Siduri

Siduri : The Woman of the Vine

Siduri appears in the saga of Gilgamesh. She is the barmaid at the end of the world. According to Mesopotamian cosmology, there is a sea at the end of the human realm. Siduri’s wine bar is situated in a garden at the edge of this sea: she’s literally the last stop. The epic refers to her as “the young woman” but Siduri is a goddess. Some perceive Siduri to be another name for Inanna-Ishtar, Kybele, or Gestinana. Alternatively she may be an independent goddess of wine or one who serves in the retinue of Ishtar.

Siduri first flees from Gilgamesh and attempts to bolt her door. The despair she perceives in his heart makes her think he’s a criminal (and probably an unpleasant drunk!). But he has no desire to tarry with her; he seeks only the secret of immortality that lies beyond the human realm. Siduri tries to dissuade him from his pursuit, advising him to turn back and find happiness in normalcy, telling him to feast, rejoice, dance, and be merry to fill his belly with good things, to bathe in water, to “cherish the little child that holds your hand and make your wife happy in your embrace.”

Tavern keepers and their employees in the time of Hammurabi were mostly female and may have been priestesses. (Priestesses were eventually forbidden from operating taverns.) Wine had sacred properties as well as profane. It is now believed that the desire to brew beer (rather than bake bread) was the stimulus for the agricultural revolution that occurred in Mesopotamia’s Fertile Crescent. Alcoholic beverages may have been laced with other psychoactive substances and were associated with shamanic rituals as well as plain drinking and pleasure. The archetype of the wise bartender who’s seen and heard it all, Siduri gives good advice. The directions to her tavern given in Gilgamesh may be followed in visualization.

ORIGIN:

Mesopotamia

MANIFESTATION:

Siduri is described as covered with a veil.

ATTRIBUTES:

Golden vats, golden bowl, golden chalice

SEE ALSO:

• Gestinana
• Inanna-Ishtar
• Kybele

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by :Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.