Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth

One of my favorite myths is the story of Inanna. The image she portrays of the feminine, dating back to the days of the great mother goddesses, is rich and complex, and the seven surviving hymns that have been translated describe a cycle of life and psychological development that has not changed much. The hymn called the Descent of Inanna is particularly powerful and relevant this time of year as everything moves, metaphorically, underground. I think we need this story today to remind us of the necessity of going down and of the relationship between psychological growth and mature wisdom, and loss. There are people today (the authors of the self-help books that I studied being one, large category) who claim that hardship and suffering are a mistake, that if you are not always happy you simply are not positive enough. But suffering is part of growth. As Rilke wrote, "What we choose to fight is so tiny, what fights with us is so great... what is extraordinary and eternal does not want to be bent by us..." These are the words of someone who understands that we are made by life and the world, as we in turn make ourselves through them.

Here is installment number one of the myth cycle of Inanna. I invite you to imagine yourself as Inanna. What are your sources of power and earthly achievement, and how well prepared are you to give them up? This paraphrase is from Diane Wolkstein and Noah Kramer's wonderful translation of the myth, Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth, Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer, which I highly recommend.

Inanna was the Great Queen of Heaven and Earth. Beautiful, wise, and fertile, Inanna made good things happen. She was also canny and clever. Inanna won her powers and the civilizing order she brought to the people from the great father Enki, God of the Deep and of the Waters. They drank beer together and Enki made promises. Inanna drank him under the table.

Inanna married the shepherd Dumuzi and for a while they were very happy together (this may be the origin of our phrase "honeymoon"). But when Inanna made Dumuzi king, his attention turned to affairs of state of the amassing of his own power. One day, Inanna found herself at loose ends. She turned her ear to the ground ("ear" and "mind" are the same word in Sumerian, both meaning receptor of wisdom). Inanna knew that the husband of her sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld, had recently died, and Inanna thought she would go down to her sister, attend the funeral rites, and cheer her up. Inanna imagined that her sister must be in need of the light and life and sweetness that she, as Queen of Heaven and Earth, could provide.

Inanna assembled the symbols of her power, her crown, her string of small lapis beads, her double strand of beads, her breastplate, her gold ring, and the lapis rod and line used to weigh and measure. She adjusted her hair, put on her makeup, put on the royal robes and the other power objects. Her finery and imposing appearance proclaimed Inanna's importance as the goddess of Heaven and Earth, the royal priestess, the protector of the city, and the goddess of love. She was ready to visit her sister, Queen of the Underworld. Or so she thought.

Stay tuned.