Titles

["justin rego" <justinrego@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Clive, these are the names of goddesses from the ancient near east. Inanna
is from mesopotamia, specifically Sumer, Ishtar is from further north, of
the Akkadians, and Asherah is from the west, of Palestine. Inanna is a
goddess of love, war and fertility. She was the most important of the
pantheon of the mesopotamians. She was sometimes depicted as "androgynous,
with a beard flowing between her breasts as she rode to war on her chariot".
In palestine, some palestinians (denoting all people residing in palestine,
i.e. hebrews, caananites, philistines, etc...) believed that yahweh (el -
God of thunder) was composed of 2 aspects, a feminine and masculine....the
feminine was called his Asherah...this is supported by physical, excavated
evidence.

The concept of duality can be seen in the Song of Solomon, where "God" is
sung to as a lover, i.e. the feminine aspect. Also, it presents itself in
the less well known Kabbala liturature. All religions in the ancient near
east borrow heavily from one another (including christianity), and you will
see many of the same themes reflected in the newer torah (old testament) and
new testament as well....for example, Inanna preceeded both Osiris and
Christ in being killed and raised from the dead after 3 days....hope this
helps!

justin