Dark and silent, Choron the apotropaic mage shrouds himself in secrecy. This chthonic god heals and harms, shields and strikes.  His name is transliterated into English a number of ways: Choron, Ḥoranu, Horon, and sometimes Hauron. The ch or ḥ sound is pronounced like the ch in Chanukah or Bach. This god was worshiped in both Bronze Age Canaan as well as New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty Egypt where he was connected with the sphinx as Horemakhet-Hauron; however the best information we have on Choron comes from Canaanite incantations. Three thousand year old cuneiform tablets originating in city of Ugarit—now the Syrian city of Ras Shamra—tell of Choron as an underworld god, an exorcist, and a protector.

As a dark lord in the underworld,¹ he bears both beneficial and baneful attributes.  Snakes are his favored creatures.  His face becomes shadowed—perhaps in anger—when snakes are disrespected.

The ancient Canaanites were polytheists. There are some interesting features in the Iluma (Canaanite pantheon) that may differ from other cultures’ deities, for instance our Divine Assembly (pukhru ilima), our doubled deities, our many deities with the title of “Baal,” foreign deities, the Rapi’uma (shades of the dead), deities of objects, syncretisms, and our reluctant associations with the main monotheistic religions of the world.

Polytheism means “the...worship of more than one god,” deities which are separate, individual and acting on their own in their own right. Polytheism generally does not include a belief in aspects of one whole: believe that all deities are aspects of one whole divine force is a form of monism, not polytheism. Monism means a philosophy that “reality is a unified whole and that all existing things can be ascribed to or described by a single concept or system.”  Polytheism does not include dual aspects meant to represent balance: this is a dualist philosophy. Dualism is “The view that the world [or universe] consists of or is explicable as two fundamental entities.” (Definitions from The Free Dictionary.)

Polytheism is a belief in and/or knowledge of many deities who ensure the world keeps spinning, order is maintained, and goodness comes to humanity. The deities were real then, and they are real now; they are not constructs of the human mind.

For a short list of Canaanite deities, see my previous post on The Iluma: The Canaanite Pantheon. 

Deities

The ancient Canaanites believed that the deities were larger and more powerful than humans, typically in a human-like form. They could on rare occasion take animal form: the Kothiratu, the seven goddesses of sexuality, are sometimes described as songbirds. A deity can have physical characteristics that differ from a human being’s, for instance sometimes ‘Anatu the warrior goddess is portrayed as having wings. Many deities are said to have “horns” but this is demonstrated as wearing horned helmets, not as in having horns sprouting naturally from the head, and the horns are those of a bull or a ram, typically not antlers like deer.

This recent arguments of archetypes or superheroes as deities is a factor of why I don’t consider myself Pagan anymore and haven’t for a couple of years.  The debate is a symptom of a wider divergence in core beliefs between historic-rooted polytheistic religions and mainstream neo-romantic Paganism.

The two core philosophies cannot be resolved and the less time we spend trying to convince each other that our side is right, the more time we can spend constructively and peacefully on interfaith efforts. I use that word “interfaith” with great intention. We’re not the same religions. We’re not even in the same category of religions. And that’s ok. Respecting our differences is important because this respect does not come from trying to make the differences into similarities. Respecting differences doesn’t mean homogenizing diversity.

And let’s face it—there are some T. Rex-sized gaping differences between mainstream neo-romantic Paganism and historic-rooted polytheistic religions.

Today, I celebrate the 'Ashuru Liyati, the Festival of Garlands in the Shanatu Qadishtu, the holiday cycle of the Natib Qadish calendar. Natib Qadish is a polytheistic Canaanite religion. I have decorated my household shrine for the occasion. 

Please note that this is a shrine not an altar. An altar is a piece of furniture designed to hold offerings and set up in a temple. I do not take photographs of my altar because it is in the temple, and I do not take photographs in the temple because this is an area of high sacredness. A shrine is an informal arrangement by comparison, and I feel comfortable taking pictures of a shrine.

I'm pleased to announce that a friend of mine has launched a new blog for Israelis interested in Canaanite polytheism. The blog, called Canaan is Here, is written entirely in Hebrew by Israelis. 

I have updated my previous post, Know Your Middle East Religions: Ancient and Modern Polytheists, to reflect this new addition. 

Why is this important and groundbreaking? The Holy Lands were holy long before monotheism, yet many fear that fundamentalist conservative monotheist religions have obliterated the ancient ways. It's true that the situation is difficult and often dire depending on the locale for the few people who honor the ancient deities and the ancient ways. But, nonetheless, it happens.

It is mind-blowingly beautiful to know that growth, beauty, and restoration continue in our world. And there are brave, gentle souls who quietly do the heavy lifting. 

O Nanna, Suen, moon gods of
The once-great Sumer, you yet glow
Enflaming the dry seas we call
The desert. Your ephemeral,
Untouchable hands caress dust.
In deepest silence you will make
A mirror image staring back.
Each grain of sand: a star that sweeps
Across the desolation vast.

Canaanite-culture inspired music? Yes! Leave the belly dance albums behind and try something different from the Middle East. From classical music, to metal music, to meditation music, it's all here. 

Have fun with these musical goodies!

The Hymn to Nikkal

The goddess Nikkalu-wa-Ibbi, The Fruitful and Radiant one, can lay claim to the oldest recorded hymn on earth, circa 1300-1200 BCE (about 3300-3200 years ago).

In doing a search for “Hymn to Nikkal” or “Oldest Music in the World,” you will run into several different versions of this hymn found in the Canaanite city of Ugarit, in southern modern-day Syria. Here are but a few versions--keep in mind that these versions will sound different because scholars still debate how to read Ugaritic-Hurrian musical notation, and because each musician will add her or his own style to the piece.

Michael Levy’s version on the lyre. This is one of my favorites.

I was inspired to create a pocket guide to polytheists and alternative religions centered on the Middle East. These movements are growing. Very little was available when I started out as a qadish fourteen years ago, and now Middle Eastern-based religions are sprouting up everywhere. I will present a quick historical look at these religions and regions, then include where you can find them online in modern communities.

I had not intended to do a blog post today. It is a holiday for me, the ‘Ashuru Shamni, the Festival of Oil. It is a time when I make offerings of olive oil and ask that Baʻlu Haddu pour his blessings of protection over my community. But Ms. Cara Schultz in "In Syria and Egypt, Pagan Voices Fall Silent", a post made just yesterday, and Ms. Galina Krasskova: Pagan Voices Fall Silent: Polytheism in the Middle East, a response today, give me pause. 

This evening marks the holiday of ‘Ashuru Shamni, the festival of olive oil. An ancient text from the Canaanite city of Ugarit in the Late Bronze Age, about 1200 BCE (3200 years ago), details how priests made an offering of the Oil of Peace to the protective god Baʻlu Haddu (Baʻal Hadad). Let's take a look at both ancient and modern festivities at this season--including recipes!

Wisdom doesn’t care whose clothes She wears: maybe She wears a set of Carhartts and a pair of sh!t-covered boots, sometimes She wears a bejeweled crown, and sometimes She wears a kid’s onesie. But Her words, whether they come out of a farmer, a king, or a kid, are always prudent and well-timed. We become wise when we recognize Her and heed Her.

The head symbolizes much in Near Eastern philosophy. Curses and blessings alike are directed at a person’s head: “may there be a blessing on X's head” or “may [Deity] break X's skull.” The head is also a place of honor: the raising of the head or the placing a crown or wreath on the brow represents recognition. The lowering of the head represents shame, anxiety, or lack of confidence. In this sense, wearing something atop the head represents dignity or status. 

If I had a pinch of gold dust for every time a site on the internet or a Pagan book said Inanna, Astarte, Ishtar,‘Anat, and Asherah are all the same goddess, or “aspects” of the same goddess, I’d be pawning my way to the crown jewels by now. There is a great deal of misinformation regarding who these ancient goddesses are and they are often confused. So let’s unravel this tangle. We’ll explore who is whom, how these goddesses interconnect or don’t, and the reasons they became grouped together to the point of losing individuality. 

I think that the US Congress should decorate their doors with Sheela Na-Gigs because of their obsessive preoccupation with women's bodies.

We need stuff on a daily basis. It is difficult to go through an entire day without buying something: bus fare or gas for the car, food, repairs, bills, rent, medicine, elder care, child care, and so on. Since the recession, many of us make our small change go further; yet our concern for the economy also sits at the forefront of our thoughts. Companies have outsourced jobs overseas to countries that have looser restrictions and poor labor practices. This situation causes people here to lose their jobs, and it causes others overseas to get caught in terrible work environments.  The tech company Apple outsourced to Foxconn, a company infamous for their horrible conditions.  

Some of us cry foul, but really we should take a cold, hard look in the mirror. In our drive for a bargain, we’ve overlooked cheap labor. We have helped create—and still contribute to—outsourcing, job loss, wage slavery, and unethical practices.  It’s not a bargain when we short-change human life and labor. All is not lost: there are many small changes we can make to help promote a better economy here at home (wherever home is), and thus contribute to economic stability abroad.

The holiday calendar for qadishuma (people who practice Natib Qadish, Canaanite religion) is based on primary texts: Bronze Age cuneiform texts found at the city of Ugarit. These texts date to around 1200 BCE (about 3212 years ago). We also take into consideration the Gezer Calendar, a writing in early Hebrew found in Gezer, and written in 925 BCE (about 2937 years ago).

Unlike the temperate European climate where there are four seasons (spring-summer-autumn-winter) there are basically two seasons in Canaan (wet and dry) with a little transition between the two. The wet season corresponds to a northern temperate climate's seasons of autumn and winter; and the dry season includes some of a northern temperate climate's spring and summer. There are two harvests: one around the transition of the dry season to the wet season for fruit (sometime around August-September on the secular calendar); and a grain harvest as the wet season transitions to the dry season (somewhere around March-April-May on the secular calendar).

Allow me to begin with a large caveat: I am not a Pagan, or a Wiccan, and I am certainly not a witch. I do not celebrate Samhain; it’s not a part of my holiday calendar.

However, I will party down with my bad self on Halloween. I love the parade of large-eyed pudgy-fisted candy-craving pint-sized goblins who come to my door each year. I eagerly await that little brother in tow, wearing the obligatory lion, tiger, or bear costume, with whiskers and nose painted on his face: you know the kind of kiddo—so young he can’t even say “trick or treat” yet. And sometimes mom or dad comes, too, carrying a little gurgling pumpkin-baby in arms. This traditional tableau is so disgustingly adorable I nearly lose my mind. It really is my favorite American tradition.

I give all of the football players, rock stars, vampires, mad scientists, cartoon characters, and the like, lots and lots of chocolaty candy. I refuse to hand out hard candies or taffies or cheap hard pink bubblegum. I know what I wanted as a kid: forget the crud and hand over the good stuff!

However, trick-or-treater beware: I curse my candy.