This is a P.S. to a three-part post, on the mythic background of Esther and the Purim story. You can read the earlier installments by clicking here, here, and here. In 114 or 113 BCE, a Jew named Dositheus showed up in Egypt, carrying with him a Greek document which he called "the Letter of … [Read more...]
Love Goddess Stories – Esther, Ishtar, and the “Doe of the Dawn” (Part 3)
This is the final installment of a three-part post. To see previous installments, click here and here. For a "P.S." to the series, click here. The snake's name was ... Sabbatai Zevi. He really did exist--in history. This "snake" is the one who, in the Zohar, bites the "Doe of the Dawn" on … [Read more...]
Love Goddess Stories – Esther, Ishtar, and the “Doe of the Dawn” (Part 2)
This is the second installment of a three-part post. For parts 1 and 3, and a postscript to the series, click here, here, and here. Once upon a time, maybe 1800 years ago, two rabbis went traveling in the Galilee. It must have been a long journey. They took care to get an early start. Rabbi … [Read more...]
Love Goddess Stories – Esther, Ishtar, and the “Doe of the Dawn” (Part 1)
This is the first installment of a three-part post. For parts 2 and 3, and a postscript to the series, click here, here, and here. The weekend after next is the Jewish festival of Purim. I don't plan to celebrate. Purim is not one of my favorite holidays. The text on which it's founded, the … [Read more...]
