As I recall, the double axe was a popular motif in Anatolian
iconography in the Neolithic period all the way back to Catal Huyuk,
continuing into EBA Minoan and over a huge area beyond. It is often
associated with bullhorns and the goddess. It is popularly described
as a "butterfly" and attribute of the goddess. I never liked this
explanation. Interstingly, Taurus is next to Orion in the heavens! I
think that's it.
There was no "butterfly." That is a simplistic answer repeated over
the years until it is unquestioningly accepted as "fact". The
butterfly was part of Gimbutas' 'Mommy Complex' and supposed to be
part of her political agenda for making us believe that the "peaceful
matriarchal societies of the Neolithic peoples" worshipped
their 'Great Goddess' above all else. It's rubbish. It was the
constellations Taurus and Orion, the axe-shaped constellation. They
are both also beside the Milky Way, whose associations with
the 'Cosmic Goddess' we could also go on about.
In Hittite myth, Hannah hannah was the goddess distraght over the
loss of Telepinus, a dying and resurrection god. The classical
Agdistis of Syria was the mother or consort of Hadad, whose attribute
was the double axe. His throne was flanked by bulls. The Hittites'
Tarkhunas had a chariot pulled by two bulls and often wielded an axe.
Now, he was a storm-god and not directly related to our hero-god, but
he could have adopted some of the hero-god attributes when the
Hittites moved into Anatolia.
Bulls were sacrificial animals throughout the Near East in place of
stags found in Europe. What this might mean is that the son or lover
of the goddess is killed or sacrificed and then ascends to heaven
where he is represented as the Orion constellation. This was a STRONG
theme in ancient Near Eastern myth, found in Greece in various Orphic
mystery cults. There, Demeter was the mother goddess figure, with
Dionysus, Attis, and Adonis playing parts that included the
taurobolium (bull sacrifice). Ascent to heaven and salvation was the
goal. This was also part of the Mithraic mysteries, where Mithras
killed the bull in a very cosmic context, but of which we have few
details.
If anyone knows astronomy or can find the answer, it might help to
know about the constellation Orion. I think it is one of the
constellations that rises and sets. It might help to know what times
of the year this is. I think Orion rises in the late fall and sets in
the spring or summer. This might indicate he ascends to heaven after
the fall harvest or hunting season, coming back to earth in the
spring planting season? Of course, finding out what date this might
be in the latitudes of the Near East might be challenging.
--- In cybalist@..., "Glen Gordon" <glengordon01@...> wrote:
> Cort:
> >The Mesopotamians identified it with Tammuz. There's a sacrificial
> >hero. And the Greeks had many different names for the
> >constellation:The giant, the hunter, The warrior, the cok's foot,
> >and the double axe. The last one intrigues me-The sacrificial
double axe?
>
> Hmm, double axe, huh? That is interesting, I have to admit. And it
> makes sense. Even the Egyptians considered Orion to be the hunter.
> The double axe would represent the warrior/hunter aspect, of course.
> I think I sorta understand the connection that Tammuz has to this.
> I feel *Yemos, *Manus' twin, played a similar role as Tammuz and
> represented the resurrected earth (in spring) as well as the one
> sacrificed by *Manus. Hence, a Tammuz/*Yemos connection makes sense
> since it's part of the Horse-Twin parcel that this Orion
> constellation would appear to relate to.
>
> Question: If Orion is the double-axe... where do we find the
> bull horns? Is there a picture of the Goddess somewhere
> in the sky? :)
>
> As for the "human sacrifice and earth fertility" thing, I think
> we're steering a bit too far from the answer.
>
> - love gLeN
>
>
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