He is remote and he answers by authorising someone else
Resonance
Those holding office those who have to decree
Symbols
The horned crownThe skyThe bullThe eannaThe staff and ring
Mythology Summary
Anu, Sumerian An, is the sky itself and the highest authority of the Mesopotamian pantheon, the father of the gods, whose temple the Eanna, House of Heaven, stood at Uruk; the Sumerian and Akkadian god lists put him at the head of the triad with Enlil and Ea. He is remote: in the Gilgamesh epic he grants Ishtar the Bull of Heaven, in Atrahasis and in Enuma Elish the work is done by his descendants, and kingship descends from heaven at his gift. The other gods act under his authority; he does not act himself.
Modern Practice
Anu is called on for authority, for the power to give an order and have it stand, and for the sky itself. He is not a warm patron - the tradition does not ask him for favours so much as approach him with the deference due to an office - and the entry keeps that distance.