Shinto: The Religion of the Ancient Sumerians

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In many of the Art of Ninzuwu writings, it is suggested that what is called Shinto today, was in fact a global spiritual practice in prehistoric times. In the Yi Jing Apocrypha of Geghis Khan we read:

“Shinto is often described as the indigenous faith of the Japanese people. It is probably more correct to define Shinto as being the indigenous faith of the human race that has been preserved by the Japanese people.”

According to some of the deeper aspects of Ninzuwu-Shinto teachings, it is taught that there existed a world order, the Empire of Mu, that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the region of what is known as Mesopotamia.

This empire lasted for some time until Susanoo-no-Mikoto, a personification of a particular Mesopotamian priesthood, rebelled against Amaterasu Ohkami, who is often described as Tiamat in Babylonian mythology. Today, i thought it would be good to share some evidence in regards to this. Below is a list of similarities that exist between ancient Sumerian culture and what is called Shinto today.

1. Mashu

Sumeria: Mashu was a sacred mountain. Its name means “twin” in Akkadian, and thus was it portrayed on Babylonian cylinder seals—a twin-peaked mountain, described by poets as both the seat of the gods, and the underworld.

Japan: Lake Mashū was originally named Lake of the Devil by the Ainu. This was rendered as Lake Mashin (魔神湖 Mashin-ko) by the Japanese. Over time, however, the Japanese began to refer to the lake by the Japanese reading for the neighboring peak, Mount Mashū (摩周岳 Mashū-dake). The kanji for this peak translate roughly as scrubbed area mountain. The Ainu name for this peak, by which it is commonly known today, is Kamuinupuri or mountain of the gods. The lake also retains its Ainu name, Kamuito or lake of the gods.

2. Cedar & Pine Trees

Sumeria: Cedar and Pine trees were considered to be sacred and property of some of the highest gods. The goddess Inanna, who, at Nippur was called nin edin “the lady of edin,” she is “the bride” of Dumuzi the “good shepherd” of Uruk who is called mulu edin “the lord of edin.” In one account she eats of cedar/pine trees (eating cedar/pine nuts) to _acquire knowledge_ in order “to know” how to have sex with her new husband or bridegroom.

In a myth entitled A shir-namshub to Utu, we learn that the Goddess Inanna knew nothing of the affairs of passion or sexual intercourse until she ate of the cedar tree. In the account she convinces her brother Utu, the Sun god to escort her in this journey:

“I am unfamiliar with womanly matters, with ……. I am unfamiliar with womanly matters, with sexual intercourse! I am unfamiliar with womanly matters, with kissing! I am unfamiliar with sexual intercourse, I am unfamiliar with kissing!…Whatever exists in the mountains, let us eat that. Whatever exists in the hills, let us eat that. In the mountains of herbs, in the mountains of cedars, in the mountains of cedars, the mountains of cypresses, whatever exists in the mountains, let us eat that….After the herbs have been eaten, after the cedars have been eaten, put your hand in my hand and then escort me to my house. Escort me to my house, to my house in Zabalam. Escort me to my mother, to my mother Ningal. Escort me to my mother-in-law, to Ninsumun.” 

The Cedar Forest was sacred to Din.Gir Enlil, as often noted in the Gilgamesh Epics. Donald K. Sharpes in the book, Lords of the Scrolls, states the following:

“Tammuz dwells in a great world tree, possibly a cedar, whose roots extend to the underworld and whose branches reach the heavens.”

Symbols, Sex, and the Stars by Ernest Busenbark, states the following in regard to the Chaldeans:

“To Chaldeans, the cedar represented not only the tree of life but the “revealer of the oracles of earth and heaven” as well.”

The above passage about the power of cedar and pine is confirmed for us in the Myth of Gilgamesh and Huwawa. Many readers may be familiar with my studies in Sumerian mysticism, and may know of the seven-gate system of initiation. This practice is partly based on the myth concerning Huwawa. Gilgamesh is by no means a hero, but committed blasphemous acts against the divine order of things. In this account we learn that Gilgamesh makes a deal with Huwawa . Gilgamesh offers his two sisters for the power of the seven terrors:

“Gilgameš rested his hand on the ground, and addressed Ḫuwawa: “By the life of my own mother Ninsumun and of my father, holy Lugalbanda! No one really knows where in the mountains you live; they would like to know where in the mountains you live. Here, I have brought you En-me-barage-si, my big sister, to be your wife in the mountains……And again he addressed him: “By the life of my mother Ninsumun and of my father, holy Lugalbanda! No one really knows where in the mountains you live; they would like to know where in the mountains you live. Here, I have brought you Ma-tur, my little sister, to be your concubine in the mountains. Just hand over your terrors to me! I want to become your kinsman!”

Soon after, Huwawa is deceived by Gilgamesh and eventually loses his life. However, Huwawa was divinely appointed by Din.Gir Enlil to guard the forest.

Japan: While the spiritual value of cedar and pine may go unnoticed by the layman, it is of value to those engaged in spiritual work, as seen earlier in our discussion. In a similar manner to Din.Gir Inanna and Huwawa, the Tengu are said to also make use of cedar and pine. A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits by Carol K. Mack and Dinah Mack, states:

“The Tengu comprise a class of highflying demons, probably Chinese in origin, who principally inhabit cedar or pine trees in the mountainous areas of Japan.”

What is fascinating about the quote, cited above, is that when compared to a prior article, entitled, The Tengu: Protectors of the Shinto Mysteries & Founders of the Art of Ninzuwu, we learn the Tengu are very much related to the Anzu, but more specifically to Pazuzu. Pazuzu in Sumerian mythology is described as the brother of Huwawa.

3. The Sacred Marriage Rite

Sumeria: It is a general belief among scholars that a form of “sacred marriage” ritual or hieros gamos was staged between the king of a Sumerian city-state and the High Priestess of Inanna. In an online article by Rutgers University, entitled the Dark Gift, we read:

“Thus, his kingship depended upon his ability to consummate “his marriage with the goddess” not once or twice… but “fifty times.” That’s right: 50 orgasms, one after the other, non-stop.

By this requirement, all Sumerian Kings had to be… multiorgasmic.

“…the high priestess, acting in place of The Goddess (Inanna), had sex with the new king to show the Goddess’s people that the Goddess herself accepted him as their caretaker and ruler of the country. Not only did these two have sex fifty times, but the entire congregation had front row seats to these fifty climaxes….”

The ritual text itself, used in the actual Sumerian “Sacred Marriage” rite, makes clear that it is the King-apparent, assuming the role of the mortal “Dumuzi,” who experiences these fifty orgasms:

Inanna spoke:

“My beloved, the delight of my eyes, met me. We rejoiced together. He took his pleasure of me. He brought me into his house. He laid me down on the fragrant honey-bed. My sweet love, lying by my heart, Tongue-playing, one by one, My fair Dumuzi did so fifty times. Now, my sweet love (i.e., Dumuzi) is sated.”

Din.Gir Inanna, later known as the Goddess Ishtar, was one of the most-celebrated deities of the ancient Mesopotamian pantheon. In another account entitled, Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld, we read the following about Din.Gir Inanna in her preparation of descent:

“She took the seven divine powers. She collected the divine powers and grasped them in her hand. With the good divine powers, she went on her way. She put a turban, headgear for the open country, on her head. She took a wig for her forehead. She hung small lapis-lazuli beads around her neck….She placed twin egg-shaped beads on her breast. She covered her body with a pala dress, the garment of ladyship. She placed mascara which is called “Let a man come, let him come” on her eyes. She pulled the pectoral which is called “Come, man, come” over her breast. She placed a golden ring on her hand. She held the lapis-lazuli measuring rod and measuring line in her hand.”

The main idea behind the Sacred Marriage Rite is the union of a heavenly force, normally depicted as the “goddess,” with an earthly king, or “anointed one,” an initiated man. The ancient Mesopotamian mythology,upon which the Sacred Marriage Rite is based, finds a strong resemblance in ancient Shinto mythology.

Japan: In the same manner that it is reported that the Goddess Inanna prepared herself in an attractive manner in preparation of her descent, the Nihon Shoki describes similar actions being taken by Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto.

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, who is revered in The Ivory Tablets of the Crow as the Ayaqox, accompanied Ninigi-no-Mikoto, the grandson of Amaterasu Ohmikami, as he descended from the Plain of High Heaven (Takamanohara) to the peak of Takachiho in Hyūga of Tsukushi (present-day Kyushu) to rule over the “Central Land of Reed Plains.”

It was during this “descent” Ninigi-no-Mikoto and his company encounter Sarutahiko-no-Ohkami, who stood at the border between the Plain of High Heaven and the Central Land of Reed Plains. Ninigi-no-Mikoto and his company are quite alarmed by the appearance of Sarutahiko-no-Ohkami and refuse to meet with him because of such. In the Nihon Shoki we read:

“There is one God who dwells at the eight-cross-roads of Heaven, the length of whose nose is seven hands, the length of whose back is more than seven fathoms. Moreover, a light shines from his mouth and from his posteriors. His eye-balls are like an eight-hand mirror and have a ruddy glow like the Akakagachi.’ Thereupon he sent one of his attendant Deities to go and make inquiry. Now among all the eighty myriads of Deities there was not one who would confront him and make inquiry.”

Before we continue, let’s examine this description of Sarutahiko-no-Ohkami a bit more closely. First, he is described as guarding the “eight-cross-roads of Heaven,” which means that he was the protector of sacred knowledge. Some claim that Sarutahiko-no-Ohkami is ancestor or relative to the Tengu because of his long nose. His eyes have a red glow about them. Some have described the Tengu as Japanese gargoyles. Maybe this is how such a comparison is made. Now us take a look at how Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto’s involvement with Sarutahiko-no-Ohkami first began. The Nihon Shoki continues:

“Now among all the eighty myriads of Deities there was not one who could confront him and make inquiry. Therefore, he specially commanded Ame no Uzume, saying: “Thou art superior to others in the power of thy looks. Thou hadst better go and question him.” So Ame no Uzume forthwith bared breasts and, pushing down the band of her garment below her navel, confronted him with a mocking laugh.”

Here we can see that Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, like Dingir Inanna, used her looks as a form of military strategy. Later, Sarutahiko-no-Ohkami served as a protective guide during Ninigi-no-Mikoto’s decent into the earth and married Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto..

Inanna/Ishtar and Dumuzi/Tammuz are the ruling Din.Gir of the United States and is featured in much of its history. The American flag has fifty stars representing the fifty orgasms administered to Dumuzi by the Goddess Inanna. These were later adapted to conform to a male-dominated society and the powers in these fifty orgasms became the fifty names of Marduk bestowed upon him by male gods. Marduk replaced Dumuzi in the Sacred Marriage Rite as the priesthood behind the god became more powerful. Blue is the color of Nebo, who was the son of Marduk and scribe of the gods, who was responsible for decreeing the fates. Red is the color of Nergal, ruler of the Netherworld. Aligned with this is the color white, which is sacred to Inanna/Ishtar. The combination of the “13” red and white stripes, appearing on the American flag, symbolizes Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld, but also her ascent.into heaven. Thirteen is the number of Lilith/Lamashtu, who was considered the right hand of Ishtar.

The Statue of Liberty, made from the Venusian element copper, is also another figure that originates ultimately with the Inanna/Ishtar archetype that rules Venus. Inanna is known widely, but more specifically the Babylonian Ishtar, is known as the goddess of love and war. Taking all of this into consideration, it is not surprising that Sarutahiko- no-o-kami and Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto are the principal deities of the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, It should be noted that Ninzuwu-Shinto is not in any way affiliated with the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, which practices Jinja Shinto.

4. Land of the Rising Sun

Another similarity between the Sumerians and the ancient Shinto gnosis is the location of Dilmun. While Dilmun is associated with ancient sites on the islands of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, the Cradle of Civilization, the author feels that this is not the original Dilmun, but worked much in the same way that places in the United States were named after places in England. Dilmun, sometimes described as “the place where the sun rises” and “the Land of the Living” is the scene of a Sumerian creation myth and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, Ziusudra (Utnapishtim), was taken by the gods to live forever. The place where Ziusudra was taken by the gods was not in the Middle East.

The Yi Jing Apocrypha of Genghis Khan covers this subject heavily in its introduction:

“Quests of the Dragon and Bird Clan by Paul Kekai Manansala, makes an interesting point about the Mesopotamian legendary city of DIlmun. Manansala writes on page 48:

“The entrance to both the underworld and skyworld was found on Mt. Mashu in Dilmun in the Sea of the Rising Sun. Enki would send fish-being sages known as abgal (Akkadian apkallu) from Dilmun to advise the king-priests.”

If Fu Xi was one of the Apkallu, which the evidence does point to him as being, then he came from Dilmun. Dilmun is described very much like an area existing in the vicinity of Japan, which seems to be a reference to the Empire of Mu, located around or in the Pacific Ocean. Michael Rice, in a book entitled, Egypt’s Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000-2000 BCE, states:

“In Sumerian texts which celebrate Dilmun various epithets are customarily attached to it, by which it is represented as a paradisial place where the gods dwelt and in which numerous act of creation took place. It is called the Land of Crossing, the Land where the Sun Rises (for the Land is situated in the Sea of the Rising Sun) and throughout its literature particular emphasis is placed on Dilmun’s purity.”

In ancient Sumerian texts, Dlmun is described as “the Land where the Sun Rises,” which is situated in the “Sea of the Rising Sun.” It was also described by the Sumerians, like the Mountain of Nizir among the Chaldeans, as a land where the gods dwelt and a place of creation. This doesn’t discount that there may have been a Dilmun of later ages near the region of ancient Mesopotamia. However, the paradisiacal place of Dilmun where the gods dwelt seem to point to the Empire of Mu located in the region of Japan. If this is the case, then evidence of such should also exist in Eastern, and more specifically, ancient Japanese mythology. Is it possible that the battle described in the Babylonian Creation epic between Marduk and Tiamat, may have been a battle between that occurred in the Empire of Mu over sovereignty?”

When we consider everything we have discussed so far, it seems very probable that Dilmun was located in what we call Japan today. Since 1978 the Japan Petroglyph Society have found no less than 3000 rocks with engravings throughout Japanese islands, documented by Government of Education and Cultures and Boards of Education. Now what is interesting about all of this is that the petroglyphs found on this rocks could only be deciphered using the Sumerian language. Xpeditions Magazine.Com reports:

“It is to be noted that most of those 3000 engraved rocks are located in the precincts or at the summits of sacred hills, which have been worshipped by the native inhabitants probably since prehistoric ages…The engraved stone tablets shown in photographs above were excavated at one of sanctuaries in Okinawa and are kept at the Governmental Museum of Okinawa prefecture, where since prehistoric ages about 12000 B.P. to 6500 B. P. “Sobata sea – people” used to dwell and build peculiar Okinawan cultures. ..As seen in the pictures, 2 big birds are engraved at the top of buildings (perhaps ancient types of shrines) and at the lower part of each building…In the right stone – tablet at the lower right is a pyramid engraved. These will show a characteristic of Japanese petroglyphs and their religious sides, because even today at Okinawa native sea people have sincere faith and pious belief in the legendary homeland, “Nidai-Kanai” which is believed to have been located in a very far place in the ocean, where their ancestors lived happy life forever. Some scholars suppose that their legendary homeland must be the lost, sunken continent of Mu. We do not know exactly when the continent of Mu sank, but according to under sea archaeology, some kind of geological catastrophe must have happened in 12000 B.P. These dates correspond to the legendary Okinawan stories. The stone tablets tell complete stories of the Mu’s culture and religion at that time. These 12 stone tablets, kept at the Governmental Museum, will provide us clue’s to solve the enigmatic origins of human letters and languages. Another characteristic of the Japanese petroglyphs is that 30% of them could be deciphered with Proto-Sumerian and Sumerian cuneiforms. We do not know exactly why Japanese petroglyphs are related with Sumerian letters. The only thing we could suppose is that in the late prehistoric ages, Sumerian seafaring tribes threatened by Akkadians invasions fled to the seas. Some tribes reached prehistoric Japan, which the scholars who belong to The Epigraphic Society of Harvard University used to suggest at the ISAC and E.S. conference. Emeritus Prof. Barry Fell (late President of E.S.) was an outstanding leader of the theory, adding that he is sure the Sumerian seafaring people reached the Far East while other groups reached the Americas B.C…Shown below are exact samples of petroglyphs, which could be deciphered using the Sumerian language.”

These petroglyphs, which feature some characters similar the Vasuh language, the engraved stone tablets shown in photographs above were excavated at one of sanctuaries in Okinawa and are kept at the Governmental Museum of Okinawa prefecture, where since prehistoric ages about 12000 B.P. to 6500 B. P. Interestingly, the article reveals that 30% of these petroglyphs could be deciphered by the use of proto-Sumerian! This shows us that an older relationship exists between Sumeria and what is called Japan today than the recent Dilmun.

5. War Between Elder and Ancient Gods

(The information cited in this section is taken from the Yi Jing Apocrypha of Genghis Khan)

The Babylonian Creation epic is quite different from the Sumerian account of creation. In Sumerian mythology, it is Nammu who gave birth to the first gods and comes up with the idea of creating human beings with the help of Enki. In Babylonian mythology, the god Ea (Enki), attacks the primal god Apsu after discovering his plot to kill the younger gods for making too much noise. This is followed by a battle between the older and the younger gods. Marduk, son of the god Ea, is chosen by the younger gods to fight against the older gods. Marduk defeats the primal gods, Kingu and then Tiamat. We can tell that the Sumerians were a different people than the Babylonians, due to the differences found in their perspective creation myths. While many have theorized that the Babylonian Creation epic was more about promoting Marduk as the supreme god of ancient Mesopotamia, it may very well be possible that these events recorded in this particular mythology reflected a conflict and descent occurring in the pre-historical Empire of Mu.

The idea of a younger god rebelling against an older one, does occur in the ancient mythologies of Japan, specifically between Amaterasu-Ohmikami and her younger brother Susanowo-no-Mikoto. The rivalry between Amaterasu-Ohmikami and her younger brother, Susanoo, is a very popular Shinto myth. Susanoo bears a striking resemblance to the Babylonian god Ea. Both are associated with water. Susanoo is the god of the sea and a trickster deity. Ea is the god of water among other things. Susanoo, like the younger gods in the Babylonian Creation epic, upset the “older gods” by making too much noise. In the case of ancient Japanese mythology, however, we get an idea as to what this noise symbolized. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated by W. G. Aston, gives us this account concerning Susanoo:

“Their next child was Sosa no wo no Mikoto…This God had a fierce temper and was given to cruel acts. Moreover he made a practice of continually weeping and wailing. So he brought many of the people of the land to an untimely end. Again he caused green mountains to become withered. Therefore the two Gods, his parents, addressed Sosa no wo no Mikoto, saying: “Thou art exceedingly wicked, and it is not meet that thou shouldst reign over the world. Certainly thou must depart far away to the NetherLand.”

If we took Susanoo as the Babylonian Ea, we could understand that the “noise” which upset the older gods in the Babylonian Creation epic, was indeed acts of malice and the misuse of power. Based on such, Susanoo (Ea) was banished to the Netherland or a region that existed outside the gates of heaven, outside of Dilmun, where the Sumerian gods claimed origin from.

Susanoo’s association with the Babylonian Ea is not an unfounded idea. In the Nihongi, translated by W. A. Aston, Aston defines the name Susanoo:

“Susa no wo is therefore simply “the male of Susa.””

Susa was an ancient city in Mesopotamia and closely associated with Elam. This shows us that there was indeed a difference between the older Afro-Asiatic gods and the younger Mesopotamian gods. The priesthood of the god Ea, like Susanoo, was banished from the Land of the Rising Sun and took up residence in Mesopotamia, in Elam.

This information is also supported by the legendary Kenneth Grant, a direct student of Aleister Crowley. Kenneth Grant. Grant wrote the following in his classic work, Outer Gateways:

“Tiamat will once more rule the Earth”. Her other number, 71, is the number of Lam, and of the Kami, a name bestowed in ancient Japan upon the Old Ones whom the Egyptians named the Sami.”

If Tiamat were indeed the Kami, as Grant suggests, then this would also imply that the Kami were the original holders of the Tablets of Destiny, like Tiamat. We have now discovered that the Yi Jing and the Tablets of Destinies were one and the same.

In conclusion, I would like to draw your attention to the words of James Churchward, as found in The Sacred Symbols of Mu:

“The first records of religion are more than 70,000 years old. They tell us that a body of trained masters from Mu, called Naacals, were carrying to her various colonies and colonial empires copies of the Motherland’s Sacred Inspired Religion. These Naacals formed in each country colleges for the teaching of the priestcraft religion, and the sciences. The priesthoods that were formed in these colleges in turn taught the people.”

Stay blessed!