The Goddess Inanna

"My father gave me the heavens,
gave me the earth,
I am Inanna!
Kingship he gave me,
queenship he gave me,
waging of battle and attack he gave me,
the floodstorm he gave me,
the hurricane he gave me!
The heavens he set as a crown upon my head,
the earth he set as sandals on my feet,
a holy robe he wrapped around my body,
a holy scepter he placed in my hand.
The gods are sparrows, I am a falcon."
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NAMES:
Inanna (I-nanna, Queen Moon) - Inana - Inninna - Innin - Ninanna - Nin-me-sa-ra
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(Mesopotamian: Sumerian) Great Goddess of love, war, fertility and infinite
variety; chief goddess of the Sumerian pantheon. (She corresponds to the
Babylonian/Akkadian ISHTAR).
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Inanna originated as goddess of the date storehouse who each year ritually
married Damuzi, the date harvest god. Her attributes are so many, so varied, and
so often conflicting that she is likely a fusion of several earlier goddesses.
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The original Dance of the Seven Veils was Inannaís descent into the Underworld,
her sister Ereshkigalís realm, where she was gradually stripped naked as she
passed through the seven gates. First went her crown, next earrings, then
necklace, breast pins, belt of birthstones, then bracelets and finally her gown.
No acts of procreation took place on earth while Inanna was in the Underworld.
When she discovered that her only way out was in exchange for someone else, she
betrayed Damuzi into taking her place. Inanna's time in the Underworld is a myth
of the lunar cycle, Damuzi's a myth of the seasons.
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Inanna figures in various myths and epics, including The Epic of Gilgamesh. She
got Enki drunk and tricked him into bestowing many attributes and powers upon
her. In the myth The Elevation of Inanna, Enki, An and Enlil all give their
powers to Inanna, making her the Queen of the Universe. Inanna is a femme fatale
whose lovers always seem to come to grief. She is impatient, impetuous, and
demanding. Gilgamesh risked death when he spurned her advances, comparing
her to a back door that would let cold air into the house.
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TITLE:
Our Lady - Queen of the Universe - Mistress of Heaven - Queen of Heaven - Lady
of Uruk and Nineveh - The Storehouse - Protectress of Harlots - Queen Moon -
Nin-me-sa-ra, Lady of Myriad Offices
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RULES:
love, war, fertility, rain, prostitutes, lightning, thunder, tears, rejoicing,
enmity, fair dealing, stars, planets, wool, meat, grain, the natural world

"To pester, insult, deride, desecrate - and to venerate -
is your domain, Inanna.
Downheartedness, calamity, heartache - and joy and good cheer -
is your domain, Inanna.
Trembling, affright, terror - dazzling and glory -
is your domain, Inanna."

FAMILY:
Inanna is Nanna's daughter, sister to Utu, Ishkur and Erishkigal. She is
sometimes considered An's daughter.
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PLANET:
Mars - Moon - Uranus - Venus (as both the morning and the evening star)
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STAR: Inana is associated with Sirius, the Bowstar

ELEMENT: Earth - Water
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SYMBOL:
star of eight or sixteen points - a bundle of reeds tied in three places with
streamers - rose - sacred tree or wooden totem
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NUMBER: 15
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ZODIAC: Virgo
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DEPICTED:
winged, with tiered skirt, horned headdress and weapons case - naked, with
jewelry - standing atop a mountain - with winged lions

SACRED ANIMAL:
cow - lion - lion cub - dragon - Inanna is often attended by Imdugud, the
thunderbird

PLANT: rose - date palm - grain

VEHICLE: chariot drawn by seven lions - reed boat - lion

GEOGRAPHY:
Nineveh, Uruk (Iraq) - Inanna's temple was the Eanna (House of Heaven), in Uruk

NATIVITY: January 2

INVOKE INANNA FOR:
sexual freedom - fertility - healing - love spells - sex magic - fatal love -
power - abundance - procreation - battle, especially battling evil - tempests -
rain - fashion - fertility of the natural world - destroying the indestructible
- making the imperishable perish - fair dealing - a promotion - increased
responsibility at work - guarding storehouses - igniting or extinguishing
fires - oracles of war and battle - money spells (Ninanna)

Invoke Inanna: at dawn - in warehouses - where prostitutes stroll at night
Worship Inanna by making offerings to her at dawn

"The great queen of heaven, Inanna, I will hail!
The only one, come forth on high, I will hail!
The pure torch that flares in the sky,
the heavenly light shining bright like the day,
the great queen of heaven, Inanna, I will hail!
Of her standing in the sky like the sun and moon,
known by all lands from south to north,
of the greatness of the holy one in heaven
to the Lady I will sing."
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Ancient hymns quoted here are adapted from The Treasures of Darkness:
A History of Mesopotamian Religion, by Thorkild Jacobsen