To create an Arab Neo-Pagan religion

Arabian Paganism
A basic blog providing some information on Arabian paganism, Meccan polytheism and Bedouin heathenism. The information already provided didn't really give an unbiased view on Arab paganism. My main source is The Book of Idols by Hisham al-Kalbi.
Monday, 21 October 2013

Ritual in pagan Arabia

Many of the rituals of modern day Islam are traceable to pagan roots, here are a few practised before and after the emergence of Muhammad: - The tawaf ritual was performed both during the pilgrimage to a shrine (Hajj) or in home worship. In the home, the household would set up a baetyl and circumambulate it seven times whilst uttering the talbiyah invocation. Seven was a mystical number to the pagan Arabs as it was significant of the seven planets. - The talbiyah was an invocation uttered by the Arabians during their worship of their gods. However, the talbiyah in the pre-Islamic period differed from post-Muhammad in that it proclaimed that there were other gods besides Allah, though it asserted the fact that Allah was supreme even amongst the pagans. ''Labbayka allahumma labbayka labbayka lak illa sharikun husa lak tamilikuhu wa'ma malak'' This pre-Islamic talbiyah translates as: ''Here we are O Lord! Here we are! Here we are! Thou hast no associate save one who is thine, Thou hast dominion over him and over what he possesseth.''

The point of this was to proclaim Allah's glory even over the other pagan gods who were powerless to intercede on behalf of the worshipper without the high god Allah's sanction. An Arab called 'Aws ibn Hajar once said: ''By Allat and al-'Uzza and those who in them believe, and by Allah, verily He is greater than both.'' Allah was considered the benevolent creator by the pagan Arabs, though he differed greatly from the post-Islamic divinity. The pagan Allah was considered to be remote and inaccessible to the everyday man and woman, so other deities were called upon to intercede for Him or bring the worshipper closer to Him. The talbiyah sometimes uttered by the Quraysh tribe as they circumambulated the Ka'ba went as: ''By Allat and al-'Uzza, and Manat, the third goddess besides. Verily they are the most exalted ladies Whose intercession is to be sought.'' - The Ifada was a ritual celebrated in honour of the weather god Quzah, performed facing his sanctuary at Muzdalifah. Usually celebrated after the autumnal equinox. - Qurba' or 'sacrifice' was performed by sacrificing the first of the flock or the first of the harvest. Essentially it is thanking the god by offering it the first cut of what the family gained, which was a practise shared by the Hebrew tribes of Palestine.

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Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Totemism, animism and spirits in pre-Islamic Arabia

In pre-Islamic times, most of the pagan Arabian peoples fell into either two categories: Sedentary Arabs - sedentary life was not common in Arabia, as the arid landscape of central and northern Arabia provided no stable living conditions. However, towns were established at oases in northern and central Arabia, such as Mecca, Medina, Dumat al-Jandal, Jeddah and a few trading posts in the Najd desert. Sedentary life was built mainly around trade or agriculture (especially for the kingdoms in the south of the peninsula), and the spiritual views of the sedentary Arabs were mainly concerned with this. For example, a Meccan merchant may ask the god Hubal for a glimpse into the future of his trade, or a farmer in Yemen may make an offering to Amm'anas to preserve his crops. The sedentary Arabs, specifically the farmers and citizens of the kingdoms of Yemen and Oman would also be concerned with sun worship. The sun, who they called Shams was a goddess who heavily influenced the lives of farmers and tradesman and they would revere her due to the belief she facilitated the growth of crops and Frankincense trees (Frankincense was a major export of southern Arabia). However, Shams had a volatile side: she would dry up crops and her extreme

heat agitated people and animals, therefore offerings were made to appease her in order to prevent her from becoming angry with the people and taking it out on their agricultural ventures. Nomadic Arabs - since Arabia is mostly desert, most of the tribes had no choice but to constantly be on the move to find new grazing areas for their flocks, and new and reliable sources of water. Hence, the spirituality of the nomadic Bedouin tribesman would be primarily concerned with survival and health over trade and wealth. Oases and vegetation were in extreme importance to the Bedouins, as it provided food and water for them and their flocks. Some tribes who would have been previously nomadic even established towns around large oases and settled their permanantly. The beliefs of the nomadic Arabian tribes would have been mainly animistic and totemistic, with a moon god being of importance; spirits were believed to inhabit everything - interesting rocks, trees, cemeteries, springs. All of nature was alive and important to the Bedouins. Also, nomadic Arabs were more concerned with the moon god, who they saw as a god providing relief and dew from the intense heat of the sun goddess, which is why they let their flocks graze at night. Jinn (spirits) were very real beings to the Bedouins, acting as guardians of sacred sites and spirits of localities, similiar to the Roman genii and animistic beings of the Celts and Africans. The Jinn were sometimes even worshipped exclusively by Bedouin clans such as the banu-Mulayh, who did not feel the need for any other deities except for Jinn. Pagan Arabian beliefs and customs - the gods of the ancient Arabs were mainly represented by baetyls, idols and natural phenomena. A sacrifice (Qurba') would be made at an altar ('Itr) before the god, serving either as food or as a means of pacifying or persuading it to carry out the supplicants wishes. When a child was born, a lamb would be sacrificed on behalf of the child, in order to procure the gods favour for that child for the rest of his/her life - this is still practiced today under the name of aqiqah, though it has become Islamized. The pagan Arabians believed that the human soul was an ethereal substance distinct from the human body. At the time of death, breath along with life itself escaped through its natural passage, the mouth or the nostrils. When a person passed away on his death-bed, his soul was said to escape through his nostrils (mata hatfa anfihi), and in the case of a violent death, such as on a battle-field, through a large wound. When a person was murdered, he was supposed to long for vengeance and to thirst for the blood of the murderer. If the vengeance was not taken, the soul of the murdered man was believed to appear above his grave in the shape of an owl crying out, "Give me to drink" (isquni), until the murder was avenged. The restless soul in the form of a screeching owl was supposed to escape from the skull, the skull being the most characteristic part of the dead body. The poets of ancient Arabia (who were held in utmost importance) often said that they wished that the graves of those whom they love may be refreshed with abundant rain. Idols in pagan Arabia were of great importance, as they were in other old Semitic countries such as Babylon and Palestine. The idol (wathan, nusub) was seen by the pagan Arabians as the house of the deity (baetyl), where the god or goddess would temporarily instill his or her essence and hear the pleas of the worshippers. As such, the Arabians did not actually worship the material idol, but instead they worshipped the spirit that was believed to temporarily inhabit it. Meteorites (Bayt Ilahi) were objects of extreme veneration for the pre-Islamic Arabians as they were seen as a gift from the high god Allah himself, housing immense celestial energy. Also among the variation of idols, outcrops of simple stone were believed to be the houses of Jinn or deities, as were trees and springs, which makes the pagan Arabian religion one which is very close to nature.

Above is a bas relief of the Meccan mother goddess Allat from the city of Ta'if in the Hijaz province of Saudi Arabia. It is remarkable how it managed to survive the destroying and desecrating the shrines of the pagan gods in Arabia, upon the orders of Muhammad and his successors. Here, Allat is represented as a Kahinah, for she is wearing the same clothes and carrying the same scepter as a female soothsayer or oracle would wear. The banu-Thaqif immediately made her their tribal goddess.
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Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Deities, Beings and Figures in Arabian Paganism

A compendium of deities and figures from Arabia before the time of Muhammad. In al-Ka'bah in Mecca, 360 statues, baetyls, paintings and sacred objects represented the Arabian pantheon. Here is a short list of them. Allt (Arabic: )is the Meccan mother goddess. She was the chief goddess of the tribe of banuThaqif and had a temple at the Meccan village of at-Taif. Her idol was a cube of white granite which was in the custody of the clan of banu-Attab-ibn-Malik of the tribe of banu-Thaqif. The nearby Bedouin tribes of banu-Lihyan and banu-Quraysh also worshipped this deity. She was reputed to live on a diet of barley porridge (sawiq) and her worshippers often made offerings of this to her and ate the dish in her honour. All three of the chief Meccan goddesses were worshipped across the Hejaz and were held to be most important by all Hejazi Arabs. Al-'Uzza (Arabic: )is the Meccan goddess of war, fertility and prophecy. She was worshipped by the Arabian tribes of banu-Quraysh, banu-Sulaym, banu-Ghanim, banu-Khuzaah and banuKinnah and her idol was a cluster of three acacia trees that were situated in the valley of Nakhlatal-Shamiyah near Mecca. She also had a nearby temple called Buss which housed a stone idol, a thigh bone shaped slab of granite, and was used for the purpose of obtaining oracles and prophecies. Sacrifices of both humans and animals were made to al-Uzza and she had an altar (Itr)

called al-Ghabghab which was used for sacrifices and prayers. In the city of Mecca, however, alUzza was worshipped from the rooftop of the Kabah. She was also worshipped domestically on the rooftops of houses as she was believed to house her power in the planet Venus. The banu-Quraysh called upon al-Uzza before going into battle. Allh (Arabic: )is the Meccan creator god. He was worshipped at a temple called al-Kabah in the city of Mecca and was the only Arabian deity to possess no idol. He was the tribal god of the tribe of banu-Quraysh and was venerated by all Meccan tribes. Allh was worshipped in times of despair, need and drought as he was believed to bestow rain. The three chief goddesses of Mecca (Allt, alUzza and Manat), were his daughters and he was the high god of the pagan Meccans. However, after creating the universe, the pagan Meccans believed that Allh retired into the position of a silent spectator and that he would only intervene in cases of drought or danger. The pagan Meccans acknowledged Allh as the supreme, ultimate deity, the creator of the universe and the one who controls the mechanisms of the universe. His function was similar to that of Eloah of the Judeans, El of the Canaanites, Ilum of Babylon and Elos of the Phoenicians. The Jewish clans of Yathrib equated Allh to their Judean god, and the Christians of Arabia also called used Allh as the name of God, though the pagan Allh was different in many ways to the Judeo-Christian Allh. The pagans of Mecca would often name their children Abd-Allh meaning devotee of Allh meaning that they held Allh in the highest regard. Even though Allh was assigned no idol, a black meteorite called alHajar al-Aswad was kept at a shrine in the corner of the Kabah: the god Allh was believed to house a portion of his power within this meteorite and the prophet Muhammad kept the stone, perhaps retaining the memory of Allh as the High God of the heathen Arabians. He was believed to reside in a heaven called Lahut, the uppermost stratum of the universe. Hubal (Arabic: )is a Meccan prophetic god, sometimes thought of as having power over war and the weather. He was the chief god of the tribe of banu-Khuzaah, his idol a large carnelian sculpture in the form of an old bearded man that sat on the roof of al-Kabah and was considered the consort of the goddess al-Uzza and the brother of the moon god Wadd. Hubal was the tutelary god of Mecca and tribesmen would ask his blessing before going into war. Meccan tribespeople would also consult Hubal as an oracle by means of cleromancy (divination with objects/arrows) and sacrifices were often made on his behalf. The tribe of banu-Quraysh venerated this god also and the men of that tribe crafted a hand of solid gold for this god when his carnelian one was broken. Manaf (Arabic: ) is a Meccan fertility and oracular god whose idol was a large stone sculpture which was worshipped by the tribeswomen of Mecca for fertility although when they were menstruating they were not allowed to near it. The tribesmen of banu-Quraysh venerated this god and his idol was situated inside al-Kabah itself. According to one Meccan, his devotees used to augur at his shrine. Manat is the Meccan goddess of fate and destiny. Her idol was a large outcrop of black marble which was housed in a temple at al-Mushallal on the seashore of Wadi-Qudayd and she was the chief goddess of the tribe of banu-al-Khazraj and she was venerated specifically by the banu-alKhazraj, banu-Aws and banu-Hudhayl. Many tribes from Yathrib and Mecca made Hajj unto her shrine and she was considered the eldest of the gods, second to Allh himself. She was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca and the Hejaz, along with Allt and al-Uzza. Ar is a Meccan god of fertility. He was one of the 360 gods and goddesses that were worshipped in and around al-Kabah. His idol was a stone sculpture which had a white mark on its forehead. He was considered the Meccan equivalent of Dhul-Shara. Quzah is the Meccan god of the weather. He had a shrine at the Meccan city of al-Muzdalifah and he was believed to reside in the clouds and fired hailstones from his bow. The rainbow was believed to be a ladder to the heavens and Quzah was believed to be the guardian of it. Quzah's cult may

have originated among the related Edomite tribes of south-western Jordan whose chief god was known as Qaus. Isf is a Meccan hill god. He was worshipped on the hill of al-Safa where his idol, a stone sculpture, was situated. The tribespeople of Mecca used to run between al-Safa and another hill, al-Marwa where his consort, Naila, was worshipped. The tribes of banu-Quraysh and banu-Khuzaah worshipped this deity. The statue of Isf was held in awe by the Meccans, and they would never touch it, but worship it from a short distance. Naila is the Meccan hill goddess. The tribespeople of Mecca went to her hill, al-Marwa where her idol was situated and made venerations to her from there. As with her consort, Isf, the Meccans ran between al-Safa and al-Marwa in veneration of both these deities. The tribes of banu-Khuzaah and banu-Quraysh worshipped both these gods. Both Isf and Naila were considered the patrons of the nearby well of Zamzam by the pagan Meccans and thus were considered spirits of water. Duwar is the Meccan goddess of Maidens. The youngest women of the banu-Quraysh performed tawaf (circumrotation) around the idol of Duwar and made libations to her. Duwar is one of the 360 gods and goddesses that was worshipped in and around the Kabah. Awf is a Meccan oracular god. The idol of Awf was situated on the roof of al-Kabah and was in the form of an eagle. The banu-Quraysh tribe used Awf as their totem and he was believed to be their divine ancestor. The oracles that Awf bestowed were mainly by the use of birds and their movements to discern the future; this form of divination is called Zajr, over which the god Awf was considered to be the patron. Buna is a Meccan god to whom the tribe of banu-Quraysh were devoted to. He was one of the 360 deities worshipped at the Kabah and he was said to give oracles if offerings were made at his shrine. Dhat-Anwt is a Meccan tree goddess. Her idol was massive palm/jujube/cedar tree that was situated halfway between Mecca and Yathrib (Medina). The tribespeople of Mecca used to make libations to her idol and hang ornaments, jewellery and weapons on the branches of her tree. She was an important deity of the banu-Quraysh tribe. Suwa is an Arabian mother goddess whose idol was the sculpture of a woman which was situated in a temple in Yanbu-al-Bahr, a village of Yathrib. The tribeswomen of Mecca and Yathrib worshipped this goddess as she was believed to bestow beauty and youth to her worshippers. She was the tribal goddess of the tribe of banu-Hudhayl and was venerated by both them and the tribes of banuQuraysh, banu-Khuzaah, banu-Lihyan and banu-Daws. She was the consort of the god Wadd and the custodians of the temple of Suwa were the tribe of banu-Lihyan. Wadd is an Arabian water god, the patron of the oasis of Dumat-al-Jandal. He had a temple situated nearby and his idol was a large sculpture of a bearded man. The tribespeople of that area used to bear amulets inscribed with the formula Wadd-Ab meaning Wadd is my father and these were believed to bring health and prosperity to the wearer. Wadd was the tribal god of the banu-Kalb and was also worshipped as a moon god in the extreme south of Arabia by the tribes of Main and snakes were his totem. Al-Fals is a central Arabian mountain god. He worshipped at a shrine on the black mountain of Jebel Aja which is situated near Hail in the middle of the Najd Desert. The idol of al-Fals was an outcrop of red granite which took the shape of a man and the tribal custodians of the temple of al-Fals were the clan of banu-Bawlan of the Tayy tribe. Jebel Aja was considered a sacred ground (hima) for the tribes of the Najd and it was used as a refuge and sanctuary by both humans and animals. For

example, if someone is fleeing persecution they would go to Jebel Aja and then they could not, by sacred law, be harmed. Also, if an animal is found grazing on the mountain, that animal would then belong to al-Fals and be considered taboo. Al-Fals was the tribal god of the Tayy tribe and was one of their chief gods. The Tayy used to sacrifice animals and make libations to this god. Shams is the Arabian goddess of the sun and the chief goddess of the Himyar tribe and was considered a preserver of crops and domestic life. She had a temple with an idol in the south Arabian city of Sanaa and was the chief goddess of that region. Shams was worshipped mainly by the tribes of Himyar and Hamdan although the Bedouins of the desert, being nomads, feared Shams for she would dry up the grazing areas for their flocks, compared to the sedentary Arabs in the south who relied on agriculture instead of nomadic pastoralism. The Bedouins of the desert in this case, were more prone to worshipping the moon instead of the sun, as the goddess Shams would scorch the desert in the day, and the appearance of the moon god Hubal/Wadd/Syn/Amm at night provided relief and dew for the weary desert nomads and their flocks. She was known to the Hebrews and Canaanites as the goddess Shemesh and to the Babylonians in the male form of Shamash. Yaghuth is an Arabian war god. His idol was a statue of a lion that was situated on a hill in Yemen and he was the tribal god of the Madhhij tribe. The tribes of Madhhij, Murad and Jurash worshipped this god. His idol would be carried into battle to ensure victory for the tribe. The Jinn (Arabic: )are supernatural creatures (nature spirits) who are responsible for controlling the elements, recognized by the pagan Arabs as divinities of inferior rank to other gods. They are known to grant wishes if summoned or worshiped and are fond of quiet places such as deserts, graveyards, wasteland and ruins and were also fond of springs and wells. Traditionally, Jinn were known to inhabit inanimate objects such as stones (nusub p.l. Ansab), statues, trees, bottles etc. The banu-Mulayh clan of the tribe of banu-Khuzaah exclusively worshiped the Jinn and the Romans called the jinn genius locii or spirits of place who were worshiped in Roman households. The Arabian tradition of Jinn worship spread to the Palmyrenes of southern Syria where they were minor deities. Dhul-Kaabat is an Arabian tutelary god. He had a sacred stone (nusub) in which he was believed to reside and he was worshipped by the tribes of Taghlib and banu-Bakr in the east of Arabia. Rda is a central Arabian fertility goddess. She had a temple in the city of Riyadh in the Najd Desert and she was worshipped by the tribes of banu-Tamim and banu-Rabiah. Al-Uqaysir is a north Arabian tribal god. He had a temple situated in the Syrian Desert and he had a baetyl (nusub) in which he was believed to reside in. he was worshipped by the tribes of banuJudham, banu-al-Qudaa, banu-Amila, banu-Lakhm and banu-Ghatafan. The tribespeople of north Arabia used to make sacrifices and libations to please al-Uqaysir. Suayr is a north Arabian oracular god who was worshipped by the tribe of Anazah and banu-Bakr ibn Wa'il near southern Syria. Sacrifices were frequently made to Suayr and his idol was a baetyl (nusub) which stood in a deep pit in the desert. The tribespeople of the Anazah would often perform tawaf around the baetyl of Suayr and he would reward their devotion with an oracle. The clans of banu-Yaqdum and banu-Yadhkur were the custodians of the shrine of Suayr. Nuhm is a west Arabian fertility god. He was consulted for hunting and ritual sacrifices were made to him on a frequent basis. He was worshipped by the tribe of Muzaynah and the clan of banu-Ida were the custodians of his shrine.

Dhul-Kaffayn is a west Arabian tribal god. He was worshipped on the coast of Hejaz and was venerated by the clan of banu-Munhib of the banu-Daws tribe. His idol was an outcrop of rock which was in the shape of a hand. Abgal is a north Arabian tutelary god, the deity of the desert and the patron of Bedouins and caravan drivers. He was worshipped at Palmyra and was associated with the Babylonian god Apkallu. Ammanas is a south Arabian agricultural god. Ammanas was worshipped by the clan of al-Adim of the Khawlin tribe. The clanspeople set aside a portion of their crops which were offered regularly to Ammanas to please him. He was the tribal god of the Qatabanian Arabs who worshipped him as a lunar deity and they even called themselves the banu-Amm (the children of Amm) in his honour. In Qataban, Ammanas was believed to be a god of the weather and lightning bolts were his symbols. Nasr is the south Arabian god of the deep desert. His idol was a sculpture of a large vulture and was situated in a temple in the village of Balkha in Yemen. He was also venerated as a spirit of death and was worshipped by the tribe of Himyar. Dhur-Rijl is a south Arabian tribal god. His idol was an outcrop of stone that was in the shape of a foot. The tribesmen of the banu-Daws worshipped this god. Dhul-Khalasah is a south Arabian oracular god who had a temple in the town of Tabalah, which was situated on the road between Mecca and Sanaa. The idol of Dhul-Khalasah was a pillar of white quartz which many tribespeople made pilgrimages (Hajj) to during the pagan days of Arabia. His shrine was famous in the south-west of Arabia and people used cleromancy to discern his messages. The tribes of banu-Daws, Khatham, Bajlah and al-Azd worshipped this god. According to some sources, his cult was revived in southern Arabia until 1815 when his idol was destroyed by Wahhabi gunfire. Huzam is an Arabian tribal god, who had an idol that was worshipped by the banu-al-Harith clan of the tribe of banu-al-Khazraj. Samud is an Arabian tribal god, worshipped by the ancient Arabian tribe of Ad. Nukhay is an Arabian solar god, worshipped by the ancient Thamudean and Safaitic tribes in the north of Arabia. Dhat-Badan is a south Arabian nature goddess who was worshipped by the tribe of Himyar. She was worshipped at tree-circled oases and Himyarite settlers brought her worship to the north of Abyssinia. Syn (also known as Sayin) is an Arabian lunar god, patron deity of the Arabs of Hadramhaut. Dhul-Khabsa is an Arabian tutelary god. He was worshipped by the tribe of al-Azd near Sanaa. Aim is a central Arabian war god. This god was worshipped by the tribe of al-Azd and he had a temple in the mountains of Sarawat in the Najd Desert. Kuthr is the central Arabian goddess of prosperity. She was worshipped at the city of Hail in the Najd Desert by the tribe of Tayy. Dhul-Samawi is the Arabian god of the sky. He was the tribal god of the Bedouins of banu-Amir and he had a temple which was situated on the edge of the desert of Rub-al-Khali in the south of Arabia.

The Bedouins brought their animals to the shrine of Dhul-Samawi when they were injured and they also sent sick people to reside at the shrine in the belief they were going to be healed. Dhul-Shara is an Arabian god of water. He was worshipped by the tribe of banu-Daws and by the clan of banu-al-Harith-ibn-Yashkur-ibn-Mubashir of the tribe of al-Azd in the north of Arabia. His idol was a large rectangular block of stone which was situated by a sacred spring. The people of those tribes allotted an area of vegetation to Dhul-Shara in the belief he would reward them with prosperity. The Nabataean Arabs to the far north of Arabia worshipped Dhul-Shara as their chief god and he had a large temple in their city of Petra where the Romans of Arabia called him Dusares. Yauq is an Arabian tutelary god, associated with preservation. He was worshipped in the south of Arabia by the tribes of Hamdan and Khawlin. He had a temple in a village of the Khawlin near Sanaa and his idol was in the form of a horse. The people of those tribes would carry small idols of Yauq around with them in the belief that Yauq himself would protect them. Sad is the west Arabian god of the constellation Pegasus. He was worshipped by the tribe of banuKinnah and he had a temple on the seashore of Jeddah in the Hejaz. The idol of Sad was a large outcrop of rock which the Bedouin tribesmen would sacrifice animals to. The Bedouins would also visit the idol of Sad in order to obtain either an oracle or advice. Al-Thurayya is the Meccan goddess of the constellation Pleiades. The tribespeople of Mecca would go to the mountains and appeal to her for rain and other blessings. Basamum is the south Arabian god of healing. The tribe of Himyar worshipped this god and many healing shrines were built in Yemen in his honour. Haubas is a south Arabian god, consulted as an oracle by the Arabs of Saba (Sheba). Talab is a south Arabian oracular god. The Sabaean tribes of banu-Riyam and banu-Sukhaym worshipped Talab. The idol of Talab was a palm tree that was situated at Turat on the mountain of Jebel Itwa in Yemen. The tribespeople of that area would carry around votive healing amulets with the name of Talab inscribed on them as a sign of devotion. The amulets that were dedicated to Talab were probably inspired by Roman healing cults as they were in the normally in the form of parts of the human body. Bajir is an Arabian tribal god. He was worshipped by the tribes of banu-al-Qudaa, al-Azd and Tayy in Oman. Datin is a north Arabian oracular god. He also served as a dealer of divine justice. Datin was worshipped near the oasis of Tayma. Asira is a north Arabian tutelary god, the patron deity of the oasis of Tayma. His cult was heavily under Egyptian influence, and he may have been a later masculine epiphet of the Levantine goddess Asherah. Shai-al-Qaum is the north Arabian god of war and the night. The Nabataean Arabs of southern Jordan worshipped Shai-al-Qaum as a guardian of camel caravans and honoured him as one of their chief deities at Petra. Qaynan is the south Arabian god of metallurgy and smiths. Al-Kutbay is the north Arabian god of writing, commerce, prophecy and merchants. He was worshipped by the Nabataean Arabs of southern Jordan and had an oracular shrine in the city of

Petra. The Bedouins and merchants of southern Jordan brought the worship of al-Kutbay to Egypt (Qasr Gheit) and the Sinai Peninsula. Anbay is the south Arabian god of prophecy. He was worshipped at Saba and was associated with the planet Mercury. He is the south Arabian equivalent of the Babylonian god Nabu who also presided over prophecy, the planet Mercury and wisdom. Haukim is the south Arabian god of justice. He was worshipped by the tribe of Himyar near Zafar. Dhul-Ghabat is the north Arabian god of vegetation. He was worshipped at the oasis of Tayma by the tribe of banu-Lihyan. Atarsamain is the north Arabian god of the stars. He was worshipped at Tayma by a group of north Arabian Bedouin tribes called the Yumuil Confederation. Al-Yabub is a west Arabian ancestral god. He was worshipped by the Jadilah clan of the Tayy tribe. The clansmen of the Jadilah fasted in the name of al-Yabub and his totem was a horse. Nakruh is the south Arabian god of the planet Saturn. He had a healing shrine and sanctuary near the city of Main where the sick and persecuted came in times of need. Nakruh was considered to be the brother of Wadd, who the Minaean Arabs worshipped as the god of the moon. The character of the god was said to be solemn, yet benevolent. Riam is a south Arabian oracular god. He had a temple (bayt) in the city of Sanaa and it was visited regularly by the people of the Himyar tribe. Sacrifices and offerings were made to Riam inside as he would give them oracles in exchange. Many Arabs from across the country made pilgrimages (alHajj) to the bayt of Riam as he was considered a reliable oracle. Al-Balu is an Arabian water god, associated with underground wells and springs. In Palestine, he was known as Baal where he was a major weather deity and his religion, known as Baalism, was in competition for the souls of the Hebrews and Canaanites with Judaism. In Arabia however he was only a minor aquatic deity that received attention from only a few Bedouin clans, and even today the word Bal in Arabic refers to an underground water source, retaining the memory of the pagan gods function. Yatha' is a south Arabian saviour god worshiped by the Himyarites in Aden and Abyan in conjunction with Shams and Nasr. He was the guardian of the city of Aden. Yaw is a north Arabian rain god, worshipped near the Gulf of Aqaba. His worshipped may have been adopted from the Midianite tribes of southern Jordan and perhaps the henotheistic Hebrew clans that held him as their supreme god whilst acknowledging the existence of other gods. Yaw is the equivalent of the Hebrew god Yahweh, who was originally a tribal weather god before the Hebrews began to worship him as their Creator. Azizos (Aziz) is a north Arabian god, associated with victory in battle and the planet Mars. He was worshipped at Palmyra and his cult eventually became Hellenised. The name Azizos meaning The Strong continues to be heard even in Islam as one of the 99 names of Allh. Monimos (Munim) is an Arabian god, associated with the planet Mercury and wisdom. Along with Azizos, he was worshipped at Palmyra and his cult came under Greek influence. Awal is an east Arabian tutelary god, worshipped by the Arabs at Bahrain. His idol was in the form of a bull.

Kalisha is an Arabian goddess, associated with purity, rather like the Meccan goddess Duwar, who was a patron of maidens. Almaqah (also known as Ilumquh) is a south Arabian thunder god. The Sabaean Arabs revered this god and believed themselves to be descended from him. His symbol was a cluster of lightning bolts surrounding a curved sickle and bulls were sacred to him. He was the south Arabian equivalent of the god Zeus. Attar or Athtar is the south Arabian god of war and the morning star (Venus). He was worshipped by the Minaean Arabs of the Hadramaut valley and Yemen who thought of him as a provider of water. He was an important god of the pre-Christian Abyssinians, to whom he was known as Ashtar. To the Minaeans, his symbol was a spearpoint and his sacred animal was the Arabian oryx (antelope). St. Qusai ibn Kilab ibn Murrah is a pagan Arabian saint, accredited with peacefully uniting the pagan tribes of Mecca and creating the first town hall on the Arabian Peninsula, where tribesmen could meet and discuss topics of a commercial or tribal nature. He was a devotee of the goddess Allt and was an ancestor of the prophet Muhammad. St. Qusai created laws so that pilgrims who went to Mecca were supplied with food and water, which was paid for by a tax that he persuaded his people to pay. He had the title of Wliullat meaning friend of Allt, the mother goddess of the Hejazi Arabs. A Ghul is an Arabian demon, believed to devour corpses and eat children and lone travellers. They were known to inhabit cemeteries. A Shayatan is an Arabian demon, responsible for placing evil thoughts and deeds in the hearts and minds of men. They were said to be formed from the blood of a murdered person and the only way to stop their formation was to drive an unused silver nail into the blood. A Marid is an Arabian spirit, a jinn associated with lakes, pools, rivers, oceans and other bodies of water, where they were believed to inhabit. They are the most arrogant, proud and dangerous of the jinn however they can be compelled through ritual, battle or extreme flattery. An Ifrit is an Arabian spirit, a jinn ruling over the element of fire. They are considered wrathful and prone to anger, appearing as winged titans composed of flame and were rumored to live underground. They are usually hostile towards humans but have the capacity to befriend and reward them if the human shows them enough respect. A Khin (fem. Khinah) is a pagan Arabian soothsayer. They normally procured oracles from the gods and were known to be the intermediates between humanity and the gods. The Khin would usually give their oracles by falling into a trance and then spewing forth the message in the form of short verses (much like the oracle of Delphi) which would then later have to be interpreted. Also, the Kahin would conduct oracular duties in the temple by means of cleromancy. Before giving oracles, the Khin would take an oath before the gods, assuring the recipient that he was genuine. Al-Kabah is a cubic-shaped temple which served as a shrine for 360 idols and sacred stones representing the deities of pagan Mecca and Arabia as a whole in pre-Islamic times. This temple was previously controlled by the tribe of banu-Quraysh before the advent of Muhammad. The statues and baetyls of the gods were both in and around the Kabah; a carnelian idol of the god Hubal stood on the roof of the Kabah, an idol representing the goddess Manat was in the Kabah itself and a black meteorite representing the creator-god Allh was situated at one of the temples corners. The stars and celestial bodies were worshipped from the Kabah as well; the Kabah when it was built was consecrated to Zuhal, the god of the planet Saturn. The pagan Meccans performed

circumrotation (tawaf) around the temple naked seven times (representing the 7 planets of antiquity) and they would perform it naked because they didnt want to approach their gods in the clothes they had sinned in. All of the Arab tribes in the Peninsula would make a pilgrimage (Hajj) to al-Kabah much like how all Muslims perform the hajj in post-Islamic times. Originally, Muhammad ordered that Islamic prayer should be directed towards the city of Jerusalem, but after Muhammads conflict with the Jewish clans of Yathrib (Medina), he decided that prayer should be directed to al-Kabah, the pagan temple in Mecca. To erase pagan associations from al-Kabah, Muhammad made the unlikely claims that Abraham (Ibrahim) and Ishmael (Ismail) built al-Kabah under the instructions of Allh, unlikely because Abraham probably never visited Mecca, or even the Hejaz, in his lifetime and there is no evidence from the Old Testament itself to suggest he did. Maryam and Isa (also known as Mary and Jesus) were worshipped at al-Kabah as pagan gods by the tribes of Mecca. The merchants of Mecca decided to include the statues of Maryam and Isa to attract Christian tribes which would bring trade and contribute to the economy of Mecca, increasing its status as an important city. Also, the Collyridians, an Arab Christian sect composed mainly of women that venerated Maryam (Mary) as a mother goddess, visited Mecca to worship Maryam at alKabah. Legend has it that the prophet Muhammad did not destroy the statues of Maryam and Isa, but instead buried them as a sign of respect to Islamic prophet/messiah and his mother. Ibrahim (also known as Abraham) was, like Maryam and Isa, worshipped as a god by the pagan Meccans. His statue was included as one of the pantheon of 360 gods at al-Kabah to attract the attention of the numerous Jewish clans of Yathrib who would bring with them their trade. As with Maryam and Isa, Muhammad did not smash Ibrahims statue, but rather buried it to show respect to the Islamic patriarch and prophet. Al-Bahira, in Arabian paganism, is an animal whose milk was used only for offerings to the gods and was considered sacred by the tribesmen. Zuhal is the Meccan goddess of the planet Saturn. She was the divinity to whom the Meccans consecrated the Kabah to. Abnil (also known as Abizal) is an Arabian tutelary god, worshipped in southern Syria. Al-Shira is the Arabian goddess of the star Sirius. She was worshipped as she was believed to deliver luck and fortune. Suhayl is the Meccan god of the star Canopus. The pagan Meccans honoured this god by constructing the Kabah so that its south-eastern wall faced the star itself. He was said to be the admirer of the star goddess al-Shira. Al-Mushtri is the Arabian god of the planet Jupiter. The pagan Arabs believed he would bring wealth if venerated. The personification of fortune and luck, he was worshipped at Palmyra as Gadda and in the north of Arabia as Gad. A Shair is a pagan Arabian poet. They normally served in nomadic Bedouin societies and the tribe would consult them on the outcomes of war, wealth and pastoralism. The Shair was believed to be in league with both the gods and the jinn and was consulted for the exorcism of demons (alShayatin). The Shair functioned as a sorcerer, using poetry as a means of evoking and supplicating the jinn. Al-Malik is a north Arabian tutelary god. The tribes of the Syrian Desert worshipped him as a means of victory in battle. He may even be a later epithet of the Ammonite god Moloch who was worshipped in the centre of Jordan.

Manuzi is a Syrian weather god. He is the consort of the goddess Liluri and bulls were sacrificed to him. Liluri is the Syrian goddess of the mountains, the consort of the god Manuzi. Dhat-Banatum is the south Arabian goddess of winter who was worshipped in the city of Saba in Yemen. Sakiyya is a north Arabian rain goddess. The tribe of Thamud believed her to be the ruler of the cloud spirits. The Sdin (fem. Sdinah) is a pagan Arabian priest who acted as the guardian and custodian of the shrine. They were always tribal and performed normal priestly functions in the temple. Their role differed from that of the Kahin, whose main function was divination, oracles and close-contact with the deity. The Sdin of the Kabah of Mecca belonged to the tribe of banu-Quraysh before the emergence of Islam. The Sdinah of the Temple of Suwa belonged to the tribe of banu-Lihyan and the Shrine of Allt was guarded by the Sdin of the clan of banu-Attab-ibn-Malik of the tribe of banuThaqif. They would usually sing hymns to the gods and burn incense in the temple. The temple was usually their place of residence as well as their place of function and the Sdin of the gods temple was usually the Sheikh of the tribe. The Sheikh (fem. Sheikhah) is a pagan Arabian tribal chieftain. They would often lead the tribe in battle along with the Shair (Magus) and were held in special reverence by the tribesmen. After death the Sheikh of the tribe was believed to join the ancestors and was therefore regarded as a tribal guardian spirit. At the grave of the Sheikh, tribesmen would often tie a camel to a post near the grave and leave it to starve to appease the spirit of the Sheikh as the camel would serve him in the afterlife. Animals were often sacrificed to deceased Sheikhs as they were believed to aid the tribe in affairs even after death. Al-Hajar al-Aswad is a black meteorite encased in silver on a corner of al-Kabah. This stone has been at Mecca since ancient times, and the pagans of Mecca worshipped it as it was said to house the power of the creator god Allh. Even at present times, it is revered by Muslims not as an animistic fetish, but rather as a stone sent down from the heavens to mark the place where Abraham (Ibrahim) apparently built al-Kabah. The pagan Arabians held meteorites in special reverence over all other stones, as they were believed to be sent by the gods, thus housing celestial and heavenly energy. Dahr is an Arabian god, the personification of time. He was the equivalent to the Persian idea of Zurvan. He differed from Manat, the goddess of fate, as he made men lose their purpose and suffer. The Falak was a dragon representing lava and magma, that resided in the Realm of Fire, deep under the earth. According to Arabian folklore, the only thing preventing this primordial spirit of flame from resurfacing and wreaking havoc on the earth was it's fear of the creator god Allah. Qareen were jinn, unseen beings who were the constant spiritual companions of humans. The Qareen had an equal chance of being either good or evil. For example, an evil qareen could drive humans into acts of evil and vice-versa. The Mala'ikah (sin. Malak) are angels in Arabian mythology. In pre-Islamic times, the Arabs worshiped angels as the children and agents of the gods and the angel Jibril (Gabriel) was represented at the Ka'bah in the form of an idol. They differed from jinn in the sense that they were entirely benevolent whereas the jinn were often neutral in outlook. The prophet Muhammad

continued the belief in angels however worshiping them was turned into a sin. The Mandah are Arabian irrigational deities, worshiped by the pagan marsh Arabs in pre-Islamic Iraq. They are probably a later Arabian interpretation of the deities worshiped by the Chaldean peoples in pre-Christian Iraq that the Arabs met and traded with. The Shebah are the Arabian spirits of the dead, or shades. They were pitied and respected by the pagan Arabs and they did not fear them. Sometimes, the Arabs would set up baetyls in the area the Shebah were witnessed and the Arabs would ask for supernatural guidance from these spirits.

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P. V. D United Kingdom A basic insight into the polytheistic beliefs and customs of the peoples who are now majorly Islamic. So far I've covered Turkish and Arabian polytheism. View my complete profile Watermark template. Powered by Blogger.

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Sacred-texts Paganism

Ancient Forms of {Pre-Islamic} Pagan Worship

pp. 1612-1623 of The Holy Qur'an, Text, Translation and Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, [1946] {Scanned at sacred-texts.com, October, 2001. This is a short excerpt from an appendix to an English translation of the Qur'an, which describes the pagan beliefs in the Arabian peninsula prior to the rise of Islam. It is written by a devout Muslim, so this point of view is evident throughout. This is one of the few treatments of this fascinating but little-understood subject which I have found. I have appended the translation and notes for the portion of the Qur'an (Surah lxxi.) mentioned in the body of the appendix. This is also of interest because it gives the Islamic take on the story of Noah. In verse 23 of this Surah, five pre-Islamic pagan deities are mentioned by name: Wadd, Suw`, Yagth, Ya`q and Nasr. Believers in the existence of the Necronomicon (itself purportedly a mediaeval Arabic document) will take note of Yagth in this list. In the appendix, Ali also describes a trinity of pre-Islamic goddesses: Lt, `Uzz, and Mant; this information will be of interest to Wiccans. Note that the appendix, from p. 1619-23 in the original book, is first in this document, followed by the excerpt from the Qur'an, p. 1612-8, so the page numbering below is out of order.--jbh} {p. 1619} APPENDIX XIII. From prehistoric times man has sought to worship powers of nature, or symbols representing those powers, or idols representing those symbols. In vulgar minds they become debased superstitions, and seem to come into competition with the worship of the one True God. 2. The five names mentioned in lxxi. 23 represent some of the oldest Pagan cults, before the Flood as well as after the Flood, though the names themselves are in the form in which they were worshipped by local Arab tribes. The names of the tribes have been preserved to us by the Commentators, but they are of no more than archological interest to us now. But the names of the false gods are interesting to us

from the point of view of comparative religion, as, under one form or another, such cults still exist in countries which have not accepted the Gospel of Unity, as they have always existed since man turned from his Maker and Sustainer to the worship of created things or invented fancies. 3. The names of the five false gods and the symbols under which they were represented were as follows:-Pagan god 1. Wadd 2. Suw`, 3. Yagth 4. Ya`q 5. Nasr Shape. Man Woman Lion (or Bull) Horse Eagle, or Vulture, or Falcon. Quality represented Manly Power. Mutability, Beauty. Brute Strength. Swiftness. Sharp Sight, Insight.

It is not clear whether these names are to be connected with true Arabic verbal roots or are merely Arabicised forms of names derived from foreign cults, such as those of Babylonia or Assyria, the region of Noah's Flood. The latter supposition is probable. Even in the case of Wadd (Affection, Love) and Nasr (Eagle), which are good Arabic words, it is doubtful whether they are not, in this connection, translations or corruptions of words denoting foreign cults. 4. In studying ancient comparative mythologies we must never forget the following facts. (1) Men's ideas of God always tend to be anthropomorphic. The qualities which they admire they transfer to their godhead. (2) But fear in primitive man also leads to the transfer of anything mysterious or imagined to be injurious, to the Pantheon. Such things have to be placated in order that they may not injure man. Thus in popular Hinduism the goddess of small-pox, which causes terror over an ignorant countryside, has to be worshipped, placated, or appeased with sacrifice. (3) This leads to the worship of animals noxious to man, such as serpent-worship, which {p. 1620} has prevailed and still prevails in many primitive areas. In ancient Egyptian mythology the Crocodile (so common in the Nile), the Dog, the Bull, and the Ibis

were worshipped both literally and symbolically. See Appendix V, p. 409. (4) But as men's knowledge grows, and they observe the wonderful heavenly bodies and their motions, they begin to feel their sublimity, beauty and mystery, and they transfer their worship to the heavenly bodies. The first great astronomers in the ancient world were the Babylonians and Chaldans. Among them was Abraham's homeland. The allegory of Abraham (vi, 74-82 and notes) points to the importance of the cult of the worship of heavenly bodies and the fallacy in them. "It is those who believe, and confuse not their beliefs with wrong-that are truly in security, for they are on right guidance" (vi. 82). The Saban worship of heavenly bodies in Arabia had probably its source in Chalda (see last paragraph of n. 76 to ii. 62). (5) A further refined step in Paganism is to worship abstractions, to treat concrete things as symbols of abstract qualities which they represent. For example, the planet Saturn with its slow motion was treated as phlegmatic and evil. The planet Mars with its fiery red light was treated as betokening war and havoc and evil, and so on. Jupiter, with its magnificent golden light, was treated as lucky and benignant to any who came tinder its influence. Venus became the symbol and the goddess of carnal love. The Pagan Arabs erected Time (Dahr) into a deity, existing from eternity to eternity, and dispensing good and ill fortune to men. The ancient gean religion treated the vital principle in the same way, as spontaneous and eternal, and traces of this are found in many religions, ancient and modern. (6) The next step was to reincarnate as it were these qualities in beings of flesh and blood, with lives, feelings, and passions like those of ordinary men and women, and to fill up a confused Pantheon with gods and goddesses that quarrelled, hated, loved, were jealous, and suffered or enjoyed life like human beings. In such a Pantheon there was room for demi-gods and real human heroes that were worshipped as gods. The Greek poets and artists were past masters in carrying out this process, under cover of which they discussed profound human problems, with great power. They made religion dramatic. While they gained in humanism, they lost the purer spiritual conceptions which lift the divine world far above the futilities and crimes of this life. Hierarchical Christianity has suffered from this inheritance of the Greek tradition. (7) Where there was a commingling of peoples and cultures, several of these ideas and processes got mixed up together. Gods and goddesses of different origins were identified one with another, e.g. Artemis, the chaste virgin huntress goddess of the Greek Pantheon, was identified with Diana of the Romans, Diana of the Ephesians (representing the teeming life of nature), and Selene the cold moongoddess. Similarly Diana was identified with the Egyptian Isis, and Diana's twinbrother Apollo (the sun) with the Egyptian Osiris. Forces of nature, animals, trees, qualities, astronomical bodies, and various other factors got mixed up together, and formed a shapeless medley of superstitions, which are all condemned by Islam. 5. To revert to the worship of the heavenly bodies. The countless fixed stars in the firmament occupied always the same relative positions in the heavens, and did not

impress the imagination of the ancients like the objects which stood out vividly with mysterious laws of relative motion. A few individual stars did attract the worshippers' attention; e.g. Sirius the Dog-star, the brightest fixed star in the heavens, with a bluish tinge in its light, and Algol the variable star, being Beta of the constellation {p. 1621} Perseus, whose variations can be perceived by the naked eye in two or three nights, became connected with many legends, myths, and superstitions. It is probably Sirius that is referred to as the fixed star in the Parable of Abraham (vi. 76). With regard to the fixed stars in their myriads, the astronomers turned their fancy to devising Groups or Constellations. But the moving "stars", or planets, each with its own individual laws of motion, stood out to them personified, each with a motion and therefore will or influence of its own. As they knew and understood them, they were seven in number, viz.: (1) and (2) the moon and the Sun, the two objects which most closely and indubitably influence the tides, the temperatures, and the life on our planet; (3) and (4) the two inner planets, Mercury and Venus, which are morning and evening stars, and never travel far from the sun; and (5), (6), and (7) Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, the outer planets, whose elongations from the sun on the ecliptic can be as wide as possible. The number seven became itself a mystic number, as explained in n. 5526 to lxv. 12. 6. It will be noticed that the sun and the moon and the five planets got identified each with a living deity, god or goddess, with characteristics and qualities of its own. The solar myth was a myth of very fruitful vitality, and got mixed up with many other myths and ideas. In late Roman religion it appears in the story of Apollo, the sun-god of light and learning and of manly beauty, twin brother to Diana the moon. goddess. In ancient Egypt it appears in the myth of Horus, the falcon-eyed, or of Ra or R, the Eye, which sees all things. Further, the eagle, or falcon, or hawk, became itself identified with the sun, with its piercing light. The sun myth mixes itself up with the myth of the Nile and with the cycle of legends connected with Isis and Osiris, who were subsequently identified with the moon and the sun divinities. In Babylon the name Shamash (Arabic, Shams) proclaims the glory of the sun-god corresponding to the old Sumerian Utu or Babbar, while the hymns to Srya (the sun) in the Rig-Veda and the cult of Mithra in Persia proclaim the dominance of sun-worship. 7. Moon-worship was equally popular in various forms. I have already referred to the classical legends of Apollo and Diana, twin brother and sister, representing the sun and the moon. The Egyptian Khonsu, traversing the sky in a boat, referred to the moon, and the moon legends also got mixed up with those about the god of magic, Thoth, and the Ibis. In the Vedic religion of India the moon-god was Soma, the lord of the planets, and the name was also applied to the juice which was the drink of the

gods. It may be noted that the moon was a male divinity in ancient India; it was also a male divinity in ancient Semitic religion, and the Arabic word for the moon ( qamar) is of the masculine gender. On the other hand, the Arabic word for the sun (shams) is of the feminine gender. The Pagan Arabs evidently looked upon the sun as a goddess and the moon as a god. 8. Of the five planets, perhaps Venus as the evening star and the morning star alternately impressed itself most on the imagination of astro-mythology. This planet was in different places considered both male and female. In the Bible (Isaiah, xiv. 12), the words "How art thou fallen, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" are understood to refer to the Morning Star in the first instance, and by analogy to the King of Babylon. The Fathers of the Christian Church, on the other hand, transferred the name Lucifer to Satan, the power of evil. Mercury is a less conspicuous planet, and was looked upon as a child in the family, the father and mother being the moon and the sun, or the sun {p. 1621} and the moon (according to the sex attributed to these divinities), or else either the sun or the moon was the father and Venus the mother (the sexes being inter-changeable in the myths). Of the three outer planets, Jupiter is the most conspicuous: indeed, after the sun and the moon, it is the most conspicuous object in the heavens, and was reputed to be beneficent and to bestow good fortune. The sun and the moon being considered in a class apart, Jupiter was considered the father of the planets, and possibly his worship got occasionally mixed tip with that of the sun. Mars and Saturn, as has already been stated, were considered malevolent planets, to be feared for the mischief that they might do; for the Pagan Pantheons worshipped powers both of good and evil. 9. It is remarkable that the days of the week are named after the seven planets of geocentric astronomy, and if we take them in alternate sequence they indicate the order in which their heavens were arranged with reference to proximity to the earth. The following table represents this grouping:-Planet Presiding god or goddess Day of the week in alternate sequence Sunday Tuesday Thursday

Moon Mercury Venus

Diana Mercury Venus

The Sun Mars Jupiter Saturn

Apollo Mars Jupiter Saturn

Saturday Monday Wednesday Friday

This alternate sequence is carried into a circle, as the total number is seven, itself a mystic number. 10. These cross-currents and mixtures of nature-worship, astral-worship, heroworship, worship of abstract qualities, etc., resulted in a medley of debasing superstitions which are summed up in the five names, Wadd, Suw`, Yagth, Ya`q, and Nasr, as noted in paragraph 3 above. The time of Noah is taken to be the peak of superstition and false worship, and the most ancient cults may thus be symbolically brought under these heads. If Wadd and Suw` represented Man and Woman, they might well represent the astral-worship of the moon and the sun, or the sun and the moon, or they might represent human self-glorification, the worship of Self as against God, or they might represent the worship of Manly Power and Female Beauty, or other abstract qualities of that kind. On the other hand, it is possible that the worship of Jupiter and Venus itself got mixed up with the worship of the sun-moon pair. One pair being identified with another pair in a Septet, the number seven was reduced to five, and the five (itself a mystic number) might itself represent the seven planets as then worshipped. Further, it may be that Nasr (the vulture, falcon, hawk, or eagle, the Egyptian Horus) also represents a solar myth, mixed up with the cult of the planets. These cross-currents of astro-mythological mixtures of cults are well-known to students of ancient popular religions. If the five names, from another angle of vision, represent qualities, the Wadd-Suw` pair (Sun-Moon, Jupiter-Venus) would represent manly power and womanly beauty or mutability respectively, and the three remaining ones (paragraph 3) might represent Brute Strength, like that of a Bull or a Lion; Swiftness like that of a Horse or sharpness (of sight or intelligence) like that of a vulture, hawk, or eagle. {p. 1623} 11. It may be noted that the five names of deities mentioned here to represent very ancient religious cults are well-chosen. They are not the names of the deities best known in Mecca, but rather those which survived as fragments of very ancient cults among the outlying tribes of Arabia, which were influenced by the cults of

Mesopotamia (Noah's country). The Pagan deities best known in the Ka`ba and round about Mecca were Lt, `Uzz, and Mant. (Mant was also known round Yathrib, which afterwards became Medina.) See liii. 19-20. They were all female goddesses. Lt almost certainly represents another wave of sun-worship: the sun being feminine in Arabic and in Semitic languages generally. "Lt" may be the original of the Greek "Leto", the mother of Apollo the sun-god (Encyclopdia of Islam, I., p. 380). If so, the name was brought in prehistoric times from South Arabia by the great Incense Route (n. 3816 to xxxiv. 18) to the Mediterranean. `Uzz probably represents the planet Venus. The origin of Mant is not quite clear, but it would not be surprising if it also turned out to be astral. The 360 idols established by the Pagans in the Ka`ba probably represented the 360 days of an inaccurate solar year. This was the actual "modern" Pagan worship as known to the Quraish contemporary with our Prophet. In sharp contrast to this is mentioned the ancient antediluvian worship under five heads, of which fragments persisted in outlying places, as they still persist in different forms and under different names in all parts of the world where the pure worship of God in unity and truth is not firmly established in the minds and hearts of men. References: The classical work on Arabian idol-worship is Ibn al-Kalbi's Kitrb-ulasnm, of the late second century of the Hijra. The book is not easily accessible. Our doctors of religion have evinced no interest in the study of ancient cults, or in comparative religion, and most of them had not before them the results of modern archology. But a modern school of Egyptian archologists is arising, which takes a great deal of interest in the antiquities of their own country. For astral worship consult Hastings' Encyclopdia of Religion and Ethics, articles on "Sun, Moon, and Stars," as worshipped in different countries. Consult also Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, London 1904; A. H. Sayce, Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, Gifford Lectures, Edinburgh 1902; M. Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston 1898; E. W. Hopkins, Religions of India, London 1896; G. A. Barton, Sketches of Semitic Origins, New York 1902. Any Classical Dictionary would give details of Greek and Roman Mythology. It is curious that the Indus Civilization, which resembles the Second Pre-diluvian Culture of Elam and Mesopotamia, does not clearly disclose any signs of astral worship. But this study is still in its tentative stage. There is tree and animal worship, phallic worship. and the worship of the great Mother-goddess. Animal worship regards strength, courage, virility, or swiftness, as in the Pagan Arabian deities we have been considering. See Sir John Marshall, Mohenjo Daro and the Indus Civilization, 3 vols. London 1931. Sir J. G. Frazer, in his Adonis, Attis, and Osiris (4th ed., London 1914, Vol. I, pp. 8-9) refers to Allatu or Eresh-Kigal as "the stern queen of the infernal regions" in Babylonian religion: she was the goddess of the nether regions, of darkness and

desolation, as her counterpart Ishtar was the chief goddess of the upper regions, of reproduction and fertility, associated with the planet Venus. {p. 1619} INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY: SRA LXXI (Nh). This is another early Meccan Sra, of which the date has no significance. The theme is that while Good must uphold the standard of Truth and Righteousness, a stage is reached when it must definitely part company with Evil, lest Evil should spread its corruption abroad. This theme is embodied in the prayer of Noah just before the Flood. The story of Noah's agony is almost a Parable for the holy Prophet's persecution in the Meccan period. C. 251. (lxxi. 1-28.).-The Prophet's Message, as was that of Noah, Is a warning against sin, and the Good News of Mercy Through the door of Repentance: for God is loving And long-suffering, and His Signs are within us And around us. But the sinners are obstinate: They plot against Righteousness, and place their trust In futile falsehoods. They will be swept away, And the earth will be purged of Evil. Let us Pray for Mercy and Grace for ourselves, For those nearest and dearest to us, And for all who turn in faith to God, In all ages and all countries, And amongst all Peoples. {p. 1613} Sra LXXI. Nh, or Noah. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 1. We sent Noah[5705] To his People (With the Command) "Do thou warn thy People

Before there comes to them A grievous Penalty." 2. He said: "O my People! I am to you A Warner, clear and open:[5706] 3. "That ye should worship God, fear Him, And obey me:"[5707] 4. "So He may forgive you Your sins and give you Respite for a stated Term: For when the Term given by God is accomplished, It cannot be put forward If ye only knew." 5. He said: "O my Lord! I have called to my People Night and day: {p. 1614} 6. "But my call only Increases (their) flight (From the Right).[5700] 7. "And every time I have Called to them, that Thou Mightest forgive them, They have (only) thrust Their fingers into their ears, Covered themselves up with[5710] Their garments, grown obstinate, And given themselves up To arrogance. 8. "So I have called to them Aloud;

9. "Further I have spoken To them in public[5711] And secretly in private, 10. "Saying, 'Ask forgiveness From your Lord; For He is Oft-Forgiving; 11. "'He will send rain"[5712] To you in abundance; {p. 1615} 12 "'Give you increase In wealth and sons; And bestow on you Gardens and bestow on you Rivers (of flowing water).[5713] 13. "'What is the matter With you, that ye Place not your hope For kindness and long-suffering In God,-14. Seeing that it is He That has created you In diverse stages?[5714] 15. "'See ye not How God has created The seven heavens One above another,[5715] 16. "'And made the moon A light in their midst, And made the sun As a (Glorious) Lamp?[5716] 17. "'And God has produced You from the earth, Growing (gradually),[5717]

{p. 1616} 18. "'And in the End He will return you Into the (earth), And raise you forth (Again at the Resurrection)? 19. "'And God has made The earth for you As a carpet (spread out),[5718] 20. "'That ye may go about Therein, in spacious roads.'"[5719] SECTION 2. 21. Noah said: "O my Lord! They have disobeyed me, But they follow (men) [5731-A] Whose wealth and children Give them no Increase But only Loss. 22. "And they have devised A tremendous Plot.[5720] 23. "And they have said (To each other), 'Abandon not your gods:[5791] Abandon neither Wadd Nor Suw`, neither Yagth nor Ya`q, Nor Nasr';-{p. 1617} 24. "They have already Misled many; and Grant Thou no increase To the wrong-doers but in Straying (from their mark).[5722]

25. Because of their sins They were drowned (In the flood),[5723] And were made to enter The Fire (of Punishment): And they found-In lieu of God-None to help them. 26. And Noah said: "O my Lord! Leave not Of the Unbelievers, A single one on earth![5724] 27. "For, if Thou dost leave (Any of) them, they will But mislead Thy devotees, And they will breed none But wicked ungrateful ones. 28. "O my Lord! Forgive me, My parents, all who Enter my house in Faith, And (all) believing men {p. 1618} And believing women;[5725] And to the wrong-doers Grant Thou no increase But in Perdition![5726] {footnotes p. 1613}
[5705. Noah's mission is referred to in many places. See specially xl. 25-49 and notes. His contemporaries had completely abandoned the moral law. A purge had. to be made, and the great Flood made it. This gives a new starting point in history for Noah's People,--i.e. for the remnant saved in the Ark. 5706. His Warning was to be both clear (i.e. unambiguous) and open (i.e. publicly proclaimed). Both these meanings are implied in Mubn. Cf. lxvii. 26. The meaning of the Warning was obviously that if they had repented, they would have obtained mercy.

5707. Three aspects of man's duty are emphasized: (1) true worship with heart and soul; (2) God-fearing recognition that all evil must lead to self-deterioration and judgment; (3) hence repentance and amendment of life. and obedience to good men's counsels. 5708. God gives respite freely; but it is for Him to give it. His command is definite and final; neither man nor any other authority can alter or in any way modify it. If we could only realise this to the full in our inmost soul, it would be best for us and lead to our happiness.]

{footnotes p. 1614}
[5709. When convincing arguments and warnings are placed before sinners, there are two kinds of reactions. Those who are wise receive admonition, repent, and bring forth fruits of repentance, i.e. amend their lives and turn to God. On the other hand, those who are callous to any advice take it up as a reproach, fly farther and farther from righteousness, and shut out more and more the channels through which God's heating Grace can reach them and work for them. 5710. The literal meaning would be that, just as they thrust their fingers into their ears to prevent the voice of the admonisher reaching them, so they covered their bodies with their garments that the light of truth should not penetrate to them. and that they should not even be seen by the Preacher. But there is a further symbolic meaning. "Their garments" are the adornments of vanities, their evil habits, customs, and traditions. and their ephemeral interests and standards. They drew them closer round them to prevent the higher Light reaching them. They grew obstinate and gave themselves up to the grossest form of selfish arrogance. 5711. Noah used all the resources of the earnest preacher: he dinned the Message of God into their ears; he spoke in public places; and he took individuals into his confidence, and appealed privately to them; but all in vain. 5712. They had perhaps been suffering from drought or famine. If they had taken the message in the right way, the rain would have been a blessing to them. They took it in the wrong way. and the rain was a curse to them, for it flooded the country and drowned the wicked generation. In the larger Plan, it was a blessing all the same; for it purged the world, and gave it a new start, morally and spiritually.]

{footnotes p. 1615}
[5713. Each of these blessings--rain and crops, wealth and man-power. flourishing gardens, and perennial streams-are indications of prosperity, and have not only a material but also a spiritual meaning. Note the last point, "rivers of flowing water". The perennial springs make the prosperity as it were permanent: they indicate a settled population, honest and contented, and enjoying their blessings here on earth as the foretaste of the eternal joys of heaven. 5714. Cf. xxii. 5, and notes 2773-2777; also xxiii. 12-17, and notes 2872-2875. The meaning here may be even wider. Man in his various states exhibits various wonderful qualities or capacities. mental and spiritual, that may be compared with the wonderful workings of nature on the earth and in the heavens. Will he not then be grateful for these Mercies and turn to God, Who created all these marvels? 5715. See n. 5559 to lxvii. 3. 5716. Cf. xxv. 61, where the sun is referred to as the glorious Lamp of the heavens: "Blessed is He Who made the Constellations in the skies, and placed therein a lamp, and a moon giving light." 5717. Cf. iii. 37, where the growth of the child Mary the Mother of Jesus is described by the same word nabt, ordinarily denoting the growth of plants and trees. The simile is that of a seed sown, that germinates, grows, and dies, and goes back to the earth. In man, there is the further process of the Resurrection. Cf. also xx. 55.]

{footnotes p. 1616}
[5718. Cf. xx. 53, 5719. Fijj implies valley-roads or passes between mountains. Though there are mountain chains on the earth, God's artistry has provided even in such regions, valleys and channels by which men may go about. Mountain roads usually follow the valleys. 5719-A. Sinners always resent it as a reproach that righteous men should speak to them for their own good. They prefer smooth flatterers, and they worship power even though the depositaries of power are selfish men, who neither profit themselves nor profit others by the wealth and man-power that they collect round themselves. They forget that mere material things may be a delusion and a snare unless the moral and spiritual factor behind them sanctifies them. 5720. Having got material resources. the wicked devise plots to get rid of the righteous whose presence is a reproach to them, For a time their plots may seem tremendous and have the appearance of success, but they can never defeat God's Purpose. 5721. For an account of how these Pagan gods and superstitions connected with them originated, and how they became adopted into the Arabian Pagan Pantheon, see Appendix XIII at the end of this Sra, pp. 1619.1623.]

{footnotes p. 1617}
[5722. Such Pagan superstitions and cults do not add to human knowledge or human well-being. They only increase error and wrong-doing. For example, how much lewdness resulted from the Greek and Roman Saturnalia! And how much lewdness results from ribald Holt songs! This is the natural result, and Noah in his bitterness of spirit prays that God's grace may be cut off from men who hug them to their hearts. They mislead others: let them miss their own mark! See also verse 28 below. 5723. The Punishment of sin seizes the soul from every side and in every form. Water (drowning) indicates death by suffocation, through the nose, ears, eyes, mouth, throat, and lungs. Fire has the opposite effects: it burns the skin, the limbs, the flesh, the brains, the bones, and every part of the body. So the destruction wrought by sin is complete from all points of view. And yet it is not death (xx. 74); for death would be a merciful release from the Penalty, and the soul steeped in sin has closed the gates of God's Mercy on itself. There they will abide, unless and "except as God willeth" (vi. 128). For time and eternity, as we conceive them now, have no meaning in the wholly new world which the soul enters after death or judgment. 5724. The Flood was sent in order to purge all sin. The prayer of Noah is not vindictive. it simply means, "Cut off all the roots of sin ". See next note.]

{footnotes p. 1618}
[5723. Indeed he prays for himself, his parents, his guests, and all who in earnest faith turn to God, in all ages and in all places. Praying for their forgiveness is also praying for the destruction of sin. 5726. This is slightly different in form from verse 24 above, where see n. 5722. See also last note.]

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Thread: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

1. 14 Jun 2012 07:54 PM#1

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Abduzza

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Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Since I'm still hammering out the specifics of following an Arabic Pagan path, I'd like to invite any questions that you guys may have about it. Not only will you get some information but it will greatly help me elucidate my own beliefs.

So, go for it. No question will go unanswered!

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3. 14 Jun 2012 08:21 PM#2

Shine

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Originally Posted by Abduzza

Since I'm still hammering out the specifics of following an Arabic Pagan path, I'd like to invite any questions that you guys may have about it. Not only will you get some information but it will greatly help me elucidate my own beliefs. So, go for it. No question will go unanswered!

Hmmm, I've never heard of this path before. Completely ignorant about all aspects of it. I'll ask a couple questions and maybe have more later. . . 1. Which deities, if any, play the biggest role in an Arabic pagan path? 2. What would you say are the most important practices to maintain? Daily prayer? Libations? 3. Many paths have a specific set of what we would call "morals" attached to them. Is this true of Arabic paganism? If so, what are those morals?

Leave your darkness with me, and I will make you shine.
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14 Jun 2012 08:55 PM#3

Altair

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Originally Posted by Abduzza

Since I'm still hammering out the specifics of following an Arabic Pagan path, I'd like to invite any questions that you guys may have about it. Not only will you get some information but it will greatly help me elucidate my own beliefs. So, go for it. No question will go unanswered!
1. Is Arabic paganism something that is widely known to exist (albeit, in most Muslim countries, driven underground)? Or is it something you're developing yourself? 2. Does it make use of the Arabic language--specifically, Arabic calligraphy? (which is such a spectacular art form it would be a shame if some pagan path *didn't* make use of it)

Check out my brand new Blog of Mythic Proportions for a contemporary take on myth and mythmaking
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15 Jun 2012 04:52 AM#4

Valentine

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Originally Posted by Abduzza

Since I'm still hammering out the specifics of following an Arabic Pagan path, I'd like to invite any questions that you guys may have about it. Not only will you get some information but it will greatly help me elucidate my own beliefs. So, go for it. No question will go unanswered!
I assume you're attempting a reconstruction from the pre-Islamic period--am I right in assuming your icon is of al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat? It's an interesting effort, since so much of the extant references we have are from Islamicate sources, and so have an investment in making things look a certain way. I do know it's a pretty big pantheon, for all that we've almost no information on most of it. I wish you the best of luck! How's your Classical Arabic? Have you read the Hanging Odes? "Let be be finale of seem." - Wallace Stevens, "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" "There isn't a way things should be. There's just what happens, and what we do." - Terry Pratchett, "A Hat Full of Sky"
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15 Jun 2012 04:05 PM#5

Abduzza

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers Hmmm, I've never heard of this path before. Completely ignorant about all aspects of it. I'll ask a couple questions and maybe have more later. . .
1. Which deities, if any, play the biggest role in an Arabic pagan path? 2. What would you say are the most important practices to maintain? Daily prayer? Libations? 3. Many paths have a specific set of what we would call "morals" attached to them. Is this true of Arabic paganism? If so, what are those morals?
1. In the Arabic path there are a boat load of Gods and Goddesses. From what we understand the three big Goddesses are Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Al-Manat. The chief God was Allah and there was most likely a "conquering hero" figure named Hubal. Hubal actually may be a Arabic understanding of the Hercules story. 2. In classical Arabic religion there were no real set practices. The only thing that was a set practice was pilgrimage to a Kaaba or house where idols of the God and Goddess would be kept. Besides that prayer was spontaneous, there were no real rituals corresponding with birth and death besides spontaneous prayer. Oath-swearing was a very common practice as was hunting in the name of whatever God or Goddess one favored. 3. Morality was based on the tribal necessities of the era, so family bonds and revenge were the earliest modes of morals. Being that I'm not a reconstructionist, I don't hold these specific moral ideas myself because I'm not a bedouin having to fight for water in the desert.

1. Is Arabic paganism something that is widely known to exist (albeit, in most Muslim countries, driven underground)? Or is it something you're developing yourself? 2. Does it make use of the Arabic language--specifically, Arabic calligraphy? (which is such a spectacular art form it would be a shame if some pagan path *didn't* make use of it)
1. There is some debate about this. There are some reports of growing Neo-Pagan influence generally in the Middle East, especially in the Levant. But as a specific Arabic Neopaganism? Little is known to exist above ground. There are full on re-con groups, like Wathan, but I haven't met a Neo-Pagan that uses the Arabic Pantheon but myself. 2. It should! Wathan uses Arabic calligraphy in the construction of oaths and I see no reason why an Arabic Neo-Pagan can't do the same.

Originally Posted by Valentine

I assume you're attempting a reconstruction from the pre-Islamic period--am I right in assuming your icon is of al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat? It's an interesting effort, since so much of the extant references we have are from Islamicate sources, and so have an investment in making things look a certain way. I do

know it's a pretty big pantheon, for all that we've almost no information on most of it. I wish you the best of luck! How's your Classical Arabic? Have you read the Hanging Odes?
You're spot on! The good thing is that we're beginning to unearth a lot of new information on Pre-Islamic Arabia and how much of Islam was molded on much older Arabian tradition. A good book on the subject is: Arabia and the Arabs by Robert Hoyland. And I'm majoring in Islamic Studies at my university but I'm procrastinating in my Arabic courses. New Languages are difficult for me to learn.
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15 Jun 2012 04:24 PM#6

Shine

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Originally Posted by Abduzza

1. In the Arabic path there are a boat load of Gods and Goddesses. From what we understand the three big Goddesses are Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Al-Manat. The chief God was Allah and there was most likely a "conquering hero" figure named Hubal. Hubal actually may be a Arabic understanding of the Hercules story.

2. In classical Arabic religion there were no real set practices. The only thing that was a set practice was pilgrimage to a Kaaba or house where idols of the God and Goddess would be kept. Besides that prayer was spontaneous, there were no real rituals corresponding with birth and death besides spontaneous prayer. Oath-swearing was a very common practice as was hunting in the name of whatever God or Goddess one favored. 3. Morality was based on the tribal necessities of the era, so family bonds and revenge were the earliest modes of morals. Being that I'm not a reconstructionist, I don't hold these specific moral ideas myself because I'm not a bedouin having to fight for water in the desert.
Interesting! Thanks for answering my questions. If you don't mind, I've got some more things I'm curious about. 1. Exactly what aspects of Arabic paganism do you want to bring back? I'm confused since it doesn't seem like there's a lot of set practices to bring back to light. Worship and prayer, I can see, but I'm lost on what else you plan on doing. 2. Since you're not a recon, does this mean you're going to do something along the lines of an Arabic-flavored Wicca (note: I don't use the term in a disparaging way)? 3. What texts, ancient or modern, have you found most valuable during your attempts to construct and follow this path?

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15 Jun 2012 06:42 PM#7

yewberry

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Originally Posted by Shine

I'm confused since it doesn't seem like there's a lot of set practices to bring back to light. Worship and prayer, I can see, but I'm lost on what else you plan on doing.
Celtic Recons have little to work with either, and what they do have is colored by those cultures that wrote about them (the Celts had no written language of their own). Still, Celtic Recons have managed to fill in the gaps. This should be at least as workable, unless I'm badly misunderstanding what's currently known about pre-Islamic cultures. Knowing almost nothing about it, I'd be interested in learning more about source materials. Brina
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16 Jun 2012 03:19 PM#8

Abduzza

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Originally Posted by Shine

Interesting! Thanks for answering my questions. If you don't mind, I've got some more things I'm curious about. 1. Exactly what aspects of Arabic paganism do you want to bring back? I'm confused since it doesn't seem like there's a lot of set practices to bring back to light. Worship and prayer, I can see, but I'm lost on what else you plan on doing. 2. Since you're not a recon, does this mean you're going to do something along the lines of an Arabicflavored Wicca (note: I don't use the term in a disparaging way)? 3. What texts, ancient or modern, have you found most valuable during your attempts to construct and follow this path?
1. Mostly the spontaneous system of worship and the high emphasis on honor that was placed by the Arabs on their religion. The Gods weren't there to necessarily grovel at but would help give strength to the individual to accomplish a task or get over a hurt etc. Although modern Paganism has moved away from this idea of the gods as perfectly transcendent, I really want to emphasize the imminence of the Gods in a very personal manner. 2. I respect Wicca and it's use of various pantheons so I don't take that in a disparaging manner . The reason I don't consider myself a recon is that the society that this system of worship developed in was brutal and, in my opinion, very immoral. Their ironic veneration of Goddesses with their disdain for women is a good example of this. I'm also a soft polytheist with a pretty rationalistic bent so for me the hard polytheism of the Arabs is just a little too much for me to personally believe. In order to be honest and consistent I fell that I have to put on myself the Neo-pagan label. 3. Surprisingly the Qur'an and "The Book of Idols" by Al-Kalbi. Both contain quite a bit of information on pre-islamic Arabia and Al-Kalbi, while clearly biased, does present the various Gods and Goddesses of the peninsula in a pretty objective light. Islam itself is also important because, and I don't mean to offend any Muslims on the board, but the five pillars themselves are remnants of Arabic Paganism. From the Shahada (a form of oath) salaat (the worship of Al-Lat who was associated with the sun) the month of Ramadan (the holy month when all raiding stopped amongst the bedouin) zakat (the poor tax in Islam was

also a offering the Al-Uzza) and Hajj (journey to the house of the Gods for worship) we can reconstruct a lot of what ancient Arabic religion was like.

Celtic Recons have little to work with either, and what they do have is colored by those cultures that wrote about them (the Celts had no written language of their own). Still, Celtic Recons have managed to fill in the gaps. This should be at least as workable, unless I'm badly misunderstanding what's currently known about pre-Islamic cultures. Knowing almost nothing about it, I'd be interested in learning more about source materials. Brina
Pre-Islamic culture is actually pretty well attested to. The Romans had contact with Yemen which they called Arabia Felix and even tried to conquer them in 26 BC but were defeated. The Arabs had an oral culture so even though they spoke three languages (Syriac, Aramaic, Coptic) for most of their history they rarely wrote things down. So what we have written mostly comes from ancient palaces and temples and what later Muslim scribes wrote about Arab history pre-Islam.
Last edited by Abduzza; 16 Jun 2012 at 03:20 PM. Reason: spelling error
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10. 6 Jul 2012 08:40 AM#9

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Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers

Originally Posted by Abduzza

1. .
Can you tell us some basics about those three principal Goddesses? Are you putting together a site/blog/book/PDF file/whatever with the information that you've gathered? How did you come to follow this path?
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11. 23 Dec 2012 05:07 PM#10

Abduzza

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Religion Arabic Neo-Paganism Posts 24

Re: Arabic Paganism: Questions? I have answers Can you tell us some basics about those three principal Goddesses?

The three principal Goddesses that were worshiped in Arabia, and in Iraq, are name Al-Lat, Al Uzza, and Manat. Al Lat, whose name literally means the Goddess, was a goddess of things such as the harvest, fertility, and love and was associated with the sun. Al Uzza, the Mighty One, was the Goddess of Honor, Justice, War, and Passion. She was associated withe the stars at night. And Manat was the Goddess of Fate, death, and the afterlife. She was associated with the moon. This is obviously only surface level but I think that it will do for now :P

Are you putting together a site/blog/book/PDF file/whatever with the information that you've gathered?
Hopefully. Life likes to get in the way of writing a blog or something.

How did you come to follow this path?

A long road through many religions and worldviews until something just clicked and the rituals and prayers started causing things to happen, which is always good.
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