I am Editing an Ereshkigal Devotional Anthology!

[qos]

Call for Submissions: “Queen of the Great Below: A Devotional Anthology for Ereshkigal”

Neos Alexandria’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina announces a call for submissions for the latest in their devotional anthologies. “Queen of the Great Below” will honor the Queen of the Underworld from the Sumerian pantheon, who was invoked alongside Hekate in the Greek magical papyri. Best known for her terrible aspect, as illustrated in “The Descent of Inanna” her myths portray her as a goddess who defends proper boundaries and demands respect on her own terms. As a dark goddess and an underworld deity, she is helpful in working on shadow aspects of ourselves and facing our “descents” as opportunities for transformation. Some of her devotees invoke her while working bdsm-flavored sex magic and ritual.

Janet Munin, the editor of the anthology, is a priestess of Ereshkigal who holds a Masters Degree in Comparative Religion from the University of Washington, including focused studies on the religion of the Ancient Near East. She presented a class called “Feral Holiness: BDSM and the Sacred” at Pantheacon 2008.

Devotional anthologies welcome a range of submissions, including:
· Essays
· Poetry
· Accounts of personal experiences
· Original translations of ancient source material
· Appropriately themed short fiction
· Artwork
· Other content somehow related to the goddess

All submissions must be the original work of their creator. References to previously published material must be fully footnoted.


Please send all submissions via text or Word attachment to janet.munin@earthlink.net.

The editor weclomes questions about the project, and is happy to discuss ideas for submissions.

Submission deadline is June 21, 2009.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina does not offer payment for any of the works included in devotional anthologies, nor can we provide free author copies. All work should therefore be considered a donation to help honor the gods. Bibliotheca Alexandrina does not seek to make a profit through the sale of our books. Our sole intention is to honor the gods and promote polytheistic worship in the modern world.

A complete outline of BA’s policies and guidelines is available here: http://www.neosalexandria.org/BAguidelines.pdf


Please pass on this information to anyone you think would be interested!

Comments

[queenofhalves]

neat. :>

[malakhgabriel.livejournal.com]

How awesome!

[blessed-harlot.livejournal.com]

That is way cool!!!

[zeeth_kyrah]

I got pointed here by lupabitch; and while I'm not a devotee, a very clear idea came to me for a piece of short fiction based on these themes...

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see it!

Feel free to email me if you have any questions -- or just send it along when you're ready.

Blessings on your endeavor!

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

Hi, I was directed here by lupabitch. This sounds interesting. I've never personally worked with Ereshkigal, but I do work with a few Underworld deities, and she has caught my attention. I will have to brainstorm on this.

Do you mind if I friend you?

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

Happy to have you as a friend!

Your userpic made me smile. When I was in grade school I had the opening lines of the law of the jungle memorized. Actually, I could probably still. . .

Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky, and the wolf that shall keep it will prosper, and the wolf that will break it must die. As the creeper girdles the treetrunk, the law runs both forward and back. For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

You're the first person to comment on the userpic, and I've had it for a while. I'm very proud of it, as it has great meaning to me and I made it myself (pic is not mine, of course). One of these days, I'll get around to memorizing the entire poem.

Friended!

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

Okay, as I mentioned before, I've not actually worked with Ereshkigal before. I've been thinking on this project throughout the day and doing some brief internet research, and I thought I would ask you for a starting place to get to know Her a bit better. Is there places I could find more information about Her than just the story of the descent of Inanna? Or how would you recommend introducing oneself to Her?

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

There's not much available out there about Her, which is one of the reasons I feel strongly about doing this devotional.

Look for "The Marriage of Ereshkigal and Nergal." It's the only other full-length story that I'm aware of. There are two versions, each from a different ancient period.

To introduce yourself. . . Light a black candle and address yourself to Her. Ask to be shown the whole of who She is, not just the stories you've found. Or ask Her to tell you the story of The Descent from Her perspective.

In my experience, Ereshkigal is very helpful working with the shadow aspects of the psyche, and with facing descents and ordeals. If you have work to do in these areas, ask Her help in making the challenges into opportunities for transformation.

[giania.livejournal.com]

Have you considered working with Scarlet Imprint, rather than utilizing a print-on-demand service? I can attest, as an owner of 3 of their printings, that they take devotional work VERY seriously. (I don't work for them or anything like that, I just really appreciate their work.) Or what about Weiser books. They've been in the biz for quite some years.

I recently had a very, very intense possession experience with what I can only assume was Ereshkigal (not all spirits speak the truth), and I would love to share, but if I'm to donate something so insanely personal, I'd feel better knowing it was incorporated into something prepared with the kind of intense care and craftsmanship this kind of devotional project deserves. It just feels... well, terribly important. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's to obey those gut feelings. So, more my reservations, rather than any harsh words directed at you, I swear.

One way or the other, I applaud the Work you are seeking to accomplish here and wish you all the finest.

Feel free to email me at giania [at] gmail [dot] com if you'd like to discuss this further with me.

<3

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

Hi Giania, thanks for your comment.

I'd never heard of Scarlet Imprint, so I went and looked at their site. While I applaud their approach to publishing, the energy there just doesn't feel like a good match for this project.

However, if you're willing I would like to email you and discuss your experience and the project. All my contacts with BA and their work have been very positive, very much flowing from a desire to serve the gods. The physical volumes may not be the works of art that Scarlet Imprint produces, but their quality is very good.