Inanna: Goddess of Love and Fertility

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "I" in the Pagan blog project. :)

Most of the time when I hear reference to the Goddess Inanna, it's in relation to Her descent into the underworld. Many a ritual and teaching curriculum has been built around this story, and rightfully so. It is a powerful myth rich in symbolism. However we often forget that Inanna is primarily a goddess of love, as well as fertility. "The descent" is only one of the many stories told about her.

In Sumerian, Inanna literally means "Queen of Heaven". She was the first daughter of the Moon God, Inanna, and the Moon Goddess, Ningal. As a goddess of love and the heavens, it's not surprising that she is also associated with the planet Venus--or the Morning and Evening Star. In her guise of Queen of the Earth, she was  responsible for the fertility of the crops and humankind.

Lesser known than The Descent of Inanna, the hymn The Joy of Sumer tells of Inanna's descent from heaven and onto the earth to awaken the fertility of the plants and set into motion the annual cycle of life. This hymn, and the accompanying story, is particularly pertinent at this time of the year as it speaks to renewing the fertility of the earth. It is linked to the time of the year when the seeds are ready to be sown into the earth. In eastern Canada, that would be right about now, making it an interesting myth to work with around the time Beltaine.

Like many other myths associated with the fertility of the season, sex is involved. Inanna makes love with her lover, the King. Then Inanna and Dumuzi feast and celebrate among the people. Symbolically, this completes the marriage of heaven and earth, divine and mortal. It also reinforces the prosperity that Inanna offers the earth and her people.

Here is the Hymn:

The Joy of Sumer: The Sacred Marriage Rite 
The people of Sumer assemble in the palace,
The house which guides the land.
The king builds a throne for the queen of the palace.
He sits beside her on the throne.

In order to care for the life of all the lands,
The exact first day of the month is closely examines,
And on the day of the disappearance of the moon,
On the day of the sleeping of the moon,
The me are perfectly carried out
So that the New Year’s Day, the day of rites,
May be properly determined,
And a sleeping place be set up for Inanna.

The people cleanse the rushes with sweet-smelling cedar oil,
They arrange the rushes for the bed.
They spread a bridal sheet over the bed.
A bridal sheet to rejoice the heart,
A bridal sheet to sweeten the loins,
A bridal sheet for Inanna and Dumuzi.

The queen bathes her holy loins,
Inanna bathes for the holy loins of Dumuzi,
She washes herself with soap.
She sprinkles sweet-smelling cedar oil on the ground.

The king goes with lifted head to the holy loins,
Dumuzi goes with lifted head to the holy loins of Inanna.
He lies down beside her on the bed.
Tenderly he caresses her, murmuring words of love:
"O my holy jewel! O my wondrous Inanna!"

After he enters her holy vulva, causing the queen to rejoice,
After he enters her holy vulva, causing Inanna to rejoice,
Inanna holds him to her and murmurs:
"O Dumuzi, you are truly my love."

The king bids the people enter the great hall.
The people bring food offerings and bowls.
They burn juniper resin, perform laving rites,
And pile up sweet-smelling incense.

The king embraces his beloved bride,
Dumuzi embraces Inanna.
Inanna, seated on the royal throne, shines like daylight.
The king, like the sun, shines radiantly by her side.
 He arranges abundance, lushness, and plenty before her.
 He assembles the people of Sumer.

The musicians play for the queen:
They play the loud instrument which drowns out the southern storm,
They play the sweet algar-instrument, the ornament of the palace,
 They play the stringed instrument which brings joy to all people,
They play songs for Inanna to rejoice the heart.

The people spend the day in plenty.
The king stands before the assembly in great joy.
 He hails Inanna with the praises of the gods and the assembly:
 "Holy Priestess! Created with the heavens and earth,
 Inanna, First Daughter of the Moon, Lady of the Evening!
I sing your praises."

My Lady looks in sweet wonder from heaven.
The people of Sumer parade before the holy Inanna.
The Lady Who Ascends into the Heavens, Inanna is radiant.
Mighty, majestic, radiant, and ever youthful --
To you Inanna, I sing!

~As translated by Diane Wolkstein and Samual Noah Kramer, (C)1983

Honour the Dead

Today is remembrance today. We honour those who fought for our freedom, human rights, dignity and life. They are part of our heritage, our ancestry.

In November, much of my mystical work and other-worldly conversations revolve around ancestors. For many, Samhain is the big ancestor night or honouring of the dead (and sometimes new life), but for me, one night is not enough. Nor does it feel like it should be. There is a liminality leading into Samhain as the veils become become gossamer. They don't part and then close immediately in a single night. Like the moon that appears to be full over a few days, the thinness remains for a period of time before thickening again.

For me, I start to feel the shift in the last week of October. The sense of closeness to my ancestors and the river that separates the living from the dead remains well into November. I take this period of weeks to remember and be open to my Mighty Dead, the ancestors I have known and those who passed long before I was born, and personal heroes whose wisdom or experience I admire. Sometimes they visit; different ones each year. I light candles and remember fallen heroes. I ponder the mysteries of death and life, darkness and light, the Divine Twins. And I spend time with the gods of the dark, those who help us make difficult choices and often tell us (sometimes brutally) what we don't want to hear.

This isn't work, or visits, that I can 'do' in a single night. It's a period. A wave. Remembrance day falls firmly into this time. I feel the veterans gather as we call them forth. Some at the river, and some by our side. It's powerful. It's painful. It's hope. It's part of Samhain. I honour it. I honour them.

Winter Feast for the Soul

The Winter Feast for the Soul starts this year on January 15th, a new moon. It's a commitment to 40 days of daily spiritual practice. Winter, especially after the craziness of the Yuletide season, is a perfect time for this. For me winter is a time for drawing inward, introspection, and energetic preparation. The best way for many of us to do this is regular and consistent spiritual practice.

I love the quote from Rumi on the Winter Feast for the Soul Website:

What nine months in the womb does for the soul,
Forty early mornings will do for your growing awareness.

I'm not so sure about early mornings--that I think is a personal predisposition--but 40 days of consistent, mindful spiritual practice will certainly grow awareness, whether we want it our not!

I think that one of the reasons that many people find daily practice so difficult is partly because of that growing awareness. It's scary. It can challenge our preconceptions. It can open us up to new ideas. It can shine a light on those dark places of our selves or our environment that we'd rather keep hidden. It's often easier to subconsciously find an excuse not to continue the practice, or to do it so inconsistently that we are effectively starting over each time, than it is to face our demons or our grandeur.

I have a daily spiritual practice. There are simple 'things' I do every day regardless of where I am or how I feel; and they form the foundation of my spiritual being, in a similar way to washing my face, brushing my hair and saying hello to my loved ones in the morning. On specific days, or if I'm working on a particular exercise or goal, I may add to this litany; but the foundation is essentially the same. In a similar way that a painter prepares her canvas, my foundational daily practice is the primer coat for deeper spiritual work.

I haven't decided yet how I'm going to approach the Winter Feast this year, Usually the winter months have me yearning to deepen my work with the Iron Pentacle; just as the emergence of spring calls forth the Pearl for me. What I do know is that I'm going to use these 40 days to stretch my edges and open to possibility.

Will you join me?

Snow-Laden Fields Transformeth...

The Life of Love: Winter

Come close to me, oh companion of my full life;
Come close to me and let not Winter’s touch
Enter between us. Sit by me before the hearth,
For fire is the only fruit of Winter.

Speak to me of the glory of your heart, for
That is greater than the shrieking elements
Beyond our door.
Bind the door and seal the transoms, for the
Angry countenance of the heaven depresses my
Spirit, and the face of our snow-laden fields
Makes my soul cry.

Feed the lamp with oil and let it not dim, and
Place it by you, so I can read with tears what
Your life with me has written upon your face.
Bring Autumn’s wine. Let us drink and sing the
Song of remembrance to Spring’s carefree sowing,
And Summer’s watchful tending, and Autumn’s
Reward in harvest.

Come close to me, oh beloved of my soul; the
Fire is cooling and fleeing under the ashes.
Embrace me, for I fear loneliness; the lamp is
Dim, and the wine which we pressed is closing
Our eyes. Let us look upon each other before
They are shut.
Find me with your arms and embrace me; let
Slumber then embrace our souls as one.
Kiss me, my beloved, for Winter has stolen
All but our moving lips.

You are close by me, My Forever.
How deep and wide will be the ocean of Slumber,
And how recent was the dawn!

Kahlil Gibran
From Tears and Laughter, p23-4.

Bioregional Quiz for June

1. Trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap.
2. Name your watershed.
3. How many days until the moon is full? (Slack of 2 days allowed.)
4. What was the total rainfall in your area last year? (Slack: 1 inch for every 20 inches.)
5. What were the primary subsistence techniques of the culture that lived in your area before you?

Bioregional Quiz for May

As part of the workshop series that I'm facilitating over the summer, we're asking participants to get to know their local bioregion. One of the tools that were using for this is a modified version of a Bioregional Awareness 'Quiz developed by the precursor to Whole Earth Review in the 1970s. Each month we're asking the participants to find the answers to some of the questions.

If you'd like to join in, here are the questions for May:

1. What soil series (soil class, characteristics, drainage and primary use) are you standing on?
2. What primary ecological event/process influenced the land form where you live?
3. From where you're reading this, point north.
4. What spring wildflower is consistently among the first to bloom where you live?
5. Where does your garbage go?
6. Where does your recycling go? What percentage of the curbside recycling in your area is actually re-used?

Signs of Spring
I had a lovely weekend out in the countryside. The sap in the maple trees had started flowing the day we arrived, so at dinner time our hosts shared with us a taste of it (okay, more than a taste!). That felt really special. On Sunday we had pancakes with the first syrup of the season. It was so yummy. The sap was actually flowing so well over the weekend that we could hear the steady and fast drip-drip-drip of it into the collecting buckets.

On the drive down on Friday, we saw geese flying north. Another sure sign of spring.

Out for a walk on Saturday, we could hear rivers of running water beneath the melting snow. We could see the spontaneous spring streams created by the thaw twisting through the forest landscapes, carving out their paths. The ground was soft beneath our feet. Signs of deer were everywhere--tracks, scat, and chewed twigs--as well as evidence of foxes and other animals. There was still lots of snow in places.

Our hosts have a wonderful 200+ foot diameter labyrinth that they have been cultivating with trees and plants for almost ten years. Being quite well sheltered it was still covered with snow; deep snow in places too. As I walked it, I frequently found myself sinking almost knee-deep in snow. The usual 30- to 45-minute walk took a good hour to complete in the snow, and I felt like I had done a good workout at the end of it! A part of the labyrinth is 'pathed' with blackberry bushes. Last year was an incredible year for blackberries and our hosts don't cut the bushes back a lot in the labyrinth since they harvest the berries. Consequently, parts of the path were overgrown with blackberry thorn making the passage difficult and thorny. Between the snow, the thorns, and other obstacles, it was a very different experience from any other labyrinth meditation I have done.

Other signs of spring I've been observing closer to home. The birds in my neighbourhood have been flying around with strands of grass and other soft things to make their nests with; and my cats have been chasing spiders and ants. It's wonderful.

Ecology of Magic
I'm so excited! Josie and I are going to do a series of nature/ecology workshops with a spiritual focus. Its something I've been ruminating (and gathering notes) on for a few years now. I'm so excited to see the seed start to sprout. And I love working with Josie.

The workshops will run one Sunday a month for six Sundays (five months). There will be a series of activities that build on each other for participants to do between workshops. There will also be at least one interim face-to-face mini-workshop or discussion between workshops, as well as an on-line discussion forum for participants. A lot of the work will focus around observing the natural environment and its cycles as well as interacting with and embodying them, so we feel that it is important to build a solid environment where participants can share their observations and discoveries with each other. (It's also a way for me to test-run this distance education software that I've been experimenting with.)

So far the themes for the six meetings are: Spirits/History of the Land, Water and Watersheds, Weather Magic, Fire and Energy, Plant Harvesting and Seed Saving, and Web of Life. Some of the planned activities we are considering include working with nature spirits and natural energies, dowsing, exploring ecosystems, plant identification, observing weather patterns, making fire by hand, forging in fire, and harvesting and storing seeds. We hope to have guest educators to facilitate some of these activities, but most I think we'll do ourselves.