I probably mentioned in a previous post that I’m working my way through Rod and Ring: An Initiation Into a Mesopotamian Mystery Tradition by Samuel David. I just started the second section of the book last month, which is taking me through a journey of meeting seven gods, many of whom I wasn’t previously very familiar with. I mainly worship Inanna, and I am undertaking this initiatory journey to better know the other gods of the pantheon so that I may better understand Inanna. To better acquaint myself with these ancient deities I’m getting to know through this initiatory journey, and to honor them by bringing back awareness to their presence, I am writing an article for each deity as I meet them through the journey. Last month I met the god of fire, Gibil. Here is the article I wrote for him:
Gibil is the ancient Sumerian god of fire and light. As a god of fire, he was both feared for the destructive power of fire as well as praised for its benefits to civilization. He was the oppressive heat of the desert in Mesopotamian summer, as well as the creative spark of the fires used by potters in their kilns, bakers in the ovens, and metallurgists in their forges.
Gibil was considered the patron god of metallurgists, as his fire was used to refine metals. He was also praised as a god of kilns and brickwork for the role fire played in the creation process of bricks. Bakers relied on Gibil’s fire to bake their bread. Because of the creative potential fire had for the formation of civilization, Gibil was often called the “founder of cities.” Gibil, with his purifying fires, also played an important role in purification rituals, in which he was commonly invoked alongside other important gods such as Enki/Ea, Marduk, and Utu/Shamash.
This month, I met Ninurta. I am working on his article right now, and will post it here once I finish and the HubPages editors do whatever it is they do before publishing to the niche sites.
A few months ago, I wanted to make a figurine of Inanna using some colored stone-esque Sculpey clay I found in my hoard of craft supplies. I’m not great at art, so I didn’t want to attempt anything too ambitious. I’ve always been drawn to the eye idol figurines that were uncovered in Tell Brak in what was once Northern Mesopotamia. They are cute and simple to make. I still have a few reproductions that I made about 20 years ago when I first got interested in Mesopotamian history/mythology as a teenager (I was a weird kid, which is probably why I’m now a weird adult). So I had the idea to combine imagery from the Burney Relief (aka Queen of the Night), an ancient relief sculpture that most archaeologists believe to represent Inanna/Ishtar.
I was originally going to make it all pink, but I didn’t have enough pink, so I used light blue for the details an accessories. I think the blue eyes work very well, considering blue eyes, typically made from lapis lazuli (considered a sacred stone), are seen in a lot of Mesopotamian art.
The original eye idols were mainly found in what is now Tell Brak in modern-day Syria. A smaller number of these sculptures were also later found in Tell Hamoukar. They are probably meant to be abstract representations of human worshipers meant as votive offerings to an as-of-yet unidentified deity or deities. The large, prominent eyes likely represent attentiveness to the gods, as do the large eyes seen throughout Mesopotamian art. They are NOT supposed to be “grey aliens” as the “ancient astronauts” conspiracy theorists claim. For more information than you probably want about these figurines, see The Eyes Have It: An In-Depth Study of the Tell Brak Eye Idols in the 4th Millennium BCE: with a primary focus on function and meaning (Honors Thesis by Arabella Cooper from the University of Syndey).
Example of a Tell Brak “eye idol,” Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of The Institute of Archaeology, The University of London, 1951
The Burney Relief, also known as Queen of the Night, is the best known image of Inanna/Ishtar, though there is some debate by archaeologist over exactly which goddess it is meant to represent. Most believe it is meant to be Inanna/Ishtar, though there are some who argue that it may be Ereshkigal or Lilith (Lilith is NOT a Mesopotamian deity. She is a figure from Semitic folklore). It is unknown where exactly this ancient work of art was actually discovered, as it wasn’t excavated archaeologically. It most likely originates from Southern Mesopotamia, but the exact site location is unknown. The relief features iconography commonly associated with Inanna/Ishtar, including the rod and ring symbol, lions, wings, and the horned headdress.
Burney Relief (Queen of the Night). Mesopotamian terracotta plaque depicting a winged, nude, goddess-like figure with bird’s talons, flanked by owls, and perched upon two lions. Height: 49.5 cm. Old-Babylonian, 19th-18th cent. BCE. British Museum
I just finished Learn to Read Ancient Sumerian: An Introduction for Complete Beginners by Joshua Bowen and Megan Lewis (other than the additional exercises in the appendix), as well as their YouTube series that goes along with the book. I feel like I need to go back through the whole book and video course to really understand it and memorize everything, however. Verbal chains are hard!
Anyway, I had the idea to make little “flashcards” from clay to help me memorize the cuneiform signs. I made them for the signs shown in every chapter of the book. Here is an article I wrote on how I made them:
It is frustratingly difficult to find any information regarding Ereshkigal, the Sumerian goddess of the underworld (Kur or Irkalla in Sumerian). She is commonly referred to as Inanna’s older sister, though I don’t think she is meant to be Inanna’s literal sister (as Inanna is referred to as the “eldest daughter of the moon god, Nanna.” I need to do more research about this though), the same way that, in the myths, Enki, Enlil, and An are all sometimes referred to as Inanna’s father. It’s more a poetic/literary description than an actual genealogical description.
Ereshkigal is probably best known for her role in the the myth of Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld.
As queen of the underworld, Ereshkigal takes care of the dead. I like to think of her as mother figure, nurturing the dead until such time they are ready to move on to whatever comes next (again, I need to do more research into the full beliefs of the ancient Sumerians, if such information even still survives. Hint, hint: comment if you have any good resources to share).
Anyway, I was looking for traditional prayers to Ereshkigal, but came up empty. However, I found two modern prayers to Ereshkigal that I’d like to share. These are meant to ask Ereshkigal to take care of a newly arrived soul and welcome them into her domain.
Prayer to Ereshkigalby Rebecca Buchanan
Nether Queen
Soul Shelter
Who welcomes the dead into your darkness
your warmth
your arms
Who weeps for the babe who comes too soon
the warrior bearing the wounds of battle
the mother with swollen breasts unsuckled
the grandfather with hands gnarled and weary
Nether Queen
Soul Shelter
Welcome ____ into your darkness
your warmth
your arms
Prayer to Ereshkigal IIby Rebecca Buchanan
ereshkigal:
great queen
beneath the earth:
in your palace
of ash bone
and brilliant blue stone:
I pray:
welcome _____
into your twilit halls
with cups of rich beer
platters of mint lamb
and honeyed figs____
These prayers are both originally from a blog called Neos Alexandria. From their about page, “Neos Alexandria is a community for Greco-Egyptians, Hellenics, Kemetics, Romans, Neopagans and others interested in learning about the Gods; their ancient and contemporary forms of worship; Greco-Egyptian culture; and in sharing our personal experiences and insights.” Though the site is dedicated to Greco-Egyptian, Hellenic, Kemetic, and Roman gods, there is a bit of useful stuff for Sumerian/Near Eastern pagans as well.
Edit: I was looking around the site mentioned above some more after I posted this. They publish a number of books, and I found three titles that looked useful to my practice, which I have ordered from Thriftbooks and Amazon (for the one not currently available on Thriftbooks). Just thought I’d share for anyone looking for books to read (obviously I haven’t read them yet to know if they are actually any good – I’m just excited to find more books other than the half a dozen or so that are always recommended on the Inanna and Sumerian Facebook groups).
This tarot spread is based on the myth of Inanna’s descent to the underworld, and is meant to guide you through your own version this myth to help you confront your own “dark side.” I found this spread on a WordPress blog called Occultopraxia, but the blogger says they got it from a book by Hans Banzhof (whom I can’t find any information on). This spread seems to draw on Jungian psychology, which has some issues, but I find that it’s still a useful spread.
Unlike the previous tarot spread I shared here, this one isn’t for communicating directly with the goddess. Instead, this one is to help you confront your own psychological “stuff,” drawing on the characters and plot of the myth as your guide. This spread takes you through the seven gates of the underworld, the confrontation with Ereshkigal, and the ascent out of the underworld.
The meanings of each card in the spread are as follows:
1. “Inanna” – bright or visible side of personality, which may become whole and healthy by confrontation with the shadow (10).
2. “Neti” or “Reception at the gate to the Underworld” – motivation to confronting the shadow, and what it looks like from the outside.
3–9. Values, ways to behave, habits, wishes, positions, expectations etc. which we must renounce.
10. “Ereshkigal” – the shadow to break free from or integrate with. The hidden or dark side of personality, what should be extracted, understood, what existence should be accepted.
11. “Ninshubur” – a helpful force, ally “in the upper world”.
12. The first stimulus to rebirth.
13. The second stimulus to rebirth.
14. The reborn, whole and healthy person.
15. “Dumuzi” – “the sacrifice”, motives and attitudes that we must give up for a long time.
The original author of the spread said to divide the deck into major and minor arcana, and shuffle these separately so that cards 10, 12, 13, and 14 are drawn from the major arcana and the rest from the minor arcana. I don’t do this. I just draw the whole spread from the whole deck, and it works just fine for me.
The blog where I found the spread also gives the following additional instructions for using the spread:
The interpretation begins with cards 1, 10 and 14, which constitute the skeleton of the spread. The first card represent the querent as she or he feels about her- or himself now, how she or he perceives her- or himself. Because of some reason, as Inanna who wanted to get into the Underworld, the querent wishes to look at some hidden features of her or his personality, even though finding and waking them up may be a dangerous path. Card no. 10 shows the querent what those features are. They may consist of suppressed emotions or abilities (like aggression, assertiveness, sexuality, sensuality, even artistic talents despised by the parents) or unhealed traumas. If the querent decide to confront them and accept them (if they are positive but neglected abilities) or ultimately get rid of them (in case of negative emotions or traumatic past), she or he will became a person represented by the card no. 14. This card actually shows if the process is worth going through.
Interpretation for other questions
The spread may be also used for questions concerning important decisions in life, like accepting a new job, changing a profession, moving to another city or state etc. Then the interpretation of cards differs slightly. Card no. 1 may tell about how the querent feels about her- or himself, but may also show her or his position in the society. Card no. 10 may indicate the qualities the querent will have to find within her- or himself and demonstrate, if she or he makes that decision. It may be, for example, aggressiveness or selfishness, needed for making a career. The interpretation of the card no. 14 doesn’t really differ from the described above. But cards no. 3 – 9 and 15 are very important and they can be decisive. They show all the things the querent will have to get rid of or will loose. Sometimes it may turn out that even though card no. 14 shows a successful, rich person, some cards from the group 3 – 9 or 15 indicate a family breakdown, lack of free time or loss of health, which may be a price the querent doesn’t want to pay.
Inanna’s Descent Tarot Spread with the Babylonian Tarot
Above is an example of a reading I did using this spread. I also included the base card. Two other cards also randomly fell out of the deck, so I included them in my interpretation as well.
Originally this post was going to contain two different spreads that I recently began using that both deal with the goddess Inanna, but as I was writing it, I realized I should make two separate posts, since the goals of these two spreads are so completely different. I didn’t create these spreads. I found them both online. The first spread I want to share was designed to help you to communicate directly with Inanna.
Humans have been using divination methods to communicate with their gods as long as there have been humans and gods. Luckily for modern worshipers, with the “recent” invention of the printing press, we can now use tarot cards instead of sheep livers.
I found it on a blog called Journey of an Eclectic Witch, hosted on Tumblr. The layout of this spread is based on Inanna’s symbol, the 8-point star. The position of each card is based on one of the cardinal directions, so I find it most useful to sit facing North when using this spread, just to avoid confusion.
The creator of the spread offered to different ways that they like to use the spread. It can be used to identify both your feelings and Inanna’s feelings about the situation, or only Inanna’s feelings and thoughts. I’m also working on some other ways to utilize this spread (I might make an additional post to share later depending on my results. I’m still experimenting with it). The instructions and layout photo provided by the author of Journey of an Eclectic Witch (I can’t find their name. I’m terrible with Tumblr) are as follows:
This is the spread I use for communicating with Inanna. I explicitly work with Inanna, but it will carry over perfectly well to work with Ishtar. It is based off of her symbol of an 8 pointed star. This is a very flexible spread, and I use it different ways. However, with all of them when I have completed reading all 8 cards, I will lay one final card in the center to bring the overall message into focus. One thing I have found particularly beneficial when working with Inanna is using a deck which is very imagery heavy, as she often ignores the traditional meaning of the cards in favor of emotions evoked by the art. Using this deck, the Paulina Tarot by Paulina Cassidy, was our negotiation as an additional means of communication beyond reading clouds. The below methods of reading this spread are identify card positions as if they were on a compass rose.
1. The first way I read this is by identifying the North card as my thoughts and emotions, the South card as Inanna’s thoughts and emotions, the East card as the future, and the West card as the past. NE, NW, SE, SW, then are the ties, either in how the transition occurred or in our thoughts on the matter.
2. The second way I read this is to read Inanna’s thoughts and emotions either generally or on a specific matter. I use this technique if I don’t have strong emotions that I need help reconciling with what she will tell me. For that, N is her thoughts and feelings, S is her divine aspect as it plays into the situation, W is the past, and E is the future. Again, the remaining four cards show the relationship between each cardinal direction.
When I use this spread, I layout the cards a little bit differently, just for my own ease of use.
Inanna’s Star tarot spread with the Crow Tarot deck
For this reading, I used the second suggested way to read the spread, with Inanna’s thoughts and emotions represented by the north card and Her divine aspect as related to the situation for the south card. I did change it a bit though. Instead of past and future for the west and east cards, west represents advice/suggested path to take and east represents the likely result if the advice is followed. I’ve also been experimenting with using the base card (the card at the bottom of the deck after laying out the rest of the spread) in my readings for additional clarity lately.
As suggested, I try to use decks that are imagery-heavy with this spread, particularly the Crow tarot (as in my photo) and the Babylonian tarot (which I guess isn’t super imagery-heavy, but I find it useful having Mesopotamian-themed imagery for this sort of reading, so that Inanna can more easily use symbols related to Her myths to get the point across.)
Inanna’s Star spread using the Babylonian Tarot
When I use this spread, I like to start by lighting some incense as an offering to Inanna on my altar. Its the least I can do for bothering Her for advice.
I’ll post the second spread in its own post. The other one is based on the myth of Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld.
A cold cap (also known as a “cool cap”) is a relatively new invention that allows cancer patients to keep some of their hair during chemo treatments. This revolutionary product works by freezing an individual’s hair follicles so they don’t receive the full effect of chemotherapy drugs. Scalp cooling has been proven to reduce hair loss for almost all solid tumor cancer treatments.
There are currently two types of scalp cooling systems. This includes:
Machine: This cold capping system works by sending coolant through a special cap that is worn during chemotherapy treatments.
Manual: These are similar to machine-based systems but require users to manually switch frozen caps throughout the treatment.
This article discusses my experience with the Paxman scalp cooling system. It examines the device itself, the process involved, potential side effects, and the cap’s overall effectiveness. I have also included some practical tips for using the device and links to charities that help cover the costs of scalp cooling.
We got our third cat, Ishtar, about four months ago. Like Freyja and Salem, Ishi is an adorable little black cat.
Ishtar was originally a stray who was abandoned outside near my brother-in-law’s and his wife’s house. She was apparently there for about two years, since she was a kitten. Eventually they noticed she had developed a very bad skin infection on her ears and brought her in to take her for veterinary care and nurse her back to health. She was checked for a microchip. She had one from when she was initially brought into a vet to be spayed, but it had fake info and they couldn’t get in contact with the person registered to it. The vet in Texas said that her skin condition should clear up fine, and shouldn’t be a problem in the future if she is kept as an indoor cat, especially since she would be moving up north were the allergens aren’t as much of an issue.
Steve sent Hans a picture of Ishi, who was at that time referred to as Princess Snapdragon (technically, I kept her original name as part of her name. Her “government name” is Princess Ishtar Marie Snapdragon). He asked if we wanted another cat and told Hans to show me the picture. Hans acted like he wasn’t sure about getting a third cat, but he obviously wanted her, or he wouldn’t have shown me the picture, since me seeing her would obviously seal our fate. (I also pulled the “cancer card,” which I try not to do too often since its annoying. “After everything I went through last year, I deserve a new kitty baby to love!”)
Ishtar showing off her mlem skills and pink toe beans.
Hans and I agreed to meet Steve half-way between each of our houses (Cleveland, OH and Houston, TX), at some random hotel in Jackson, Tennessee. We drove over 600 miles to get her, descending just past the entrance gates of the American underworld that is the Bible Belt. We drove from Cleveland to Jackson in one day, stayed the night, and drove back the next day so we wouldn’t need to pay for more nights in hotels or miss work.
The journey south wasn’t without perils. When we were nearing Columbus, the car started riding really rough and a horrible noise screeched from the front right wheel. When we pulled over at a rest stop to check it out, two of the lug nuts holding on the wheel were missing. Hans had just gotten an oil change and tire rotation, and they must not have tightened them enough. We ended up finding a parts store to get replacement lug nuts so we could finish the journey (he called the oil change place when we got back and he took the car back in). A third lug nut was missing by time we got to the parts store.
The “Hell is Real” sign. An Ohio landmark…
Once that little mishap was taken care of, it was still a long, long journey ahead. It took over ten hours to reach Jackson, TN after accounting for the above mentioned detour, bathroom breaks, and food stops. At least the further south you drive, the more White Castles you encounter. Of course we took advantage of that. There were interesting sights to see along the way, such as the famous Hell is Real billboard between Columbus and Cincinnati and ads for oddly specific museums, such as a pocket knife museum.
Eventually we made it to the hotel, where Steve and Ishtar were already waiting for us. Ishtar was understandably scared and was hiding under the bed when we arrived. Eventually we got her to come out and she went in her carrier. She had a huge carrier that took up the entire back seat of the car so she had plenty of room to move about on the journey. She had a litter box, food, and a cardboard box with a towel in the carrier as well. She was a little afraid of us at first, but she did end up coming out of the carrier and playing with me in the middle of the night in the hotel room. She even snuggled with me in bed for a bit!
All three babies: Ishtar, Freyja, and Salem
The drive home with our new baby was less eventful than the drive down. She meowed most of the ten hours we were in the car, but she did well. When we got home, Freyja and Salem didn’t seem too interested in her. I think they were more interested in being fed a proper wet-food meal since they were stuck with only dry food for the almost two days we were gone.
I chose the name Ishtar after the Akkadian/Babylonian name for the goddess Inanna. I know the goddess as Inanna, so I didn’t want to use her exact name out of respect/to avoid confusion. (I know there is some debate in pagan circles about whether is ok to name pets after deities. I feel like it depends on the specific deity and how they feel about it). I also originally chose Freyja’s name because the goddess Freyja seemed superficially similar to Inanna to me, and Freyja is associated with cats and magick. Hans picked Salem’s name because we were watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the original ’90s version) at the time we found him, and he looks kind of like Salem Saberhagen. I later looked up the etymology of the name Salem and found out that it comes from the Canaanite got Shalim, who, like Inanna, is associated with the planet Venus. Knowing this, Ishtar is the perfect name for our newest addition!
Ishtar malfunctioning while awaiting her turn with the communal brain cell.
Ishi’s lost fur was mostly grown back by time we got her home, except for a little patch behind her left ear, which reminded me a lot of the bald spot I had above my ear from chemo where the cold cap wasn’t secured tight enough. It was meant to be! She is super soft, just like Freyja and Salem, and she got even softer after giving her skin and fur supplement treats for a few weeks.
She was already spayed, vaccinated, and tested for contagious cat diseases before we brought her home, so we didn’t need to have those things done. We did keep her separated from the other two cats for a couple weeks, as you are supposed to do when you bring in a new kitty. There has been some scuffles and confrontations between Ishtar and her older sister and brother, but nothing too extreme. She is starting to become friends with Freyja. Salem, at times, almost seems afraid of Ishtar when she tries to play with him, even though she is so much smaller. I’m confident that eventually all three kittens will become BFFs.
I know, I never came back to post any updates on my treatments, or anything else that I’ve been doing in the last year. Every time I thought to write about my cancer journey, I just couldn’t bring myself to sit down and do it. I’m just not interested in reliving that experience — though I’ll probably have to relive it eventually anyway, thanks to my genetic mutation. One of these days, I do still want to write up a full review of the Paxman Cold Cap, because I feel like everyone who has to have chemo should know about it (I did still have a lot of shedding, but I had enough hair left that no one could tell that I had cancer. At least that’s what everyone said to my face). That review will probably go on one of the HubPages network sites, where people will actually be able to find it from their search engines.
I finished my AmeriCorps term and I’ve been employed at the same organization where I served for the past year. I also finished my CDA course, passed the test and observation, and received my credential.
Since my cancer diagnosis, I’ve been getting back into spirituality. I debated whether I should discuss this type of thing on my public blog. I’ve been drawn to the goddess Inanna since I was in my early teens. While in treatment, I recalled the myth of Inanna’s descent. This story became a source of inspiration to keep me going. I’ve gone through many different phases of spiritual seeking throughout my life, but Inanna has always been the deity I turned to for guidance. There is much more to it that this, but I’m going to keep it short for this post.
At the same time, I was discussing spirituality with a friend who was also in the midst of her own breast cancer journey. I met her over a decade ago at a Buddhist meditation class. She was also interested in paganism and started inviting me to pagan events with her. I had been thinking about getting involved with the larger pagan community for decades, but was a bit intimidated. What if non-pagans think I’m crazy? Or discriminate against me? What if pagans think I’m just a “fluffy bunny?” (I haven’t really seen that term used in years, but that seemed to be a valid concern when I first dipped my toes in the pagan world as a teen). What will my husband think? I wasn’t too concerned what other friends/family would think, however. Only Hans stood by me during my cancer battle, so no one else really gets a say in what I include in my life (not that they did before, but you know what I mean).
So anyway, meeting other pagans helped me feel more comfortable in practicing more publicly. There aren’t a whole lot of people out there who follow Sumerian deities like Inanna, but I’ve recently found there is a small community of Mesopotamian pagans out there. A few weeks ago I attended an online conference called IshtarFest, and it was amazing! I’m also going through the initiatory rituals in Rod and Ring: An Initiation into a Mesopotamian Mystery Tradition by Samuel David to deepen my practice and to become better acquainted with the deities.
I also recently found a book and YouTube series to learn to read the ancient Sumerian language, so I’m working on that right now too. I want to be able to read the original Sumerian myths someday (and be able to say “that’s not what the cuneiform says!” when ancient astronaut theorists make their crazy claims!)
Oh, and I’ve had pink hair since September. I cut my hair way shorter than its ever been (above shoulder length) before starting chemo because people said that the cold cap would probably work better with shorter hair, something about less weight being less strain on the follicles or something? idfk. Anyway, I hate it so short. But I like it pink, so it’s going to stay pink at least until it grows back out to its normal length. Some people might think I’m too old for crazy hair, but they’ve got it all wrong. Since there’s a good chance I won’t live long enough to have a proper “eccentric old lady” phase, I’m having my eccentric phase now.
Sorry for the title. I did not resist the millennial urge to post (not so) cryptic song lyrics…
Pardon me for not updating this blog for a while. A lot has happened since my last update.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the beginning of January. It’s only stage 1a, but its triple negative. I already knew that I was BRCA1+, so I have already been having regular screenings, which is how it was found so early in the first place. It has about a 99%-100% survival rate with treatment at this stage apparently, so I just have to get through the treatments and I should be fine.
I had my lumpectomy in February and have had 2 of my 4 chemo treatments. Since it was triple negative, I have to have the chemo to prevent distance recurrence, since there isn’t much else they can do about triple negative breast cancer. When those are finished, I’ll need radiation as well to prevent local recurrence. I’ll likely write more about this whole experience on HubPage’s Patient’s Lounge website one of these day, but I haven’t much felt like talking or writing about it yet.
Aside from that, I’m still serving with AmeriCorps at Horizon. I’ve been my team’s LeaderCorps member since February. For our service project, we recently installed a community refrigerator at the Elyria Public Library South Branch in partnership with the Elyria Public Library. It is part of the Freedge project, and the first official Freedge in the state of Ohio.
The Pioneer Freedge
Our mobile food pantries have also started back up this month. In cooperation with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, we give out free fresh produce in the parking lot at three of our centers, each one Thursday a month.
I’m also working on my CDA (Child Development Associate) credential so that I can further my career in childcare/preschool once I’m done with AmeriCorps. Horizon sponsors employees, including AmeriCorps members, to take the courses, so I couldn’t pass up to opportunity!
I’m putting publishing any more children’s books on the back burner until I learn more about child development from my classes. The more I learn, the more I realize I need to learn more! I want to be sure anything new I put out there is actually developmentally appropriate.
Really, I’m just trying to keep my mind on anything other than my diagnosis. I fully intend to come out of this even stronger than before!
