If you are not to be the
martyred slaves to Time,
be perpetually drunk!
With wine, with poetry,
or with virtue as you
please. '
- Baudelaire
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN AVATAR OF THE HOLY WHORE, you could do worse than asking a barmaid. It is no mistake that the almond-eyed houris of Muslim paradise serve the drinks. It is the same exchange you can see in hostess bars and lap dancing clubs where the customers project their fantasies on the pliant flesh. In those empty black eyes they are still looking for the Whore Goddess, to lose themselves in a glimmer of orgasm. So let us get down to business and raise a glass to Sister Siburi. In this chapter you will learn how to get intoxicated with the Goddess.
The Siburi appear in Sumer as the earthly priestesses of Holy Tavern Harlotry.
Siburi is the guardian of the Law, in Sumerian 'me' . Creating a priestess of alcohol and sex seemed like an eminently sensible mix, and it still does.
You can drink to remember, you can drink to forget, and if you are drunk enough, everything is Goddess.
In the mad hunt for an aphrodisiac the subtle use of alcohol gets downplayed, but it is a perfect number with it is mimicry of sexual arousal. The flushed cheeks and slight disorientation relax the body into louche abandon. I can see Siburi with her silver cocktail shaker knocking out some wonderful velvet concoctions to loosen up her clients. If you have ever spent a night drinking with witches you will know that this is a skill that has been handed down through the tradition.
But more than booze was on tap in the Holy Tavern. As the gorgeously titled 'Divine Barmaid' Siburi controlled the descent to the underworld. In other words these Priestesses knew the pharmaceutical secrets of the poppy, mushroom and hashish. You can add as many more drugs as you like to the bottom of the prescription, but poppy, mushrooms and hashish are definites in the Soma stakes. The first written mention of the opium poppy in human history comes from Sumeria. If you want to look for a more radical psychedelic agent you can look for the moonflower blooms of datura or the flying ointment checklist of thorn apple, aconite and belladonna. You can even conjecture about blue lotus or other drugs, but opium, mushrooms and hashish have the effects and the geographical distribution that match. Magickians have a knack of procuring exotic pharmaceutical tools, and take them with them on their travels. Customs were not so strict back
then. The cocaine traces in Egyptian mummy wrappings are a case in point. Siburi may well have dished out other drugs, but opium, mushrooms and hashish are givens. Probably in combination.
Now let us get some perspective here before we lose it in a helter skelter drug world. We are talking about measured doses for a specific reason. Not undisciplined use. Crowley tried this in his Abbey of Thelema where the drugs simply lay in bowls to take or pass over. This path requires a strong mind, and the path of the adept is littered with spent hypodermics and broken brothers.
When we talk about the descent to the underworld we are in shamanic territory. This is not some relaxed trip that Siburi presides over as a safety. This is not a recreational wind down and switch off after a hard day at the office pressing the cuneiform. The drugs that Siburi dealt out were to do with the mysteries of sex and death. Let us start with death, it is always popular. The set and setting are concerned with ripping away your body and ego. A metaphysical dismemberment. Opium is one way to get you down there. Go ask Coleridge.
The classic tale is of when Inanna descends to hell to rescue Dumuzi.
She is challenged in turn by demons at seven gates.
At the first gate she gave up her sandals. This is the will.
At the second gate she gave up her ankle bells. This is the ego.
At the third gate she gave up her robe. This is the mind.
At the fourth gate she gave up her breastcups. This is the sex role.
At the fifth gate she gave up her necklace. This is the rapture of illumination.
At the sixth gate she gave up her earrings. This is magick.
At the seventh gate she gave up her crown. This is her godhood.
Inanna entered hell naked, as a woman.
This is a female lunar and planetary mystery that was played out in Babylon and is still used by some working groups as a powerful method of initiation for their Priestesses. This descent can be facilitated by the careful application of drugs. This approach is not always suitable but has the benefit of being unequivocal. The seven gates correspond to the seven sephirah below the supernal triad. This is a female version of working with the seven heads of the Beast. As I am not a woman and have not gone through this experience I am going to break with occult tradition and shut the fuck up. If I have not personally done it I will not talk about it as if I have.
The other phannaceuticals Siburi dispenses are of course the more subtle drugs of sexual juices. This tradition can also be found with the suvasini or 'sweet smelling ladies' of Tantra. These medicines are the jewels of Siburi.
MINE' S A LARGE ONE
If you want to be modern, we are talking about a drug-pushing madam fuelled up on booze. Does that stretch your vision of holy? Have another drink, you will get there in the end.
Siburi is your best friend, and she is going to help you learn about the Goddess more quickly than you can say 'Robert Graves' . Open a bottle. She has got something to tell you, but you have got to get ready to hear it. We will break for a paragraph while you nip out and get something to drink. Don't ask what, you already know. We have heard enough about the corrupting influence of books, this one is telling you to go and get yourself a drink.
First we will start with a toast to Her, it is traditional. I have gone with some odd elderberry port, it seems sweet enough and the blood red is always good. As She said, you can have what you like. It is always what She likes.
So, to Babalon!
Even with the first mouthful you can feel the flush of alcohol spreading through you. It warms the blood. Just as she wants to warm your blood. Look at Her standing there. Your body eases, as if you have fallen an inch deeper into your skin. Your vision will soon start to soften and the hard edges yield into curves. It all depends how much you want to let go.
Not only can you hear the sounds around you, you can hear the blood in your heart. Really you should have another. She is halfway to pouring it for you before the thought is even fully formed. It is so easy to get lost in Her eyes. You can let go. As you watch Her exhale you can let go further and further. Breathe with Her. Several slow deep breaths. Your breathing is softening and changing. You have stopped breathing from the chest you are breathing lower from deep in your body. The breathing is from the very base of your spine. When you let go with Her the breath rises from the base of your spine. It comes in waves up your spine unlocking all the tension from your back. It is not even air now, it is energy flowing up your spine and pushing at the base of your skull. Breathe with Her. If it is going too fast, then drink some more with Her, She is moving at your speed. There is no rush. As She breathes out let go. Let go until there is no tension left. Let go with Her. When you are ready let it go into Her.
Let go.
The definition of a black brother is simply one who cannot Let Go.
You really have to let Babalon have it. She is one hell of a Goddess. If you can just do that one piece of worship it will all make so much more sense to you. If you need Siburi to pour you a river before you can let go of enough ego to do this simple exercise, you need to learn more about letting go. We all need to learn how to let go. ALL magick is the result of this one technique. This is the only technique you need to be a perfect master of the yoga of Babalon. It is impossible for me to over emphasize this single simple point.
Back to our story, with Hammurabi's conquest of Sumer-Akkad Siburu became Sibelu, and her heavenly aspect became Subulutu, a celestial virgin, a priestess whore who never married.
The message from this early avatar of Babalon is simple. Loosen up. Have a drink and allow yourself to be intoxicated with Love for the Whore Goddess. If that is not enough She will quite happily spike your drink and drag you down to hell. Some of us can meet Her over a cocktail, others of us will need rohypnol and ravishment.
There is not long before closing time gendemen, the hour is getting late and your youth is running out. I suggest you finish your drinks down to the very last drop. You would not want to offend the bar staff in this particular establishment.
http://www.scarletimprint.com/redgoddess.htm jolly ho & merry
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