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From: Roy Jones <sroyjones@earthlink.net>
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: 8 Star
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 16:07:14 -0400
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Dirk Bruere wrote:
> 
> hesperos@smart.net wrote:
> >
> > In alt.pagan Dirk Bruere <"artemis"@xkbnet.co.uk(removextoreply)> wrote:
> > : What is the significance of the 8 pointed star? ( non chaos )
> >
> > The 8 pointed star is a symbol of Ishtar.
> >
> > Blessed Be She!
> 
> Can you give me more info please, or refer me to somewhere that I can
> find it?
> 
> Dirk

You can find info on the association of the 8-pointed star with
Ishtar/Inanna in two books by Edwin Krupp:  "Echoes of the Ancient
Skies," and "Beyond the Blue Horizon."  

Krupp is an astronomer, former director of the Griffith Observatory, and
a specialist in ancient astronomical techniques and astronomical
mythology.  Both books make a good addition to your mythology library.

You might also want to get hold of "Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth:
Her Stories and Hymns fro Sumer," by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah
Kramer.  This is, as far as I know, the latest set of translations of
the Inanna myths and poems.  The significance of the 8-pointed star in
Sumerian mythology comes from the story of Inanna's descent to the
Underworld, and the story is beautifully told in Wolkstein and Kramer's
book.  

Krupp explains the ancient association of the planet Venus with Inanna
and how the descent story is reflected in Venus' passage from morning to
evening star and back, which is a cycle of approximately eight years,
and was well known and recorded by ancient Middle East astronomers.  

Good Reading,

Roy