Inanna

The Myth of Inanna

As the Queen of the Heavens, Inanna represents the cosmic force that descends from Heaven to Earth. Thus, her sacred ritual marriage to the Earth King, Dumuzi, (as represented in rites conducted between the actual King of Sumer and the Temple High Priestess) insures the King's powers of leadership and fertility, and thus insures the fertility and security of the country.

Inanna, the Goddess of Love, offers her love only if properly approached with gifts and sweet words, and only if well matched with one who is her equal in ferocity, power and passion. After all, the fulness of the granaries after harvest rests upon this love-making.

After the death of her husband, Dumuzi, Inanna also descended into the Underworld, seeking after him. Inanna carred seven attributes as talismans which she had to give up as she passed each successive gate, until she finally gave up her very life. So, too, must the initiate give up all "worldly" things and who we are in order to recover the essence of spirit. Finally, Inanna encounters her sister, Erishkigal, Queen of the Underworld, who lives in her dark realm with no love or earthly pleasure. She is Inanna's shadow self and Inanna must come to know and accept that neglected dark side in order to be reborn and reemerge with greater wholeness.

Many traditional societies used rites descended from or very similar to this early passage, using labyrinthine symbologies to give people the Near Death Experience, coupled with the one of being born anew.

So call Inanna as your guide as you travel through your own Underworld and use her strength and womanliness to heal your own sexuality. The story of her descent into the Underworld and her eventual reemergence is recorded on the oldest known human document. She is here for you to use in your own journey of transformation!