Inanna, which means "Queen of Heaven", is the Sumerian Great
Goddess and forerunner of the Babylonian Ishtar,
with whom She shares similar legends. Sumer was a culture located in
what is now the southern half of Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers, known as the "Cradle of Civilization". It was one
of the earliest civilizations on this Earth.
Inanna is the First Daughter of the Moon, and the Star of Morning
and Evening. Like Anat
and Aphrodite
(who is believed to have a Phoenician origin) She is linked to the planet
Venus and is a love-goddess.
Her wedding to the Shepard Dumuzi was celebrated on the first day
of the new year as a sacred marriage rite, and Her legends show Her
to be a woman of powerful sexuality.
Inanna's descent to the Underworld is similar to the journey of the
later goddess Ishtar,
with some important differences--Inanna goes to the Underworld to learn
of the wisdom of death and rebirth. To be released from Death She must
choose a substitute, and offers up Dumuzi, who in Her absence has not
mourned. With Dumuzi gone, His sister Geshtinanna, Goddess of Wine,
went frantically searching and eventually a bargain was struck: Dumuzi
would remain half the year in the Underworld, and Geshtinanna would
take His place in the Land of the Dead for the rest of the year.
Inanna in a reading indicates a passionate and overwhelming love that
demands all of the beloved, whether a child, lover, or a passion such
as music or painting. This love needs to be tempered with compassion
and forgiveness or it may hurtle itself to a destructive end.
Titles: Honored Counsellor, Ornament of Heaven, Holy Priestess of
Heaven, Supreme Among the Heavenly Gods