#'anat

[palmsofourhands]

2020 Goals: Keeping Up with the Iluma - ‘Ashuru Shamni

This year I started off with the Festival of Oil, ‘Ashuru Shamni. Beforehand, I randomly checked the Shanatu Qadishti from Tess Dawson’s (the founder of Natib Qadish) website for the New Moon/Full Moon/Festival dates. I had exactly 7 days from the date (1/2/2020) to prepare for ‘Ashuru Shamni. This is just one solitary Qadish doing what she can to celebrate the Ugarit/Canaanite Gods.

I bought the most expensive bottle of extra virgin olive oil I felt comfortable buying (on sale!). Then every night leading up to the date, I poured about an ounce of olive oil into a larger bottle, followed by about 21 drops of myrrh, then swirled it around. (Alas, extra virgin olive oil smells waaaaaaaay stronger than 21 drops of myrrh, and myrrh is not a weak smell, tbh).

To ritualize it and invite the Ilumas’ blessings, I searched youtube for ‘Canaanite music’ (usually brings up Near Eastern/Middle Eastern musicians) and ran that playlist. I then lit a candle to Choranu, inviting His aid and presence to purify me and the oil of any khat’sa (ritual/spiritual impurity, somewhat akin to the Greek idea of miasma). Then I would leave a drink offering for Choranu to enjoy while His candle burned. I also lit a candle to Ba’lu Hadad, because He is invoked during ‘Ashuru Shamni to bless the oil and to protect the city of Ugarit. Generally I would let the candles, oil and offering sit for at least an hour. I myself would do journaling or other quiet activities conducive to Their presence. Do this 6 more nights and you will have at least one half liter of olive oil and myrrh to have as a magical base for any other anointing oils.

For the actual night of ‘Ashuru Shamni, I fried up some fish fillets and latkes from Trader Joes. Got the music and candles going. Invited the Iluma by Their Names one by one (I invited Ilu, Athirat, Ba’lu Hadad, ‘Anat and Choranu). Blessed Their presence and presented the big bottle of myrrh oil I had been preparing.

I made the first pour (half an ounce) for Ba’lu Hadad, and added essential oils (EO) of myrrh and cedar (cedrus atlantica, smells SO nice). This time around, the EO stood out more than the olive scent. Then presented the fried food, and some pomegranate juice for Them. Lit the candle for Ba’lu Hadad and recited blessing prayers from Whisper of Stone and The Horned Altar (both by Tess Dawson) and my own prayers. 

Then I sat and ate my own fried foods (yum). This next part was impromptu: I planned on saving the first oil I had poured out for Balu Hadad (now considered the Oil of Blessing for me). I had been planning on using the oil to bless and protect the thresholds of my place. I picked up the small dish--and got inspired to anoint every door frame. Just a dab, but at every door. (My roommate wasn’t home, and her door was closed. I dabbed her door anyway; she is understanding of my path and my ‘ways’, so I know she would not mind.) Also anointed every window that is able to open to the outside.

That done, I poured the remaining oil (still a lot) into a new bottle. It was messy and I spilled some in the sink. HOWEVER! I learned a very special protocol while cleaning this up; do not wash the oil away. It is not dirt. For clean up of this holy oil, I instead wiped it carefully with paper towel, then respectfully threw that in the garbage. Why this, I have no idea. I just know that once I needed to clean up, it was downloaded in my head as “do it THIS way, this is important”. 

Thus done, I thanked the Iluma. The Iluma I invited by Name, I bid Them goodbye by Name as well. The ritual was then closed.

I want to be more organized and do more devotional activities for the Iluma this year. And inspiration is either faint, or it just downloads all at once for me, so reading what I do, please take with a grain of salt. I can say that I felt only good vibes/quiet approval of the ritual. 

There were other things I wanted to do that I ended up abandoning; 

crochet a special mat for Ba’lu Hadad (since it is His presence traditionally at the festival to bless the city) but didn’t use bc it wasn’t finished and it was lopsided. 

Make other prayer oils at the time, and with other types besides olive oil. I even tried putting frankincense EO in, but when I tipped it, nothing came out (this is a full bottle btw). I felt that maybe They didn’t want/need it at the time.

[reina-morada]

Hey, totes sorry for creeping. I meant to ask about Anat and I liked your blog so much I just 🙈 started reblogging shit. Apologies. Why I really came: I want to know about Anat. bookofwisdom said it was OK to ask you. I'm sorry if this is weird. I just haven't been able to find a lot of information, and what I could glean repeated itself. Safari sucks, Google sucks, and when I search the tag I mostly see "aesthetic" and memes and such...I'd really like to know about her *and* get to know her.

Haha, you don’t need to apologize for reblogging stuff! I’m glad you like my blog. I think this is the first ‘Iluma related question I’ve had in a long while!

I think it’s great that you’d like to get closer to ‘Anat. I once did an ‘Iluma post about her which you can find here. It touches on a lot of good tidbits of her stories that can give you an idea of what her personality is like.  (My masterpost of all the ‘Iluma is here). My first piece of advice for interacting with and starting to get to know ‘Anat is to leave offerings! (of course)Here is a guide for making offerings to the ‘Iluma written by Tess Dawson (she’s been controversial in the past, but I still use some of her guides in practice).

Some particular food offerings I personally have had success with with ‘Anat include:

Pomegranates 

Red wine

Olive oil

Fresh baked bread

Plain sugar cookies

Milk

Raspberries 

Figs

Honey

Never offer the ‘Iluma pork or fast food! While I can offer Set a slice of pizza and not have much of a problem, do not do the same with the ‘Iluma! Much like the offerings I give to Krishna, fresh stuff (or as fresh as possible) is best. Stick to natural things without much processing. 

The ‘Iluma tend to like the same incense the Netjeru do, with myrrh and frankincense being the favorites. They also tend to love oils and perfumes.  

Some books I always recommend when it comes to Natib Qadish include: Whisper of Stone, The Horned Altar, and Anointed: A devotional anthology for the deities of the Near and Middle East. 

I hope this helps somehow, I think this is just enough to get you started. If you have more questions please ask!

*whisper* Also how did you add the monkey emoji into an ask share with me your wonderful skills

[manticoreimaginary]

[MYTHOLOGY MEME] 2/5 War Deities: Anat

Anat is a major northwest Semitic goddess. In Ugarit (modern northern Syria) Anat is a violent war-goddess who is the sister and, according to a much disputed theory, the lover of the great god Ba‘al Hadad. Anat's titles used again and again are "virgin ‘Anat" and "sister-in-law of the peoples" (or "progenitress of the peoples" or "sister-in-law, widow of the Li’mites").

Anat appears as a fierce, wild and furious warrior in a battle, wading knee-deep in blood, striking off heads, cutting off hands, binding the heads to her torso and the hands in her sash, driving out the old men and townsfolk with her arrows, her heart filled with joy. 

Anat first appears in Egypt in the 16th dynasty (the Hyksos period) along with other northwest Semitic deities. She was especially worshiped in her aspect of a war goddess, often paired with the goddess `Ashtart. In the Contest Between Horus and Set, these two goddesses appear as daughters of Re and are given in marriage to the god Set. [x]

[reina-morada]

‘Anatu, ‘Anat, Anat

Anat is often lumped together with other goddesses such as ‘Athiratu (Asherah), Astarte, ‘Attartu, etc. BookofWisdom did a very good post like this on Anat (link), so I’m really just going to be repeating information she’s already given out along with my own UPG. 

Anat’s epithet batulatu, loosely translates to “young woman”. She was not wed and was no longer under the authority of her father, there was no male authority over her. She exists in an in-between state, independent and empowered. She is well known for her relationship to the god of rain, Ba’al Hadad. The two had a very unique relationship. They were friends, partners, lovers, etc. They may or may not have had children together. She is also known to have had sex with Set, the Egyptian God of Chaos (among other things).  

Anat is Ba’al Hadad’s right hand man. She is often characterized as wearing men’s clothing and acting like a warrior (because fuck gender roles- as BookofWisdom put it). In another myth where she wants Aqhat’s bow, she kills him when he implies that because she is a women she would have no use for it. “A girl like you shouldn’t be playing with weapons”. While clearly that isn’t what Aqhat said, you catch my drift. Her connections with blood, adolescence, dynamic energy, and rebelliousness are prominent. She is ‘Ilu’s most rebellious child- threatening to stain his beard with his own blood if Ba’al Hadad is not given the palace of a King. She says this to her father, the king of the pantheon, the chief God- without fear. And he brushes it off, implying she's constantly saying things like that to him. She bathes in the blood of Ba’al Hadad’s enemies and destroys Motu (the god of death) for his murder of Hadad. 

As BookofWisdom points out, the best part is is she is not defined by him. She is independent and yields her own power. She’s Anat- she isn’t Hadad’s consort Anat. One of the most empowering things about her is how she deals with the God of Death. I am going to quote BookofWisdom’s post here (she puts it way better than I could): 

“Let me point out something I said there, and kind of glossed over. She killed the god of death and decay. I’m not talking the god of the afterlife. No, no, that’s not M-tu’s job. (That dash is an ‘o.’ I just don’t like saying the name.) Seriously. He is the god of dying, and is literally described as a giant maw stretching from the depths of the underworld to the tops of the stars. When Yam became Prince, the gods cowered before him. Except Hadad. When Hadad bested Yam, M-t rose to challenge him. Hadad died. And you know what happened then? Anat mourned him, searched for his body, and bore it home to be buried. The land withered and the people began dying. AND ANAT WENT AND KICKED M-TU’S BUTT. Literally, she killed him, treated him like grain, and then sowed his body into the earth to rejuvenate it. And then, somehow, Hadad came back. The tablet’s a little fuzzy, there abouts.”

I think that in itself says a lot about her. All of the ‘Iluma mourns Hadad, her especially. She sees that humanity cannot survive without Hadad and his rain. So she gets up, pulls herself together, and searches for his body to bring him back. Then, she turns to the deity who killed Hadad, the god which even the ‘Iluma fear- and annihilates him. She throws down the god of death and treats him like grain, rips him to shreds and breaks him down and sews him into the earth. 

UPG: 

I love Anat. I find her to be a very strong individual. Especially because Lord Hadad is one of my favorite deities, and she brings his body back to the ‘Iluma and somehow he is revived. To put it blatantly, she’s freaking badass. Like her mother she doesn’t take shit from anyone. I greatly admire her, but can at times find her a little intimidating. I wish I could write more, but I haven’t interacted with her much in the past (though I plan to). BookofWisdom definitely would be able to say more on her. 

I put so much work into this collage. It took me weeks to find the right photos- finally got it done today and I am very proud.

Note: Tagging this Kemetic as well because of her marriage/relationship to Set.