BeerBreadWaterA dog figurineIncenseHoneyFirst fruits
Invocation Approach
Tone
The hands that set the bone
Address
GulaNinkarrakGreat Physician
Relationship
The doctor who is called to the bed
Warning
She is the cure and she is also the diagnosis
Resonance
Healers the sick those nursing
Symbols
The dogThe scalpelThe staffThe bandage
Mythology Summary
Gula, also called Ninkarrak and Ninisina, is the Sumerian and Akkadian goddess of healing and medicine, the great physician, azugallatu, whose city was Isin and whose husband was Pabilsag, identified with Ninurta. Her animal is the dog, which licks the wound, and she is shown with the scalpel; the Sumerian and Akkadian hymns and incantations, including the self-praise in which she names her own powers, call on her to raise the sick from the bed. Small dog figurines were buried for her, and her son Damu is the child who is lost and looked for.
Modern Practice
Gula is worked at the bedside, by healers and by those nursing, and the dog is her sign rather than an ornament. The entry keeps the diagnosis as well as the cure: the same goddess is asked what is wrong and asked to put it right.