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Interview with Tess Dawson, Canaanite pagan, part II
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Tess Dawson, a pagan who practices the religion of ancient Canaan, talked to the Boston Pagan Examiner about her path. See the beginning of her interview at www.examiner.com/x-11871-Boston-Pagan-Examiner~y2009m11d8-Interview-with-Tess-Dawson-Canaanite-pagan-part-I. Here, read about vilifying myths about the ancient Canaanites, and how you can learn more.
Tess Dawson: What do you think of when someone mentions the Canaanites? If you’re like I was, you see a fierce orgy around a golden calf… [M]ost available information about the Canaanites came from biblical writers who disowned & presented their ancestors as the evil foil to their righteousness… Tales of child sacrifice &…depravity obscured the reality of an erudite, cosmopolitan culture… Scholars’ idea of a lot of [carnal fertility rites] in the temples… It’s simply not panning out as true… It’s writers of the Bible trying to vilify the Canaanites.
Boston Pagan Examiner: Really? I’d always thought that was part of ancient paganism; the Great Rite and all that.
Ms. Dawson: Not in Canaan!
Examiner: Have you found others on the same path? How?
Ms. Dawson: It’s most difficult for people who have these interests to find each other. I’m very passionate about that… For so long, I’d been the only one I knew who was Canaanite pagan… I looked for people. But I just wasn’t finding anyone, so I started an internet group… [More information below.] We’re really starting to grow and I think that’s beautiful.
Examiner: You’ve written a book on Canaanite religion. Whom is it aimed at?
Ms. Dawson: It’s about bringing Canaanite religion to the modern day for people who want to practice it… I’m not just coming up with this stuff. I did my homework. If something sounds strange to you, check it.
Examiner: Is there anything else you want to say?
Ms. Dawson: What matters to me is [the deities] are talked about…that they’re all remembered for who they are… In Canaanite mythology, there’s the “divine assembly.” Within that assembly, each of the deities is a separate individual… That’s how I see the Divine… Within the assembly you have several different members… They’re all unique; they’re all different… I think they should be honored on their own for who they are.
Tess Dawson’s book is titled Whisper of Stone: Natib Qadish: Modern Canaanite Religion. The ISBN number is 1846941903. The cover price is $39.95. It may be available at your local independent bookstore. Or, visit www.nbnbooks.com/Booksellers.
To see some of Ms. Dawson's online groups, go to groups.yahoo.com/group/canaanitepaganism and groups.yahoo.com/group/DatePalmForum. Also, look up "Date Palm Forum" on Facebook. The “Coffee in Canaan” discussion group meets in Barnes and Noble in Holyoke, MA. For more information, go to coffeeincanaan.ning.com.
Also, visit Ms. Dawson’s website at canaanitepath.com, which has a wealth of information and articles on her religion and the culture of ancient Canaan.
Ms. Dawson also shared with the Examiner an invocation to her gods, based on Ugaritic texts from the city state of Ugarit, 1500 BCE:
“We call upon the Gracious Gods, Deities of the Canaanites. We praise the deities on high, the deities of the land, and the deities of the deeps. We give thanks to You, O benevolent Deities, for your loving guidance as we pass through the windswept tracts of wilderness. We place wreaths upon your heads, crowns atop your brows. Come partake of our offerings. Bathathu! Hail and Welcome!”
