Karin Springer's Blog
October 21, 2019
Nisaba and the Five Pillars of Wisdom
Hi there. I’m sure you know this situation: You ask someone a small favor and they jump into your face ranting that they are feeling exhausted, abused and taken advantage of, and no one ever pays attention to their needs and no, they would not do you the favor you asked for. Sounds familiar?
You probably ask yourself what this situation has to do with wisdom. That was my thought exactly, when I stumbled across the goddess Nisaba, the goddess of wisdom. My first association with wisdom were infinite knowledge, the intelligence to grasp facts quickly and draw the right conclusions based on knowledge and experience. But then thinking further and reading more about the goddess of wisdom I found that what I perceived a wisdom was a very narrow approach indeed.
As the goddess of wisdom Nisaba would never focus on her own needs so exclusively that she’d fail to see the situation her counterpart is in. She’s able to feel the tension but also the joy and initiative of the person in front of her and would approach her in the right manner. In the case above this is clearly not by taking the favor you want to ask lightly.
Another story of Nisaba tells us how she is still trying to help man by sending her prophecies down to earth. This means she translates the varying moods and tempers of the gods into solid advice as she knows that we are still connected with them through an ancient bond. Enki, however, forbade the gods to have any further contact with humanity, as he wanted to see how mankind would develop without any further interference. Here we see a classic conflict of interests between the two gods. How does Nisaba react? She feels responsibility for the creatures she had taught and advised for so long. So she ignores Enki’s order and finds a way to send her messages to earth. Yet she does not directly contact man or explain her prophesies, in all those aspects of her actions she fully respects Enki’s wishes. What we can learn from this, is that knowledge is not enough, if you don’t have values and live by them when you use your knowledge.
Throughout history Nisaba’s rank among the gods grew continuously, as people learned to appreciate the importance of writing for the development of mankind. Writing enables people to structure their knowledge, to write it down and put it aside, but to also have access to it whenever they want or need it. This aspect massively increased the complexity of facts a human could grasp. He could gather new knowledge and relate it to what he remembered and make sure he remembered correctly by consulting his written evidence. Without the invention of writing we’d have to rely on our memory or the memory of others which may be blurred for hundreds of reasons.
I think all of us associate knowledge and intelligence as obvious prerequisites for wisdom. But are they? Just think of Forrest Gump, who certainly lacks intelligence and whose knowledge is pretty much restricted to his mother’s advice. And yet the combination of his values and the empathy he is capable of makes him a wise man. On the other hand, think of Jurassic Park. Those scientists are extremely intelligent, they even worked out how to clone dinosaurs. But they got giddy with their knowledge and lacked the humility to renounce proving their insights for the greater good.
So there you have it, Nisaba’s five pillars of wisdom:
1. Empathy
2. Humility
3. Know your values and live by them
4. Intelligence
5. Have a grasp of the complexity of things
You haven’t read Nisaba’s advice for October yet? Be quick and check out now: https://www.esemtu.com/nisaba-s-proph...
You probably ask yourself what this situation has to do with wisdom. That was my thought exactly, when I stumbled across the goddess Nisaba, the goddess of wisdom. My first association with wisdom were infinite knowledge, the intelligence to grasp facts quickly and draw the right conclusions based on knowledge and experience. But then thinking further and reading more about the goddess of wisdom I found that what I perceived a wisdom was a very narrow approach indeed.
As the goddess of wisdom Nisaba would never focus on her own needs so exclusively that she’d fail to see the situation her counterpart is in. She’s able to feel the tension but also the joy and initiative of the person in front of her and would approach her in the right manner. In the case above this is clearly not by taking the favor you want to ask lightly.
Another story of Nisaba tells us how she is still trying to help man by sending her prophecies down to earth. This means she translates the varying moods and tempers of the gods into solid advice as she knows that we are still connected with them through an ancient bond. Enki, however, forbade the gods to have any further contact with humanity, as he wanted to see how mankind would develop without any further interference. Here we see a classic conflict of interests between the two gods. How does Nisaba react? She feels responsibility for the creatures she had taught and advised for so long. So she ignores Enki’s order and finds a way to send her messages to earth. Yet she does not directly contact man or explain her prophesies, in all those aspects of her actions she fully respects Enki’s wishes. What we can learn from this, is that knowledge is not enough, if you don’t have values and live by them when you use your knowledge.
Throughout history Nisaba’s rank among the gods grew continuously, as people learned to appreciate the importance of writing for the development of mankind. Writing enables people to structure their knowledge, to write it down and put it aside, but to also have access to it whenever they want or need it. This aspect massively increased the complexity of facts a human could grasp. He could gather new knowledge and relate it to what he remembered and make sure he remembered correctly by consulting his written evidence. Without the invention of writing we’d have to rely on our memory or the memory of others which may be blurred for hundreds of reasons.
I think all of us associate knowledge and intelligence as obvious prerequisites for wisdom. But are they? Just think of Forrest Gump, who certainly lacks intelligence and whose knowledge is pretty much restricted to his mother’s advice. And yet the combination of his values and the empathy he is capable of makes him a wise man. On the other hand, think of Jurassic Park. Those scientists are extremely intelligent, they even worked out how to clone dinosaurs. But they got giddy with their knowledge and lacked the humility to renounce proving their insights for the greater good.
So there you have it, Nisaba’s five pillars of wisdom:
1. Empathy
2. Humility
3. Know your values and live by them
4. Intelligence
5. Have a grasp of the complexity of things
You haven’t read Nisaba’s advice for October yet? Be quick and check out now: https://www.esemtu.com/nisaba-s-proph...
August 16, 2019
Reach for the Stars and Find out More about Sumerian Astrology
Hi there. I just read my favourite magazine and discovered that Jupiter’s turning direct will have some positive effects on how I perceive myself and my achievements – weird things those horoscopes, aren’t they? Have you ever asked yourself whose idea it was to make a connection between the movement of planets and our fate down here? Well, we immediately think astrology is an ancient tradition, so it must have something to do with antiquity, the Greeks and the Romans probably.
You’re right, in parts. Modern astrology is based on the Hellenistic view that the planets themselves are exerting influence over human destinies. But the first astrologers? No, it wasn’t the Greeks.
As you might have already guessed, reading a blog about a comic based on Sumerian mythology, it was the Sumerians. They observed the movements and appearance of the moon, stars and planets and believed that certain constellations could be interpreted as signals about the gods’ intentions. You see the difference? The gods are sending their prophecies via messages on the night sky, it’s not the planets themselves or where they stood when we were born that give us the clues.
Furthermore, the idea of gods as man’s patrons was a basic concept in Sumerian religion. Each city had its patron god who lived in the city temple and took care of its inhabitants. There was no Olympus where all the gods were sitting together chewing ambrosia and scheming against each other. Of course, Sumerian gods also met, but only from time to time at special places to discuss the destiny of the universe, to mate, or simply to decide who should kill the current roaming monster threatening the earth.
For the people living in those cities this meant that from their childhood onwards they developed an attachment to a certain god who had a clear-cut personality and defined ideals and interests. It’s like being a Gryffindor you know you have to be brave, daring and courageous – you are probably inclined to be like that, otherwise you wouldn’t be there.
The same applies for the inhabitants of Eridu. They prayed to and for sure also identified with Enki, a creative water god associated with wisdom, magic and the arts and crafts of civilization. I suppose their ideals were a little different from those of the people of Uruk, whose patron god is Inanna the goddess of love who defines herself through her more or less passionate relationships with gods and heroes. The people of Sumer were born into their houses and had to do their best to fit in – no sorting hat needed, if you know what I mean.
With the decay of Sumerian civilization this concept died and with it the ancient Sumerian knowledge of seeing the gods’ intentions in the various cosmic constellations – until now. With Esemtu, the old Sumerian horoscope is revived. And we are no longer born into cities dominated by our specific patron god, we first have to find out who holds his protecting hand over us. Based on this we can try to find and interpret the signs on the night sky. Or get a prophecy from someone who’s directly in touch with them.
Don’t hesitate! Find out who your patron god is and what makes him tick and see your monthly prophecies. You can do it right now by following the link: https://www.esemtu.com/find-your-patr...
You’re right, in parts. Modern astrology is based on the Hellenistic view that the planets themselves are exerting influence over human destinies. But the first astrologers? No, it wasn’t the Greeks.
As you might have already guessed, reading a blog about a comic based on Sumerian mythology, it was the Sumerians. They observed the movements and appearance of the moon, stars and planets and believed that certain constellations could be interpreted as signals about the gods’ intentions. You see the difference? The gods are sending their prophecies via messages on the night sky, it’s not the planets themselves or where they stood when we were born that give us the clues.
Furthermore, the idea of gods as man’s patrons was a basic concept in Sumerian religion. Each city had its patron god who lived in the city temple and took care of its inhabitants. There was no Olympus where all the gods were sitting together chewing ambrosia and scheming against each other. Of course, Sumerian gods also met, but only from time to time at special places to discuss the destiny of the universe, to mate, or simply to decide who should kill the current roaming monster threatening the earth.
For the people living in those cities this meant that from their childhood onwards they developed an attachment to a certain god who had a clear-cut personality and defined ideals and interests. It’s like being a Gryffindor you know you have to be brave, daring and courageous – you are probably inclined to be like that, otherwise you wouldn’t be there.
The same applies for the inhabitants of Eridu. They prayed to and for sure also identified with Enki, a creative water god associated with wisdom, magic and the arts and crafts of civilization. I suppose their ideals were a little different from those of the people of Uruk, whose patron god is Inanna the goddess of love who defines herself through her more or less passionate relationships with gods and heroes. The people of Sumer were born into their houses and had to do their best to fit in – no sorting hat needed, if you know what I mean.
With the decay of Sumerian civilization this concept died and with it the ancient Sumerian knowledge of seeing the gods’ intentions in the various cosmic constellations – until now. With Esemtu, the old Sumerian horoscope is revived. And we are no longer born into cities dominated by our specific patron god, we first have to find out who holds his protecting hand over us. Based on this we can try to find and interpret the signs on the night sky. Or get a prophecy from someone who’s directly in touch with them.
Don’t hesitate! Find out who your patron god is and what makes him tick and see your monthly prophecies. You can do it right now by following the link: https://www.esemtu.com/find-your-patr...
July 27, 2019
The 5 Major Elements of Esemtu Vol. 1
Hi, we are Raph and Karin, the team behind Esemtu.
Raph is responsible for the beautiful design of everything we create, from the comic books to the merch and our Instagram postings. I am the one who tries to deliver content - stories that fascinate and entertain - to simply make your time with our books worthwhile!
We had an incredible time last week, launching Esemtu Vol. 1 on Amazon and were totally over the moon when we discovered that we’ve reached number one on two of their bestseller lists. Again, thanks to all who supported us in making the launch a success!
This is also our first post here and we would like to tell you a bit about how this book became what it is. We are planning to write a monthly blog about our ideas around Esemtu but also about what is going on in our lives – we hope you’ll enjoy it.
When we thought about writing a graphic novel, the first thing we did was to pick the motives and genres of our favourite books. And, being rather different in interests and reading habits, we came up with the following elements we wanted to see in our work:
- Fantasy, demons, dragons, mythical creatures
- Crime and suspense
- A historical background - the feeling that what our characters are going through, may be real. I mean, if you research the background a bit, you shouldn’t find the story completely impossible
- Relatable and complex characters with the conflicts we all know from our lives in one form or another
- And of course, a cool plot that will unfold in a whole series of books.
You will notice that some of these points are interconnected, like, if you pick a certain period or civilization in history, you are automatically bound to its traditional mythology. So, if you chose Greek background you would automatically have to deal with the gods of the Olympus, Hades etc.
After a lot of thoughts and discussions we decided to go for Sumer. The Sumerian civilization is the first one with a written tradition. It’s the first one that provides us with stories about gods and heroes that lived about 5000 years ago. And when we read about them, we found that their stories are interwoven with the much younger myths we know. Like the great deluge with Noah and his arch: it has been described in the bible 250 BC but the first report comes from the Sumerians and is 1800 years older – stunning isn’t it?
And as those stories had been kept alive for 2000 years at that time, why shouldn’t we pick them up and carry them on into our days? That was our basic inspiration. Not only did we take the figure of Noah or Utnapishtim, as he is called in the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, but also the gods and demons of the Sumerians and made them a part of our modern 21st century world.
Could we stir up your curiosity? See how gods, demons and immortals change the lives of our three students, who at the beginning have nothing more in mind than helping a poor refugee from Iraq. Tell us what you think, give us feedback and share your ideas.
Raph is responsible for the beautiful design of everything we create, from the comic books to the merch and our Instagram postings. I am the one who tries to deliver content - stories that fascinate and entertain - to simply make your time with our books worthwhile!
We had an incredible time last week, launching Esemtu Vol. 1 on Amazon and were totally over the moon when we discovered that we’ve reached number one on two of their bestseller lists. Again, thanks to all who supported us in making the launch a success!
This is also our first post here and we would like to tell you a bit about how this book became what it is. We are planning to write a monthly blog about our ideas around Esemtu but also about what is going on in our lives – we hope you’ll enjoy it.
When we thought about writing a graphic novel, the first thing we did was to pick the motives and genres of our favourite books. And, being rather different in interests and reading habits, we came up with the following elements we wanted to see in our work:
- Fantasy, demons, dragons, mythical creatures
- Crime and suspense
- A historical background - the feeling that what our characters are going through, may be real. I mean, if you research the background a bit, you shouldn’t find the story completely impossible
- Relatable and complex characters with the conflicts we all know from our lives in one form or another
- And of course, a cool plot that will unfold in a whole series of books.
You will notice that some of these points are interconnected, like, if you pick a certain period or civilization in history, you are automatically bound to its traditional mythology. So, if you chose Greek background you would automatically have to deal with the gods of the Olympus, Hades etc.
After a lot of thoughts and discussions we decided to go for Sumer. The Sumerian civilization is the first one with a written tradition. It’s the first one that provides us with stories about gods and heroes that lived about 5000 years ago. And when we read about them, we found that their stories are interwoven with the much younger myths we know. Like the great deluge with Noah and his arch: it has been described in the bible 250 BC but the first report comes from the Sumerians and is 1800 years older – stunning isn’t it?
And as those stories had been kept alive for 2000 years at that time, why shouldn’t we pick them up and carry them on into our days? That was our basic inspiration. Not only did we take the figure of Noah or Utnapishtim, as he is called in the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, but also the gods and demons of the Sumerians and made them a part of our modern 21st century world.
Could we stir up your curiosity? See how gods, demons and immortals change the lives of our three students, who at the beginning have nothing more in mind than helping a poor refugee from Iraq. Tell us what you think, give us feedback and share your ideas.
