Inanna

Inanna is the ancient Sumerian mother goddess. Both the protector of grain and the queen of heaven, she combines earth and sky. Powerful, self-sufficient, passionate, and many-sided, she is a fertility goddess as well as the source of the earth's wells, springs, and rivers. Each year Inanna descends to the underworld to resurrect her consort, Dumuzi. At each of the seven gates she leaves one of her garments behind until, naked, she meets her sister Erishkigal, queen of the underworld. Erishkigal kills Inanna and hangs her on a hook until Inanna herself is resurrected and returns to life. Inanna is a representation of the many facets that go into being feminine as well as a guide into the dark places of psychological and spiritual death and disintegration.

Ⓒ The Susan Eleanor Boulet Trust (illustration)
Ⓒ Text copyright Michael Babcock