he Judeo-Christian view
of Semiramis, born a Chaldean princess, is that she is the origin
of all
goddess worship. She is considered to have invented the first
goddess religion and that all other
goddess oriented religions stem from that invention. After all,
the Old Testament, the Torah,
starts creation with a male god and no place or mention of a
prior goddess.
Archaeologists, having discovered that goddess religions came
long before the male gods, put the lie to these so-called sacred
books. Indeed, it took many centuries for the
self-righteous brutality inherent in Christianity to overcome
and destroy the pagan religions.
Semiramis, "Mother of All the Goddesses", is a ridiculous fairytale conceived to preserve beliefs that would eliminate all vestiges of reality from history. Yes, Queen Sammuramat did declare herself a goddess and she certainly employed male priestesses sometimes known as Gallae, incorporating them into positions of authority throughout her empire. This was what rulers, male or female, did in those distant times. They declared themselves divine! Male rulers declared themselves gods and female rulers declared themselves goddesses. There was nothing remarkable about Sammuramat following in this tradition.
Come with us then into yesteryear. Be with us as we unravel a small part of the history that has been lost, eradicated, or altered by the monotheistic patriarchies.
~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~
"Queen Sammuramat," began Archigalla, Themais, eunuch High Priestess of the Gallae "you always return to my embrace after your liaisons with men. Why is that? I can not satisfy your lust!"
"True, Themais, but lust is of the flesh. You satisfy something deeper within me, something in my soul," answered the Queen who was sitting beside Themais on a velvet lounge. Sammuramat slipped an arm around the shoulders of Themais and stroked her long tresses gently. "Could a mere man advise me in matters of state? You and my other Gallae are free from the struggle of ordinary people, but there is more. You are dedicated to your work and you are dedicated to truth, perhaps more than you are dedicated to me," Sermiramis laughed and rolled over to mount Themais, "But then you are dedicated to me. Is it not so?"
"My Lady," answered Themais, "if ever there was a female born to represent the Great Mother, you are she. I tremble in your presence with love and devotion. With trepidation I fear some day I might fail you. I know you would forgive me, my Lady, but I might not be able to forgive myself."
"Themais, my pretty, you are my master, my comfort, and my staff. With your counsel we have constructed a system of dikes and canals linked across our land, irrigating our crops between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Never have we been so prosperous. Since the day I called you to my service prosperity and abundance has followed. Nimrud and Ninevah are linked to each other and to the other cities of my empire by roads of your design. They bind our empire together. You, and your male priestesses, have overseen the building of a system of walls, towers, and gates that protect us from our enemies. On your advice and protected by your blessings we have conquered lands as far afield as India and have made allies to our west to the borders of Phrygia. Even now you direct work on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, your priestesses putting the finishing touches on blue-enameled reliefs of bulls and dragons on Ishtar's Gate. When it's finished, it will be the greatest triumph of my reign," acclaimed Sammuramat, rising from the velvet lounge to a standing position beside it. "I wonder, do I enough to repay you?"
"Dear Love," began Themais, Archigalla of the Gallae in Assyria, also rising to a standing position and embracing the Queen, "you have employed us as civil servants, religious leaders, as the closest and most trusted of your palace staff and you have appointed us in positions of temporal power as well. We are grateful that you have harkened to the old ways, the love of Kubaba, the Great Mother, and retained deference for her humble dogs. But there is one more boon I would ask of you."
"You may ask anything of me and I will grant it," replied the Great Queen, softly stroking Themais along her back and feeling the soft flesh covering her firm muscular structure. She marveled at the enigma of these exotic creatures, so devoted to truth and purity that they would cleave their manhood and take up life as priestesses of the Mother Goddess. Even their physical qualities were an enigma. Soft like women, but stronger than many of her best soldiers, they were far and away the brightest and most creative people in her kingdom. "Yes, ask me anything and I will grant it."
"You have already given so much that we have need of nothing more in this life," acclaimed the High Priestess. "However, I have dreamt of the future. A time is coming when we, the Gallae, will be forgotten, disparaged and abandoned. Even now the seeds of contempt are being planted by many of the barbarous religions. The Hebrews, scarcely a people today, will spread across the earth like a plague and their laws, made for their own people, will come to be binding on all people, even Gallae. Elias, their prophet, even now condemns Asherah and commands her name be stricken from history. In my dreams a new religion will grow from the foundation of the Hebrew religion. Forged from the myths of Attis, Adonis, and Mithras, it will be heinous. This new religion shall proclaim one wrathful and avenging male god and the wickedness of it shall be beyond imagining. It will descend on the earth like a great and evil dragon consuming any who fail to yield and bend knee. Even we will die, my Queen, your Gallae. Fearing us more than any other, this religion shall attempt not only to destroy us but to eliminate all memory of us. Memories of you, my Queen, will be held with scorn by these savages, not only because you are a woman who wields power, but because of the men you love, including your son."
Themais paused to take a breath and Sammuramat interrupted, "How can this be? Look at the wonders you create, the mystery that surrounds you and walks with you wherever you go. What you say is not possible. It is but a bad dream. As for my love of my son, who so feeble-minded would condemn an act so joyous? Who would dare make intimacy with a mother and a son an act of evil?"
"You can not comprehend the monstrous lengths to which this new religion will go to have absolute power over the minds of their followers and to eliminate all opposition," prophesied Themais, a forlorn look of deep sorrow shadowing her otherwise beautiful features.
"Will no one oppose them?" asked Queen Sammuramat, perplexity in the tone of her voice.
"We shall oppose them!" stoutly affirmed Themais, "We have no choice. But we will lose. In the course of time they will overcome all religions devoted to the goddesses, in whatever form, replacing them with one dark and wrathful male god. To overcome us they will slander our sacred rites, rituals, and practices and, as freely as birds fly, they will lie about us. Our spiritual flagellations will be called acts of depraved madmen, our castrations will be called self-mutilation, and we will be dismissed as eunuchs. Our taking up lives as women and priestesses will be ignored, forgotten, and we will be called abominations. They will say we sacrifice human life, even children, and that we eat the flesh of babies. Lies, small and large, to support what they believe to be a greater truth. They will stop at nothing to demonize us and, in the passage of time, they will even war among themselves, each sect attempting to become the one religion."
The Queen spoke, a look of horror on her face, "Surely, you are in error. This dream is but a dream, nothing more. Such a thing could never be. There are so many beliefs, a myriad of religions and countless goddesses and gods. I can't conceive of a time when this will not be so? Which of these beliefs can hold sway over the others? How could our goddesses and gods be forgotten?"
"Yes, it seems impossible now. But in my dream I see cities, states, and tribes coming together to form greater nations and these nations shall war upon each other, each attempting to rule over the other. In the process this one religion, with cunning and guile, will spread its message to the emperors, the kings, the queens, the rulers of every land. Some of these rulers will recognize that their people, united by a single religion, would be a stronger and more formidable force. Over time our ancient practices and our varied theologies will first be discouraged, then exiled, and eventually outlawed, punishable by loss of property and death," pronounced Themais in somber tones that chilled Sammuramat.
"Themais, I don't like it when you speak in this manner. It distresses me. Make your request and be done with this conversation," demanded Queen Sammuramat, wrapping herself in an exquisite shawl embroidered with flowers and butterflies in threads of gold. She looked ever-so-much like a young pouting girl and not at all like one might imagine the mighty Queen of Assyria to look.
"My Lady, it grieves me that I have distressed you. I shall make my request and be done. Let our deeds here, our service to the empire and to you, be inscribed for all time, that we not be forgotten and neglected in the maelstrom to come. True, we shall come up in their own issue, spring from their own seed, but disconnected thus we shall doubt ourselves, lose sight of our own vision, and we shall need remembrance of a time when we were bold and proud," Themais looked deep into the dark beautiful eyes of the Queen and spoke once more, "Despite the petty wars and frequent squabbles with our neighbors, our time has been peaceful. Thousands of years of peace and quiet slows growth. What comes soon, comes with a vengeance, a whirlwind that will produce mighty engines of war and inventions constructed for the demands of war. There will be an explosion of energy, power, and strength that will create marvels unlike anything the world has ever seen. However, the price will be the death and destruction of countless innocents and the downfall of all that has gone before. But, as time passes, the transgressions of this new religion with a single god will be recognized and the old ways will begin to return. Not so with the Gallae. Perceptions of us, such as will remain, shall be so distorted that it will take great effort to restore our identity. We will need to recall these times when we held high office, provided wise counsel, and were admired by the multitudes and employed by royal leaders. It will not be easy to preserve the records of our deeds against the defilement of those that come. I ask that you, my Queen, record what we have accomplished here and that we were an important part of your realm. It will bewilder the future, and confuse them, but it will speak to those who have eyes to see."
"It shall be done, my love. You have my promise," replied Sammuramat taking off her shawl and laying herself down on a nearby dais. "Now, come cuddle with me and let us dismiss these dreary thoughts from our minds."
"As you wish, my Lady," answered the Archigalla striding across the floor and sliding down beside her with a playful smile on her lips. "As you wish, indeed."
And so, as it was requested, it came to be. Archaeologists and historians, influenced by the perspective of a world dominated by monotheistic patriarchy have puzzled over the accounts of Queen Sammuramat. Why did she employ so many "eunuchs" in her empire? These "mutilated men" were used in almost every high office whether religious or temporal. "It must have been because they work harder without the distractions of ordinary men," pronounce some historical researchers. Inconceivable to them that the Gallae are a blend of male and female, having special talents and gifts, even as males and females are different from each other.
And what of you, my sisters, what of you ...
