Worlds In Collision

Chapter Nine

(Excerpts)

In the Babylonian psalms Ishtar says:

By causing the heavens to tremble and the earth to quake,
By the gleam which lightens in the sky,
By the blazing fire which rains upon the hostile land,
I am Ishtar.
Ishtar, the queen of heaven, am I by the light that arises in heaven.
I am Ishtar; on high I journey ...
The heavens I cause to quake, the earth I cause to shake,
That is my fame. ...
She that lightens in the horizon of heaven,
Whose name is honored in the habitations of men,
That is my fame.
"Queen of the heaven above and beneath", let be spoken,
That is my fame.
The mountains I overwhelm altogether,
That is my fame.

The Wichita, an Indian tribe of Oklahoma, tell the following story of "The Deluge and the Repeopling of the Earth": "There came to the people some signs, which showed that there was something in the north that looked like clouds; and the fowl of the air came, and the animals of the plains and woods were seen. All of this indicated that something was to happen. The clouds that were seen in the north were a deluge. The deluge was all over the face of the earth."

The water monsters succumbed. Only four giants remained, but they fell, too, each on his face. "The one in the south as he was falling said that the direction he fell should be called south." The other giant said that "the direction in which he was falling should be called west -- Where-the-sun-goes". The third fell and named the direction of his fall north; the last called his direction "east -- Where-the-sunrises".

Only a few men survived. The wind also survived on the face of the earth; everything else was destroyed. A child was born to a woman (from the wind), a Dream-girl. The girl grew rapidly. A boy child was born to her. "He told his people that he would go in the direction of the east, and he was to become the Morning Star."

This tale sounds like an incoherent story, but let us note its various elements: "something in the north that looked like clouds" which made people and animals huddle together in apprehension of an approaching catastrophe; wild beasts emerging from the forests and coming to human abodes; an engulfing tide that destroyed everything, even the monster animals; the determination of the new four quarters of the horizon; a generation later the birth of the Morning Star.

This combination of elements cannot be accidental; all these events, and in the same sequence, were found to have occurred in the middle of the second millennium before the present era.

The Indians of the Chewkee tribe on the Gulf Coast tell: "It was too hot. The sun was put 'a handbreadth' higher in the air, but it was still too hot. Seven times the sun was lifted higher and higher under the sky arch, until it became cooler."

In eastern Africa we can trace the same tradition. "In very old times the sky was very close to the earth."

The Kaska tribe in the interior of British Columbia relate: "Once a long time ago the sky was very close to the earth." The sky was pushed up and the weather changed.

The sun, after being stopped on its way across the firmament, "became small, and small it has remained since then".

Here is a story, told to Shelton by the Snohomish tribe on Puget Sound, about the origin of the exclamation "Yahu", to which I have already referred briefly.

"A long time ago, when all the animals were still human beings, the sky was very low. It was so low that the people could not stand erect. ... They called a meeting together and discussed how they could raise the sky. But they were at a loss to know how to do so. No one was strong enough to lift the sky. Finally the idea occurred to them that possibly the sky might be moved by the combined efforts of the people, if all of them pushed against it at the same time.

 

But then the question arose of how it would be possible to make all the people exert their efforts at exactly the same moment. For the different peoples would be far away from one another, some would be in this part of the world, others in another part. What signal could be given that all people would lift at precisely the same time? Finally, the word 'Yahu!' was invented for this purpose. It was decided that all the people should shout 'Yahu!' together, and then exert their whole strength in lifting the sky. In accordance with this, the people equipped themselves with poles, braced them against the sky, and then all shouted 'Yahu!' in unison.

 

Under their combined efforts the sky rose a little. Again the people shouted 'Yahu!' and lifted the heavy weight. They repeated this until the sky was sufficiently high." Shelton says that the word "Yahu" is used today when some heavy object like a large canoe is being lifted.

It is easy to recognize the origin of this legend. Clouds of dust and gases enveloped the earth for a long time; it seemed that the sky had descended low. The earth groaned repeatedly because of the severe twisting and dislocation it had experienced. Only slowly and gradually did the clouds lift themselves from the ground.

The clouds that had enveloped the Israelites in the desert, the trumpet like sounds that they heard at Mount Sinai, and the gradual lifting of the clouds in the years of the Shadow of Death are the same elements that we find in this Indian legend.

Because the same elements can be recognized in very different settings, we can affirm that there was no borrowing from one people by another. A common experience created the stories, so dissimilar at first, and so much alike on second thought.

The story of the end of the world, as related by the Pawnee Indians has an important content. It was written down from the mouth of an old Indian:

"We are told by the old people that the Morning Star ruled over all the the minor gods in the heavens. ... The old people told us that the Morning Star said that when the time came for the world to end, the Moon would turn red ... that when the Moon should turn red, the people would know that the world was coming to an end.

"The Morning Star said further that in the beginning of all things they placed the North Star in the north, so that it should not move. ... The Morning Star also said that in the beginning of all things they gave power to the South Star for it to move up close, once in a while, to look at the North Star to see if it were still standing in the north. If it were still standing there, it was to move back to its place. ... When the time approached for the world to end, the South Star would come higher. ... The North Star would then disappear and move away and the South Star would take possession of the earth and of the people. ... The old people knew also that when the world was to come to an end, there were to be many signs. Among the stars would be many signs. Meteors would fly through the sky. The Moon would change its color once in a while. The Sun would also show different colors.

"My grandchild, some of the signs have come to pass. The stars have fallen among the people, but the Morning Star is still good to us, for we continue to live. ... The command for the ending of all things will be given by the North Star, and the South Star will carry out the command. ... When the time comes for the ending of the world, the stars will again fall to the earth."

The Pawnee Indians are not versed in astronomy. For one hundred and twenty generations father has transmitted to son and grandfather to grandchild the story of the past and the signs of future destruction.

[COMMENT: The "South Star" -- The Demon Star -- arrives from the southern Constellation of Sagittarius, from the "Dark Rift" of the Milky Way, The Black Road. It travels northwards and -- when docked, anchored and tethered -- causes the "North Star" to disappear (occult) behind it. RS]

O Ishtar, queen of all peoples ...
Thou art the light of heaven and earth. ...
At the thought of thy name the heaven and the earth quake ...
And the spirits of the earth falter.
Mankind payeth homage unto thy mighty name,
For thou art great, and thou are exalted.
All Mankind, the whole human race,
Boweth down before thy power. ...
How long wilt thou tarry, O lady of heaven and earth ... ?
How long wilt thou tarry, O lady of all fights and of the battle?
O thou glorious one, that art raised on high, that art firmly established,
O valiant Ishtar, great in thy might!
Bright torch of heaven and earth, light of all dwellings,
Terrible in the fight, one who cannot be opposed, strong in the battle!
O whirlwind, that roarest against the foe and cuttest off the mighty!
O furious Ishtar, summoner of armies!

We sacrifice to Tistrya, the bright and glorious star,
For whom long flocks and herds and men,
Looking forward for him and deceived in their hope:
When shall we see him rise up, the bright and glorious star Tistrya?

If men would worship me with a sacrifice
In which I were invoked by my own name ...
Then I should come to the faithful at the appointed time.

The next ten nights, O Spitama Zarathustra!
The bright and glorious Tistrya mingles his shape with light,
Moving in the shape of a golden-horned bull.

We sacrifice unto Tistrya, the bright and glorious star,
Who from the shining east moved along his long winding course,
Along the path made by the Gods. ...
We sacrifice unto Tistrya, the bright and glorious star,
Whose rising is watched by the chiefs of deep understanding.

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