ABSTRACT
During the change from bicamerality to postbicamerality, the gods gradually lost their function as our supernatural masters. Consequently, as they retreated to their celestial palaces, an army of semidivine beings moved in to occupy the levels—symbolized by the steps of the ziggurats—leading from this world to sacred abodes. In other words, as theopolitical systems became more complex and multilayered, more spiritual entities were needed. Soon the world was overcrowded with angels, demons, ghosts, and other spiritual entities that are difficult to categorize. As representatives of the spiritual realm, they interceded, intervened, and mediated between the mortal world, the underworld, and the high heavens. In this chapter, I offer examples of these messenger neurotheoi.
