Understanding the Dark Gods Ereshkigal
Ereshkigal, the major goddess of the underworld, was worshiped throughout the Mesopotamian region, dating back to 3000 BC. Her main followers were in Sumer and Babylon, complete with temples dedicated to her throughout the region, the main site being at Kuthi. The Ereshkigal myths are found in the remains of numerous Mesopotamian tablets and texts, including the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is believed that her name means Lady of the Great Place.
She is the daughter of Sin, the god of the moon. Her twin brother, Enki, is the master of magic and the god of the watery depths. Her younger sister is Inanna/Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. Her first husband, Jogalanna (the Bull of Heaven), was slaughtered by Gilgamesh due to Inanna's (unintentional) actions; His death provides the background and pretext for one of Ereshkigal's most famous myths, "The Descent of Inanna."
Ereshkigal is the true essence of the Dark Goddess. From the moment she entered Irkala, the underworld, she embraced the world and her role as queen and goddess of law. Spiritually speaking, she embodies the shadow self; What psychoanalyst Jung described as the undesirable parts of our consciousness - things that we consider evil, inferior, or unacceptable. The emotions, desires, and understandings that we deny within ourselves become part of our shadow. This is the role that Ereshkigal accepts, and her work is to merge the unconscious shadow mind with the conscious light mind, in both mortals and gods alike. She realizes that only through this assimilation can the soul be whole and complete. Because the shadow self can be a frightening and uncomfortable subject, Ereshkigal is often depicted as demonic; A fearsome, cruel and uncompromising figure in ancient mythology. However, as practitioners work with this goddess, we discover that her rudeness does not mean that she withholds unconditional divine love from her parishioners. She is the predatory mother who supports you, answers your questions, and imparts necessary lessons to you during your journey into the darkness. They may hang you on the hook, and make you sick, but they don't do it for fun. She does it because it needs to be done, so that you can move to the next level of your spiritual development. It is the knowledge within.
The story of "The Descent of Ishtar" is Ereshkigal's most famous myth, and a prime example of strength, fortitude, and wisdom. (If you're not familiar with this story, Please read the legend online here). Ereshkigal can be seen as a mirror image of her sister Ishtar: where Ishtar is the sky, she is the earth; Where Ishtar is cheerful and lovable, Ereshkigal is despairing and wreathed with grief; Where Inanna is heaven, and Ereshkigal is hell.
Through this myth, we witness the integration of shadow and light through the death and birth of A. When Ishtar chooses to descend into the darkness to pay her respects to her sister, she knows the law: no one can enter the Great Below and live (that is, without being transformed). Ereshkigal makes it clear that no one is above the law – not even her beloved sister. Ishtar, commits herself to being the initiator of darkness even by attempting the journey to the underworld. It is her pride, her status as a queen, and her narrow, one-sided view of herself that lead her to believe that she is gone Into the darkness and return safely.
When Ereshkigal tells Ishtar to abandon her regalia at the Seven Gates and bow before her, she is, metaphorically, stripping Inanna of her pride, her masks, and the self that Ishtar believes she is.
(The Lady of the Fall accompanies the initiate into true darkness, true weakness. Ishtar arrives at Ereshkigal's throne with her head uncovered; for both gods, the true self and the shadow self are now in plain sight. Ereshkigal the possessor of darkness sees her light in Ishtar; her own love, her own passion. Ishtar of Light can now see her pain reflected through her sister - as well as her own grief and anger.)
It is Ereshkigal's killing of Ishtar by infecting her with diseases and hanging her on a hook for three days and nights that begins the true integration of these two selves. As her sister's body decomposes, Ereshkigal goes through "the pangs of birth": she moans, wails, laments and mourns the death of everyone she thought she knew.
Just as Ishtar is reborn, so Ereshkigal is reborn into the integrated consciousness of darkness and light. When the newborn Ishtar leaves the underworld, she takes with her a piece of her sister, and thus her entire self. When Ishtar ascends to the upper world, she finds that her mortal lover, Tammuz, not only betrayed her, but sat on her throne. This disrespect, this transgression of her boundaries, causes Ishtar to look at her lover with the same “eye of death” that Ereshkigal gave her. She condemned Tammuz to be her replacement in the underworld
Ereshkigal also kept part of her sister; She now has a deep and rich capacity for love, passion, and sex that inevitably leads to romance with her doppelganger Nergal.
Sources
Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Mesopotamia: Ereshkigal Accessed 9 January 2017.
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Sanders, N. K. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Penguin Classics, 1960.
Death Aur Nammu Accessed January 9, 2017.
The Marriage of Ereshkigal and Nergal Accessed January 9, 2017.
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