I have tons of material printed out from the university server. I
work for a university. Being an employee, I have access to PDF files
from major research magazines. Those magazines that cost $200 a year
for a subscription. I just printed out an article about the
organization and management of a Babylonian temple. Porn for the
geek in me. <g> It was a fascinating article. I also just printed
out a PDF book called Astral Magic in Babylonia. It's about using
the stars and planets in rites. The gods are divided -sky gods and
earth gods. Three realms, sky (heaven), earth, and underworld, with
three realms within each of those three. The tree connects the
worlds (why does that sound familiar?). Most magic and rites use the
earth gods. The sky gods are transcendent, the earth gods immanent.
The underworld gods count among the earth gods. A few sky gods such
as the sun, Utu, and the moon, Nanna, regularly visit the
underworld, even though they are sky gods. Their light is the light
of judgement, i.e. shedding light upon the situation. An entire
other lecture. The sky gods, though, ARE the planets and stars. This
brings us into modern day usage of astrology, which is actually a
Greek format in which the stars influence us and not much else. In
Babylonian astrology/astronomy, the relationship is more active and
receptive; we ask them for things, for good weather, blessings, a
judgement, protection, a curse on an enemy, whatever, and they walk
with us "at my left shoulder and my right shoulder." The earth gods
interact directly with us.

Astrology itself was also an interactive role. The astrologer would
look at the sky, look around the land, feel the air, and make a
decision as to the portents for the day. Did the rising sun remind
him of blood or of a blushing girl? Did the breeze have a bite to it
or was it caressing? Were the animals snapping at each other or
playing nice? The readings were intuitive; there were no books to
tell him what each sign meant.

So far, the morning has begun very slow and eratic. An irritating
omen for the day.

Michele