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Some New Ideas About "The Descent"
Feb. 5th, 2010 05:31 pmI've been working with Horned God energy recently, and an oracle I received reaffirmed part of that with a mention of "the bull." The term rattled around in the back of my head for several days, then finally resolved itself while I was walking across the parking lot on my way in to work yesterday.
Gugalanna, "The Great Bull of Heaven", was Ereshkigal's first husband. Inanna (who had become Ishtar at the time this story was written down) sent him to attack and kill Gilgamesh when Gilgamesh refused her sexual advances and mocked her. Gilgamesh's friend Enkidu killed Gugalanna and the two mocked and threatened Ishtar with his remains (probably his genitals).
The earlier version of The Descent, gives no reason for Inanna's decision to enter the underworld. In the later Ishtar version, she tells the gatekeeper that she has come to share the mourning rituals for Gugalanna.
When all that finally came together in my head, my first thought was If my husband had died because he was defending the honor of my spoiled outlaw sister, she would be the last person I'd want around while I was mourning!
Then it occurred to me that the stories of The Descent end with Inanna consigning her mortal husband Dumuzi to the underworld in her place.
Apparently when gods die, they are utterly destroyed, for Gugalanna did not end up back in the underworld with his wife. She reigned alone until Nergal was sent down to atone for his rudeness to her messenger.
I have not yet arrived at any new insights or conclusions about the goddesses yet, but this has sparked some interesting thoughts on my own personal journey. . . .
( The personal side. )
Gugalanna, "The Great Bull of Heaven", was Ereshkigal's first husband. Inanna (who had become Ishtar at the time this story was written down) sent him to attack and kill Gilgamesh when Gilgamesh refused her sexual advances and mocked her. Gilgamesh's friend Enkidu killed Gugalanna and the two mocked and threatened Ishtar with his remains (probably his genitals).
The earlier version of The Descent, gives no reason for Inanna's decision to enter the underworld. In the later Ishtar version, she tells the gatekeeper that she has come to share the mourning rituals for Gugalanna.
When all that finally came together in my head, my first thought was If my husband had died because he was defending the honor of my spoiled outlaw sister, she would be the last person I'd want around while I was mourning!
Then it occurred to me that the stories of The Descent end with Inanna consigning her mortal husband Dumuzi to the underworld in her place.
Apparently when gods die, they are utterly destroyed, for Gugalanna did not end up back in the underworld with his wife. She reigned alone until Nergal was sent down to atone for his rudeness to her messenger.
I have not yet arrived at any new insights or conclusions about the goddesses yet, but this has sparked some interesting thoughts on my own personal journey. . . .
( The personal side. )
