altars for titans and protogenoi
This post more than any of the others is going to be mostly upg or spg. Hardly anyone in antiquity spent a lot of effort worshipping most of these deities, especially the protogenoi, so resources are limited. If you have suggestions or personal addendums, feel free to leave them in the comments. I made a lot of decisions based on what the herbs/crystals are usually associated with: for example, black tourmaline is associated with Nyx (the night) therefore Chaos (the embodiment of the primordial soup and basically the universe) has black tourmaline too.
Also, all the deities on this list can be honored with libation of wine, milk, honey, and oil; offerings of meat or desserts; and burning frankincense/myrrh.
Disclaimer: this is not all of the protogenoi or titans that exist, these are just the most recognizable ones that have the most lore attached. I used theoi.com to research all of these deities.
CHAOS: the first to emerge at creation, the protogenos of the space between heaven and earth, and the air
Colors: black, grey, purple for the concept of chaos
Offerings: feathers, burning incense, cinnamon, anise, cardamom, clove, black pepper, representations of the four elements
Crystals: obsidian, tourmaline, labradorite, lava rock, angelite, amethyst
Animals: birds
PHANES/EROS (the elder): protogenos of procreation
Colors: red, pink for love/procreation. blue, green for nature and creation
Offerings: heart shaped objects, eucalyptus, flowers, egg shells
Crystals: rose quartz, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, malachite, azurite, garnet, desert rose selenite
Animals: birds
NYX: protogenos of the night
Colors: black, dark blue, purple for association with the night, anything galaxy patterned
Offerings: blackberries, blueberries, plum, dew (morning is fine but after sunset is best), dark feathers, dark chocolate, night-blooming flowers (like moonflower or wisteria), black tea/coffee, mugwort
Crystals: obsidian, black tourmaline, labradorite, moonstone (especially black moonstone), selenite, lapis lazuli, amethyst, smokey quartz
Animals: owl
also, she is associated with symbols of keys and veils/cloaks
EREBOS: protogenos of darkness
Colors: black for darkness
Offerings: dark chocolate, black pepper, black salt, charcoal, asphodel
Crystals: black tourmaline, obsidian, smokey quartz, lapis lazuli, azurite, red jasper
Animals: moths
AETHER: protogenos of light and the heavens
Colors: yellow, orange, white for sunlight. blue for the sky
Offerings: sunflowers, bee pollen, morning dew, fruit, feathers
Crystals: honey/blue calcite, yellow/bumblebee jasper, angelite, celestite, milky quartz
HEMERA: protogenos of the day
Colors: blue for the sky, white for the heavens
Offerings: chamomile, sage, lavender, basil
Crystals: angelite, blue calcite, selenite, celestite, milky quartz, sapphire
GAEA: protogenos of the earth
Colors: blue, green, brown for the earth
Offerings: flowers, wood, dirt, anything from nature, really. doing good deeds for the environment
Crystals: unakite, jaspers (various), agates (various), lava rock, tiger's eye, bumblebee jasper, jade, nephrite, serpentine, amber
Animals: serpents, bull, pig, bees
OURANOS: protogenos of the sky
Colors: blue, white, grey for the sky
Offerings: rosemary, sage, mint, leaving your windows/curtains open
Crystals: angelite, celestite, selenite, blue calcite, moonstone, sunstone, star jasper, blue lace agate
Animals: birds
OCEANUS: protogenos of the ocean
Colors: blue and white for the ocean
Offerings: shells, gull feathers, fish scales/bones, sea water, pearls, sand from the ocean
Crystals: larimar, aquamarine, turquoise, lapis lazuli, azurite
Animals: gulls, pelicans, fish
TETHYS: protogenos of fresh water
Colors: blue and green for fresh water
Offerings: lake/pond/river water, fish scales/bones, cattails, sand from a fresh water beach
Crystals: larimar, aquamarine, fluorite, amazonite, petoskey stone
Animals: fresh water fish, dragonflies
THEMIS: protogenos of divine law and order
Colors: white, silver, gold for law
Offerings: thyme, rosemary, anything resembling scales
Crystals: pyrite, bloodstone, smokey quartz, obsidian, alexandrite, lapis lazuli
Animals: owls
TARTARUS: protogenos of the depths
Colors: red and black for the underworld
Offerings: sulfur, saltpeter, black salt, charcoal, deadly nightshade
Crystals: jaspers (various), obsidian, black tourmaline, bloodstone, garnet/ruby, pyrite (contains a lot of sulfur)
Animals: bats, black dogs
KRONOS: titan of time, harvest, and abundance
Colors: yellow, gold for his scythe. white, grey for the concept of time. green, brown for fertility
Offerings: grain, bread, clocks/watches, vervain, poppy, nightshade, clove, allspice
Crystals: jaspers (various), agates (various), labradorite, quartz (various), amethyst, honey calcite, serpentine, amber
Animals: snakes
RHEA: titaness of motherhood, fertility, and generations (like of family)
Colors: red, pink for motherhood. green, brown for fertility
Offerings: menstrual blood, milk, red clover, raspberry, allspice, clove, cinnamon
Crystals: rose quartz, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, amethyst, pink opal, jade, nephrite, tiger's eye, cat's eye, amber
Animals: lion
PHOEBE: titaness of bright intellect and prophecy
Colors: blue, white, and grey for intellect. purple for prophecy
Offerings: sage, bay leaves, lavender, tests/quizzes/homework, yarrow
Crystals: lapis lazuli, amethyst, labradorite, howlite, celestite, moonstone, selenite, celestite
LETO: titaness of motherhood, modesty, and womanly demure, protector of children
Colors: pink, red for motherhood. white for modesty
Offerings: raspberry, allspice, clove, cinnamon, lavender, flowers,
Crystals: moonstone, sunstone, selenite, rose quartz, carnelian, lepidolite, howlite
Animals: wolf, rooster
also, she is associated with veiling
ASTERIA: titaness of falling stars, night time divination, and astrology
Colors: blue, black for the night. white/galaxy pattern for stars. purple for magic
Offerings: star charts, feathers (especially quail), lavender
Crystals: celestite, selenite, star jasper, amethyst, azurite, obsidian, black tourmaline, labradorite, jade
Animals: quail
HELIOS: titan of the sun
Colors: yellow, orange, white for the sun
Offerings: anything that refracts sunlight, sunflower, st john's wort, sage, cow pelt, chicken feathers
Crystals: sunstone, yellow jasper, honey calcite, carnelian, citrine, milky quartz, celestite, angelite, amber
Animals: cattle, sheep, white horses, rooster
SELENE: titaness of the moon
Colors: white, grey for the moon
Offerings: yarrow, moon shaped objects/food, lavender, night-blooming flowers (like morning glories), nighttime dew
Crystals: selenite, celestite, angelite, moonstone, labradorite, smokey quartz, howlite
Animals: horses, oxen, mules
EOS: titaness of dawn
Colors: blue for the sky. white, yellow, orange, pink for colors of dawn
Offerings: morning dew, morning glories, lavender, yarrow, sage
Crystals: rose quartz, citrine, honey calcite, yellow jasper, milky quartz, moonstone, sunstone, selenite, celestite
Animals: horses, cicadas
MNEMOSYNE: titaness of memory
Colors: red, yellow for memory
Offerings: forget-me-nots, myrtle, rosemary, jasmine,
Crystals: jade, amber, turquoise, fluorite, red/yellow jasper
Animals: animals with good memory, like an elephant or raven
PROMETHEUS: titan of forethought, creator of mankind
Colors: red, orange for the fire of creation
Offerings: fennel, burning things, charcoal
Crystals: bloodstone, carnelian, citrine, amber, jaspers (various)
Animals: eagle
divider by @vibeswithrenai
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Namma/Nammu
𒀭𒇉
Sumerian Goddess, primarily from the city of Eridu
Mother of the Gods. Creator of Mankind, specifically in Eridu, elsewhere this role went to Nintur or Ninmah
—How to use internet archive link
🔵 Information
From Gods Demons & Symbols by Black [Internet Archive Link]
"Nammu was a goddess who was considered, in some traditions, to have given birth to An (heaven) and Ki (earth) and to many more of the more ancient gods. Especially she was regarded as the mother of Enki. She came to be thought of as one of the mother goddesses. Her name is written with the same sign as engur, a synonym of abzu, and it is probable that she was originally a personification of the subterranean ocean." [p134]
Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology by Leick [Internet Archive Link]
Her name is usually written with the sign engur which was also used to write Apsu. In ancient times she personified the Apsu as the source of water and hence fertility in lower Mesopotamia. She may well have been worshipped in Eridu before Enki, who took over most of her prerogatives and functions. Significantly he was called the son of Nammu. In spite of her decline following the superiority of Enki, during the Neo-Sumerian period, at least at Ur, she was still considered important enough to have statues commissioned in her honour and she also features in the name of the famous king Ur-nammu. In mythology, Nammu appears as the primeval Mother-goddess in Enki and Ninmah who 'has given birth to the great gods'. She has the idea of creating mankind as a help for the gods and it is she who goes to wake her son Enki, asleep in the Apsu, that he may set the process going. [p 124]
Handbook of Gods & Goddess of the Ancient Near East [Google Books Link]:
"Namma: Sumerian goddess of the primeval, subterranean ocean. In the lexical series Diri the name has a syllabic rendering na-am-ma. In some traditions she was the mother of the sky god An, the earth goddess Ki, and a number of other deities. Enki/ Ea, the god of freshwater and wisdom, was considered her son. In the myth of "Enki and Nin-mah," when the other deities began complaining about how hard they had to work, it was Namma who awakened Enki from his sleep to urge him to create more creatures to take on the work of the gods. However, he delegated the task to Namma, who then received the credit for creating human beings. There was a shrine to the goddess in Marduk's great temple at Babylon, and at least one other of her sanctuaries is known"[p222]
Excerpt from Oracc [Link]:
"Very little is known about Namma, who belongs to the oldest generation of Mesopotamian deities and is associated with the pantheon of Eridu. She is mainly known for her role in the cosmogony of early Mesopotamia and her importance in magic, which is restricted to texts written in Sumerian [...]. According to the god list An-Anum, tablet I line 28 [...], Namma bears the title "mother who gave birth to the heavens and the earth. Because this goddess's name is written with sign for "(cosmic) subterranean waters" (Sumerian: engur) Wiggermann [..] has called her the "Cosmic Ocean. [...] In the Sumerian poem of Enki and Ninmah (ETCSL 1.1.2, line 17 link) Namma is called the "original mother who gave birth to the gods of the universe", again according her primary status among all the gods and describing her role in Mesopotamian cosmogony"
Section from Enki & Ninmah (ETCSL 1.1.2) [Link]
*Bolded part that explains her mother of Gods role, and also her creating man (different deities depending on myth)
*How deity, people, and place names are spelled is wildly inaccurate in the ETCSL, they don't even follow their own rules. But I still did not change the quote
"The gods said, weeping: "He is the cause of the lamenting!" Namma, the primeval mother who gave birth to the senior gods, took the tears of the gods to the one who lay sleeping, to the one who did not wake up from his bed, to her son: "Are you really lying there asleep, and ...... not awake? The gods, your creatures, are smashing their ....... My son, wake up from your bed! Please apply the skill deriving from your wisdom and create a substitute for the gods so that they can be freed from their toil!" At the word of his mother Namma, Enki rose up from his bed. In Hal-an-kug, his room for pondering, he slapped his thigh in annoyance. The wise and intelligent one, the prudent, ...... of skills, the fashioner of the design of everything brought to life birth-goddesses. Enki reached out his arm over them and turned his attention to them. And after Enki, the fashioner of designs by himself, had pondered the matter, he said to his mother Namma: "My mother, the creature you planned will really come into existence. Impose on him the work of carrying baskets. You should knead clay from the top of the abzu; the birth-goddesses will nip off the clay and you shall bring the form into existence. Let Ninmah act as your assistant; and let Ninimma, Cu-zi-ana, Ninmada, Ninbarag, Ninmug, ...... and Ninguna stand by as you give birth. My mother, after you have decreed his fate, let Ninmah impose on him the work of carrying baskets."
The Harps That Once by Jacobsen [Google Books Link]
"Namma, Enki's mother, was probably seen as the power in the riverbed which, empty or nearly empty in summer, gives birth to the fresh waters, to Enki, in the spring flood. This interpretation gains a measure of support from the fact that the cuneiform sign with which her name was written served also, if supplemented with the sign for "water," to write the word for "river." Etymologically the name Namma goes back to Nin-imma (nin-immaran-amma nama›namma) "lady female genitals," a personification of the numinous power to shape, mature, and give birth to the child, and it is as birth goddess generally, rather than as goddess of the riverbed, that the text here characterizes her. That latter aspect she may conceivably have acquired because the mythopoeic imagination conceived of the great gash in the earth which the dry riverbed presents as the genitals of Mother Earth herself, and the prototype of all female parts everywhere. Namma's role as birth goddess generally and as the one who gave birth to man probably represents a local tradition, perhaps at home in Eridu. Elsewhere it is the goddess Nintur, or Ninmah as she is called in this composition," [p 158]
From Wiggermann "Nammu" [PDF Link]
*He disagrees with Jacobsen on Nin-imma, but Wiggmann addresses many other authors both agreeing and disagreeing but its too densely written for me to even remotely understand the back & forth between the Assyriologists.
"Nammu is an ancient goddess of Eridu, who plays a part in the local (and early national) mythology as creatrix/mother goddess and as supporter of Enki in Magic. Most references relate to either of these two roles [...] Only her epithet "(^munus)agrig-zi-é-kur-(ra-)ke", "true housekeeper of Ekur" points outside Eridu to the pantheon of Nippur, but it may be due to a confusion with Nin-imma, Enlil's scholar and scribe." [p 137 Column 2]
🔵 Titles / Epithets
*I did not use š, ḫ, or ĝ when typing these for ease of reading. See Sisterofiris' posts on transliterations [link] & normalizations [link]. Page numbers correspond to Wiggermann's Nammu PDF, linked above.
🔹Amaùtuanki — "Mother who gave birth to Heaven and Earth" (p137 column 2)
🔹Ama-palil-ù-tu-dingir-shár-shárra-ke-ne — "Mother, who gave birth to all the gods" [I kept dashes so it can be read] (p138 column 1)
🔹Amarhusheke — "Compassionate Mother" (p138 column 2)
🔹Amagal — "Great Mother" (p138 column 2)
🔹Agrigziékurrake — "True housekeeper of Ekur" (p137 column 2)
🔹Amadingirdingira | Modern— [Link]
"Mother of (the) Gods" in Sumerian
𒂼 — Mother, ama [Link]
𒀭𒀭— Many Gods, dingirdingir [Link]
𒀝 - "of" genetive case suffix, .a(k) [Link]
🔵 Iconography
She has no known iconography that has been found yet according to Oracc.
I made these tonight on my phone. Left has an ocean as its background to represent the "Cosmic Sea" aspect.
Its the Mesopotamian horned cap/crown of divinity then her name 𒀭 (diĝir) and 𒇉 (engur)
(click on right its not cut off as mobile shows)
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