Purity before Sinai 2: Sacred Technology of Cosmic Repair - Episode 150

This episode continues last week’s deep dive (Ep. 149) into Udug-hul Tablet 12, exploring how ancient Mesopotamians understood purity, sacred space, demons, and ritual—and how that compares (and collides) with the Bible’s worldview. Carey walks through Ea (Enki), Marduk, Belet-ili, Eridu, decreed destinies, and a striking black-goat “scapegoat” rite tied to breath, life, and expulsion—then turns to the big question: what’s the difference between magic and ritual for Christians, and how does that shape practices like baptism, exorcism, and embodied worship?

150 TRANSCRIPT

In this episode:

• Why look before Sinai to grasp biblical purity and sacred space
  
  
• Mesopotamian divine council logic: Ea → Marduk → priest as mediator
  
  
• Eridu as a prototype of divine order; destinies and lots language
  
  
• Belet-ili (Mami/Nintu) and “learning the ways of the demons”
  
  
• The black goat rite: breath, life, and removing the ālu/utukku demon
  
  
• Biblical contrasts: Leviticus 16 scapegoat vs. Mesopotamian incantation
  
  
• Magic vs. ritual: mechanistic tech vs. covenantal, participatory practice
  
  
• Embodied sacred space/time: why liturgy, baptism, Eucharist still matter
  
  

Mentioned texts & themes: Genesis 1–2 (cosmic temple), Deut 32 (lots), Enūma Eliš, Atrahasis, Eridu traditions, Leviticus 16 (scapegoat), Ezekiel 37 (breath & life).

150 TRANSCRIPT

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Music credit: "Marble Machine" by Wintergatan

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Link to the original Marble Machine video by Wintergatan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q&ab_channel=Wintergatan