Innana

Children Of the Earth and Sky > The Path of the God/dess > Innana

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Cara2000 Village Visitor Posts: 4 (3/28/04 1:15 pm) Reply	Innana Hi All I'd like to share with you some of what I know about my favorite Goddess Innana, lover and beloved in the Sumerian tradition. Goddess of love, fertility, and war, one tradition has her to be the daughter of the sky God Anu but a more persistent one makes her the child of Nanna the moon God. She is also called Ninnanna, queen of the sky, and Ninsianna, personifying the planet Venus. She travels to the realm of the dead and claims its ruling. However, her older sister Ereshkigal who rules the underworld sentences her to death. With Inanna's death, nature dies. She could be reborn only if another took her place. She chose her beloved Dumuzi. She is the primary female deity and the center of the pantheon. She rules the natural world and is both morning and evening star. She represents motherhood and the family, but she is also the harlot and temple prostitute. She governs lightning and also the dousing of fire. Her spirit is one of praise and gladness, but also dismay and sorrow. Her imagery usually portrays her as a winged female with weapons and armor, wearing an open robe, nude underneath. Her symbol is the eight-pointed star. The Acadians/babylonians called her Ishtar who ruled over love, sexuality, fertility, and healing as well as war and weaponry. Her greatest lover, the farm god Tammuz, similar to Adonis dies so she went into the underworld to retrieve him. Her efforts were vain and she returned to the living world alone. She is one of Aphrodite's counterparts. Phoenicians called her Ashtaroth. She is also Astarte, Asherah, Ashnan… and Aruru, supreme image of the mother goddess, goddess of creation in Babylonian mythology who creates Enkidu from clay in the image of Anu, the sky God, God of the firmament and of the 'great above', son of the first pair of gods, Ansar and Kisar, descendant of Apsu and Tiamat, referred to as "the Father" and "King of the Gods", Innana’s older sister, the Goddess Ereshkigal, is the Sumerian/Acadian Queen of the Underworld, dark and violent. Together with her consort Nergal she rules the no return land. Nergal was sent to her from heaven with an offering and they fell in love. When he leaves, she threatens in tears to revive the dead and send them to earth to outnumber the living, unless Nergal was returned to her forever. At last Nergal came storming down the stairs, broke down the seven gates and burst into her palace to wipe her tears. Dumuzi, The Sumerian form of Tammuz, god of vegetation and fertility, and of the underworld is a Shepherd. He stands eternally at the gate of heaven. In Sumerian mythology, he is originally a mortal ruler whose marriage to Inanna ensured the fertility of the land and the fecundity of the womb.At the autumnal equinox, which marked the beginning of the Sumerian New Year, Dumuzi returns to the earth. His reunion with his wife causes all animal and plant life to be revitalized and fertile again. In another form of the myth, he is taken by minions of Nergal to the depths when Innana visits the Final Land of the underworld and seeks to leave. Eventually, he returns to the upper land for 6 months of the year. The word Tammuz is still used in Arabic, language used in modern Mesopotamia, for the month of July. Cara
starwind123 Keeper of the Sacred Arts Posts: 345 (3/28/04 11:53 pm) Reply	Re: Innana Coolness and so detailed.. thanks for shareing this... this is my own Ode to Innana Sans images Great Mother Who Loved Man so Much That You Experienced Death Just to Understand Us Our Culture Was Born When Gifted by your Hand From your Fathers House to our Land Naked Mother Who Allowed All to be Shorn That we May Learn How To Be Reborn Dancer in the Shadows That We May Know Light Sacred Star of Venus Of Birth and The Last Dark Night Hail Sweet Mother Whose Wings do take Fight The Serpent of Passion Rises in the Night When the Dance of Inanna Calls Nin- kur-ra-igi-ga -- She who makes the Enemy flee The Star of the Battle Cry, Keeps all Men Company Great Guide for the Dark Path The Hidden Side of Life That all our Weaknesses be Known Is your Gift to Us in the Night Inanna, Ishtar and Astarte Estar, Nin-ana and Ashtoreth Mylitta and Aphrodite Queen of Heaven with a 1000 Names Hail and Blessing to Thee Keeper of Life and Death Goddess of the Great Above and Below Who rules the Moon and Owns the Stars The Prakriti Of Earth, Water, Fire and Air Ether, Intellect, Ego and Mind, All the Parts of the Whole are Thine The Great Lion Lays Down at Thy Command Tame as a Kitten Under Thy Hand For All the Souls Trial and Tribulation The Lions Roar is Just an Invitation To Know the Self With All of its Imperfections Great Mother of Passion Great Mother of Lust All of Life's Ability to Create Lies in this Simple Trust Without Love .... We are Dust Great Mother who Walks Beside Me Down Life's Roads so Rough Eyes Forward to the Light Of Wisdom That comes With tasting All of Life The Sweet and the Bitter Stuff Glorious Queen of Heaven Before Who Even the Gods must Bow Hail and Blessed Be Great Mother Ever Are You with Me Now ... Blessings on your coming Blessings on your going Blessings on all your house
Cara2000 New Student/Teachers Apprentice Posts: 6 (3/29/04 4:47 am) Reply	Re: Innana wow starwind that is absolutely beautiful thanks for sharing it too I loved it Cara
MsAbsynthe Given a Place at the table Posts: 35 (12/27/05 9:30 pm) Reply	Re: Innana That was beautiful, thank you for sharing! I have been devoted to the Queen of Heaven since a teenager. Since I've been discovered to be Chronically Ill, I find brought back to Her. Even my cats, I think it was subconscious, their ancestors are from Persia, the neighboring country. It's like being re-awakened in the past, but still in the present; so much to learn, and I strongly believe in a Partnership Society, of which the Ancients practiced. War is a passing fad, and peace is something you can never cover forever. Even my stories pay tribute to the past, using names and characters from Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, anywhere I can find; seems to bring me closer to Her. - Julie

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