the "girdle of Ishtar," which also refers to the ancient moon calendar. She was the giver of omens and prophecy through dreams, and through her Magick, others could obtain secret knowledge.
Ishtar was associated with the planet Venus. The lion and dove were sacred to her.
see also: GODDESS; ASHTORETH; ASTARTE.
PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.
Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.
Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.
- Jean-Luc
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