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Through a dream and researching that dream, I believe that I have discovered a past life of mine. We all may have many past lives but there is always one or two that are extremely influential in our current plane and I feel that this one is.
I believe that I was a priestess for the goddess Ishtar. The more I have learned about this possibility, the more strongly I feel kinship and familiarity with it. I will explain a few details about Ishtar for those who are curious.
Ishtar was the goddess of love and sexuality in Babylon. Queen Serammis was the origin of the entire story of Ishtar and she incited the worship of the goddess, as well. It was her way of calling the people to explain their existence and celebrate their life and growth as a civilization. Serammis told the people that she was a representation of the goddess Ishtar and that Ishtar had come from the Moon (which was consider a goddess as well) by an egg that fell into the river Euphrates, spawning all reproductive life on earth (basically another version of the creation story, as the garden of Eden is said to also be connected to the river Euphrates) and the Egg became a symbol of fertility and basically life itself.
She eventually claimed to become pregnant by immaculate conception, and further claimed that the father was Baal, the sun-god of Babylon. When her son Tammuz died, she told everyone that he had ascended to his father. She also said that when she buried his mortal body, an evergreen tree grew over the spot overnight. Evergreen trees became sacred symbols of remembrance of the Son of their God (which is the origin of the Christmas tree).
As Queen Serammis was believed to be the incarnate form of Ishtar, she was able to teach the people to worship as she believed would best remind them of the sacred gift of existence. Sexuality and fertility were regarded as celebrations and worship to Ishtar herself. In time, Ishtar became the most revered deity of the era. Temples were erected in various ancient cities to encourage the followers, to inspire awareness, and to encourage worship.
Because this now-famous deity was a woman and her human incarnation was also a woman, women alone were chosen to reside in the temples and to lead the acts of worship that would occur. They were referred to as Priestesses of Ishtar. The priestesses would engage in a sacred sexual encounter with anyone who entered the temple desiring a communion with the goddess, and these acts were believed to be a celebration and worship of their goddess. They considered themselves mediators for Ishtar, channeling and bestowing ecstasy among her worshippers. A woman could serve for a day, a month, a year, or the majority of her life, offering her body to Ishtar through these rituals. (This is where the origin of the word prostitute came to be. It was used to describe these priestesses, and its original definition was "to act on behalf of" because the people believed that these woman acted on behalf of Ishtar herself. Unfortunately, when the Jewish faith began to take root, virginity rather than mature sexuality was idealized. Those who subscribed to the uprising of Judaism disrespectfully referred to the Priestesses as whores, eventually changing the word 'prostitute' from an honourable term for a priestess to a negative term for a common woman of ill-repute. This is even evidenced in the Bible, as it refers to Ishtar as the 'Great Whore of Babylon'.)
Queen Serammis began a tradition of celebration of the resurrection of her son who had died, and the holiday we now call Easter began. The fact that she believed herself an incarnate of this deity who had fallen from the moon influenced her decision to declare the holiday to coincide with the spring equinox, and every year, on a specific day after the first full moon following the spring equinox, a celebration was made. This festival included stories of rabbits (an animal her son had greatly loved), and the colouring of eggs as a symbol of fertility. To this day, still coincides with the equinox, and the same symbols of celebration are included. The Queen later announced that her resurrected son had ascended to his father, Baal, and that the two of them would be with the worshipers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit. The commemorative gesture she prescribed regarding her son was the symbol of a cross made on the chest of the worshipper, which is also something we see in this day.
There are many more elements to the story that Queen Serammis crafted long ago, and many of them tie into traditions and explanations that we see today in our own religions or every day life. I believe that in this past life, I served as a mediator between Ishtar and her worshipers, creating an atmosphere of pure sexuality and ecstasy, channeling a celebration of existence and life on earth. It is beautiful and honourable, and I hope that my experiences then will help me on this plane to spread truth and gratefulness for the sanctity and beauty of the life we have, not through sexual means, but through knowledge and true adoration of the beauty of life.
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| I had a dream where I was in a forest in a small clearing. In the center of the clearing there was a simple fire. I was dancing around this fire, holding hands with Rebekah, Tonya, and Robert and some other people I don't know yet. We were in a circle around this center fire, and as I gazed at the faces around me, I realized that we were all very young. Rebekah was around 16, and Robert and Tonya were in their early or mid-twenties. I could not see myself, but I could feel in my body that I was young, too.
But there was no fear. All of the sadness that was constantly inside me during my youth was gone. We were laughing as if we all had a secret.
And then a woman came to us, and older looking woman in Native American dress, and she went to each of us as we danced and tied a shiny thin cord around our wrists, binding each person to the one beside them. Somehow I knew that it was magic, that she was pulling the magic around us, what we already had within... that it was connecting us from that point on.
We are more than family. Somehow in another place, we are bound together by something with which we are born.
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| What is destiny and is anyone willing to discuss this with me?
Who am I? Where am I going?
How do my actions affect my future?
I alternate between believing that my future will happen as it wills itself to, and believing that I am in control of my destiny.
After incredibly long periods of thought, I feel that I have an extremely solid grasp on the differences and forces of fate, chance, and luck. But I still do not understand destiny.
I look forward to your messages. | | |
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This is the outside of the beautiful Grande Mosque which is the largest in this area. It was built by request of the king and the royal family.
This is the outer courtyard. The reddish brown borders are actually scriptures from the Holy Qur'an written in a more ancient form of Arabic.
Here is the ceiling inside the mosque. The dome is actually built of fiberglass materials for safety and ease of construction. The small windows of light you can see lining the base of the dome are Parisian stained glass, and each has a representation of Allah inside, but the light made it difficult to see.
This was my original attempt at donning the covering, which is required of all women who enter the mosque in respect for the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. Both the abaya and hijab are provided to non-Muslim ladies who visit.
This is the area where the prayer leader stands. It is constructed in a way to encourage sound to carry without a microphone. Standing inside that small area will make a normal voice sound very loud throughout the mosque.
This is the chandelier chained to the arches under the base of the dome. It is connected to a wheel of lanterns and the lowest point hangs about 35 feet overhead. It weighs over 2 tons, was made in Poland, and has hundreds of French bulbs made of blown glass.
This is the beautiful wood carvings that cover all the windows in the mosque. This star is one of many geometric designs that are used in the decoration of the mosque. There is no religious connection to the stars that are used. It is simply a common traditional type of decoration, and stars of all number of points are used.
These are the smaller chandeliers that line the ceilings of the upper balcony in the mosque, where the women and children pray. The bulbs are also made of blown glass, and used to have one candle in each. They have since changed to electric lights, which I imagine cuts down on a lot of work!
Here I am after our very kind Bahraini escort, Sarah, fixed my covering in the proper way.
This is a better view of the chandelier and lower part of the main prayer area.
Here you can more clearly see the bulbs.
I learned while visiting the mosque that Islam and Christianity are very similar and very different in many ways. The tour guide spoke reverently of his beliefs, but was extremely respectful of the Christian faith. He pointed out many things one religion has in common with the other, and showed us some historical points of Islam. He explained why there is a call to prayer five times a day, why the women wear the coverings, and how they trust in Allah, which is simply the word for God in Arabic. He explained that they believe the same God resides over us all, no matter what you call him, and wanted to stress to us that since we would never want them to judge all of us based on one group of bad Christians (such as the people who planned to burn the Holy Qur'an on 9/11), we should also do them the favour of not judging all Muslims based on those who terrorize or disrespect others. I learned a lot from the tour at the Mosque, and I hope you've enjoyed these pictures with a feeling of interest and respect.
Love always,
Hannah | | |
| This post is pretty self-explanatory, so there are no captions needed.
All photos were taken at the Hi Abid Camel Farm in Janabiya for our dear Mrs. Vanessa Weber, who has an unlikely adoration for camelly camels themselves.
Enjoy. :)
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