House of Who?

"And when you dress in my robes, I shall dance in your feet and sing in your throats.
No man shall be able to resist your enchantments"

House of Inanna - House of Who?

Inanna, © image by Wendy Andrew

Inanna is a goddess of ancient Sumeria, unique among female deities in her personal journey and characteristics. She is one of the earlier known goddesses on the Inanna-Ishtar-Asherah-Aphrodite-Venus continuum.

Inanna (pronounced i-NAH-nah with a short “I”) is variously represented as a goddess of love, war and fertility. She was a major goddess during those ancient times, with many priest/esses worshipping her. She is a very human goddess, multi-dimensional, like us, as opposed to representing only one aspect of life (for example Venus was reduced to only being a goddess of sexual love, although I’m sure she started out representing more than that).

Inanna starts off as a young woman with nothing too special about her, except that her parents are gods. Fairly uniquely among female deities*, she initiates a trip into the underworld for herself. She lets go of clothing and accoutrements that symbolize wealth, status and beauty, among other things. She is flayed alive in the underworld, a sort of shamanic dismemberment, and is eventually saved by allies and is born again into the land of the living.

There are several variants on this story, but the main thrust of it – a young woman, finding her own way, having troubles, having to give up some things to have others - resonates with me. So many myths of this type have a male hero (notably the Arthur cycle as well as Ulysses, to some degree). It’s nice to have a female role model!

At one time, our troupe name was Gipar Inanna, roughly, Dwelling (or Temple) of Inanna. But it was too confusing for the poor announcers who were attempting to roll this name off their tongues, so we made it simpler. “House” can also mean “temple” or “dwelling”, as seen in many religions of the African Diaspora.

- Petra

*Another one: The Boddhisattva Tara. It’s told that the male monks in her village taunted her devoutness to Buddhism, saying, “Too bad you’re a woman – if you were a man, you would be a Boddhisattva!” Then…she became one. A good resource for her: taradhatu.org. Om! Tare Tutare Ture Svaha!

More information:

Wikipedia: Inanna

The White Moon Gallery Presents Inanna

Inanna's Descent: An Archetype of Feminine Self-Discovery and Transformation by Andrea Deagon

Star Light's Secret Doctrine of Being Beautiful

The Myth of Asushunamir

UNRV Venus

Reconnect to your Inner Goddess

In Praise of Inanna and Dumuzi

Images of Inanna:

Inanna, by Wendy Andrew

Inanna, by Thalia Took