Primal Theology
- Richard Kretz
- Mar 15, 2023
- 3 min read
The essence of primal theology is veneration of a “Divine Feminine”. In Sumer she was known as Nammu, roughly equivalent to the Hindu goddess, Shakti. This “god-goddess” was androgynous, meaning it possessed both male and female attributes, could change gender as needed, and reproduce via parthenogenesis. Many ancient cultures across the globe allude to this Divine Feminine god-goddess in their creation stories as the progenitor of their pantheon of deities.
Nammu-Shakti’s considered pure, and because of her transformative dual gender, depicted as or associated with a serpent or dragon. A common creation theme is that, through parthenogenesis, Nammu-Shakti gives birth to twins who are opposites. Sometimes the twins are male and female, sometimes they’re two males with diametrically opposed personalities: Cain and Able for example.
In the story of the Mesopotamian primordial goddess of the sea and the abyss, Nammu, her twins were Abzu, god of freshwater, and Tiamat, goddess of saltwater and mother of all life. Tiamat was also known as the “Dragon Queen”. Two important points emanate from this aspect of the Mesopotamian creation story: 1. The Hermetic axiom “as above, so below” refers to Nammu as the primordial goddess of the sea, meaning the waters on the surface of the Earth, and the abyss, meaning the waters below the surface of the Earth. 2. A triad is created that provides the foundation for not only the Mesopotamian pantheon, but as a triangle is the first geometric form, it provides the basis for mathematical and geometric development.
What we find is that Nammu (often symbolized as the stars in heaven), the pure one who is androgynous and who embodies both male and female characteristics, is at the apex of an equilateral triangle representing wisdom. Below Nammu to the left, Abzu represents Nammu’s structured masculine qualities of positive energy, strength, and ego. As such, Abzu symbolizes the impure animalistic “Red Man” and the Sun. Opposite Abzu on the right of the triangle is Tiamat, symbolizing Nammu’s fluid creative feminine qualities, negative energy, and purity and beauty of the “White Queen” as the Moon. Together, Abzu and Tiamat signify a union of opposites found in a hexagram that comprises Nammu as a total solar eclipse. This triad of Nammu, Abzu, and Tiamat, symbolized as a triangle, also represents flexibility of our mind, our thoughts, as they emanate within the left (masculine) and right (feminine) hemispheres of our brain. In Freemasonry this scenario is captured as three burning tapers placed about an altar containing an open book. The three burning tapers are referred to as the "Three Great Lights". They exemplify the Stars (Nammu), Sun (Abzu), and Moon (Tiamat). The open book, known as the "Book of the Law", refers to the laws of nature and the universe. Nammu, Abzu, and Tiamat are also represented as the three pillars of Freemasonry: Abzu as the pillar of strength (Boaz), Tiamat as the pillar of beauty (Jachin), and Nammu as the hidden pillar of wisdom.
The alchemical marriage, the union of opposites, Abzu, the “Red Man”, and Tiamat, the “White Queen”, produces a son, Kingu (Shiva in Hinduism). As Kingu nurses at Tiamat’s breast he’s divested of the superfluities of life and ego, symbolizing perfection as the “Red King”, and supplants Abzu, the imperfect “Red Man” to become Tiamat’s consort. It should be noted that "Kingu" is the root of "king", a potentate who rules and governs. Thus, we have the origin for a trinity that has permeated various cultures throughout history, notably that of Osiris, Isis, and Horus in Egypt, and “God”, Mary Theotokos, and Jesus in Christianity.
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