Abraham of the bible, Torah and Koran is considered by many scholars to be the father of monotheism whose seed grew into the three most prevalent faiths in our world today - Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Looking at Abraham from the Mor'moon (Nature-based) perspective however gives a new insight into this figure venerated by over half the population on Earth.
From the ancient records of the Sumerian peoples we can gain insight into the world which Abraham was born. We also have the Book of Abraham as translated from the papyrus scrolls by our Prophet/Shaman Joseph Smith.
The religious histories tell us that Abraham was born in the city of Ur a thriving village of Summer. The exact date is not well known. Working with lineages from the bible scholars place Abraham somewhere between 2000 - 1500 BCE. This corresponds with the time of the rule of the Queen of Heaven in Ur, Inanna, to which the Sumerian literature of the time is deeply devoted.
It is certain that Abraham could not have avoided the influence of the the Goddess of Heaven and Earth. The Goddess of love, Inanna, was Sumer's most beloved and revered deity. Since as far back as 2000 BCE Sumerian tales, legends and songs to her were inscribed on clay tablets and fragments now scattered throughout museums all over the world (Kramer xiii).
Abraham would have been raised on the stories of Inanna such as the Huluppu-Tree, which closely reflects the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis, and other spiritual tales such as The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi, in which the Goddess takes a lover, and the well known Decent of Inanna where Inanna travels to the underworld.
Inanna is the daughter of Nanna, the moon God and Ningal the moon Goddess, both of whom are descendant from Ki, also known as Urash, the Earth Goddess, An the sky God and Nammu the Goddess of the watery deep. She is the sister of Utu the sun God and the wife and lover of Dumuzi the Shepard-King of Uruk who has been compared to Jesus Christ. Some authors even place the Dumuzi tale as a prelude to the story of Christ.
Certainly the similarities don't end there. In the tale of the Huluppu-tree a dark maiden named Lilith built her home in the trunk of the serpent dripping Huluppa-tree. This is the first historical mention of Lilith, predating the Hebrew bible in which Lilith is the first wife of Adam in the garden of Eden. Her refusal to submit to him ends in her exile from the garden.
Ur, also called Chaldeas in the scriptures, was a land of myth, magic and devotion to the Divine Feminine. This is the soil from which Abraham grew. So then when Abraham decided to follow Elohim and leave his home for time spent in the land of Caanan and Eygpt - did he leave as a rebel against the the Goddess or a supporter of Her?
It would seem from the records we have today, the bible, the Torah and the Koran that Abraham was the founder of monotheism and believed in only one, male, God. It would also seem that he is the patriarch of all patriarchs whose adventures established three of the most male ruled religions the world has ever know. Could he have been anything but an enemy of the Divine Feminine? I would argue, yes, in fact I would call him friend of the Goddess in a round about sort of way.
From the traditional scriptures of Christianity, Islam and Judaism we have little record of Abraham's time spent in Egypt. However in the 1800's the American Prophet and Shaman, Joseph Smith, who taught his followers that we have a mother in Heaven as well as a father, translated from papyrus Abraham's own writings from his time spent in Egypt.
The first two chapters of this text follow much of the biblical story of Abraham being commanded by God to leave Ur. Abraham tells of becoming a High Priest, a rightful heir holding the right belonging to the fathers. He speaks of his people who worship the heathen gods and refuse to harken to his voice. The heathen gods he speaks of are the "the god, of Pharaoh, King of Egypt." Abraham 1; 6.
Abraham also explains that these adorers of dumb idols were sacrificing their children as well as young virgins. Now this sort of description can be taken many ways. One might think on the surface of things that Abraham is speaking against the Gods and by extension the Goddesses of his homeland of Sumer, however we can clearly see by reading the text in detail he is speaking of the
Egyptian Gods and idols.
Abraham, his wife Sarai and their nephew Lot leave Ur of Chaldeas and end up in Egypt. In chapter three we see a shift from the biblical account to the new information we are gaining from this translation. Abraham learns about the sun, the moon and the stars by way of the Urim and the Thummim. The Urim and the Thummim being the peep stones with which Joseph Smith, their eventual owner uses to translate the Mormon scriptures.
We find that the Urim and the Thummim were given to Abraham by God and that they came from Ur. I find it amazing that the peep stones so magickaly used to give us the Mormon scriptures of these latter-days came from the land of the Goddess Inanna during a time when her worship was at it height!
Chapter three of the Book of Abraham goes on to give an account of Abraham speaking to the Lord. The Lord tells him that the name of the great star, near to his throne is Kolob and that the Lord has set Kolob to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which Abraham standest.
Inanna was known as the Queen of Heaven, the morning and evening star. I would propose that the Lord is here speaking of his Lady, Inanna, the Queen of Heaven sitting nearest to the throne of the Lord as his Lady. She is set to govern all those whose faith sprang from Abraham - those who stand on or build off of Abraham's faith and records.
The Sun and Moon are described as planets set by God to rule the day and night of those standing upon the earth in Abraham 3; 5-6. The notion of standing upon the Earth is also a curious use of words. I interpret that to mean that not just the seed of Abraham are to be ruled by Inanna, as the star Kolob, but more importantly the seed of Abraham who stand upon the Earth - who stand
for the Earth. Those who are rooted to their Earth, who's feet stand upon the Earth walking lightly, in pleasure and reverence.
In chapter three verse nine it is written; "And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lords's time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest."
I interpret that verse to mean; there shall be a time when either the sun is above the moon. A time when the masculine (the sun) will outrank the feminine (the moon) causing imbalance. This is when we must come unto Kolob, who is Inanna, which will come after the Lord's time, or the time when the worship of a male Lord dominated religious thought and devotion. Yet Kolob, Inanna, is still set on the throne of God, for She is the Goddess, governing all those energies in the Universe who are of the same lineage of Abraham. That lineage being those who reject the sacrifical, idol Gods in favor of holding the Lord and Lady in their glory place upon the throne of Heaven.
The Lord goes on to name the sun Shinehah, the moon Olea and all the stars Kokaubeam, Kolob being the greatest of those stars. When thinking about the view from our planet the greatest star is often Venus, shinning brightly. Inanna is also celebrated as Venus for which she is named the Morning and Evening Star.
The Lord continues to say that, "Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me." Who else would be nearest to the Father but the Mother? The Book of Abraham ends saying many times that this is all the information that can be presented in the present day, which was the early-mid 1800's. This furthers my personal theory that Mormon scriptures were meant as a transition from the male dominated traditions within Western religion to a balanced male and female tradition bringing together the true lessons of Christianity as well as the truth of past Goddess worship.
Joesph Smith revealed slowly information such as the existence of a Heavenly Mother and giving women the priesthood (or it may very well have been delivered to him by our Heavenly Parents slowly) so as to gently transition the world back to a balanced look at the Divine Masculine and Feminine.
Who was Abraham then? I believe he was the carrier of the patriarchal information, the preserver of the Divine Masculine that without the Divine Feminine has gone completely askew for the past 6,000 years. The keeper and carrier of the Divine Feminine took many paths, perhaps in Sarai, Abraham's wife, and certainly in Mary Magdalen and in the art, literature and rituals of our ancestors. We all carry the Mother in our collective soul-body and whether She was meant to go underground or was forced underground by an out of control patriarchy I cannot say. Perhaps it was a little of both.
It is upon us then to bring her back, the Queen of Heaven, the Morning Star, Kolob - She who shares the throne of Heaven, the Lady to our Lord - the Great Mother of us all. Blessed Be
Works Cited
Kramer, Samuel and Wolkstein, Diane. Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Her Stories and Hymns From Sumer, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1983.
Szulc, Tad. Abraham, Journey of Faith, National Geographic Magazine, December 2001.
Smith, Joseph. The Pearl of Great Price. Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sal Lake City, UT, 1979.
