“Guardian of the Seas” by yangzeninja

“Tiamat’s themes are history, change, spirituality, fertility, birth and creativity. Her symbols are reptiles and seawater.  The personification of creative, fertile forces in Assyro-Babylonian traditions, Tiamat gave birth to the world. She is the inventive power of chaos, whose ever-changing energy hones the human soul and creates unending possibilities for its enlightenment. In later accounts, Tiamat took on the visage of a half-dinosaur or dragon-like creature, symbolizing the higher and lower self, which must work together for positive change and harmonious diversity.

Taking place at the Dinosaur National Monument, Dinosaur Days in Colorado celebrates the ancient, mysterious dinosaurs that speak of the earth’s long-forgotten past – a past that Tiamat observed and nurtured. One fun activity to consider for today is getting an archaeology dinosaur kit at a local science shop and starting to ‘dig up’ the past yourself! As you work, meditate on the meaning of Tiamat’s energy in your life. The more of the bones you uncover, the more you’ll understand and integrate her transformative energy.

Carry a fossil in your pocket today to help keep you connected to Tiamat and her spiritual inventiveness. Or, wash your hands with a little saltwater so that everything you touch is blessed with Tiamat’s productive nature and cleansing.”

Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)

Patricia Monaghan says, “Before our world was created, said the Babylonians, there was only Tiamat, the dragon woman of bitter waters, and Her name mate was Apsu, god of fresh water.  In those timeless days in a frenzy of creativity, Tiamat began to bring forth offspring: monsters, storms, and quadrupeds, the like of which exist today only in our dreams.  Finally, the gods came forth from the almighty womb of Tiamat and, growing swiftly, set up housekeeping in another part of the universe.  But they were a rowdy bunch, who disturbed Apsu with their noise.  He approached Tiamat with the suggestion that, because She had created  them, She could readily do away with the gods.  Mummu Tiamat (‘Tiamat the mother’) was taken aback by the suggestion and refused.

But the gods got wind of the conversation and, in retaliation, killed Apsu, the Goddess’ lover.  At that Her fury exploded and, with Kingu, Her firstborn son [other sources say consort], She attacked the gods.  They waged a battle that, some say, goes on annually to this day, with the hero Marduk each year swallowed by the enormous dragon.  Tiamat, according to this version of the story, became a civilizing fish mother (like Atargatis) to the people of the earth.  But others contend that Marduk, hero of the new gods, killed his mother in the battle.  Her body fell into the lower universe, one half became the dome of heaven, the other half the wall to contain the waters” (p. 296).

I believe that it is said best that “the essence of this story is the violent conflict between the older mythologies of the Mother Goddess, Tiamat, representing prehistory fertility worship of gods and Goddess and the new myths of the father gods, struggle for supremacy between the two with the eventual birth of patriarchy.” [2]

“Nammu” by Max Dashu

As one blogger, Carisa Cegavske, explains in one of her blogs about the Goddess Nammu (the Sumerian equivalent of Tiamat): “The Babylonians said Marduk created the heavens and earth by murdering  Tiamat (Nammu’s Babylonian name) and forming the universe from Her body. Tiamat did not go out quietly.  The tale of how Tiamat, primordial Sea Goddess and source of all things created demonic monsters to fight against the hero god Marduk and of how Marduk defeated Her, claiming kingship of the gods and creating heaven and earth from Her body is told in the Enuma Elish.

Eventually, when the priests of Judah rewrote the tale, the Goddess [Nammu] would disappear altogether from the narrative .  Well, almost disappear.  She is traceable still by linguistics, for when God hovers over ‘the deep’ in the opening scene of Genesis (Chapter 1, Verse 2), the word  translated here is tehom, meaning the deeps, the abyss, and linguistically the Semitic form of Tiamat, the name of the Babylonian Goddess.  In time, Nammu would be forgotten, but now, thanks to archaeologists, we can remember the Goddess who came before Heaven and Earth, before the sky gods ascended the throne of history, before even the Bible, before ever the priest put pen to scroll to write the words  ‘In the Beginning….’” [3]

 

 

 

Sources:

Cegavske, Carisa. Thequeenofheaven.wordpress.com, “In the Beginning: How the Goddess Nammu created the world and then was forgotten“.

Monaghan, Patricia. The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines, “Tiamat”.

Mxtodis123. An Inner Journey: The Moon, Mythology and You, “Tiamat“.

 

 

Suggested Links:

Beautyofnight.blogspot.com, “Dark Goddess: Tiamat”.

Dragondreaming.wordpress.com, “The 11:11:11 Gateway & Tiamat“.

Gatewaystobabylon.com, “Tiamat“.

Hefner, Alan G. Mythical-Folk, “Tiamat“.

Iles, Susanne. Susanneiles.com, “The Dragon & Creation: Reclaiming the Sacred“.

Sea Dragon. Order of the White Moon, “Tiamat“.

Sabrina. Goddess A Day, “Tiamat“.

Sitarik, Jessica. Crystalvaults.com, “Tiamat“.

Spiritblogger. Spiritblogger’s Blog, “The Goddess Tiamat“.

Tannim. Order of the White Moon, “Tiamat“.

Wikipedia, “Tiamat“.