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qosIn the course of a conversation on someone else's LJ, this comment was made:
Ereshkigal is Not Nice, At All.
That is, of course, the common opinion of Ereshkigal. Since I haven't talked all that much about Her in this journal, I thought it was worthwhile to post my response here:
I used to be of that opinion. Since going to to work for Her full time, my perspective has changed.
Inanna is about violating boundaries. Ereshkigal is about enforcing and defending them. Ereshkigal is also about Facing Your Shit, dealing with your shadow, facing the darkness and going through transformation so you can rise again as more than what you were. She's one of the gods who manage the spiritual forges, those who help us be healed by hardship rather than destroyed by it. She and Inanna are the opposing-but-complementary-poles on the Descent-and-Ascent path of transformation.
In my direct experience with Her, She is a tough but supportive boss who doesn't accept excuses or quibbling, but who is willing to answer questions and respond to arguments, and She is quick to give praise when it's been earned. She's not cuddly, but She is compassionate, in a tough love kind of way. She won't blink or flinch as She hangs you up on a hook, but She doesn't do it just for fun.
Do you know the musical Into the Woods? Toward the end, the Witch sings:
You're so nice
You're not good, you're not bad
You're just nice.
I'm not good, I'm not nice
I'm just right
I'm the witch
You're the world
I think they make an appropriate response to any allegation of Ereshkigal not being "nice."
Not Her job.
Ereshkigal is Not Nice, At All.
That is, of course, the common opinion of Ereshkigal. Since I haven't talked all that much about Her in this journal, I thought it was worthwhile to post my response here:
I used to be of that opinion. Since going to to work for Her full time, my perspective has changed.
Inanna is about violating boundaries. Ereshkigal is about enforcing and defending them. Ereshkigal is also about Facing Your Shit, dealing with your shadow, facing the darkness and going through transformation so you can rise again as more than what you were. She's one of the gods who manage the spiritual forges, those who help us be healed by hardship rather than destroyed by it. She and Inanna are the opposing-but-complementary-poles on the Descent-and-Ascent path of transformation.
In my direct experience with Her, She is a tough but supportive boss who doesn't accept excuses or quibbling, but who is willing to answer questions and respond to arguments, and She is quick to give praise when it's been earned. She's not cuddly, but She is compassionate, in a tough love kind of way. She won't blink or flinch as She hangs you up on a hook, but She doesn't do it just for fun.
Do you know the musical Into the Woods? Toward the end, the Witch sings:
You're so nice
You're not good, you're not bad
You're just nice.
I'm not good, I'm not nice
I'm just right
I'm the witch
You're the world
I think they make an appropriate response to any allegation of Ereshkigal not being "nice."
Not Her job.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-17 08:04 pm (UTC)Wow! That fills in a blank spot for me and helps explain her non-consensual possession of me during a ritual at CA WitchCamp. She wouldn't leave either when I tried to get Her out. I had to get another priestess to help.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-18 01:03 am (UTC)Inanna is a very popular goddess these days (as such things go), but people get so caught up in the drama of The Descent that they ignore her other stories and the telling details in them that reveal a lot more about her personality and her place in her original pantheon.
I love her dearly -- but she's an outlaw, despite the "Queen of Heaven and Earth" title. Or rather: one of the reasons I love her is because she's an outlaw.