INANNA

QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

Created by Bianca

The Mother of us All,
the oldest of all,
hard,
splendid as rock
Whatever there is of the land
it is she
who nourishes it,
it is the Earth
that I sing.
HOMER
"Hymns to the Earth"

This page is dedicated in loving memory
to my mother, Betty,
who joined
The Great Mother
four years ago (November 1997).

Cycle Of Inanna

The Huluppu-Tree...represents the forces of life and death. Consciousness and unconsciousness, light and darkness and man and woman. Inanna brought the tree from the wilderness and planted it in her garden. The tree is part of the three kingdoms. Ereshkigal, of the underworld, Enlil of the earth and An of the heavens. Inanna receives help from Gilamesh by slaying the snake creature that lived in the tree. Without the death of the snake her demons would have persisted and Inanna would not have freed herself of her fears. The tree embodied life’s opposing forces now shared between Inanna and Gilamesh and with that brought Sumerian man and woman closer to understanding life’s forces. Inanna begins her rule sitting on the throne of the Huluppu-tree. When this happens she understands the meaning of life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness.

Inanna and the God of Wisdom...begins when she places the crown of the steppe upon her head. By doing so she excepts responsibility to receive power from earth’s resources and now has control over the fertility of all living things. When she steps into the sheephold she sings praise for her natural powers-her life giving vulva. She is no longer fearful and afraid and has let go of her adolescence and begins to transform herself into a woman. She is ready to branch out and see what this new found freedom brings. Through many trials where balancing her powers entwined with male energy she emerges more intact. For this she a given high praise from her father and given the title "art of a woman".

The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi...is when Inanna discovers her sexuality and is ready to share her marriage bed. She is very careful when her brother Dumuzi, the shepherb, comes calling with gifts to entice her choice. This is an unusual union by today’s morality. However, if we can see this as a symbol for joining heaven and earth it takes on a very different meaning. When Inanna decides to share her marriage bed with Dumuzi is when he truly blossoms. Once intimacy is shared Dumuzi becomes King and what they created together no longer has a purpose and they go their separate ways.

The Descent of Inanna...She dresses herself in her finest garments and jewelry and takes a journey to the Underworld where her sister Ereshkigal rules. No one ever returns from the Land of the Dead but Inanna insists on going herself. She has to pass through seven gates as she descends. The Watchman at each gate asks her to give up one personal item as she descends. First gate she gives up her Crown; second gate she removes earrings; third gate she takes off her six pointed necklace; fourth gate her Starry Cloak; fifth gate she carefully removed her wrist and ankle bangles; sixth gate she releases her diamond belt; seventh gate she lets her skirt fall to the floor. She stands naked and her beauty gone as she stands before her sister. Her sister has no pity and watches as Inanna dies. She hangs the once beautiful Inanna on a hook. Inanna’s servant Ninshubur pleads with the Gods to help her. A deal is struck between Dumuzi and herself. Six months out of the year Dumuzi will take her place in the underworld and the other six months Inanna would remain on earth. Dumusi becomes the seeds that germinate in the darkness so in turn the world can blossom again.

http://www.ishtartemple.org/sacredIshtar.htm

Once Upon A Time... Seven Veils

and far away a Great Goddess ruled the land of Sumer. Her home and people were located in the Tigris-Euphrates valley of Mesopotamia. Her legend begins some four thousand years bc where the inhabitants understood the cycles of birth and death through nature and saw it played out in the lives of their people. A great Myth was created about the Goddess who oversaw everything on earth and in heaven. They gave this Goddess a name...which would be heard echoed throughout this land...her name was Inanna , ‘Queen of Heaven and Earth’.

Her presence was manifested in the cattle barns and sheepfolds. These were her first temples of the ancient cow goddess. She appeared as the morning and evening star (Venus). Her reign and stories are preserved through the writings of the priests and priestesses, songwriters and storytellers who kept her story sacred. These were uncovered about 2000 bc. They retell her journey as they were carved into stone tablets left for the world to discover. Some six thousands tablets were found and written on them were hundreds of inscriptions. Some were hymns that were sung, love songs, epic tales, essays, proverbs, fables and myths. They have been deciphered and interpreted by scholars around the world. Inanna was life itself. Played out in the season’s of the year as seeds were planted, yielding a bountiful harvest and falling off to sleep with her cold winds that put nature to sleep once more.

Inanna's temple was created for worship and to give thanks by reenacting through the art of ritual her great abundance and renewing energy. There was always a living tree that grew inside her great temple that represented the power that lies within all living things. The roots of the tree stretching deep and solid in the ground, with it’s trunk and branches reaching skyward for nurturing and warmth and funneling the elements throughout for continued growth.

Inanna lives on through her stories and mirrors our own lives. Her mythology speaks of our journey's through life as the maiden, mother and crone. She is a role model to us all. Sensuous woman, protector of the small and helpless, a great beauty and All Goddess. In retelling her journey she recreates for us our place in the world. We can trace her steps as she descends to the underworld and find what is working for us and what is no longer necessary for our personal growth.

She teaches that in order for us to exceed our limitations, we need to meet the challenges set before us without regard as to whether they are good or bad, right or wrong. They simply are there for us to work through and find solutions that work for us and keep us moving forward. Being alive is having these experiences presented to us in triumphs and defeats. Our greatest challenge I feel is for us not to label our experiences but find the meaning hidden within each one. Each time we psychically travel to the underworld old ways are transformed and our path changes directions to lead us where we are intended to go all along.

Today we are faced with the dark forces that have shaken our world and brought us all closer together as a human family. Inanna reminds us now to reach in and pull out the best parts of ourselves and give back to the earth and those that are suffering and need our strength. The tinniest kindness can have trickling effects that pass on from one person to the next.

"I turn the male to the female,
I am She who adorneth the male for the female;
I am she who adorneth the female for the male."
-Words of the Great Goddess

Ritual for Inanna

Perform on the New Moon

Intention:
Protection from Negative Energies

Need:
Seven black voltive candles
One large white goddess candle
Blessing Oil: Frankincense
Incense: Lilac or Angelica
Clear bowl of water
Mirror
Shawl or Scarf
Flowers: Roses

Cleansing Bath with salt

Meditate on Intention

Create a circle with the black voltive candles White Goddess candle in center Cast circle/Invoke the elemental quarters Light the black candles Drape shawl or scarf over your head Put drops of blessing oil in water bowl Chant: Blow black candles out one at a time each time repeating: "Powerful Mother, Inanna Wrap your arms around me keep me safe Guide me through the darkness Into your radiant golden light."

Place fingers in water bowl and bless your chakras
Repeat chant until all candles are blown
Sit in darkness, meditate
When ready light the White Goddess candle
Remove shawl or scarf
Look into the candle flame and feel the golden light surrounding and protecting you
Look into the mirror and see this light reflected inside you

Meditate and Give Thanks

Open Circle/Blow out candle

Great Goddess Inanna
by Bianca

When land becomes Fertile
She is Here
When famine Rages
She is Here
As we rise up and start again
She is Here
O'Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth
Give us your Bounty
And replenish our Harvest
So we continue your Cycle
When a Child slips from the Womb
She is Here
As the Child matures the Maiden appears
She is Here
Giving birth to her own and growing Old
She is Here
O'Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth
Give us your Bounty
And replenish our Harvest
So we may continue your Cycle
She promises nothing as she gives Freely
And follows you through Dark days and Light
Unwavering and Unrelenting
Love again awaiting in Sight
O'Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth
Give us your Bounty
And replenish our Harvest
So we may continue your Cycle
She is the Lady of the Lake
Feeding life into the Earth below
She is the Rock shifting beneath our Feet
Blessed soil giving Birth
O'Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth
Give us your Bounty
And replenish our Harvest
So we may continue your Cycle



Click Here to View Bianca's Sculpture

REFERENCES

Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth by Diane Wolkstein
When The Drummers were Women by Layne Redmond
Myths of the Female Divine Goddess David Leeming
Return of the Great Goddess Burleigh Muten

http://community-2.webtv.net/grannine/InannaIshtar/ (no longer active)
http://www.ishtartemple.org/sacredIshtar.htm
http://web.pagans.net/links/pagans.txt (no longer active)
http://sanfords.net/Spot/Pagan_crystal_balls.html
http://www.spiralgoddess.com/



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