Enheduanna

I found this book Enheduanna, the lady with the largest heart when doing some research on Enheduanna, the Ancient Priestess/princess/warrior, the first known author, a renown poet who invented the literary device of the First Person Narrative.

You can find it online at Amazon, but I went to Chapters it had to be special ordered. I'll have it in my hot little hands within a week!

She lived 4,300 years ago and influenced the next 2,000 years of temple hymnal systems used by the most recognizable figures of biblical and mythical mention. She introduced such mythic themes that are still being proliferated by artists, authors, poets and lyricists to this day.

One of the many contributions Enheduanna made the people of her time was the unification of all local goddesses under one great goddess through the elevation of Inanna as supreme among them. (Blessed as thou art amongst women) As the wife of Nanna, and the embodiment of Inanna, what Enheduanna actually did was secure power by uniting all local goddesses under herself. This process assisted her father King Sargon in unifying Northern and Southern Mesopotamia under himself, the first ruler to do so ever.

She is the one whose image I have glimpsed hiding behind the various masks and names used for the Goddess through out history.

She's the one I've been peeling the glass onion for!

I didn't leave the store empty handed though, as by fluke on my way to the checkout I found a rack displaying various Tarot packs and books, some astrology and dream books. Of course I had to look. They didn't have either of the tarot decks I'm interested in or any books on the ones I currently use, so I was about to walk away when I found a small paperback jewel called "Magic Spells and Incantations", with an introduction and notes by Elizabeth Pepper.

It was on sale for three bucks! After flipping through it quickly, I determined I was holding a book containing well researched "words of power" passed down from prehistoric times, through ancient Babylon, the English Romantic Renaissance to Modern times. I brought the book home and devoured it in a couple of hours.

In it I found so many references to other works I might like to research. For instance, any of the linguistic or mythic compendiums of Jacob Grimm through which he chronicles countless folklore remedies, charms and histories that he drew upon for his wonderful tales. Now that is a book to get my hands on. Whoo Hoo!

But one section had me jumping out of my chair.

Here is an excerpt:

"The English Platonist Thomas Taylor published the Mystical Hymns of Orpheus in 1787 His translation and notes influenced the English romantic poets and the American Transcendentalists."

Fair lamp of night, its ornament and friend,
Who givest Nature's works their destined end.
Queen of the Stars. All wise Dianna Hail!
Decked with a graceful robe and shining veil;
Come blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright,
Come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light,
Shine on these sacred rites with prosperous rays,
And pleased accept thy supliant's praise."

As luck would have it, there was a history channel program on in the background talking about the Goddess Dianna.

Wham!
Dianna, IS the Greek counterpart of Enheduanna, Duanna, Dianna!

The first line of Orpheus's poem tells the tale:

Fair lamp of night, its ornament and friend,

The Lamp of Night is the Moon.

En-hedu-anna, literally translates as "Ornament of Heaven". The word Anna describes the kingdom of An, the supreme god of the Sumerian pantheon, thus Anna means Heaven.

The Ornament of Heaven served at the temple of Ur as the priestess of the god Nanna, the Moon. Enheduanna was considered to be his consort and wife (ornament and friend).

I'm going to have to look into Orphic Mysteries next, but it seems to me anyway, that this poem or hymn is the traditional construct of an invocation, or way of aproaching the Diety.

First He addresses her by poetic titles
Then her praises her by her qualities and attributes
Than in closing, he makes a request of her with the lines;

Shine on these sacred rites with prosperous rays,
And pleased accept thy supliant's praise.

Indicating some kind of ritual would have followed.

I'm not so much interested in the ritual's missing description, as I am in the words themselves, the archetecture of the words, the adaptibility and longevity of the words.

Words of power, of influence, those rare utterances that somehow entwine themselves in human memory and psyche, words like Sticks and Stones, or Enie, Meanie, Miney, Moe, words like come hither, and smote and by hook or by crook, Lady bug Lady bug, Fly away home...

I'm interested in the aparant continuity of custom and comprehension between the world dominated by ancient Sumeria, and today's world dominated by North America.

I'm interested in the path taken through migration and conquest, through assimilation and adaptation and all the things that seem to spread civilization.

And at this time, I'm very interested in the Akkadian woman known as EN-HEDU-ANNA, Ornament of Heaven, EN Priestess of NANNA.