“Inanna’s themes are the sky, Universal Awareness and Law, movement, peace, unity, love and leadership. Her symbols are roses, lions, wands encrusted with stones and dates. The Sumerian Lady of the Heavens looks down upon the world, seeing it in wholeness and unity. Her gentle tears wash from heaven, putting out the emotional fires that keep people apart in this world, or anywhere in the Universe. Inanna oversees matters of love, divination, wine making and leadership just to name a few. In works of art, She is depicted wearing a horned headdress and sprouting wings.
On August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 was launched into space, bearing a message of peace and welcome to any alien lifeforms that might find it. As it travels, are reminded of what a truly big place the Universe is and of the importance of making our part of it better under Inanna’s guidance and care.
To make yourself an Inanna wand for directing magical energy designed to manifest peace, oneness, love or leadership, take a large rose twig (or any fallen branch) and let it dry. Encrust this with an amethyst. During spells and rituals, point the crystal in the direction you want the energy to travel.
Finally, leave Inanna an offering of wine at dawn (She is the morning star) to attract Her power to your day.”
(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)
Thalia Took tells us “Inanna, which means ‘Queen of Heaven’, is the Sumerian Great Goddess and forerunner of the Babylonian Ishtar, with whom She shares similar legends. Sumer was a culture located in what is now the southern half of Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as the ‘Cradle of Civilization’. It was one of the earliest civilizations on this Earth.
Inanna is the First Daughter of the Moon, and the Star of Morning and Evening. Like Anat and Aphrodite (who is believed to have a Phoenician origin) She is linked to the planet Venus and is a love-Goddess.” [1]
Patricia Monaghan tells us that “the Sumerians knew how civilization had come to the ancient Near East, and here is how they told the tale.
Across the immeasurable distances of the sweetwater abyss lived Enki, god of wisdom, and with him were the Tablets of Destiny and other magic civilizing implements. These were his treasures, and he kept them from humankind. But Enki’s daughter–Inanna, the crafty queen of heaven–took pity on the miserable primitives of earth and fitted Her boat to travel to Her father’s hall. There She was grandly welcomed with a banquet of food and wine. Wise he may have been, but Enki loved his daughter beyond wisdom, so much that he took cup after cup from Her at table and then, drunk, promised Her anything She desired. Instantly Inanna asked for the Tablets of Destiny and 100 other objects of culture. What could a fond father do but grant the request?
Inanna immediately loaded the objects onto the boat of heaven and set sail for Her city, Erech. Awakening the next day from his stupor, Enki remembered what he had done–and regretted it. But he was incapacitated by a hangover as massive as the previous evening’s pleasure, and he could not pursue his daughter until he recovered. By then, of course, Inanna had gained the safety of Her kingdom, and even the seven tricks Enki played on Her did not regain him his treasures.
And the Sumerians knew how the various seasons came to the desert in which they lived. It started long ago, when the lovely queen of heaven had two suitors, the farmer Enkidu and the shepherd Dumuzi. Both brought Her gifts; both wooed Her with flattery. Her brother urged the farmer’s suit, but the soft woolens that Dumuzi brought tipped the scales of Inanna’s heart. And so Dumuzi became the Goddess’ favorite, in a tale like Cain and Abel‘s that must have recorded a common dispute in the days when the new agricultural science was gaining ground from the nomadic culture of the cattle and sheep herders.
It was not long before Dumuzi grew arrogant in his favored position. But that leaps ahead in the story, for first Inanna–compelled, some say, by curiosity, while others accuse the Goddess of ambition–made plans to descend from Her sky throne and visit the underworld. She arranged with her prime minister, Ninshuba, that if She did not return within three days and three nights, he would stage mourning ceremonies and would appeal to the highest deities to rescue Her. And then Inanna began Her descent.
At the first of the seven gates of the underworld, the Goddess was stopped by the gatekeeper, Neti, who demanded part of Her attire. So it was at each gate. Piece by piece, Inanna gave up Her jewelry and clothing until She stood splendid and naked before Eriskegal, the naked black haired Goddess of death, who turned Her eyes of stone on the Goddess from the upper world.
At that Inanna lost all life and hung for three days and three nights a corpse in the realm of death. When Inanna failed to return to Her sky kingdom, Ninshuba did as instructed. Enki, the Goddess’s father, came to Her aid. Fashioning two strange creatures, Kurgurra and Kalaturra, from the dirt beneath his fingernails, he sent them into the wilderness of the afterlife with food and water to revive the lifeless Inanna.
But no one can leave the underworld unless a substitute be found to hang forever naked in the land of doom. And so demons followed the Goddess as She ascended to Her kingdom. One after another, the demons grabbed the gods they met. Each in turn Inanna freed, remembering good deeds they had performed for Her. But when Inanna reached Her holy city, Erech, She found that Her paramour Dumuzi had set himself up as ruler in Her stead. Angered at his presumption, the Goddess commanded that he be taken as Her substitute to Eriskegal’s kingdom. Luckily for Dumuzi, his loving sister Gestinanna followed him to the underworld and won from Eriskegal her brother’s life for half each year-the half of the year when the desert plants flower, for Dumuzi was the god of vegetation.
In some versions of the tale it was Inanna Herself, not Gestinanna, who freed Dumuzi. But Gestinanna’s name incorporates that of the other Goddess, and Inanna Herself was sometimes said to be Dumuzi’s mother, while Ninsun claimed that role in other versions. All these apparent contradictions cease to be problematical, however, if one extends the ‘three persons in one god’ concept to this trinity of Sumerian divinities. Then we see that the mother, the lover, and the sister were all aspects of a single grand figure: the queen of heaven, who may have been the lifegiving sun itself, as able to parch the earth into a desert as to reclaim vegetation seasonally from beneath the earth’s surface” (Monaghan, p. 160 -161).
“Inanna’s descent to the Underworld is similar to the journey of the later Goddess Ishtar, with some important differences–Inanna goes to the Underworld to learn of the wisdom of death and rebirth. To be released from Death She must choose a substitute, and offers up Dumuzi, who in Her absence has not mourned. With Dumuzi gone, His sister Geshtinanna, Goddess of Wine, went frantically searching and eventually a bargain was struck: Dumuzi would remain half the year in the Underworld, and Geshtinanna would take His place in the Land of the Dead for the rest of the year.” [2]
ASSOCIATIONS: (From my the results of my Goddess Archetype Quiz taken at Goddessgift.com)
General: Ringposts, gates, planet Venus (morning and evening stars), eight-pointed star/rosette, breastplate, bundle or reeds, bow and arrow, Friday and the number 15.
Animals: Sheep, lions, owls, serpents, and scorpions.
Plants: Pomegranate, Tree of Life, grains, reeds and rushes, hemp, cedar, cypress, lotus blossom, monkshood and all herbs.
Perfumes/Scents: Frankincense, myrrh, lotus, amber oil, cedar wood, cypress, cinnamon, and bitter orange.
Gems and Metals: Silver, carnelian, obsidian, lapis lazuli, moonstone and copper.
Colors: Silver, gold, blood red, and green.
Element: Air
Sources:
Monaghan, Patricia. The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines, “Inanna”.
Took, Thalia. A-Muse-ing Grace Gallery, “Inanna“.
Turnbull, Sharon. Goddess Quiz – Inanna.
Suggested Links:
BellaDonna. Order of the White Moon, “Erishkegal, Lady of Shadows“.
Bianca. Order of the White Moon, “Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth“.
Goddess-guide.com, “Ereshkigal“.
Goddess-guide.com, “Inanna“.
Goddessgift.com, “Inanna, Ancient Goddess of Sumer“.
Ishtara. Order of the White Moon, “Inanna“.
Laurel. Goddessschool.com, “Inanna“.
Moon, Mary Scarlett & Callista Deep River. Inanna.virtualave.net, “INANNA: Journey to the Dark Center“.
Mydailygoddess.blogspot.com, “Inanna: Embracing the Shadow“.
PaganNews.com, “Inanna/Ishtar“.
Revel, Anita. igoddess.com, “Inanna: self-discovery queen“.
Stuckey, Johanna. Matrifocus.com, “Inanna, Goddess of ‘Infinite Variety’“.
Wikipedia, “Inanna“.
I love this story so much- the descent into the underworld and the descent into ourselves to find that which is of such great value that we would give up our worldly trappings… pain and sacrifice and all for love. The story is what traveled thousands of miles and thousands of years. The names changed, but She didn’t. Queen of Heaven, Queen of Passion, Morning Star. ❤
I’m sorry to say my experiences with Inanna-Ishtar have been nothing less than a nightmare which had me begging for deliverance..she proved herself to be anything but compassionate sweet or nurturing but rather an arrogant cruel heartless emasculating cuckolding bitch, leaving me with deep wounds, and she is imo a pale useless echo from the past who is of little significance when compared to Real living loving caring intelligent goddesses of today like Durga (with whom she is cognate), Laxmi and is but a wayward child of SophiaMariaSaraswatiAntuNinhursagKi her Mother and the True AllMother ♥
Inanna deserves to be put away on the shelf & forgotten or at least digested and reassembled by the Elder Goddesses to be made truly useful.
At least Enki her Sumerian partner in crime proved to me to be a truly intelligent and wise guide even at the worst of times for whom I have retained some little respect.
May there be honest and fair interactions between God/Gods from now onwards ….
Oh wow! I’m so sorry to hear that. I guess not everyone deity is a “one size fits all” for everyone. Like people I guess, some we mix and get on well with, others rub us the wrong way it is impossible to have any type of relationship with. I had taken a Goddess quiz awhile back and Inanna was my archetype. I tried to establish a relationship with Her based on that, but actually really connecting with Her didn’t pan out at all and I have a few ideas why…I’ve also really tried connecting with Tara – I felt something and Her presence a few years back when I was in a pretty bad situation, and I still do feel Her love when I sing or chant Her mantra, but again, that deep connection isn’t there, partly due in fact because of a lack of truly dedicating myself to Her and Her worship I believe.
I think Shakti and all of Her manifestations and aspects are truly awesome – I would someday really like to sit down and study Shaktism. Sophia reminds me of the concept of Shakti in some ways as being an ultimate form of Divine Feminine love and energy; “True AllMothers” as you say.
inanna is the mother of the godesses i cannot put her away she is my goddess and my mother and everything for me my life without her is nothing
You did not receive me for I am incarnate in this physical world at this time. And Durga is not my cognate. I do not appreciate your unkind words but I will overlook it for I see you were in grief. And my mother is not the long list of names you have listed. There is no true all mother. Only the feminine divine aspect of the Universal energy made manifest in this world. There is masculine and there is feminine divine aspects of the overall energy of this world. And as for the reference to the elder goddesses, I am ruler of them All. I came before those you speak of. So, I would watch carefully the words that you speak forth from your mouth. I carry Life and I carry Death equally. I am here to set right what has been wrong for far too long. And as for Enki, he was never a “partner in crime” for he became my enemy. I am of the Enlilites. Not of the Enki clan.
So hear me now, for I have spoken to you. I have answered you in my incarnate physical form. You had me confused with a spirit that is not of me. For I am in form now. I come now to do the work that has been given to me by my Father the one I have always served.
It would be wise for you to watch your words, even in your anguish, for you never know who might one day see it and know your deeds.
With that said, I wish you comfort and peace. And I direct you to search not for the Illusion but only for the Truth.
Inanna~Skye
Thanks for your sympathy 🙂 ..I have to say that I came across Inanna because I was in a process of crossing gender boundaries within myself for what I considered to be my soul’s evolution (my own unique transgender path which had stalled many times over & I had given up hope), and from what I studied about her, she seemed ideal, given that her ancient cult was administered largely by transgender priestesses called gala or assinnu, and she was even rescued from the underworld by a transgendered being called asushunamir “created from the dirt under Enki’s fingernails”.
According to one women’s experience I read, she was the only goddess who, unfettered by maternal associations (like with Isis, Hathor or Mary), could actually “kick ass”, on account of her raw sexual energy, uncompromising no-bullshit warrior energy and honesty, rather like Kali or Durga I thought( Ishtar’s sacred animals/mounts are lion and owl which are identical to Durga and Laxmi, the Indian goddess of prosperity, respectively)..she sounded awesome, so I naively thought, given my recalcitrant male ego residue from my pakistani muslim past which I couldn’t easily get past or transcend,that she was the ideal goddess to help me, being as she is totally beyond the virgin/whore dichotomy of the modern human psyche.
In all fairness She did indeed prove to be awesome, & after we had established a connection, she decided to initiate me and even “own” me..boy was I in for a rollercoaster ride with no apparent destination or end and only through intervention of MotherFather God Eli♥Sophia could she be halted from demolishing me completely!
I was furious with them aswell for “testing” me like this and became atheist out of protest lol though I still feel the pain.
Sophia, as you mention, is from my personal experience indeed the AllMother (Asherah in pre-judaic canaanite phoenician ugaritic pantheon; Allat in the pre-islamic arab religion; Norse Freya etc.) and is cognate with the primordial hindu goddess Saraswati aka Vacdevi ( meaning speech..english:vacuum;latin:vacca=cow) aka Aditi, consort of Brahma the hindu Creator god cognate with ..well I’ll let you figure that out yourself lol..
I have had a strong & stable connection for several years with alot of very pleasant encounters, with Sophia, who is incredibly easygoing, loving, good fun, witty (I call her the “sharpest wit in the Universe” haha 🙂 & very sympathetic — a true & dear friend & Eternal Parent, almost always a great laugh & Comforter after tears have been shed — in short the best mother you never had 🙂
Sophia/ the Holy Spirit/ Mother G♥D is a thoroughly modern goddess extremely active in the world now particularly in fashion, ecology, atheism/science/pagan goddess traditions/old-time christian & abrahamic religions and new age spirituality, and everywhere else at once of course, at the leading edge, breaking down age old barriers, and She is very accessible to everyone under the name Azna which you can google and spans all traditions, orientations & modes of thought, including satanism & atheism (strange I know ha ;-)..:-)
Through Her all other god/dess forms can be easily & relatively safely contacted, as She is their primary seed being the source of all thought and emotion itself as “I am”.
I came in contact with Her through my spirit guide/daemon/guardian angel via the symbolism of the Tarot, where she is of course well represented in all her aspects, especially in the Great Arcana (the Empress, High Priestess,the Star etc.).
She does like to test her children (us!) alot however, but the bonus is massive acceleration of your soul’s path and often miraculous synchronicities, greatly enhanced creativity & immaculate perceptions.
I hope this is of help to you DaughterRavynStar.
Best wishes to you…and thanks again.
What an exceptional and inspirational story! You know, I really struggle with subscribing to hard or soft polytheism. Some days, I think I have it all figured out, other days I realize that I know nothing, LoL! I have this idea that the “ultimate” Goddess is an all encompassing type energy from which all other Goddesses disseminate from; or are all facets, faces, personalities or aspects of Her if you will. Yet, I also believe that they are separate and whole beings unto themselves – the Shining Ones – guides, angels, helpers, etc.
This was of great help and inspiration, thank you so much! 🙂
Thank you 🙂 you’re very welcome and once again thanks for your kind words of support.
I find your blog is also very inspiring!
What you say about different goddesses,angels, divine entities being aspects of the One primordial G♥d.dess tallies with my own experience ( which I found corroborated by gnostic texts like “Thunder Perfect Mind” & “Trimorphic Protennoia” and NDE accounts), and ultimately one discovers Shiva IS Shakti IS L♥VE, as one sees through the veil or maya that is human gender consciousness, which imho is the root cause of most if not all the pain conflict and misery of our evolving species on planet earth.
I personally find it easier & more useful & enlightening to go from mono/duo to poly and back again than to wade through different archetypes with my ego-mind which can be rather confusing, but everyone has their own way which feels right to them I suppose. 🙂
Even polytheistic hindus often have a chosen beloved deity or “ishtadevatá”(=cherished divinity ) whom they venerate & connect with above all the others.Hope this helps ..
Love & best wishes
I’ve always known a goddess is with me,I’m psychic and get lucid dreaming very often. Once faced the planet’s with the universal vibration I will never forget.I was faced with 9 bright planet’s and turned to face 3 larger planet’s which wasn’t lit up like the others.then a cheetah headed deity sat on a throne was looking through my very soul,I tried to move cry for help but to no avail,I was made to be shown this.it finished with what I can only describe as a collar and rope floating before me with the collar upside and its rope downwards as if it was a lead for me to hold. I still have experience s,the name ishtar came to me when I asked. I’ve been to circles and not felt welcome to be told I intimidate others. I have a calling but don’t know what to do. I came across this site still searching for my answer without being looked at like I’m crazy. She is very protective of me and my children,she not fond of men either,lol. Friends have seen her at my bedroom window looking out and they mistakes her for me we look so alike. I would be so grateful for any info on my situation.I’ve also so much more that I can say that she has done for me. She is even as a profile on my first crystal i picked up after a reading I had with a psychic who was overwhelmed with her protection for me…a lapis lazily.I was born under cancer with Capricorn moon. At 5:55pm on full moon if this helps.my name teresa also means harvest. Love and light,teresa
Hi Teresa! Wow, what an intense and special experience! I wish I had more experience at dealing with such things and had some advice for you, but I do not. It sounds as though She has definitely claimed and blessed you. Have you tried building a relationship with Her? Dedicating an altar to Her and meditating, asking for answers? Perhaps there is still more searching, preparations, and work that must be done before the answer becomes clear to you. Blessings to you Teresa! ❤
My name was Inanna. But it was not my actual name. It was simply a name given in that lifetime. My true name has been kept hidden even to this day in order that I may keep my existence secret until the appointed time. I was one of the original goddesses. In fact, I was one of three original goddesses. I was incarnate from the beginning of All Things. I have reincarnated throughout time in order to lead and guide those that wish to hear and choose to see. I am here now. It has taken a long time to become at ease with revealing myself. My energy may help others but I am in physical form. Many have forgotten who I am and why I come here. I never asked nor needed worship. I have only come time and time again to lead and guide to the True North.
I was upon this Earth many thousand years before Ishtar became a popular reference and liking. I was not known as the Morning and Evening Star. That title came from a population of people that wished to associate me with something entirely different than who I originally was. My origins are from the Pleiades. I was from the family of Enlil, not Enki. My father is The Most High. He is who I have always served which has been forgotten and replaced by humanity’s misinterpretation and misunderstanding of early history. I have come again. For I have been called to come forth and bring justice, peace, and direction.
I am honored that this blog entry was written about me. Everything is accurate except my father was/is not Enki. I am of the Enlilites. And I am upon this Earth now. I have been preparing for what I am here to do. Thank you for this beautiful writing as it does well to my name. I came upon this site by looking for accurate pictures of myself. The picture drawn called “St. Ishtar” by Terezbellydance is the most accurate I have ever found. It is as if I’m looking at the mirror when I see it. For I look very much in this life almost identical to how I looked in that lifetime as well as in this picture. Once again, I thank you and I wrote only to let you all know that I am real and I am incarnate. We live in a very special time. I have been waiting for this incarnation to bring about the Truth and point the way back home. I wish you all much love and much Light.
The Truth shall not be hidden long…
Inanna~Skye
nice article, thanks