Anuism - Introduction, Part 1

[Thalias_Smile]

It is so hard to explain my tradition, in a way that is understandable....It is basically Pagan, but the main problems we face in dealing w/other traditions is 1)our small numbers, 2) lack of finances, and 3)being considered too Pagan for the Christians, or being considered too Christian for the Pagans! ( :hehehehe:

But anyway, on to the explanation--it comes directly from our official sacred text the Ina Ziana:

The Middle Pillar Path

Before you lies a road, neither wide nor narrow, neither smooth nor rough. Before you stands a ladder, that begins upon the Earth and climbs unto veils beyond the heaven of heavens. Before you, a gateway, that opens not unto paradise nor purgatory, but unto your personal mansion in God's eternal and infinite kingdom. Before you is a sanctuary of mind and spirit, where the many deities are worshipped as The One and The One is recognized in the names and faces of the many.

You stand upon the threshold of the Middle Path, at the base of the Middle Pillar. You have arrived at the steps of a Neutron Temple. You have come to a doorway to the House of Anu--Ancient Of Days, Holy One of Sumeria, Lord Of Limitless Time & Space, Master of the Divine Light & the Infernal Darkness.

Now is come the Age of Uranus (Ur's Anu), the time of Judgment, and the rise of the Children of Spirit. Now draws near, the awakening of the neutral angels, the healing of the Eon-ic schism between Above & Below. Now is spoken the gospel of balance and the message of moderation. Now is proclaimed the third polarity and new revelation--of heaven and earth in equity.

In a world filled with turmoil, divisions of us vs. them—the voice of The-Ancient-Of-Days echoes across the ages, to herald the Epoch of Uranus.

Demons and angels war over our souls, or so we are told in the legends and myths of the worlds religions. Gods of light and darkness, alien forces from beyond our globe and sphere of awareness, who forever wrestle for our allegiance.

But God, The One & The Impartial, from whom all powers and principalities are born, and too whom the lords of light and darkness look for judgment, created our race for another course.

We are the children of the Anunnakki--the Elemental Gods of Nature. We are chosen to evolve and grow into a force for balance and wholeness in the universe; not as beings good or evil, but rather, as “Neutral Angels.”

The Lord Anu, God of gods, pre-dates Amun, Yahweh, Assur, El, or any of the great over-gods of ancient history. Before Israel or Babylon, An-Anu was worshipped as "The Heavenly One" and as "Heaven" itself, in the first civilization of Sumeria.

Anu was venerated as male and female (Anu-Antu), and was considered the sum of all his/it/her parts--the source of all things seen and unseen, above and below. And much like the later Yahweh (The Lord), no images were made of the Most High Anu.

Mesopotamian myth tells of older powers, primeval forces hostile to humanity and life itself (but these were not worshipped, save by diabolical madmen); but Anu was the first and most high of the oldest religion known to man, dating to perhaps 6000 BCE.

The ruins of the Temples of Anu remain, in the most ancient cities of the Earth--Uruk and Ur, among others.

However, with all this said, I tell you true--that this teaching (embodied in a book called "Ina Ziana") is contemporary, not historical. It is a modern revelation from that primeval god-form called "Anu".

In mythology, there came a time when Heaven & Earth were divided, and Anu/Heaven went away from the Earth.

Ina Ziana (which means "Heavenly Life") is the return of Anu, and the call to the children of fire (humanity) to become the children of heaven (more than human). Right from the start, you must know that you have not found “Anu of Old”; although he is certainly here, with all his children as well. Rather, you have found the modern revelation of the “ANU of the Now.” This is a contemporary teaching, with Mesopotamian elements--but is not an attempt to reconstruct the religions of that time period.

Moreover, this is not a community or belief system based on the alien-astronaut theories of writers like Zacharia Sitchin or David Icke. In fact, we do not welcome the promotion of those views at all... There are plenty of books, websites and new age groups doing that already.

Is this path for everyone? Quite the contrary, it is for the few. It is a very specialized teaching, that is not meant to appeal to the masses--at least not in its current form. Indeed, it takes a very special kind of individual to walk the Way of Anu.

The simplest and most direct way to sum up the doctrine of this path, is as follows:

"By faith and sincere devotion to our personal-patron-god(s) we strive to build a deeper connection with the Supreme Impersonal God (A-N-U), and in so doing become gods ourselves."

To put it in another way:

"By forging a strong personal relationship with the Divine, through the sincere practice of individual (and group) devotions, we believe that we shall become divinities in death--unbound by sin or karma, and given the right to choose our own eternal destinies and fates as children of heaven."

To put it yet one more way:

"Through devoted commitment to God (One & Many), we can become children of God (e.g. 'gods)--and shall become, thereby, the inheritors of mansions and kingdoms divine."

[Thalias_Smile]

Our beliefs are very unique in many ways:

Salvation and ascension is not dependent on one's moral and/or ethical beliefs and/or status among men, neither one's legal, social or academic standing among mortals.

Salvation is fully and exclusively dependent on one's personal relationship to the Divine (Higher Power or Ideal), as expressed through love and sincere devotion.

The heaven or hell that one finds and experiences in the after-life, is based on the sub-conscious expectations of our innermost hearts, in keeping with what we have consciously or unconsciously been taught to believe in by family, society, culture, media, and exposure to religion.

Those who have a personal relationship with the Divine, are able to pray for and manifest their own personal vision and desires for the afterlife paradise; by creative visualization, creative expression and the power of the Divine at work within and through them.

The most excellent moral and ethical ideal to strive for in life, is moderation and equilibrium; by seeking to balance the selfish and the unselfish, the feminine and masculine, the positive and negative, the lower and higher, the aggressive and passive aspects of self. We seek to express this ideal both within ourselves and within the world as a whole.

The Divine Wholeness (Supreme Being or State of Being) is masculine and feminine, light and dark, chaos and order, life and death, loving and unloving, personal and impersonal, one god, all gods and no gods. The Divine transcends all of these definitions, defying all limits and categorizations of our finite minds. By its nature, the Divine is infinite and eternal, and ultimately maintains the Balance & Oppositional Harmony Of All Things (& No Things). The term, "A-N-U" is not a name of God, but the concept of the Divine as expressed above.

Every god, goddess, angel, demon, messiah, prophet, teacher, guru, or ideal self, is an expression and emanation of The Wholeness of A-N-U, and is suitable as a patron god (personal archetype or exemplar). The personal god/archetype/patron is the ideal god-form that the individual wishes to embody and strive to become; and serves as an example and guide on the path... A personal god between yourself and the impersonal Wholeness of A-N-U. One should pray to the Impersonal A-N-U in the name of one's personal god.

The priestly path of Anuism, is the way of the Theurgist (Sacred Magick), the Diviner, the Spiritualist, the Exorcist, the Mediator, the Theologian and the Adviser. The relationship between priest and seeker, is best modeled upon the modern disciplines of Psychology. Moreover, priests may be of any race, social class, gender, political orientation, formal educational level, background, and of any sexual preference within reason. Priests and priestesses, however, are encouraged to work as married pairs (evenly yoked), and are mandated to seek self or formal education in all of the fields listed above (Jacks of All of The Afore Listed Trades). All priests should set for themselves a vision quest or pilgrimage.

The Left Hand Path is the Body, The Right Hand Path is Spirit, and the Middle Path is the Mind.

The goal of the Universal Temple of Anu, is to become a neutralistic force for moderation and mediation in the world

The Way of Anu is self-initiation, self-motivation, self-education, self-discipline, and local organization. Each self-ordained priest or priestess, is responsible for their own ministry in their own areas... The Eanna, online community, is the only central hub, but is not a central authority. Every believer is their own student and teacher, and there are no masters or gurus to tell you what to do... Priests may only advise, but each seeker is permitted to study, interpret and apply our guide book to their own lives as they see fit.

There are two schools of thought within Anuism, as to how to express our Neutrality. Passive neutrality, is expressed by detachment, non-judgment, indifference, and separation from the rat race. Active neutrality, is the advocacy of Anuist principles in politics, society, religion and self. So the Passive Neutralist takes no sides and seeks to remain aloof. The Active Neutralist seeks to be a side unto him/her self, and take on those who are on the extreme left or right, to mediate between both and butt heads with all

The future must be approached with grand and specific vision, sound reason, and an eye to create a lofty destiny for all peoples and the Earth itself. The future will be what we humans, collectively and individually strive to make it.

[aftershocked]

Very, very informative.. I haven't had time to read it thoroughly, but thank you for giving me something to chew on. :hmmmmm:

[Thalias_Smile]

Our manager has been having difficulties conveying the beliefs of our faith, mainly because he is VERY impatient to make it into a legal religion, so we can, as Ministers of Anu, can conduct religious ceremonies, and even run local temples (which we call cabals), as well as a monastic community--that is the ultimate goal. I will try to post more concerning our beliefs...but I thought this post was seriously overdue...I am amazed that someone has replied so quickly to this post. I barely posted it this evening :bouncysmi

[Wolffang]

I never heard of Anusim before but I think it's very interesting though but a bit confusing but at least that gave me something to think about....

[Thalias_Smile]

Well, it can be confusing...I didn't get it at first, but I am comprehending it more and more as time goes on.

[FeatherGoblinglimmer]

Very informative. Thankies:)

[Thalias_Smile]

It feels good to finally discuss my path in more detail...I'm glad that people have replied positively to the post.

[Thalias_Smile]

The Three Pillars

The three pillars of our "temple", are as follows:

THE WHITE PILLAR (Liberal/Passive/Staff/Feminine): This is the pillar that is most concerned with the spiritual teachings and spiritual focus of Anuism. Moreover, it might be considered the way of ministers and priests.

THE GRAY PILLAR (Moderate/Alternating/Scepter/Androgynous): This is the pillar that is most concerned with the magickal teachings and focus of Anuism. Moreover, it might be considered the way of magi and practioners of arcane rites.

THE BLACK PILLAR (Conservative/Agressive/Sword/Masculine): This is the pillar concerned with the martial disciplines and darker arts that are also a part of Anuism. Moreover, it might be considered the way of the martial artists and the paladin (holy warrior).

No matter what pillar/robe you adhere to, you may belong to any Order or Choir.

Rainbow Sash/Order (Over-Order of High Clerics & Clerics From Six Orders: Anu/ Ilaibrat): These individuals cannot presently choose themselves, but must be chosen. They always choose their own successors. They serve for life, once chosen, or until they resign or leave service. They shall be the governing body and are to number twelve, with a thirteenth elected by the six to serve as the Arch-Priest or Priestess.
http://groups.msn.com/TheEanna

Yellow Sash/Order (Civilization/Political Action: Enlil/Gibil): Rather than just clergy, this represents an entire outlook or path within Anuism. It is the path of those who wish to work to help civilization improve and evolve, and wish to see the ideals of Anuism expressed socially and politically, as well as spiritually. They are also concerned, with founding communities and monasteries, even finding a homeland if one day possible (a new society and nation based on the teachings and beliefs of Anuism).
http://groups.msn.com/U-T-A-TheGoldenOrder/homepage

Green Sash/Order (Nature/Naturalists: Enki/Ninhursag): These Anuists are those who are concerned with preserving and protecting the environment, helping nature, bringing mankind into check, reversing the damage done to Mother Earth. They are children of the Lord & Lady of Earth.
http://groups.msn.com/U-T-A-TheEmeraldOrder/homepage

Violet Sash/Order (Guardians/Martial Disciplines/Militants: Nergal/Ereshkigal): These individuals are those who are most interested in martial disciplines, Asiatic/oriental philosophies (fused with Anuism), and the development of the martial lifestyle. They might also be those most zealous or extreme in the cause of Anu. Other gray sashes, may be the Anuist version of 'Goths', with a focus on the darker side of mysticism, magick, spirituality and martial arts (these should wear differing hues of violet sashes as a sub-order).
http://groups.msn.com/U-T-A-TheIndigoOrder/homepage

Orange Sash/Order (Anarchists/Agrarians/Sensualists: Ishtar/Dumuzi): This order and those who would follow it, are those who want to promote total freedom and liberty in the world. They wish to see all government abolished, replaced perhaps by a more socialistic or communalistic local governmental structure. They wish to challenge the old models of society--such as traditional values and morals. They are also those concerned with sexual liberation and the power of sexual energies. They are agrarian, in that they often wish the world to return to a more simplistic and natural way of life.
http://groups.msn.com/U-T-A-TheTytianOrder/homepage

I am presently a priestess of the Grey Pillar & the Orange Sash, annointed by Geshtinanna.

[Ladyvi]

to one who has studied various paths faiths and belief systems this one is pretty comprehensive. i have read much of the anunnaki(sp) brotherhood organizations. the watchers. d'anu is a patron diety of mine. she decended from anu. so did many of the dieties. i have studied human origins as well. fascinating. this seems to culminate a great deal of thelemite, hermetics and enochianism. again fascinating. i live by neutrality for true evil most folks wouldnt comprehend. what is concidered good and evil are just casts of grey. negative perhaps but circumstantial not evil. same with good. so i choose a neutral cast. making friends with the darkness while maintaing the light within my core soul identity.

in looking over the work. the white grey and black pillars i identify with all of them as far as the sashes i can tell you right now. i am a guardian. i probably fight more forgone entities and demons than most would think exist.

[Thalias_Smile]

We have a few core members who have become increasingly more dedicated to the temple, and to Anu, as well as their own patrons. The difference between our temple and most other "anunnaki" groups, is that 1) we do not subscribe to the whole reptilian alien theory, 2) our focus is not on the restoration of the original Sumerian culture, but rather a resurrection of the human spirit through worship of Anu, as well as tapping into the Divine Within. (This last one has caused some run-ins between our old manager, & some modern-day "Ishtarians".) 3) We do not subscribe to the magick found within the pages of the Necronomicon, and consider it un-authentic text, with no reference to real magick.

The funny thing is, neither the founder of the comm or any of its members are particularly knowledgeable in Mesopotamian culture: food, language, clothing, etc. Though we are learning...it is a slow & tedious learing process.

[Thalias_Smile]

I would like to state for the record that I did not personally write these. The founder of our MSN community, The Eanna, sent me this information via email. We are trying to gain some footing within the spiritual community, especially the pagan community. And the best way to begin is to get that information out there. We are also listed on the Avatar Search Engine.

Also, there is something I would like to correct in the 1st post. The word "salvation" might throw ppl off--cause misunderstanding. It is discussing salvation from spiritual slavery. It encourages people to follow their hearts and cultivate their inner muse. This message in particularhas caused me to re-think my professional goals...it is because of this message that I have decided to become a minister, so I can serve Anu & do something good in the world, as I have always wanted to do. :huddle:

[Gailara]

Very interesting!! It seems very comprehensive and somewhat intimidating, to me at least. Thanks for sharing this. :)

[Ladyvi]

i have been an advid perponent of getting the ancient writings more out there. many do not know the ancient summerian writings and what they contain cause if flies in the face what they have been taught. those summerian, mesopotamian, and sanskrit are among the oldest written records older than the bible. in my search for all the pieces of the bigger picture. i find this to be one of the big ones. am glad there is a group out there for that as well as saying to people. hey the path to advance your soul while not easy should not enslave you. life isnt sin . its a part of your souls advancement. o

one of my favorites is telling women that giving birth you condemn your child to sin. which places birth in sort of dim light. i find a bunch of horse pucky. with cow chips thrown in. i do appreciate your words and insights.

ishtar is one that has tagged me as her own but i dont prescribe to the 'ishtarians' she isnt all that fussy anyway.

[Thalias_Smile]

Geshtinanna is the one who tagged me...she chose me as her living representative on earth. Ishtar is a very powerful Sumerian deity to have tapped you. The Necronomicon, in the comm's opinion, is a false writing, possibly created by a powerful practitioner of the "Dark Arts", who happens to have knowledge of Sumerian language and history (a student of assyriology--the scientific study of Assyrian history, religion, etc., perhaps).

[Ladyvi]

i agree with the necronomicon.. besides i listen to enough spirits so i am past necronomicon anyway. who would want to wake the dead. ~ shakes head~

danu and hecate are others. kokopeli. a few other deities request things of me but are not for me.

do you have any information on the 'watchers' its something that hits home.

[Thalias_Smile]

When you say "Watchers" are you referring to the spirits known as Watchers, or the order in our temple who are "Guardians"?

[Ladyvi]

in my readings guardians where sometimes watchers but watchers are al together different folks . they can be spirit but i do believe they can incarnate. im taking bits and pieces from what i have garnished so far. i know im a guardian that is without question. though some give me the im nuts look, even among my own 'kind ' persay. different breed here altogether :)

[Thalias_Smile]

Here are a couple of links on both Guardians and Watchers:

http://users.whtvcable.com/adjatti/flow/guardians.html
http://www.fabrisia.com/thewinds.htm

I hope this helps

[Ladyvi]

thanks .. mass searches on yahoo i get so much crap . weeding through thousands of sights is not the best way to waste an evening.

i hope my question havnt alarmed you or put you off in anyway. curiosity killed the cat i suppose lololol

i know the standard watcher guardian thing that most pagans perscribe to .. what im referring to is older than that. the watchers are those decended from the anunnaki. its mentioned briefly in several brotherhood organization things . or books that mention the brotherhood and their influences.

perhaps its a bit far fetched. but as you , i believe much lore was lost with the ancient anunnaki. i do wish for their return.

[Thalias_Smile]

I THINK I know what you mean...probably more along the lines of the Watchers from Charmed--a silly show most of the time, kind of like Buffy, but in certain cases, they are right on the nose about some things. It is something I will look into. I have a few documents and posts which might have some info.

--Talame

I will have to look back on some of the info on that. What I can tell you is that the manager of the Eanna has made the Ina Ziana available for free download @ lulu.com.


thanks .. mass searches on yahoo i get so much crap . weeding through thousands of sights is not the best way to waste an evening.

i hope my question havnt alarmed you or put you off in anyway. curiosity killed the cat i suppose lololol

i know the standard watcher guardian thing that most pagans perscribe to .. what im referring to is older than that. the watchers are those decended from the anunnaki. its mentioned briefly in several brotherhood organization things . or books that mention the brotherhood and their influences.

perhaps its a bit far fetched. but as you , i believe much lore was lost with the ancient anunnaki. i do wish for their return.

[Ladyvi]

i can say your belief structure did give me a bit of twinge seeing as how it tied in my human origins studies. my hobbies are a bit unusual. my belief structure though is even more so. at the moment all anyone can call me is pagan. so far groups suck big time. i hate politics .

[Thalias_Smile]

lol lady...when u say twinge, do u mean that in a bad way--lol. Anyway, my personal beliefs are a combination of both science AND theology. Which can be strange to some. Do you have any questions?

[Ladyvi]

well .. are there any branches out this way on the eastern seaboard. i hadnt planned on taking up that study for a while but the universe, the fates, and the gods seem to be giving hints. i sometimes need a 2X4. you deffinately peeked my curiosity and interest. most dont even know the anunnaki or put them off as some legend or fantasy that they didnt exist. not sure what to ask but i feel you have wells of information. i certainly would like to continue the discussion you started here. this is pretty cool. and twinge is a good thing :) im 35 .. four girls . expecting my fifth. my gifts are varied and unique. if you want to know anything as you offered i offer the same in return. as i am already a guardian of my own right.

[Thalias_Smile]

Our comm, in case you missed the link the 1st time around is htpp://groups.msn.com/TheEanna

[Thalias_Smile]

What kind of Guardian...I know there are different types. And how did you find out about your status?

[Ladyvi]

i got it but cant seem to locate the areas these guys are based from .

the site is huge. read most of the important stuff but as far as where to go or whom to contact or even if there are any members close to me. i am getting lost on the site. im a spiritual warrior not much on tech stuff. premise of a guardian . heal first. teach second. then if you have to fight. not sure if that is anunnaki premise but its mine.-

[Thalias_Smile]

I would start w/the community guide, just to get an idea. It links to all the major parts of the site, which will explain various aspects of our path.

[Thalias_Smile]

I would also like to say, that we are not "based" in any particular place, as the members locations vary across the US drastically. There are a few members, myself included, who feel Oregon might be the best location for our "headquarters," and have discussed at length how we would go about getting this done.

[Ladyvi]

a guardian isnt a matter of badge of office. its what you are. my nightly journeys usually consist of guardian duties. although of late my life partner has been taking on my duties as i am expecting. the sight on the part of neutral angel is extremely interesting and solidified several points. i havnt read through all of it yet. but it is colmunating several pieces of information. now in order for me to talk to the community i have to be part of the msn group. not sure how to go about doing that. all i have is the msn messenger. unless there is another way.

as far as what kind of guardian. i dont know how many designations there are. i know what my true form is and understanding my core soul identity. i have been with the shining ones and have a fairly good connection with the dieties. i remember some of my incarnations but some information is blocked. i suppose for later use. the fragile flesh mind can only handle so much stuff and only so much energy. very limiting.

[Thalias_Smile]

What I can do is add you to my im...then also, with their permission, give you the managers' individual email addresses. We are trying to restrict membership, as we have had a few "yahoos" in before, who contributed nothing, and accused our main manager of running a monarchy where he reigned supreme, not to mention being power-mad. Not only that, but there was a problem of behind the scenes emails which were getting downright abusive. And that had to be stopped. So you CAN view the community, but in order to post, you need to apply and be excepted for membership. There are members who are merely "Seekers"--ppl who are curious about us, and show support, but are not necessarily Anuists themselves. We even have a few Wiccans....So all are welcome!

[Ladyvi]

concidering the little information i have already garnished on my own. it would be fascinating to interact with folks of similar ilk. some people are just not ready for certain things. ~ shakes head~ but when you have an organization things like that bound to happen and im glad there is strength enough to deal with said darwin award want a bes. :)

as far as being an anuist. i have shied away from groups for so long. i cant stand politics. whatever groups i have tried to get into one way or the other a power struggle insued and i watched it crumble or gracefully exited before it did crumble. one group where i was trying to teach grounding and proper shielding another person was teaching energy gathering with no protection or any safety at all. we argued for weeks. the type of things he was having those students do was very dangerous for a novice magick user. i resigned and left knowing what the outcome would be. it sadden me a great deal. what would have become a good practitioner burnt out before her time.

[Thalias_Smile]

Well, we do have a set of beliefs--the core beliefs have remained the same over time, but certain things which have been revealed to certain members, the manager included (via Anu or our patrons), have caused some serious re-thinking of the structure of the temple--the 1st post I made on this topic is just an example--that was something that was discussed and re-worked over a long period of time. And there has been a lot of brainstorming lately--especially concerning what will come after the building of the temple. Everyone is coming together in many different ways, and while we may have disagreements, and the original creator of our online community has been getting REALLY antsy about getting this started, slowly but surely, the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.

[Ladyvi]

theres a quote that is funny but so true. ' the largest oak tree was once merely a nut that held its ground" .

[Thalias_Smile]

that is so true lady--I will have to remember that one--lol