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Reddit mentions of The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion
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Reddit mentions: 3
We found 3 Reddit mentions of The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion. Here are the top ones.
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If you're looking for information on the Mesopotamian pantheon, I can give you a few good places to start.
 
First, try the ORACC website. It provides general overviews of many of the major deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon, including their function in the religion, their iconography, their genealogy, and more.
Second, the ETCSL provides a collection of myths, cult songs, prayers, wisdom literature, and more from the Third Dynasty of Ur (a transitional period between the Akkadians and the Babylonians). When most people think of Mesopotamian mythology, they're thinking of material from this period in its history.
Third, the SEAL project is set up much the same as ETCSL, but focuses on Akkadian, Assyrians, and Babylonian literature instead of Sumerian. You'll have to do some exploring on SEAL, as not every text listed has a translation available.
 
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As far as book recommendations are concerned:
 
The Treasures of Darkness by Thorkild Jacobsen is an excellent introductory overview to the stages of Mesopotamian religion, including a plethora of insights into their deities and why certain ones achieved prominence when they did.
Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia by Jean Bottéro (translation by Teresa Fagan) is an excellent exploration of the psychology of Mesopotamian religion, focusing on the mental and emotional connection the people felt towards their gods and goddesses.
The Harps That Once by Thorkild Jacobsen is an exploration of dozens of Sumerian myths, poems, cult songs, and more; each with extensive notes and explanations along the way.
From Distant Days by Benjamin Foster is similar to "The Harps That Once," only it focuses exclusively on Assyrian and Babylonian myths, cult songs, prayers, and so forth.
 
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Finally, I moderate r/Sumer, the subreddit dedicated to the reconstruction and revival of Mesopotamian polytheism. You're more than welcome to join us over there and ask questions.
TL;DR: no, there's no drugs or shamanism. Think more modern Wiccan ceremony and less ancient Shamanistic trance-journey.
Long form: The aspects of Shamanism we're familiar with - the trance state, the "journey" to the "spirit world," the separation of spirit-body and physical body -- those are NOT written about as part of Temple practice. And all we have left of Old Babylon is:
Some facts about Ancient Mesopotamian Magic, as we know it now:
Basically, ANE magic is the remedy to solve every problem, because they didn't have a lot of other tools. This translation of Mesopotamian ritual texts, myths, and prayers provides a good layperson's overview of the way "magic" was used. Sometimes, it's ritual, sometimes prayer. Sometimes it's just a quick incantation to describe, and therefore get control over, a problem.
"Apotropaic" is the popular term for Babylonian magic -- almost every instance we have is a prayer or ritual intended to ward off, or turn away, a negative consequence or negative events: everything from passing gas (yes, there's an incantation against breaking wind in the Foster book..) to being convicted in a harsh court system, to illness, death, and actual magical attacks by sorcerers.
Its principles most strongly resemble those of modern western "Ceremonial Magic," minus the Christianity. There's ritual recitations, specific times of the day or night to do certain actions, there's many of Isaac Bonewits's Principles of Magick
To remove a magic curse, you rub the patient with an onion, to get the bad juju in the human to sync up with the onion. Then, you slowly peel the onion, stating that as you peel the layers off the onion, the curse is also being peeled away from the patient. The onion can control the curse, is an effective "handle" by which to "grab" the curse, because it's been put into physical contact with the curse-ee. So as you peel the onion and burn the layers, you can say that you're also removing the curse from the human that the onion represents. When the onion's all burnt, so's the curse! That's the principle of Contagion from Bonewits, or just another day at Temple in Babylon.
To destroy an unknown sorcerer's curse on you, attack the sorcerer, of course. But if you don't know who they are, make a statue (two statutes, a man and a woman, just to cover all the possible cases!), and announce that these statues are your witch or warlock, and that burning them "burns" the real person who cursed you. Bonewits' Sympathetic Principle, or top of the line Mesopotamian evil-fighting technology.
So that was a lot of words to say, basically, NO, there's no drug use, no shamanism, no trance states, and no real dietary restrictions before rituals (though Maqlu requires a ritual bath, I think?).
Your shaman buddies who say "no pork before ritual" are actually pulling that out of their asses, probably basing it on generic cultural prejudices against pork absorbed from religious culture.
Many traditional shamanisms use starvation to create a ritual trance, but taboo foods are 100% arbitrary in all of those systems. Taboo drugs may well be for practical reasons. But many traditional shamans will actually tell you that drug use is overhyped and hardly ever called-for amongst real practitioners. If your shamanism training uses drugs, I'd be extremely skeptical of its authenticity... Not to say it's definitely wrong, but it's highly suspect, as so many modern folks use "shamanism" as a flimsy excuse to feel spiritual about their drug use.
History of Religious Ideas (3 Vols)- Mircea Elidae Link
Treasures of Darkness - Thorkild Jacobsen Link
Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia - Jean Bottero Link (damn I got this for $20 a few months back, great book though)
Religion in the Emergence of Civilization: Çatalhöyük as a Case Study - Ian Hodder & VA Link
Egypt Before the Pharaohs - Michael Hoffman Link