Inanna’s Descent and October’s Transits
Myth of the Month: Exploring the monthly cosmology through archetypal mythology
This month, we turn our attention to the Sumerian myth of Innana’s Descent.
The Myth
We start with Innana, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, as she decides it is time to embark on a journey to visit her older sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Great Below, to attend the funeral of Ereshkigal’s husband. Before leaving she gathers together the seven symbols of her power: her crown, her string of small lapis beads, her double strand of bead, her breastplate, her gold ring, her white robe, and the lapis rod and line used to weigh and measure. She adorns herself with her jewelry and her robes, and sets out.
As she walks to the gates of the underworld Inanna is accompanied by her divine attendant and Goddesses of the East, Ninshubur, who listens to Inanna’s plans.
“If I do not return in three days, ask the Gods for help,” Inanna tells Ninshubur. “Set up a great lamentation; beat the drums and tear at your hair. Go first to Father Enlil, God of Air and cry out that he must not let his daughter be put to death in the Underworld. If Father Enlil will not help, go to Father Nanna, God of the Moon. And if Father Nanna will not help, go to Enki, God of Water and Wisdom.”
Ninshubur agrees.
But when Inanna arrives at the gates of the Enderworld they are locked. She rouses Neti, the Keeper of the Gates and tells him who she is and that she knew Gugalanna, The Bull of Heaven, her sister’s husband, and wants to attend his funeral rites.
Neti goes to consult Ereshkigal before letting Inanna enter. Ereshkigal is hesitant but she says, “lock all of the seven gates and as Inanna passes through, strip her of her finery.”
Neti obeys and as Inanna steps in through the first door he takes her crown. Inanna tries to object, but Neti tells her to be silent, "the ways of the underworld are perfect and may not be questioned."
As she passes through each gate Neti removes one of her adornments, and each time Inanna objects she is met with the same phrase: "The ways of the underworld are perfect and may not be questioned."
Finally, at the seventh gate she is told to remove her robe. And so, she enters Ereshkigal’s throne room naked as the judges of the Underworld pass judgement upon her. Ereshkigal looks upon Inanna with the eye of death as she utters a cry of guilt and Ereshkigal strikes her. Inanna is turned into a corpse and hung on a hook on the wall like a rotting piece of meat.
Three days and three nights pass and Inanna does not return to the world of the living.
Ninshubur sets about making the great lamentation and, dressed as a beggar, goes to the house of Enlil for help.
But Enlil refuses, angry with Inanna for overstepping, saying that her arrogance has brought about her own demise: “She who goes to the dark city stays there.”
Ninshubur turns to Nanna, who like Enlil refuses to help Inanna. He too feels her hubris should not be rewarded and reflects: “She who goes to the dark city stays there.”
Finally, Ninshubur goes to Enki. Unlike the other Gods, Enki knew something of the Underworld. Using his ability to make creatures he scrapes dirt from beneath his fingernails and creates two small endogenous creatures, giving one of them the water of life and the other the food of life. He instructs them to fly through the smallest cracks in the gates of the Underworld and look for Ereshkigal in her throne room. He tells them that she will be in a state of disarray, moaning, “Oh my insides, my insides. Oh my outsides, my outsides.” Enki tells his creatures to mirror her cries, replying “Oh your insides, your insides. Oh your outsides, your outsides.” Enki says that for this Ereshkigal will be pleased and will offer them a gift. “Ask for Inanna,” he says.
The creatures follow Enki’s orders. They find Ereshkigal in her throne room, moaning and crying out. They mirror her cries. When she is done, she thanks them for the comfort and tells them that for their efforts she will bestow upon them a gift. They refuse all gifts but ask for the corpse of Inanna. Once Inanna is taken from the wall the creatures pour the water and the food of life back into Inanna and she is restored to life.
Inanna wishes to return to the world above, but no one leaves the Underworld unmarked, and therefore she must send someone to take her place. The Galla, guardians and demons of the Underworld, follow her to the surface to ensure that she makes good on her promise to return someone.
The Galla first offer to take Ninshubur, but Inanna refuses, as Ninshubur is a loyal friend, trusted advisor, and saved her life. Next the Galla offer to claim her son, Shara who has been praying for her safe return, but again Inanna refuses. They walk on and come across her second son Lulal, also praying for her return. Again the Galla ask to claim him and again Inanna refuses.
Finally they come upon her husband Dumuzid, sitting on a magnificent throne, adorned by his crown. Upon seeing Inanna he doesn’t move; he has not been praying for her safe return. And so Inanna fixes him with the eye of death and tells the Galla to take her husband Dumuzid in her place.
And this is where we will leave the myth.
If you’re curious about hearing these myths told I recommend listening to the podcast Myth Matters. This version of the myth is from Myth Matters and a compilation of other sources.
The Cosmic Connection
The beauty of mythology is that each myth is a neverending journey into the symbolic world. In just this small snippet, there are infinite paths we could take. I invite you to spend time with any symbols from the myth that spoke to you directly, but here I would like to focus our attention to a few specific pieces as it relates to the October heavens. As a reminder, we are speaking archetypally here about the planets, looking past their literal meaning into what lays beyond.
One of the big players in October is Pluto. Pluto, which has been retrograde, will station direct in Aquarius. Broadly speaking, Pluto is the primal power of creation and destruction. Pluto can be looked at as the ruler of the “underworld”, the cycle of death and rebirth, the repressed, the unconscious, the instinctual energies. How these archetypal energies are expressed in each individual is entirely unique.
As you may have guessed while reading the myth, Inanna’s journey into the underworld is very Plutonian. Her descent is, psychologically speaking, being drawn into the unconscious, stripped of all our adornments, of everything we thought we were or are, to meet with what we’ve repressed or hidden in our very depths.
As Pluto stations direct, we may start to feel this direct call. Inanna’s descent is direct. There is no second guessing, no wondering if this is her path. She must go. However, Pluto in Aquarius brings a flavor of rebellion and individuation from our norm (cultural or personal). This journey could be a way of reworking old patterns, of rediscovering that which is more uniquely you. In stripping away all of the outer items that you feel give you power, there is something new and strange that can unfold. While every journey to the underworld is a quest into the unknown, the Aquarian energy brings an even greater element of surprise.
We also have support from the Pluto and Uranus trine. This aspect emphasizes the Aquarian energy of Pluto. This has the flavor of a different type of descent or a different way of meeting the shadow. In the myth Inanna uses the death of Gugalanna as an excuse to meet her sister and encounter her shadow. With the Pluto-Uranus trine, there is a sense that no excuse is needed for this journey and that it could be a shift in how one approaches meeting their own depths.
Just like Inanna needs support in reviving herself from the depths, so too can we look to the cosmos for support. Enki, God of Water and Wisdom helps Inanna by sending in two of his creations imbued with the water and food of life. Water is incredibly important as Pluto rules Scorpio, a water sign. Both Mars and Mercury are sitting in Scorpio this month. This can be an intense time, but like the myth, I believe there is much wisdom in the waters of the mind and body. We are being called into the depths but there is a malleability and permeability that can support this descent. Perhaps we are not so rigid in the way we think about ourselves or the way we meet our own intensity.
The sun will also be moving into Scorpio in late October, further asking us to really explore the parts of ourselves hidden beneath our royal robes.
In meeting this myth within you, I offer this for contemplation. What if “the ways of the underworld are perfect and may not be questioned”?
As we move into the month, I encourage you to sit with any themes, symbols, characters, or ideas that resonated with you from the myth. As you sit with them, you will undoubtedly be brought into alchemical connection with the astrological events. You don’t need to know anything about your own chart to navigate the current transits but of course, if you would like to know more about your own chart and how it relates to these times, I encourage you to contact me!
Some ideas for engaging with this myth:
Collect your own seven symbols of power and strip them away one by one
Find an oral recounting of the myth and listen to it
Recreate any imagery from the myth that is resonant
Explore what small creatures can break through the cracks of the gates of your Underworld and what they bring to help resurrect you
Write any dreams, even fragments of dreams, and sit with any images or symbols that feel particularly poignant
Until next month!