In the picture above is a latter day depiction of the
Sumerian goddess Inanna with her zoomorphic representatives: lions and
owls. Owls are known for their night vision. They see things in the dark that
most living organisms with eyes cannot.
The priestesses of
Inanna were
known as “Women of the Night” because they were powerful sensual
psychics who had the ability to SEE THE POTENTIAL in people that they often
could not see
in themselves. They assisted others in their personal development, usually in
the social sphere of their lives. They were advisers to princes, kings, and
noblemen who were all respected within society. The goddess Inanna stands
firmly in the corner of prosperous men. Her support is one of the biggest
reasons why they are prosperous.
I would say that there
is a relationship between the Sumerian name “Inanna,” and
the Ghanaian title “Nana” which is reserved for highly respected
women in Ghana who may even be land owners in that society. Many Jamaicans and
African Americans from the south call their grandmothers, who are usually
the most venerated matriarchs of their families, “Nana.”
Ancient Sumer was
absorbed by Akkad
and then finally, Babylon over time. As a result of outside influences the people
whom the Greeks called “Mesopotamians” (Which literally means “the people
between the two rivers”) got further away from their African roots. Sometime
around 2200 B.C.E. Sumer was invaded by Indo-Europeans.
These invaders came from
places like the northernmost part of what is now Iran, Turkey, and Armenia.
Yes, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates was
eventually overrun by the Kardashians by the time you got around to the mid to
late Babylonian period.
By then the priestesses
of Inanna were replaced by the priestesses of Ishtar. In the late Babylonian
period the priestesses of Ishtar were what many historians of the Near East
call “sacred prostitutes.” They were arranged into about 3
different categories. They were all known as “Women of the Night” but
for a far more basic reason. It was because they did much of their work at
night.
The highest ranking
prostitutes in Babylon had sex exclusively with men of extraordinary power,
wealth, and social status in exchange for money or its
equivalent. They wore the beautiful jewelry associated with their patron
goddess Ishtar, which often contained images of owls. The priestesses of
Inanna wore owl jewelry too, only the owl symbolism had a different
meaning as previously explained. Owl jewelry has become fashionable among
many women from all walks of life today, but only the women who wear them know
for certain what drew them to the jewelry in the first place.
This is just one of many
examples of how symbols take on different meanings over time. These meanings
mirror the collective psychology of the people who hold those symbols in their
possession. For more information on the connection between Sumer and what is today identified as Africa click HERE
Posts
