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Those who from Heaven to Earth came!
This is a player rewritten pantheon doctrine for the Circle of the Crone and the members who follow the Sumerian religion. Please be advised that certain creative privileges have been adopted to allow the Sumerian mythos to be better represented and played on Suspire. We do apologize if anyone is offended by our interpretation, research, or creativity when dealing with this religious doctrine but it is the collective works and desires of the current players. This doctrine should be considered IC the official Kindred and Kine beliefs about Sumerian religion, if they are knowledgeable about such, but not necessarily the secrets held by the Kindred in the Circle of the Crone. The players reserve the right to have their own opinions on everything from creation to a particular Gods favorite color, this is simply what one would discover through a known non-Acolyte source such as the Internet.
Please be advised that this is a work in progress and will be finalized before game play in Carcosa begins, but please bare with us during our creation period
Contents |
Overview
Making themselves apparent to existence 432,000 years ago, the Annunaki Gods, also referred to as Nephilim, Nefilim and Elohim, are known to those of the Sumerian faith as “Those who from Heaven to Earth came.” In Sumerian Mythology they were a pantheon of benevolent and maleficent Gods and Goddesses who came to Earth to create the Kine and Kindred races alike.
For the Annunaki, pattern is more important than community or individuality. A specific Kine or Kindred are unimportant. Likewise, a specific village, family, clan or covenant is equally unimportant. The most important issue for this pantheon is the discovery of patterns that repeat in cycles or loops called Time. The concept of these patterns is so far reaching that even the battles of the Annunaki reflect reality as another duality or perhaps even continuity. For if the Gods’ themselves or the Vessels of the Flesh that they choose can understand Time, they can predict and alter the world around them. The precision of the pattern, math and metaphor require bloody sacrifice, and even is the worshipers of other Gods deplore the Annunaki Gods’ methods, they cannot deny that at least the accuracy of their patterns proceed.
The Sumerians believed in their Gods and saw the intentions of their Gods as good and powerful beings that controlled their world. The Sumerian explanation for their hardships and misfortunes were the result of deeds that displeased the Gods. They believed that when someone displeased the Gods, the Gods let demons punish the offender with sickness, disease or environmental disasters. However, the Sumerians believe that when one suffered it was best not to curse the Gods but to glorify them through the tribulation, to appeal to them, and to wait patiently for their deliverance.
In giving their Gods human characteristics, the Sumerians projected onto their Gods the conflicts they found among themselves. The Annunaki have weakness, naturally, and their greatest stumbling block is their desperate and sometimes obsessive need to fulfill that which fuels them, be it blood, sex or sacrifice. Blood fuels and expedites all Annunaki magic and divine powers, and while Anu might need only a drop of blood or a light kiss for most of his workings, Inanna seems to need bucketsful and orgies. The Annunaki are sometimes depicted as humanoid, at other times they are bird-headed with wings, and often they are Reptilian in appearance especially when depicted as warriors.
Nanna
Aka: Sin
Description: Called by her peoples Illuminater, Nanna was the Goddess of the moon. She is par excellence the Goddess of nomadic peoples. It was she who guides those who are lost in the dark back to their path, keeping them from straying too far into the wilderness. During a great part of the year her peoples would undertake their wanderings at night, guided by their savior. The wisdom of Nanna personifies her as a Goddess for her physical features, thought perfect, are meek and soft and she is often seen outfitted in simple cotton. Nanna’s skin is porcelain, pale as the moon itself and she has deep topaz eyes that sparkle when she is delighted. Her long black hair is often left long and loose, floating around her like a wisp of cloud covering the moon at night.
Things of Honor: Cheese, Grain, White Lotus, Bat
Sacrifice: Nanna prefers offerings of nocturnal nature, owls, cats and the like. Offerings to Nanna are only accepted when done at night, either during the full moon or new moon.
Enki
Aka: Ea
Description: Enki the Lord of the Abyss is a sly, evil and deceitful God of the waters. He directs the flow of the great rivers and irrigation canals to which he guided water from the great inland lakes. He is the cleverest and least bloodthirsty of all the Annunaki. Depicted as two serpents entwined on a staff he is said to be the God of fertility, creation, semen and youthfulness. According to the mythology of the Sumerian peoples, Enki allowed humanity to survive the Deluge designed to kill them. He covertly rescued the humans by instructing them to build a boat so they could sail near the heavens. Enki’s dark scaly skin is soft to the touch, and his features are captivating. Behind his cold skin and dark eyes lies a spirit prone to mischief. While he can be helpful, he is quick to act on his anger, though he rarely attacks openly. Often found swimming the waters, his lean frame and features blend into the rocks and water, and he moves gracefully from water to land, being swallowed so wholly by the water that no ripple remains of his departure.
Things of Honor: Fish, Eggplant, Papyrus, Snakes
Sacrifice: Enki favors sacrifices from the waters he loves, and the waters he controls. He is quick to anger though, and offended by sacrifices of snakes.
Inanna
Aka:Ishtar
Description: Honey-haired, well-rounded and voluptuous, Ishtar is best at everything, perpetually creative except where her ambitions reduce her to foolish actions. Goddess of love and war, Ishtar has the power to initiate disputes nearly on command. She has no patience for those who rely on aggression alone to solve their problems, but is equally dissatisfied with those who would use pure negotiation. A winged Goddess wearing a multi-horned crown, it is often depicted that her bird claw feet stretch into the underworld, showing her duality and spastic nature. Ishtar is a woman with two faces, one beautiful, pleasant and soothing. The calm demeanor and fond nature of this side of her is cunning and creative, seeking middle ground whenever possible. Her other face, hidden in her hair until her fury is unleashed is wild, angry and swift to raise her sword. Although the dark menacing nature is wicked and rash to act, she is calculating at all times.
Things of Honor: Honey, Ale, Rose, Lioness
Sacrifice: Male sacrifices (bulls, steeds, and Kine)
Enlil
Aka: Ellil
Description: God of command and wind, Enlil is the transcending realm between earth and Heaven. Enlil has both great energy and strength and it was bestowed upon him the responsibility of enforcer of all celestial decisions. Enlil is always youthful, with swirling eyes and armor made from the wind itself. He inspires fear and reverence in all and will not tolerate the impious, the wicked, the oppressors, the arrogant and those who violated his word and his pacts. Enlil is a beautiful but vengeful god. His beautiful eyes swirl with color, changing shades as often as he changes moods. Enlil usually appears without notice, conjured from nothing, his hair swirling above him as he materialized to his viewer. His decisions are merciful but swift, as are his punishments.
Things of Honor: Peppermint, Bird, Maple, Eagle
Sacrifice: Burning incense and silence are notable attributes offered to Enlil. He becomes angered when offered birds of prey.
Ninhursag
Aka: Aruru, Mammi, Ki, Ninmah, Lady of the Foothills
Description: Ninhursag is the mother-Goddess of the earth, Goddess of fertility, she was the mother who gave matter its form and decided the outcome of each birth. Considered to be the protector of nature and wild animals, she loved freedom, wandering along wild wilderness paths and into the oases of the deserts whispering softly to her children. She is tall and beautiful with long flowing auburn hair that shames the sun. Ninhursag is often found sitting with her children, wrapped in a blanket of flower. She is majestic in ways no other can dream and commonly wears her crown of feathers with exotic stones for jewelry.
Things of Honor: Food: Milk, Nuts Flower: Cactus Animal: Calf
Sacrifice: Animal sacrifices anger Ninhursag greatly. She looks fondly upon the delivery of a birth or the growing of a plant.
Anu
Aka: An
Description: Anu is the sky-god, the god of Heaven, lord of constellations, king of Gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. Anu has the power to judge all his children and is especially harsh on those who have committed crimes. He created the stars as soldiers to destroy the wicked. Muscular definition that gives him the appearance of a perfectly carved statue, An carries his blades of justice that are sharp enough to slice souls to shreds. In art he is most often depicted as a jackal and in either form has bestowed upon his brow the royal tiara, decorated with two pairs of bull horns. Anu has very tan shining skin, with hazel eyes and dark hair; he often wears a pendant hanging on his bare chest of the jackal. Gazing into his eyes, one gets the feeling that he knows, and is seeing into your soul. His eyes are neither kind, nor cold, but simply knowing. His weapons slung across his back, his movements are swift and even more precise.
Things of Honor: Orange, Liver, Lily, Tiger
Sacrifice: An believes self sacrifice to be the ultimate honor that an individual can accept. Sacrifices of the flesh through self mutilation and tribulation or to save another, An’s judgment will be passed and only the those individuals with fortitude in their heart and omerta in their veins will be blessed.
Ereshkigal
Aka: Lady of the Great Below
Description: Skeletal thin and grey all over, Ereshkigal is the Goddess of the land of the dead. The Goddess of darkness, gloom and death, she manages the destiny of those who are beyond the grave, in the Underworld, where she is queen. Ereshkigal was made Queen of the Underworld either unwillingly or unknowingly.
Things of Honor: Tobacco, Rum, Black Locus, Spider
Sacrifice: Bones and blood are welcome in large supply, as are intestinal and other bodily fluids. Black candles and crimes of passion are said to all be spurred by the pleasures of Ereshkigal.
Utu
Aka: Shamash, Sama
Description: Having secluded himself from the other Annunaki long ago, the desire to perform his daily task without failure; Utu lights the world with rays issuing from his shoulders. He is the God of the sun and seeks out the justice that he carves with the many-toothed saw he carries with him. It is Utu who is the hastiest in regards to releasing the sufferer from the grasp of demons and tribulation, though all Sumerians believed that Utu was often so harsh in seeking out his justice that he would punish cruelly.
Things of Honor: Charred meats, Olive, Sunflower, Horse
Sacrifice: Live mortal sacrifice and burning.
Tiamat
Aka: Thallate
Description: Tiamat is the sea, personified as a Goddess and a monstrous embodiment of primordial chaos.