Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld

Last week I attended a five-day residential art retreat, Fibres Ballarat, and I’ve written more about the experience on my other blog, Ispirato.

As my personal project in Sandy Webster’s book binding class, I created a set of paper dolls; main characters from the ancient story of Sumerian goddess Inanna’s descent to the Underworld. The dolls are made of watercolor paper covering book board. There is a large book with pages for me to write the story onto, and pockets to hold the smaller dolls. The large Inanna doll has a stand and looks great beside the book opened to the page that holds a paper doll of her rotting corpse!

I have recently re-read Sylvia Brinton Perera’s book, “Descent to the Goddess”, which offers an analysis of this myth. The themes of surrendering and transformation are particularly attractive to me.

In a nutshell, the story goes like this: Inanna is the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her sister, Ereshkigal rules the Underworld. When Ereshkigal’s husband, the Great Bull (and symbol of male fertility) dies, Inanna (representing female fertility) feels obliged to descend to the Underworld for his funeral, knowing it means certain death for her to do so. Inanna surrenders to Ereshkigal. She is killed and her corpse hung on a nail to rot.

Back on Earth, the plants and animals begin to die. A cunning rescue of Inanna is organized by Enki, God of Water and Wisdom. Ereshkigal is won over by kindness and surrenders her sister’s corpse, the body is restored to life and Inanna returns to Earth. But the demons of the Underworld tell her she must send someone back to the Underworld to stand in her place.

Inanna vows she will send no one who mourned her when she died. When she hears her own husband, Dumuzi, has not been mourning, Inanna sets out angrily to find him. Dumuzi’s sister, Geshtinanna tells Dumuzi to run away and she begs Inanna to send her to the Underworld in her brother’s place. Hence, Geshtinanna surrenders. In the end, Inanna decrees that Dumuzi will spend six months below, then Geshtinanna will take his place the other half of each year. This is how the seasons came to be.

I like this story because all three female characters can be perceived as different aspects of a single Great Goddess, and they all go through stages of surrender and transformation.

The book and dolls are a work in progress. I am thinking the dolls could be used by a professional storyteller almost like puppets. As they are nude, they might not be appropriate for an audience of children, so I intend to make them some clothes!

This post relates to Art Dolls number 29-35, Inanna Art Doll Set , April 08, by Stacey Apeitos.)