Both refuse to meddle in the exacting ways of the underworld. Ninshubur goes to Enlil, the highest god of sky and earth, and to Nanna, the moon god and Inanna’s father. After three days, when Inanna fails to return, Ninshubur sets in motion her instructions to get help for her release. Her corpse is hung on a hook, where it turns into a side of green, rotting meat. (This is symbolic of the descending order of the chakras, from the crown to the root in a process of purification.) Inanna is killed by her sisterĮreskigal kills Inanna. He removes one piece of Inanna’s magnificent regalia at each of the seven gates. Ereskigal’s angerĮreskigal becomes furious, and insists that the upper-world goddess be treated according to the laws and rites for anyone entering her kingdom that she be brought “naked and bowed low.” The gatekeeper informs Ereshkigal, Queen of the Great Below, that Inanna, “Queen of Heaven, of the place where the sun rises,” asks for admission to the “land of no return” to witness the funeral of Gugalanna, husband of Ereshkigal. 7 Gates-the 7 ChakrasĪt the first gate to the Underworld, Inanna is stopped and asked to declare herself. However, she isn’t on good terms with her, so, as a precaution, she instructs Ninshubur, her trusted female servant, to get help if she does not return within three days. Inanna decides to visit her sister in the Underworld whose husband has just died. They have an ecstatic union but after the honeymoon, Dumuzi exhorts Inanna ‘Let me go sister, let me go ….’ Inanna marries a humble young shepherd called Dumuzi who becomes a god-king. She has to stand firm against him, as he tries to take back his gifts. Inanna is Queen of Heaven, having received her spiritual heritage from her father, in the form of qualities needed to fulfill her role. This is a story of the original duality, the Gemini story of our ‘other half’.It is a story about meeting the dark, shadow side of oneself. This myth is about the meeting of the Queen of Heaven with her sister, Queen of the Underworld.It is usually known as “The Descent of Inanna” the Sumerian Queen of Heaven and Earth. The oldest known myth is Babylonian and was written on clay tablets in the third millennium B.C. This is when the Goddess ruled the Heavens, the Earth and the Underworld. This is the story of Inanna, the ancient myth that predates the male gods, such as Zeus. There are many myths about the descent of the goddess. She died in the city of Kaohsiung at the age of 70.Inanna and Erishigal: Meeting the Shadow of Oneself Inanna Queen of Heaven Wolkstein was in Taiwan to research a book of Chinese folk stories when she underwent emergency surgery for a heart condition. While living in Paris, she studied mime under Étienne Decroux. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a master's degree in education from Bank Street College of Education. Her father Henry was an accountant and her mother Ruth was a librarian. Wolkstein was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey. She made many visits to China, Haiti and Africa. Wolkstein authored two dozen books, primarily collections of folk tales and legends she gathered during research trips. She also had a radio show on WNYC, Stories From Many Lands, from 1968 until 1980, and she helped create the Storytelling Center of New York City. just go somewhere else if they didn't like it." After successfully talking her way into the position, she realized "there was no margin for error," she said in a 1992 interview. She also served as New York City's official storyteller from 1968–1971.Īs New York's official storyteller, Wolkstein visited two of the city's parks each weekday, staging hundreds of one-woman storytelling events. Diane Wolkstein was a folklorist and author of children's books.
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