Inanna and her sister Ereshkigal

 

On my Patreon at www.patreon.com/thefrenchmadonna

I share the Venus Rose journey as told in the myth

of the Descent of Inanna through the seven gates of the Underworld.

In the Third Gate of the Descent of Inanna (shared this week on Patreon) I refer to the bull power of both Inanna and her sister Ereshkigal, as symbolised by Inanna's horned crown and the Bull of Heaven as husband of Ereshkigal.

"At some point in our lives we become aware of the Call; it may appear as depression, or as an illness or a terrible loss and it asks us of us to put everything down and to become quiet and to listen. When Inanna heard the call she left her position as holy priestess and she left her seven temples in seven cities and departed to enter into the Underworld. No-one had ever returned from the Underworld and similarly to Jesus though, Inanna does return to the world after three days and three nights.

 The Sumerian Underworld is ruled by Inanna’s older sister Ereshkegal whose husband, Gugalanna (aka the Bull of Heaven) has died.  

 When Inanna arrives in the Underworld, her sister Ereshkegal orders all seven gates to be bolted. She then instructs the gatekeeper to open them one by one, each one no more than a crack, to let Inanna through.

‘As she enters, remove her royal garments.

Let the holy priestess of heaven enter bowed low.”

At the first gate Inanna loses her crown.  If you look at old images of Inanna you will see that her crown has horns and she, similarly to the Black Madonna of the Catholic tradition, is linked to the sacred bull and possible the sacred bull cult of Mithras. 

It is also pertinent to point out here that Ereshkigal's husband was a bull (the Bull of Heaven).  The bull represents personal power so when Inanna gives up her crown she gives up her power."

In the Tarot of the Divine deck by Yoshi Yoshanti the Two of Cups depict the story of Enkidu and Gilgamesh from the Sumerian myth; here we see such a parallel to the Sumerian myth of Inanna and her sister who lives in the underworld, tied down by her grief for her husband.

 

The Two of Cups represent the story from the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian myth about Enkidu and Gilgamesh. The gods send a wild man, Enkidu, to challenge Gilgamesh the young king of Sumeria. Gilgamesh wins the fighting challenge and he and Enkidu becomes the best of friends. In this story I see the projected shadow self as the nemesis of the personality. When we can accept the challenge and learn to embrace and love the opponent, transformation and liberation is ours.

Inanna used her personal power and choice to enter the Underworld and to find out why her sister is so grief stricken. She also makes certain choices to ensure that she will return, despite the fact that it is seemingly impossible to do so.

 

Jung called those aspects of ourselves that we deny in ourselves our 'shadow' and which we hide from ourselves and often project onto others and then we create a false self or enhance one aspect of ourselves to cover up the hidden parts.

By driving parts of ourselves into the underworld, we are telling those shadow parts - the selfish, angry, sad, resentful, the human parts, that we are ashamed of them. And then they come back to haunt us and repeatedly pull us back down into the underworld.

In her book The Dark Side of the Light chasers , Debbie Ford says 'There is no pattern of behaviour that can't be changed if we are willing to expose the emotional upset that caused us to reject the shadow part in the first place. The challenge is to find its value and to bring the light of compassion so you can defuse its ability to dismantle your life.'

Instead of always trying to rid yourself of negativity, how about recognizing your shadow, your nemesis, as your best ally and best friend. How about looking into that mirror of the shadow-self, owing up to those undesirable parts of yourself and embrace them as your own?

This cycle of the descent of the Morning Star is done from the lens of Gemini, the card of the Tree of Choices.

 

During the month of October I will share with patrons a tarot and altar layout for the seven gates of Inanna. With the help of archetypes as found in tarot and oracle cards, fairytales and myths, you can ascertain which choice you are confronted with at each gate; the opponent and nemesis at each chakra, and more. I am sharing the Rose of Venus posts on the Walking with Mary tier as well as all the tiers higher than Walking with Mary.

You will find the link to my Patreon account on the right hand side tab.

blessings

Hettienne