Below, I present an abridged excerpt from Howard Sasportas’ book The Gods of Change. He retells the Sumerian legend of the descent of the goddess of the heavens – Inanna – into the underworld to her sister Ereshkigal. Sasportas includes this myth in his book to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the psychological symbolism of the planet Pluto, and in particular, the effects of its transits on the natal astrological chart.
Since Pluto is also one of the names of the archetype of the Destroyer, I, in turn, wished to present it as well. In astrology, Pluto symbolizes death and transformation, and when we are under the influence of its transits, it is said that we go through Plutonic crises. These crises are the Destroyer in action. I overcame my reluctance to include long quotes from books because I believe this myth is extremely important for understanding how the transpersonal forces operate within our own psyche.
“As the story begins, Ereshkigal’s husband has just died, and a funeral is to take place in the underworld. Inanna feels impelled to attend the funeral, to make a journey into Ereshkigal’s domain. She has to go down into a place which she doesn’t really like, a region with which she is unfamiliar, a place that is not her realm.
When Inanna arrives at the first gate into the underworld, Ereshkigal greets her with a dark and poisonous stare: ‘How dare you come into my realm? Even though you are my sister, I will subject you to the same treatment that all souls receive when they enter the underworld.’ Ereshkigal is in a foul mood, and when she feels that way, everyone is made to suffer. She doesn’t stop to consider that Inanna has come to be by her side at her husband’s funeral. Ereshkigal is not concerned with being reasonable or fair. She represents the early, global rage of the infant: when she is angry or unhappy, everything is bad and nothing is good.
Seven gates or portals lead into the depths of the underworld. Ereshkigal orders Inanna to pass through these gates, and at each portal the queen of the heaven must strip something off — her garments, her robes, her jewels — until she arrives in the deepest underworld utterly naked. Then she is instructed to bow before Ereshkigal, to honour the force that has stripped her.
Pluto transits can be similar to a meeting with Ereshkigal. We may have to let go of those things through which we have been deriving our sense of identity. Relationships, jobs, belief-systems, possessions or other forms of attachment can be stripped and taken away, or they lose their validity and appeal. And yet in the myth Inanna is forced to bow before Ereshkigal — to honour as one would a deity the force which has stripped her. Ereshkigal is a goddess, a dark goddess, but a goddess none the less. She is a divinity through which a higher law operates, and in the end she must be honoured as part of life. Being stripped of our identity and attachments is not pleasant: it feels more like a curse than the workings of a divinity. As difficult as it may be to comprehend, Ereshkigal (like Pluto) serves a higher purpose.
In fact, in Inanna’s case the situation gets worse before it gets better. As if stripping Inanna naked and making her bow low isn’t enough punishment, Ereshkigal then kills Inanna and hangs her on a meat hook to rot. The once happy, beautiful and thriving goddess of heaven is left to hang on a peg in the underworld like a dead piece of meat, stewing in her own decay…
Meanwhile, Ereshkigal – who has just lost her husband and killed her sister, and is torn by grief and rage, is also pregnant and having a difficult labour. Ereshkigal not only represents death and decay, but also symbolizes the outraged instincts of the angry, hurt and frustrated child which many of us continue to carry inside. With Inanna dead and the vindictive Ereshkigal in the throes of painful labour, we reach the low point of the story…
Inanna, before embarking on her journey, had wisely instructed her servant Ninshubar to rescue her if she hadn’t returned after three days. Inanna knew she had to go into the underworld, but also knew that she mustn’t get stuck down there. Three days pass, and Inanna is not back yet, so Ninshubar desperately appeals for help. She approaches Inanna’s father and paternal grandfather, but both reply they can do nothing to alter what Ereshkigal decrees. Here we have two strong masculine figures who have no power over Ereshkigal, meaning that the ‘masculine’ prerogative of force and subjugation is not what is needed. Taking a heroic stance against Ereshkigal does not work.
Finally Ninshubar approaches a god called Enki, Inanna’s maternal grandfather, who is known as the god of water and wisdom. He is fluid and compassionate and understands the laws of the underworld. He fashions two small figures called ‘the Mourners’ – tiny, androgynous, unobtrusive little creatures. It seems unbelievable that these tiny and insignificant figures will be able to deal with the mighty Ereshkigal, but it is because they are so small that they manage to slip into the underworld unseen…
Quietly, the two little Mourners creep up. Their task is to save Inanna, but they approach this in a very unusual way. They totally ignore Inanna, and concentrate first on Ereshkigal. Rather than berating Ereshkigal for killing Inanna, they actually choose to commiserate with Ereshkigal, to empathize with the dark goddess. Ereshkigal, in the pain of labour, laments her fate: “Woe is me, woe my inside!” The Mourners take pity on her: “Yes, you who sigh are our queen. Woe your inside!” Then, she cries, “Woe is me, woe my outside!” and they reply “Yes, you who sigh are our queen. Woe your outside!”
In line with the principles of current-day Rogerian therapy, the Mourners mirror back to Ereshkigal what she is experiencing. In doing so, they make her complaining and moaning sound more like prayer or litany. Even in darkness and negativity, there is still something to honour, something to be redeemed. Ereshkigal is amazed. No one has ever honoured her in this way before. Effectively they are saying to Ereshkigal, “You have a right to be. You can complain and carry on as much as you want, we still accept you.” Ereshkigal, grateful for this kind of recognition, offers them any gift they would like. They ask for Inanna back. Ereshkigal agrees, sprinkling Inanna with new life, and the queen of the heavens is revived, free to return to the upper world again.
Pluto transits often symbolize an encounter with Ereshkigal, a time when we have to go down “into the pit” and face that which is painful, loathsome or ugly in ourselves. Pluto transits can bring a deep despair: everything is terrible and life has no hope. But the myth teaches us how to deal with these states. Enki’s Mourners are the key. We need permission to grieve, mourn, and feel angry – not only for people or things which we have lost, but also for lost phases of our life and lost ideals which no longer serve us.
Acceptance allows the healing magic to work. It is only when Ereshkigal is honoured and revered as a deity in her own right that we, like Inanna, can return to the upper world again. This is Enki’s lesson to us; this is Enki’s way of helping us through difficult Pluto transits and bringing us back from the underworld into new life and hope.”
Howard Sasportas, “The Gods of Change: Pain, Crisis, and the Transits of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto”
This article is a logical continuation of the previous ones on Depression as an Archetypal Experience and the archetype of the Destroyer, but its focus is more specific, because the imagery of the myth, more than anything else, helps us to accept and approach even the darkest corners of our soul with compassion. There lies the realm of Ereshkigal.
Let us honour this dark goddess!
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
