Admittedly, I took a brief lull the past few days with the writing of my 10th book, but I am back at it now in full force. We're up to 20,181 words and 105 pages. Basically, each chapter is divided into two sections -- 1) there's a section on the goddesses for each chapter that includes the story behind her along with more insights, rituals, and ways to connect with her energy (the goddess and the heavenly bodies; the goddess in every day; the goddess in every month; the elemental connection; the goddess in YOU); 2) and then there's a very personal section with each chapter titled "Facing the Mirror" (what is your greatest strength; what about the darker side of your nature; how do you connect with yourself; how do you connect with your spiritual side; how do you connect with the physical you).
This is a first sneak peek at the contents, with a look at the goddess I chose to highlight for the month of January... Inanna.
Origin: Sumerian
Influences: love, war, beauty, sex, justice, political power
AKA: Queen of Heaven, Ishtar
Planet: Venus
Symbols: lion, 8-point star
I was somewhat amazed, and more than a little taken aback, when I looked into the myths and stories surrounding Inanna. She’s rather daunting actually. She’s a goddess obsessed with gaining power and unwilling to face the consequences for her actions. It’s also said that she’s promiscuous, vicious, and can even be cruel.
One legend goes that she deliberately gets her father, Anu, drunk so that she can steal from him the figurative concepts of wisdom and culture while he’s passed out.
The story of her courtship with a young shepherd, Demuzi, was filled with great draughts of romantic verbiage, especially about “plowing her vulva” and who was going to do this and how it must be done:
She goes on to marry Dumuzi, the shepherd boy, and he happily wallows on the consort’s throne, drinking in and soaking up all the riches and treasure of the royal lifestyle that she, Inanna, had built, and plowing her vulva, I would imagine.
Then her sister’s husband dies, and she decides to journey to the underworld, where her sister Ereshkigal rules. After she makes this journey, she becomes trapped in the underworld, and she’s told that the only way she can leave and return to the world of the living is if she finds someone to take her place.
During her imposed confinement in the underworld, Inanna was able to see the world of the living she left behind and how her absence affected those close to her. To her surprise, and probably dismay, she saw that her husband Dumuzi had not mourned her at all but had gladly taken over the reins of the throne and was soaking up the glory of his new position.
“Him”, she told her captors. “I give you Dumuzi to take my place.” And so, it was. Inanna returned to the world of the living.
Understandably, she was upset with her husband, who apparently was more interested in the material things and powerful position that his marriage to Inanna provided him, rather than the love and adoration of his wife. And I think, with that sentence, I have just stumbled upon the moral of this story, which serves as fair warning for other prospective unscrupulous mates who are looking for something other than love.
I think Inanna made the right decision. “Burn in hell… er, Hel, Dumuzi.”
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Being released in 2023 |
