Thammuz

Thammuz is a solar god who presides over the creative powers of Spring. He is called “the Wise One” as well as “the Lord of Knowledge.” He is described as heroic and said to speak with a sonorous voice. His various names and their meanings are as follows:

Tammuz/Tamuz/Thamuz/Thammuz/Tammuzi: “Faithful Son/Flawless Young”

Dumuzi/Damuzi/Dimmuzi/Dumuzid/Damuzid/Dumuzida (Sumerian equivalent)

Duzu (Akkadian equivalent)

Damu: “the Child”

Gishzida: unknown

Ama-Ushumgal-Anna: “Power in the Date Palm”

Dumu-Zi-Ama-Ushum-Galana: “Quickener of the Date Bud”

Dumu-Zi-Abzu: “Tammuz of the Abyss”

Thammuz was a Syriac Shepherd God who ruled over vegetation. He was purported to be the son of Enki and Duttur (a personification of the ewe as a Goddess). He is purported to impart stability, strength, and renewed power after death. Moreover, he is a dying and resurrecting god, who is purported to bring about the reawakening of the dead upon his recrudescence.

He is said to preside over torture and artillery, and his influence is blamed for the Inquisition. He is a god of death and the underworld who presides over agriculture and farming. While he is said to be the god of vegetation and foodstuffs in general, Dumuzid is most strongly associated with date palms and rising sap. He is sometimes considered to be a guardian of Heaven’s gates.

Thammuz can be called on for the purpose of recreating one’s personality, fortifying your body of light, improving the enchantments placed on objects (just vibrate his name for this), summoning spirits that can make you more powerful/dangerous, and relieving oneself of negative spiritual influences (such as a curse or some astrological influence).

Dumuzi is recorded as being the son, brother, and/or lover of Inanna, and there are multiple stories depicting their interactions. In one, Inanna gave him a death-imparting glare and trapped him in the underworld thereby. In another, Inanna was trapped in the underworld, and Dumuzi exchanged himself for her. A third depicts Inanna rescuing him from the underworld, and thereupon sending the dead to feed upon the living out of rage for his imprisonment (these dead were called Akhkharu).

Thammuz is a god of sheep who can give aid and teachings in necromancy. His devotees would regularly mourn his annual death and celebrate his annual marriage to Ishtar/Inanna. Praises to him depicted him as fair-spoken and with kind eyes. He was described both as a guardian and a healer. He was called “the Pre-Eminent Steer of Heaven.”

In Gematria, the name Tammuz has a numerical value of 453, equivalent to the Hebrew words denoting “glass/crystal,” “life/living creature/the Animal Soul in its fullness,” “destruction/ruin/terror,” “Gittaim” (a town of refuge), “Behemoth/beasts,” and “fire pan.”

The numerical connection to “crystal” makes sense, as myth depicts Thammuz adorning Ishtar with various jeweled trinkets. The “fire pan” is likely a reference to the underworld. “Beasts” is sensible because he is a shepherd god. The rest are self-explanatory, excluding Gittaim, which I do not understand.

Tammuz is also the name of the tenth month (the fourth month of the religious/ecclesiastic year) on the Hebrew calendar which takes place between our June and July. Oddly enough, Tammuz the demon is still related to the month of September.

Some equate Thammuz with Adonis.

-V.K. Jehannum

Sources:

The Equinox & Solstice Ceremonies of the Golden Dawn by Pat & Chris Zalewski
Gematria and the Tanakh by Brian Pivit
The Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology by Theresa Bane
Demon List compiled by Terry Thayer
English-Sumerian Dictionary by Adapa
http://www.atkinslightquest.com/Documents/Religion/Legends-Folklore/Sumerian-and-Akkadian-Deities.htm
http://www.lizaphoenix.com/demons/month.shtml
Temple of the Ancients [Guide to Ancient Paganism Part 1] (That’s where the sigil is from)
http://www.greatdreams.com/anunnaki/grandma-nammu.htm#TAMMUZ
Wikipedia
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/mba11.htm