Cakes for the Queen of Heaven

[Guest guest]

Perhaps one who was raised in a Jewish family, or knows a Rabbi,

might be better able to help me with this (if not one well researched

as far as scholarship, anyway):

 

In the Book of Jerimiah, the Prophet says of the people of

Judah, " The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire,

and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky,

and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke

me to anger. " However, they later rail against the Will of the

Prophet, and say, " As for the word that you have spoken to us in the

name of Yahweh, we will not listen to you. But we will certainly

perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn

incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to

her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes,

in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had

we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left

off burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink-

offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed

by the sword and by the famine. " [One of MY favourite passages from

the Old Testament!]

 

Anyhoo, according to Asphodel Long (I love her book, and wish she'd

write another one!), " The cakes so disliked by Jerimiah are

called 'kawanim' in Hebrew which has been linked to a Babylonian cake

called 'kamanu,' made of figs and honey and cooked 'under the

ashes'. Others see the cakes as prepared in a vase or cauldron and

baked in an oven at the sanctuary. We know that the cakes were

pierced with holes, and there has been a great deal of discussion

about whether they were made in the image of the goddess or as 'round

moons'. It has been suggested that linguistic evidence provides for

the cakes to be idols, that is, sacred images of the goddess, made

communally, and then sacrimentally eaten. [Wow, that's a beautiful

image of people getting together to bake the cakes for ritual, and

then consuming them, after they have been shaped in Her image! This

is sometimes done at the Glastonbury Goddess concference! Some lovely

images of it are to be found in Kathy Jones' " The Ancient British

Goddess " In fact, my reason for researching this is because I'd like

to eventually teach a worskshop centered around baking for the

Goddess/Gods: I'm still trying to research the alledged " honey cakes "

offered at Pan's altars!, etc. But, I digress...] One scholar refers

to them as 'rude idols' and believes that they resemble a cake

called 'hais' made to be used in a ritual to the Arabic goddesses in

pre-Islamic times by the women worshippers. The recipe consisted of

dates kneaded with butter and sour milk. However that 'kawanim'

and 'kamanu' always appeared to contain grain, usually barley. It is

known from its appearance (look at a grain of pearl barley) that

parley symbolizes the female genitalia. " Etc.... She says some other

interesting things about these cakes (which are made in Her image).

However, I've tried to research them, to learn as much as I can, and

I can find nothing (Google had failed me). So...I was wodering if you

might know anything?

 

You know, I've also heard of some Traditional Jewish cake, which is

triangle-shaped, and supposedly represents Her pubic triangle, though

another symbolism is attatched to its shape, I've heard, and some

scholars seem to toss out its Goddess associations, too. But.,..I

can't remember where I'd read about this, though! Salt also appears

to play a part on a recipe for the Goddess Ishtar, another " Queen of

Heaven " .

 

Take Care,

Wade MacMorrighan