The story of sex, eroticism and pornography III.- The Ancient Mesopotamia 2.

Holy prostitutes - priests of Ishtar (Astarte)

Astarte has many different names: Iris, Inanna, Astarte, Ishtar, Kali, Demeter, Aphrodite, Virgin Mary, Ceres, Cybele, etc. She is the Great Mother Goddess (the Goddess), the symbol of eternal wisdom, fertility, death and rebirth, healing, astrology, agriculture, protection.

Astarte (Ishtar)

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The priestesses of the Goddess, the "holy servants" of the goddess, who were prostitutes, were highly regarded members of society. They were treated with love and respect and ensured their well-being. But free women also "served" the Goddess with their bodies. In Phoenicia, for example, all the virgins entered the temple of the Goddess and were available for pilgrims for pennies. So did the Babylonian women, who once made sexual sacrifices in the temple of the Goddess. The sale of the female body was thus a constant service of the temples of the seaports. However, the name "holy prostitute" is misleading to us, because how can prostitution be sacred?

This requires a return to the era of ancient matriarchal societies. When the hunter-gathering tribes became cultivated societies, sexuality, and spirituality, body and spirit were one. They did not know the concept of original sin, the body, the flesh, was not related to the concept of impurity but was treated as a natural part of life and earth. Earth cycles were the most important events of life, and various rituals were connected to them.

Men and women worked together, they were equal, but the Goddess was primarily ministered to by the priests. There was special respect for fertility. People of that time highly valued the power of the Goddess over life and death. The Goddess was often depicted with big breasts, a pregnant belly, or a vulture head. Then, if we follow the "female history" ("herstory"), i.e. between 4300 and 2300, more Indo-European influxes from the north occurred, resulting in the emergence of a new warrior storm/volcano god and, in parallel, the institution of the reigning king.

The image of a god who was the brother of the Goddess's son - the lover - was also blended into the Goddess religion. He was originally a smaller god who was also given different names: Damuzi, Tammuz, Adonis, Osiris (in Egypt), Baal, Attis. 

Tammuz

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He united with the Goddess every year, died (sometimes sacrificed), mourned, and was resurrected. Thus, with the influxes of the north, the reverence of the couple was revealed. This was reflected in the Holy Marriage, the "Hieros Gamos" rite. This Sumerian and Babylonian ceremony was held annually. 

the ancient Babylon

wikipedia

The chosen high priestess symbolized the Goddess and engaged in holy sexual activity (sometimes in public) with the king in power, symbolizing God. This symbolically secured the fertility of the area, and the Goddess blessed the king's rule. But Goddess kept losing its importance, while the final decline, i.e. It happened in 406 when the temple of Artemis in Ephesus (Turkey) was destroyed and burned down. From then on, the rituals were carried on "illegally" and many believers were burned as witches in the following centuries.

The Temple of Artemis (Ephesus)

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It is important to note that as the status of the Goddess weakened, so did women's power.

After the northern migration, society was transformed and the patriarchal order was established. Previously, women enjoyed greater freedom in all respects, especially sexually! In a patriarchal society (dominated by men), a clear decision on paternity became necessary, and therefore female sexuality was "controlled". The ceremonies in honor of the Goddess were already too sexual, so they had to be suppressed to ensure masculine inheritance. That's when women started to be subordinate. The decline of the power of the Goddess and women is also seen in legends and stories of creation. The Inanna of the former Holy Marriage, the glorified, revered, sexy and holy Goddess, is transformed into the demonic monster of Gilgamesh Epic.

In the Bible, Eve is to blame for the total fall of mankind, and as a punishment, every woman must endure the pains of childbirth. The natural process of childbirth is thus linked to the image of shame and sin. Women in Islamic countries have also been veiled for their sexual temptation. They were confined, sexually "castration". Despite the castration of women are not ordered in Islam, but female castration is still practiced in many Muslim countries today, for example. in the Middle East and Africa.

This brings us to the present. It would be important to find the original, positive values ​​of the Goddess, of which sex, eroticism, is an important part. We need to remember what is natural and true. Accept and enjoy our own bodies. Life is often full of pain and suffering. With kindness, love, love, sex, eroticism we can slightly balance the dark side of life, harmonize opposites!

And here is another continent, Africa and the ancient Egypt!