Ereshkigal and Inanna

[sabrinamari]

For the last few days I've been thinking about Ereshkigal and Inanna.

[see their story here: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/52-02-3/mi-elo2.htm ]

Ereshkigal has been a good friend to me. More than once, she's had my back. More than once, she's helped me watch my own back. I give her credit for my resilience, for the ways in which I've been hard to kill. I'd be dead or lost without the self-sufficiency and vigilance that Ereshkigal demands.

Still, she is not good at compassion. And compassion has clearly become the way forward. When threatened, I struggle to reconcile it with Ereshkigal's fierce protection, which I loathe to release.

Perhaps the answer lies buried in the story of Inanna' descent. It's the compassion of the gala-tura and kur-jara (sexless creatures sent to retrieve Inanna's corpse) that heals Ereshkigal's grief and rage, allowing her to let go of Inanna's body, so Inanna can be brought back to life.

And in the big picture of things, I think Inanna and Ereshkigal are one and the same, two halves of a whole.

Food for thought.

Comments

[gwisteria.livejournal.com]

from when i was 18 I worked mostly with Hecate which was fine but when i decided to have a baby and also be open to a mate she insisted in my dreams, in other people's dreams, in drawing downs and astrally that i needed to work in tandem with another goddess that did that aspect of work. I tried many different goddesses but it wasnt till i started working with Hestia that it really clicked. I think you are right as you evolve and go into other chapters in your life sometimes you need to expand which goddesses you work with intimately

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for weighing in with your experience, gwisteria. Your extensive experience makes this both valuable and reassuring!

this is long, sorry

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

I read the very good linked article.

I think Ereshkigal is the person who demands compassion. Who demands far more than marshmallowy lip service by a slumming little sister. Compassion is "feeling with". If you show up with all that blingy queenly glory protecting you, you can't feel it with me. Like a lab jacket instantly makes a schmoe look like a doctor, but he hasn't had the disease. Bling is armor, shielding you from the depth of this. I feel like I've lost everything. Do you want to "get it", to really understand this? Here, let me show you how (rip).

The gala-tura and kur-jara work with Ereshkigal on her own terms. They echo her moans, or at least validate, so that Ereshkigal will feel that she is not alone in her travail. This goes a long way towards healing.

It is not clear whether, after being revived, Inanna ever really understands Ereshkigal's grief. If all of this is an initiation I can only guess that she does.
It is also not clear whether Ereshkigal recovers enough to be able to think about something other than her own pain. But, if she can turn to these little beings and feel gratitude for their company, I can only guess that she does, too.
It is also not clear whether the little beings are actually feeling Ereshkigal's pain, or just doing their job, or somewhere in between (like a therapeutic listener). ...as a therapeutic listener I am certainly a sexless being, e.g. I have no desires or agenda of my own.

Inanna didn't heal Ereshkigal by herself, there was no real way she could. She catalyzed events by naively throwing herself in there. Then we all realized we couldn't turn our backs on the problem any more.

Can there be compassion without an object for compassion?

Re: this is long, sorry

[showingup.livejournal.com]

This is GENIUS.

Re: this is long, sorry

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I agree with Karen. This is insightful and brilliant---thank you for sharing it.

Re: this is long, sorry

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking alot about these insights, especially these particular passages:

"The gala-tura and kur-jara work with Ereshkigal on her own terms. They echo her moans, or at least validate, so that Ereshkigal will feel that she is not alone in her travail. This goes a long way towards healing."

I agree. The empathy of these creatures causes Ereshkigal to feel that her despair is clearly perceived and that she is truly known. This, in itself, is healing.

I don't think Ereshkigal demands compassion, simply because she's so trapped in her own misery that she doesn't have a clue how to lessen or end it. But when she experiences being heard, seen and truly known, she transforms.

Being the recipient of compassion from beings without any agenda, or, as you have written"...a therapeutic listener [with] no desires or agenda of my own," frees her from her misery for a moment.

And having been the recipient of compassion, she can now reciprocate herself, offering her healers whatever they want in return for their kindness and understanding. What they want is Innanna's corpse, so they can resurrect the vibrant, joyous life that has been taken away.

This story has tremendous implications for those of us who suffer and those of us who witness suffering, which, I guess, is everyone.

And here, suddenly, the story of Inanna/Ereshkigal and the four noble truths of Buddhism intersect.

[radiant-one.livejournal.com]

I would very much like to hear more of what has been coming up for you, at your own time and pace and inclination.

My heart's love to you.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Perhaps we will have the opportunity at some point. Hugs to you too, my dear.

[showingup.livejournal.com]

I have always thought of this myth as someone working with the whole of themselves. The 7 gates have struck me as the 7 chakras; the confrontation with death as the stripping of the ego; the confrontation with the sister in the deep dark depths the meeting of the Shadow self who must be acknowledged and offered compassion, and who has lessons to teach; hanging on the hook the time in which we integrate our lessons, needing to be out of the world to do it even as we long to be moving on, that "stuck" place which is necessary for us to accept before we can see the way forward; the little servants the previously disregarded, yet powerful, parts of ourselves that mediate between our conscious and unconscious, us and the world.

Maybe I've always seen it in those terms because I've never entered into relationship with any of the entities in the story.

[showingup.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Innana on the hook always makes me think of The Hanged Man.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm, it's almost as if you've taken our "Descent of Inanna" weekend intensive. Oh wait, we share a brain...(smiling).

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Isn't this a remarkable parallel? I also think of Odin, hanging from the tree.

[showingup.livejournal.com]

"I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run"

There's a lot of it about, once you start trawling mythologies.

[showingup.livejournal.com]

Oh, my! I know you do have people actually go through the gates, but that's pretty much all I know.

If I'm sharing a brain with anyone, I'll happily share yours. There's lots in it :)

[radiant-one.livejournal.com]

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

For sharing that link. WOW. I loved that summation and interpretation. I saw so many links. I still need to add more to my post for today. Links to what has happened and is happening with me are numerous and sparkling bright. If you have time,
http://radiant-one.livejournal.com/915218.html#cutid1