Tess Dawson practices what she calls “Natib Qadish,” the religion practiced by ancient Canaanites. She has done extensive research on the religion, language, and culture of ancient Canaan, and written many articles and a book on the topic. She leads a Yahoo group, and a discussion group that meets in Holyoke, MA. She told the Boston Pagan Examiner about how she came to this path, how she practices her religion, some common myths about the ancient Canaanites, and how readers can learn more.
Tess Dawson: About 11 years ago, I had vague ideas of a Goddess & God but I felt disconnected. I wanted a personal relationship with the divine, so I prayed…and I got answered. And I thought, This is unusual… I perceived a name I’d not heard of, and learned the name belonged to a Canaanite goddess, Athiratu (Asherah)… The more I looked into it, the more it answered questions I had had ticking around in my mind for ages… I felt like there was a story that wasn’t being told.
Boston Pagan Examiner: How do you practice your religion? Do you do rituals? What are they like?
Ms. Dawson: We don’t have…temples to worship the deities…anymore… I like to create temple space…by calling on different components of the Ba’al temple… In these ancient tablets from 1500 BCE it said that Ba’al, the storm god…built the temple from seven components…[and] magically converted this temple into a palace fit for a god. I like to call upon the seven components, to visualize the building of Ba’al’s holy temple… That’s very modern; the ancients wouldn’t have done that method…because they already had temples… [I also practice] purification; I wash my hands, wash my face… I add myrrh and rosewater to the water I use for cleansing… Then I feel like I’m ready to enter temple space… You don’t want to go before deities uncleansed…it’s rude… You’re in the presence of the Divine… I shake branches of tamarisk, date palms, reeds… I believe that those could drive out unwanted spirits… I charge the area with blessed water… Then…I enter the temple space.
Examiner: How does all this affect your personal life?
Ms. Dawson: It’s more honoring the deities than about me personally… I’m in it for the deities… In paganism people get hung up on What can I do for myself? It’s all I, I, I, me, me, me. It’s not always about me… If I were to get anything from a ritual, it’s my relationship with the Divine, enhance my relationship with the community… ‘Ashuru Mathbatu, the beginning of the new year…takes place…in the month of Niqalu during around mid-September to mid-October… I pray for the well-being of our community and well-being of our world… I like to consider people who maybe are homeless… Maybe I’ll donate some canned goods… It’s sharing some of the harvest, some of my abundance with someone else… If a friend or family member needs healing, I pray for them too… It’s not just on holidays, I do it every day.
Next time: Ms. Dawson corrects some vilifying misconceptions about the ancient Canaanites, and tells how readers can learn more. See www.examiner.com/x-11871-Boston-Pagan-Examiner~y2009m11d8-Interview-with-Tess-Dawson-Canaanite-pagan-part-II.
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