NINHURSAG'S CHILDREN

(BEFORE ALL BEFORES II)

How the Great God/desses and Cosmic Powers came into being

A retelling on the birth of the Great Gods and Goddesses, and the Dark Guardians, the ones who are sometimes our best teachers, if we can see and act beyond their trials


 Ki, the Great Cosmic Mound, hardly had time to cry for the loss of Anu, the Skyfather, her Beloved and Soul Counterpart, for something extremely important was about to happen:

'Soon, very soon, I know, the time will come, the sacred time of Birth', said the Great Goddess,'then I will give birth to the Divine Babies, the Great Gods and Goddess, sons and daughters of mine and Anu, offspring of our great love. Ah, Anu, from the Great Above wherever you are, my love, watch over me and those who will grow up to adore you in the Depths Below!'

To her surprise, deep with tenderness and love the voice of the Skyfather sounded loud and true:

'Body of my Soul, Womb to my Seed, wherever you or my children go in all worlds, look up skywards and I will be there watching over you. By my word, by my very being, I bind myself to you from all Heights I trail upon!'

Delighted, Ki blew a kiss to the skies, and took action. To welcome the gods and goddesses to be She needed a place, a most special place: safe, sacred, pure and sound around herself.

‘I wish a birth rut, a holy hill, and sacred mound, whereupon the Anunnaki, my very seed and Anu's, the first gods and goddesses, your brothers and sisters, Enlil, will be first found. I’ll call this place Duku, creation chamber of the world, place of the truest judgements, Integrity and Discernment. Thus, once and for all I reaffirm the Bond Between Heaven and Earth, the Holy Duranki between the Great Below and the Depths Above. And as I will, so be it!’

Enlil promptly gathered all stones his hands and eyes found. Ki plastered them her belly round, thus newly created shapes appeared on the ground. Ki, Lady Fashioner, panted and squeezed until her babies, seed of An and her own, came tumbling without. Ki, Aruru, Foetus Loosener, Urash, felt them moving unto her holy lap and contentedly smiled at last: Ki panted and squeezed until her babies, without any labour or pain (1), the holy seeds of An and her own, came tumbling without. She felt them moving unto her holy lap, and a boundless sense of wonder and joy filled her inside out:

‘I’ve given birth to the Powers that will shape the Land, I’ve given birth to the Guardians that will protect the Land! I’ve given birth, I’ve given birth to those who will ensoul the land! May this day will be forever praised, may this hour for Eternity remembered, for out of my womb, out of the holy Mound the Anunnaki, the first gods and goddesses of the land have sprouted!’

An contemplated the Mystery that took place and from the Heights Above the Skyfather’s Words could be heard in all spaces:

‘Ki, Beloved Body of my Soul, Sister without peer, Heart’s Desire and Spouse so dear, many Names will be given to you. But for me you will forever be Ninhursag, Queen of the Holy Hill, dearest Ninmah, Most Exalted Lady, Queen and Best Companion along the Heights I trail You will be remembered, Beloved, as Nintur, Lady Birth Hut, and nothing or no one will quite compare to you! Urash, Birth Giver, most sacred Aruru everlasting praises will be sung from now on to you! Lady of Mound, where Life sprouts happy and free. Body of my Soul, sister without peer, Heart’s Desire and Spouse so dear, mine is the Voice but for all I sing, Mother of all Life, Lady of my heart, Beloved and Queen!’

This was how the Great Gods and Goddesses of the Land between the Two Rivers came into being. This was how the Children of Earth and Sky became known in all worlds, this was how they started to grow in Diversity to reveal the treasures of the Earth and greatness of the Heights.

 

Most of the children of An and Ninhursag-Ki were beautiful and perfect, the truest expression of a of great love. Nevertheless, a deep, earlier anguish had left its mark on some. These babies were the ones scarred in Ki’s womb by the terrible moment of loss and agony when An was torn from Ki. They therefore grew in pain and loss, thus bringing ambivalent benedictions without. Their experience of Primal Oneness and Joy was too short, for what nurtured them was Ki’s and An’s pain, loneliness and loss. Within the Mother, they felt Pain and Repression, the Opposite of the Stuff Life is made of. Dark Guardians this is how we will know them from now on, the Challengers and Toughest Teachers one may find as one goes along. Theirs will be the Unbalanced Energies eternally fighting Balance everywhere they go.

'Children of our pain, Dark Guardians of Existence, the most difficult Teachers one may come across, this is how I feel you will become,' declared Ninhursag-Ki to Anu when she saw the scarred little ones come out crying out and screaming out of her sacred womb. 'Theirs will be the Uneven Energies, eternally fighting Balance wherever they go. But I, who gave birth to you out of my wom, I who was the first together with your father, declare a hope to such hard destiny. For the Daring, mastery will be granted over Chaos but only for those who will be able to see beyond pain, suffering and loss to retrieve the light that was the primeval union of mine with Anu, my first love'.

From his post as a Watcher over Mother Earth, faithful to his promise to keep Her safe, and sound, young Enlil was stunned by what he saw: ugly , misshapen dark little brothers and sisters leaving the protection of the Birth Mound, crying out loud. Disturbed beyond measure, Enlil turned to Ki, also known as Ninhursag, Exalted Lady and the Skyfather’s Soul Counterpart.

'Mother, are you allright?

Ninhursag-Ki's eyes reflected immense sadness:

'I am terribly sad, but can handle it, Enlil.'

'Mother, what is going on? What ails my new brothers and sisters? Why are they so different? Are they my real brothers and sisters too?'

Ninhursag-Ki sighed deeply:

'Yes, Enlil, these are your brothers and sisters too, but let them be and follow their own destinies. Learn to see beyond appearances, my firstborn, to reach out for the True Essency, learn to reach out to the Source where yourself came from, the Union of all Opposites, The Holy Complementarity that was lost. Indirectly, Enlil, it was your fault the suffering of these little ones, when you caused the Separation of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, I demand you to let the Dark Guardians be. Theirs will be another Quest, much harder, I'm afraid so'.

A shadow of guilt and regret covered the face of the young Lord Air:

''If I am at the root of all their suffering, I vow by my Gifts of Mind, Thoughts and Neverending Inspiration to try and understand them to heal what needs to be healed, to make whole what was once broken. Mother, this is such a brave new world, we cannot do it all alone! I long for the company of my brothers and sisters to ensoul the world, make be and grow!'

Because Words of Creation have been forming in Enlil’s mind, and they will take shape in each and every little god and goddess that come out of the Duku. These brother and sisters, gods and goddesses-to-be, like himself are the true offspring of Ki and An. They will continue the Work of Creation started up by Mother Nammu. But Enlil is uncertain about the Dark Ones. His bright, inquisitive Mind cannot accept the Unknown, the Bizarre, and this is what the dark guardians are.

"I still don't understand what is Chaos or Darkness in its complicated patterns", thought endlessly Enlil,''but of order, the power of mind, the conception of what needs to exist before action, this I am learning to know. And the Divine Guide to every concept along all Existence it is the Word born of Ensouled Silence which was the meeting point of Nammu, Ki and Anu. Not the Spoken Word, but the Revelation born of Silence that is not empty but full of Meanings to Be-Come. This Divine, Unspoken Word will lead the Way and its power will be the Silence of Accomplished Deeds to Transform. I, Enlil, vow to follow the Silence that is Full of Meaning, I will live its Truth with the Innermost of my Being, I will be the Inspiration that will be the Energy of Creation, I will be the Holy Breath that permeates all that lives, gentle and yet strong to create all worlds." (2)

Enlil's logical, brilliant mind could not yet conceive of the Unknown, of the Bizarre and Unclear and this is the Essence of all Dark Guardians. But although he tried and tried, he could never achieve his main goal, to bring back the Dark Guardians into the fold.

The oldest, biggest and fiercest of the Dark Guardians, Kur, found his way out the farthest he could from the Duku, out of Ki’s involving hug.

"I need to get away," Kur thought. "Closeness only brings pain eventually one day."

Kur looked round and realised he wasn´t quite alone. There were others, not many, as scarred as himself. So he turned away from the face of Ninhursag-Ki. She, the Earth Mother, loved all Her Children. Kur and the little dark ones were her own and An’s, the children of their loss and sorrow.

The Great Mother felt Kur's retreat and immediately moved towards the scarred son, despite the fact that he deliberately tried to avoid her.

'Kur, son born of my pain and loss, external differences are but the veil to cover True Essence. All of you came from me and Anu, and I love you all in equal measure and form, Perhaps for you, who were wonded in my womb I care more deeply so. Kur, fruit of the loss for the deepest desire of my Body and Soul, try and do what I am myself doing, remake yourself and be whole, transform your present into a a future of hope and growth. Leave pain as dorrow behind, start a brand new time in your life!'

For a brief but intense moment mother and son really linked, but he broke the bond.

'Don't leave us', said Ninhursag's eyes, but she already knew that Kur had decided to leave.

'Mother, this place is alien to me. And I am the alien in this place‘, cried out Kur, looking beyond the Mound, beyond the Stony Earth that brought him into being. He did not see Enlil's expression of utter astonishment and dismay. A bitter cry of rage, anguish and violence came out from within Kur. ‘I will never fit in here! I don’t want to! So I’ll leave for other places, here coming no more. But in case there is anyone as scarred and outcast as me, I say ‘Do come along!’

So Kur did slip over the edge of the world, followed by his dark misshapen siblings. Long they travelled, underneath caves and mounds of the stony earth and beyond the deep waters of Nammu the Sea. finally, over the edge of the Middleworld, at the entrance of the Underworld, Kur and his dark little brothers and sisters stopped and kept watch, just waiting. Kur, looking at the ugly little faces raised towards his, straightened his back and raised his voice so that it could be heard afar:

‘Father and Mother, I claim the ends of the Earth for my domain and for my own kind. And let it be known that we will challenge and fight to the very end whoever dare to venture in our land! And beyond!‘

A dark cheer seconded Kur’s words:

‘We will fight to the very end, and beyond!’

From the safety of the Duku, the Chamber of Creation, Enlil and Ninhursag, heard Kur's and his followers' shout. Immediately, Enlil, whose powers have grown enormously, now that he was a teenager god, made a barrier formed the the strongest winds he could create and he projected them all to the land's end, where the Middleworld met the still empty Depths Below. The voice of the Air god sounded loud and clear in all worlds:

'By the Strength of the Winds of my Desire, from this moment on I vow to banish the powers of darkness to the boundaries of the Physical World. Mine is the duty to protect mother Earth, mine is the attonement for having separated what was born to be united. Mine is the duty to reestablish Balance and Order, mine is the Promise this vow to fulfill wherever I go to ensure the growth and sucess of what I call now civilization. I vow to raise the Sword of Truth and the Power of Knowledge and Discernment to protect all worlds!'

It was this way that Life's Energies were created and manifested, under the tutelage of the ones who called themselves from then on the Hosts of Heaven and Earth. But Ninhursag never stopped grieving for the Dark Guardians for many, many years on a roll.

 

It was one of these times when the Great Mother and Queen was immerse in her thoughts, looking at the stars, that she saw the Bull of Heaven take Human Form. Delight so great filled Beloved Earth, as she realized the Age of Taurus was back in the Skies for brand new time.

'It is me, Beloved', said Anu, and Ki did not blink twice and rushed to his arms.

In the minutes that followed, the magic of their sacred mating took hold and it seemed there had been no separation of Heaven and Earth for millenia long.

'But how...?', she asked, to make sure she knew.

Anu gave her a quick squeeze, laughed and replied:

'I followed your movements through the skies and saw that it takes 26,000 years (3) for you to go round the solar system and travel along my stars. We may have met, or finally made aware of each other, in the first Age of Taurus in time immemorial, for there was yet no time at that moment. But this was the way you called me, this was the form I chose to come back to you for a while. So by the winds of my Desire I came to you, who are the Body of my Wandering Soul, dreaming with the reality of your touch.'

She kissed him back passionately.

'Come, beloved, and see this beautiful, green and brown earth we created together and whose beings are the multifaceted versions of our offspring.'

Together, they wandered all over the Living Earth to enjoy the Neverending Workings of Creation and Wonders of Evolution.

'Amazing, isn't it? All there is came from mother Nammu and us two', said Ninhursag to Anu after they had visited the whole earth.

'From the heights where I was I saw all this unfold, but nothing really compares to being here and see, feel, hear, smell and touch this jolly world.'

A shadow crossed Ninhursag's visage.

'Not everything that bears our seed is pleasing to the eye... or soul.'

He felt the pain and disappointment in her voice.

'Are you referring to our children who are the Dark Guardians?'

It was a rhetoric question, becauase he knew the answer.

'Yes', she replied with her heartbreaking sincerity.

He hugged her for a long moment, and whispered:

'Don't feel so guilty for what happened to them'

'But I wish I had done more! They left because they wanted to follow their own paths and I... let them go, let them be!' It was the first time that Ninhursag admitted the full truth, her frustration and immense sadness towards the Guardians of Darkness. At the same time, it was a relief to share her doubts with Anu. Of course she had to: he was her parnter and son to her and his offspring!

'I wish I had done more myself, beloved', admitted Anu. 'Nevertheless, when I look at everthing that came into being from Mother Nammu and ourselves, this Physical World full of Wonders and Challenges that reflect our greatness and yet follow its own designs guided by our signs, I don't think we did such a bad job. Even considering the Dark Guardians, those who teach through pain and loss, but only for those who are capable to see the smile beyond the tears. Do you know why I am convinced of this truth?'

'No. Why? '

'Because of a Greater Mystery we are all part of, and which is somehow always ahead, waiting to unfold shaped by Free Will, for nothing is a clear-cut plan, but a Promise of Wholeness and Holiness on the Go. Even gods and goddesses, who are the Beams of Light that point out the way to eternity, are subject to this Mystery, which we cannot fully dominate, but handle and sometimes interfere, under the right words and biddings.'

Taken by surprise, Ninhursag held her breath. Anu's thoughtful eyes held hers as in the past, with the same intensity and longing, so present as they had never been apart... he was real and touchable, not pure unreachable Spirit. And suddenly there was no past, just glorious present. Ninhursag smiled finally, anticipating the beloved's answer, surprised for not being capable to understand what he was making so easy to see.

'I guess I know what you mean, my love. What a great Mystery you are talking about, and with it, we can hardly interfere! How badly I needed this knowledge and knowing, how dumb I was not to know!'

He stopped her with a kiss. One of the most delightful ways to prevent Ninhursag from thinking when he had other things in mind.

'What is this great mystery then, Lady of my Heart, Mind, Body and Soul?'

Ninhursag's smile was a sight to behold:

'The name of this Great Mystery is Future, the cycle and wheel that never ends, bringing return and healing always in a higher level to accomplish evolution and growth. But the Mystery lies in the fact that no future can be built without the past and present. We sometimes cannot interfere that much, as it was with the Dark Guardians, our Children of Darkness. I wish I had know all this before, not to have grieved so much!'

Anu kissed Ninhursag deeply and completed her thoughts:

"Whenever I thought of the future, long and not so long ago, I never lost faith and hope to hold you close in my arms again. Mine was the desire to see come true the Dream that brought me today to you. The Future will always bring Brightness and Hope, but Brightness and Hope will only happen for those who will keep the flame alive to make their dreams real in all worlds. It is the present that holds the key to all destinies, and when one works with passion, integrity and daring, reshaping goals as the Path unfolds, the Triumph will come to the Spirit and Matter, the coming together of the Soul. As the Sky is married to Earth from the Highest Heights to the Depths Below!"

 


 

Notes:

(1) Births were not painful or difficult in Sumer, the opposite of later holy writs.
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(2) On Enlil in "The Phoenician Letters" (Davies and Zur, 1979, Mowat Publishing, 70-71): [The Word]: Do not instruct her as to its travels. She knows. For He, Enlil, has declared in wisdom the pathways of the word. Listen to it in your dark chamber in the silent watches of your prayer. Let it declare unto you its message. Try not to make its way either clear or difficult. Indeed, better to follow it. There is no other time but now, for what you have seen or understood has presently gone. Only now it may be heard, only now it may be spoken, and only now by him, the voice of the air and fire".
This is one of the most beautiful definitions of meditation in world religion, only equal to the one found in the Corpus Hermeticum, whereby the Spirit came and made Her/Himself heard out of a 'sleep that was not a sleep' or idle dreaming. Her/Himself is my addition, for the Spirit should encompass Her/Him.
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(3) The greek Hipparchos is sometimes credited with 'discovering' the precession of the equinoxes in the 2nd century BCE, but it was known that the Babylonians were well aware of the phenomenon centuries earlier. Otto Neugebauer, the historian of science, stresses that Hiparchos was greatly influenced by Babylonian astronomy and drew his history of lunar motions from it. The precession of the equinoxes is the process by which, like a spinning top, the earth processes in space over a period of approximately 26,000 years. During this period the sun rises roughly every 2,000 years at the spring equinox in a particular star constellation; it traverses all twelve zodiacal signs in this way over the course of the 26,000 years. The sun rose in what we now call Taurus between about 4,000 and 2,000 BCE, that was the Age of Taurus. Peter Tompkins believes that ancient Egyptian inscriptions stating that the Bull marks the beginning of the spring indicate that knowledge of the precession of the equinoxes goes back to 4,000 BCE in Egypt. Certainly it would have to be before 2,000 BCE, because by then the bull no longer marked the beginning of the spring (See O. Neugebauer, The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, 1969, Dover Publications, New York).
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