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THE
OLDER
HISTORY OF THE MARI®
Synchronicity:
One Instance in Looking for the Roots of the Mandala
-by
Joan Kellogg, M.A., A.T.R. (1989) |
Joan planned to present this
recollection as a panelist
on the subject of Shamanism at an Art Therapy Conference in San
Francisco. She was unable to attend.
While
working with subjects' mandalas in Baltimore in the mid-70's, I chose
the title, Mandala
Assessment and Research Institute, as
a name to identify my
workshops. The individual [capital letters spell] "MARI". Some of my reading
at the time was devoted to the history of the mandala, and the early images
of mandala.
Some kind soul
- whose identify I did not know or cannot remember -
told me of a city called Mari in the Near East that had been discovered
and partially excavated. It dated back to 4,000 B.C., making it
almost 6000 years old now.
The
Ancient City of Mari
In 1981, on visiting the Walters Art Gallery/Museum in Baltimore,
I began my search with the library there, and just gave my name
and the subject of my interest to the librarian. I do not speak or read French, and was disheartened to see her
load a table of volumes in this language. I had gotten there a
bit after noon, and with much enthusiasm these very kind women
proceeded to translate page after page into the late afternoon.
All of it was very exciting to me.
I was enthralled and asked one of them if, by chance, there might have been
anything in a form like a mandala at Mari. With that she
opened yet another book, and lo, there the picture was of this circle with
a star. She translated
all the material relevant to it for me:
These
are called "star" murals: very large and brightly colored baked-clay murals scattered throughout the Palace of Mari.
When found, they were of course broken and had to be pieced
back together
again, but the colors remained very bright and clear, and included
the three primary colors and white.
Most
of us would tend to believe that the mandala image originated in
Asia, but here is one from what is or was called Mesopotamia.
This city is on the banks of the Euphrates River. The approximate
date of the murals is roughly 2000 B.C. to 3000 B.C.. This corresponds
to the settling down in cities by formerly nomadic tribes. It was
also the time when writing began and the keeping of tax rolls.
Mari is unique in that both male and females were
scribes.
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The
Mandala of Mari and the Goddess
of the Flowing Waters
Now, remember, I did not set out to find mandalas. I set out to find out about
this curious city that had a name like the initials of MARI®.
So, I was very surprised to find the name Mari was also tied
into an important mandala form
there. This finding was the result of a chance remark- it certainly seems a certain
kind of synchronicity was at work.
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Goddess
of Flowing Water - Steven L. Spathell, Artist
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This
was accompanied by a drawing of a Goddess of the Flowing Water,
whose statues were found in the "Courtyard of the Palms," a
ritual annex at the Palace of Mari. Water in
the desert area was critical, and must have had some magical
meaning.
She
(the goddess statue) traveled to the USA last year [1988] with many
artifacts from Mari, and was displayed at the
Smithsonian and at prominent museums throughout the country.
It [was to be] the
last time any of this [would] leave its country of origin.
This
[star] mandala might be representative of Stage 9 in the Great Round,
and colorfully reflects the organization and crystallization
of the city-state. I continue to hear from archeologists on early
motifs that may predate this one. I wish to acknowledge my gratitude
to the museum and the librarians who have so enthusiastically
responded to my queries over the years.
-Joan
Kellogg, M.A., A.T.R. |
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THE
SYNCHRONICITIES CONTINUE
-by
Michele "Shelley" Takei, Ph.D. (2006)
Joan was enthralled to learn about Mari's early
roots in 1981. I was equally thrilled when my partners and
I discovered
the above manuscript in Joan's archives twenty-five years later!
In many ways it appears that the synchronicities are continuing...
My
passion has always been feminine psychology and spirituality.
I have taught numerous classes on all aspects of Women’s
Ways of Knowing as well as Feminine Archetypes. I was always particularly
interested in the hypothesis that there were many early civilizations
where women were valued equally. I
was as thrilled as Joan to learn that the MARI® was
associated with an ancient city with the same name. Ancient Mari,
which had a temple where they honored a goddess and created mandalas,
was most probably one of these egalitarian cities.
Since
discovering the fascinating roots of Mari in Joan’s
work, I have learned even more about the temple and the goddess
who
share MARI®’s name. The Mari temple
was considered one of the ancient wonders of the world. The temple
was huge, covering
more than six acres, and was located in an area now referred to
as the Holy Land. But this was just the beginning of many deep
connections with the goddess that was the focus of this ancient
city.
According
to historian Barbara G. Walker
(Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, 1983), the Goddess of Flowing Waters was
just one variation of the Goddess Mari. In every
culture, she was associated with water.
The Semites worshipped an androgynous form of the Goddess-and-God, known as
Mari-El ("Mary-God"). The Egyptians honored Meri-Ra, which combined the feminine
principle of water and the masculine principle of the sun. Mari-Baruti, in
Babylonia, was known as the Sea Mother, who lived in the womb-chamber where
statues of gods were said to have life breathed into them, thereby animating
them. Hindu cultures knew her
as Kel-Mari, the Glorious One. She was also known as The Great Fish, who gave
birth to the gods (hence the etymology of "mer-maid").
In
every form, she was known as Mother Sea. Walker states that, “St.
Peter Chrysologus called her the Christian incarnation, the
virgin Mary, the gathering together of the waters. But she was also
the earth and heavens, since her earliest form was a trinity," [p.
584] . Walker also believes that she was probably
the same goddess worshipped by the Slavs under the name
Marzanna (Mari-Anna), who guided the ripening of fruit.
Mari and
her pagan consort may have been the forerunners of Adonis and
Aphrodite. The cult associated with the Nestorian Christians
considered Mari to be The Fate Spinner, who was older than time.
Medieval Spain knew the goddess Mari as the one
who lived in a magical cave, gave gifts of fairy gold, and rode
through the
night as a ball of fire. The islanders of Inis Maree worshipped
the goddess Mari (and later under the guise of St. Mourie),
naming their island in her
honor. For more than 1500 years, she was celebrated on August 25.
I
am honored that the association with the goddess Mari -along
with her rich history-
has found its way into my life.
The synchronicities associated with the MARI® continue to bring
wonderful people and information into my life, and I hope that her life-giving waters
of inspiration and nurturance will forever continue to flow out
through the gift of this marvelous Instrument.
-Michele
"Shelley" Takei, Ph.D. (2006)
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