Hello everyone and welcome to Enchanted Whispers with Aveline Grove.
I'm Aveline and this is a recording about the goddess Inanna and a meditation to follow.
I mentioned Inanna as the Mesotopian goddess of the Sumerians,
Being the goddess of love,
Fertility,
War,
And transformation.
I talked about her in the New Moon on September 22nd.
So,
Some of you may have felt called to journey to her and to work with her,
Whereas I felt called to journey and work with Maat.
So,
I'm going to give you some information about Inanna because she is very much the goddess that I usually like to work with at the time of the Autumn Equinox,
Which is also occurring on September 22nd.
So,
Inanna is great for guiding us through the depths and the shadows and into the brilliance of our own power.
She invites us to claim our own inner radiance and embrace the fullness of who we are.
She walks the path of light and shadow and she descends into the Underworld at the time of the Autumn Equinox to claim her power,
To turn inward,
To pause,
To reflect,
And then at the time of the Spring Equinox,
She ascends back to the Upper World,
Rising whole,
Radiant,
And renewed,
And with all the wisdom that she has garnered,
And she does this every year.
Her energy calls us to examine the hidden parts of ourselves,
The fears that we've tucked away,
The desires that we've silenced,
And the courage we've yet to claim.
Inanna reminds us that true power does not come from avoiding the darkness,
But from moving through it with intention,
Grace,
And fierce self-love.
To journey with Inanna is no small feat.
She is powerful,
Fierce,
And sovereign.
Inanna's descent into the Underworld is one of my most beloved myths from my priestess studies.
It spoke directly to the core of my becoming and my own undoing,
And it reminded me that our journeys are never fully complete.
They're never really closed.
Instead,
We go into the Underworld,
We uncover a layer,
We learn from that,
We come back into the Upper World,
We apply the lessons that we've learned,
And then again and again and again,
We do the same cycle,
Going deeper and deeper into our own healing each time.
It's not a tale of falling.
It is a sacred initiation of becoming.
Inanna is the Queen of Heaven and Earth,
And she hears this call to descend,
But it's not summoned by force.
It's a choice.
She chooses to attend the funeral rites of her sister Ariskagal's husband.
She wants to do this as an act of devotion,
So before leaving,
She instructs her servant that if she does not return in three days,
Her servant is to send help and to send word to the gods.
Inanna begins her journey and her descent into the Underworld,
And she must pass through seven gates,
And at each gate,
In order to get through,
She has to give up an offering.
It is her crown,
Her necklace,
Her breastplate,
Her ring,
Her staff.
They are not mere ornaments,
But they are symbols of her power and her identity and her sovereignty.
By the time she reaches Ariskagal,
She is naked,
And Ariskagal demands that she be bowed low,
Stripped of everything that she once was.
Ariskagal,
Being the Queen of the Underworld,
Then takes Inanna and hangs her upside down on a hook,
Lifeless,
For three days and three nights.
This represents the death of the ego,
Illusion,
And control.
It is in this void and in this womb space that we invite in the sacred Pauls before our own rebirth.
Inanna is not forgotten,
Though,
Because she asked her servant to send help,
And her servant does.
Her servant creates two godlike beings.
They're neither male nor female,
And they descend into the Underworld with compassion.
When they do,
They do not fight Ariskagal when they get to her.
They do not plead with her.
All they do is witness her own grief.
They act as mirrors to her pain,
And in that,
There is this sacred empathy that happens within Ariskagal,
And that is when she releases Inanna,
And Inanna rises.
But she cannot arise unchanged,
And so in order to ascend,
She must send another in her place so that the cycles of descent and return,
Woven into the seasons and into the spiral,
Begin.
And in her place,
She sends her husband,
Damuzi.
So now we will journey.
Come into a comfortable seat or lie down and close your eyes,
Taking a deep breath in through your nose and sighing it out,
Allowing yourself to land here fully in this moment.
Begin to imagine roots extending out of you and reaching down through the surface that you're sitting or lying on into the earth.
These roots extend down deep into the soil,
Through the sands,
Through the rivers and the timelines and the crystalline layers,
All the way down into the depths of the underworld.
I'm going to count backwards from 10 to 1,
And as I do,
I want you to allow yourself to descend through these roots all the way down into this cave within the underworld itself.
Trust that whatever shows up for you in this moment is exactly what you need to receive.
10 9 8 7 6 3 2 1 Deep breath in.
Exhale and cast yourself out into the cave of the underworld.
You notice the temperature is cooler on your skin.
You hear a trickling of water.
Your eyes take a moment to adjust to the darkness.
And as you stand in this moment,
You allow your body to adjust and your eyes to adjust and you begin to notice that there is a path before you,
Leading you deeper into this cave,
Into the depths of the underworld.
You begin to follow it,
Trusting in your steps,
And as you get to the center,
Or what feels like the center of this space,
It opens up into a large circular room,
And you notice a gate.
You walk over to the gate,
But it is locked.
And you look around,
Searching for a key,
And then you turn and you are met with the goddess Inanna.
Standing before you,
You stand in awe of her beauty,
And she asks you,
What will you release in order to enter?
You know that in order to move forward,
She is demanding a sacrifice.
She is demanding a release,
And you hand it over to her.
She then removes the key from her necklace,
And she unlocks the gate,
Ushering you through.
When you get to the second gate,
There is a throne,
And Inanna takes a seat at the throne.
She motions for you to sit at her feet.
In this moment,
As you sit with her,
Allow any messages,
Any insights,
Any wisdom to come forth.
She asks you what it is that you're carrying,
That you're ready to release in this moment.
She asks you where in your life are you seeking balance?
You know that you have journeyed a long way to meet her,
And she places her hand on your forehead,
And with it,
You receive her wisdom,
And you ask for any messages that you need to receive.
What bits of wisdom can I carry back with me to the surface?
You thank her for holding you to the surface.
You thank her for providing space for you in this moment,
For allowing you to pass through the first gate,
To sit with her at the throne,
To share her space,
And she points towards the exit,
Telling you that that is enough for today.
You turn,
And as you leave,
You know that you are leaving more whole than when you arrived.
You begin to make your way back up through your sacred roots,
Landing back fully in your body,
Back in this moment,
Back in this space,
Taking a deep breath in through your nose and sighing it out,
Wiggling your fingers and your toes,
And as you come back,
I invite you to take your time and write down anything that you received,
Perhaps you write down anything that you were able to give up to enter the first gate,
Anything that you saw.
If you have any questions as you're going through,
Please feel free to reach out.
It is always a pleasure to hold this space for you.
I thank you so,
So much.
Blessed be.
