Episode 65: Inanna
/Take a journey down to the underworld with us and our new favorite goddess, Inanna. Listen to how the Queen of Heaven got her start, got a man, got killed... then came back. Also featuring incorrect Shakespeare quotes, the androgynous demon aesthetic, and SO MUCH MUSIC FROM OKLAHOMA.
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Transcript
AM: Welcome to Spirits Podcast Episode 65: Inanna.
JS: I can tell that you really like the new mics because you just spoke very sexily into the new microphones.
AM: Oh, my god. Did I really?
JS: Yeah.
AM: I didn't intend to.
JS: Episode 65: Inanna. I’m like, “All right.”
AM: Fame has changed us.
JS: Yeah.
AM: And, now, I use my broadcaster voice.
JS: Your broadcaster voice.
AM: It’s very RP darling. No. I’ve been listening to a lot of The Crown.
JS: Checks out. Checks out.
AM: Yeah. Yeah. Listening to? Watching? I don't know, man. Maybe it’s a lie. I'm very --
JS: So, the episode.
AM: -- I'm very red wine.
JS: Yep, very red wine.
AM: Yep. And this bit is great.
JS: Yes, it is.
AM: I don't remember anything about it.
JS: Is it really? Okay.
AM: Because we recorded it a week ago.
JS: Okay.
AM: And it's – oh, now, I'm getting some images. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. All right. It's good. It's a good one.
JS: Mhmm. It, it is a good one. It's one of my favorites.
AM: Don't worry. Also, one of my favorites – do you want to guess who?
JS: Our patrons.
AM: Our patrons.
JS: Especially our new ones.
AM: Yes. Welcome to Joseph, Sarah, Heather, James and Danielle. And thanks as always to our beautiful supporting producers who would totally look badass walking into hell; Neal, Philip, Julie, Sara, Kristina, Josh, Eeyore, Sandra, Cammie, Lindsey, Ryan, Shelby, Lin, Mercedes, Phil, Catherine, and Debra.
JS: You all wear the crown of heaven in our heart.
MA: Mmm. And to our legend level patrons.
JS: Scepter of the sky.
AM: Scepters of the sky for us and our hearts; LeAnn, Ashley, Cassie, AshleyMarie, Bridge, and Shannon. Welcome.
JS: Wooh! Oh, we want to remind you guys again. We have some wonderful shows that we are part of a collective podcast with. So, you probably heard us mention, at least – no, you've probably heard us mention all of them at least ones.
AM: Yes.
JS: If you are interested in Dungeons and Dragons, queerness, and, like, amazing storytelling that features some of the creatures that we talked about on Spirits, you should check out Join the Party. They just wrapped up one of their arcs – campaign arcs.
AM: Yeah.
JS: And it’s a blast. They go to a place called [Inaudible 1:59]. And it's exactly as wonderful as you think it is.
AM: Yeah. And you can go to jointhepartypod.com/recap. We need, like, a nice recap of the first 11 episodes.
JS: Oh, nice.
AM: Yeah. That way, you don't have to, like, listen to hours and hours of stuff if you want to jump in.
JS: Mhmm.
AM: But it's really good I co-host it. I play a, like, lesbian skater team. And it is the funniest, like, just storytelling with buds --
JS: It is. It is great.
AM: -- you know, that other people can participate in. And, Julia, you, this week, are also guest starring on another Multitude show, Potterless.
JS: Yes, Potterless.
AM: Yay.
JS: Potterless is the story of Mike Schubert, who is a 25-year-old man who's reading the Harry Potter books for the first time. And, listen --
AM: It’s precious.
JS: -- as, as Will William said today on Twitter, “If you love Harry Potter and also joy, you should listen to Potterless.”
AM: I know. Whether you have read Harry Potter, you haven't read Harry Potter, you watched the movies once, you never watched them at all, whatever. Like, every single person, who has any kind of relationship to Harry Potter, including none, can enjoy the show.
JS: Mhmm. It's wonderful. Mike does an excellent job recapping all of the chapters. So, even if you haven't picked up the books in a while or you've never picked the books at all, you know exactly what's going on.
AM: Yeah. And, finally, we have a show called Waystation. Me and Julia and editor Eric, who is now safely back home after his ghostnapping.
JS: Oh, thank god.
AM: Thank god. We watch a different episode of the, like, Queer Canadian --
JS: Supernatural.
AM: -- supernatural-esque, like monster of the week style TV show, Lost Girl, which is on Netflix to binge. We watch an episode every two weeks. And we talked about it. And Julia gives us mythology corner. We critique some wigs.
JS: There’s a lot of wigs.
AM: There's a – there's a lot of – a lot of threesome related discussion in last week's episode. And, yeah, it is – it is super, super fun. And we love it a lot. That's called Waystation.
JS: It is great. Check it out.
AM: We've got links in notes descriptions y’all.
JS: If you want to drink along with this episode or just are wondering what we're drinking, we were drinking some really nice pomegranate martinis, which, if you are a $4-patron, it'll arrive in your email at – whenever the episode drops. So, you can make a drink and listen along.
AM: You don't have to do it at 6:00 in the morning when we drop the episode.
JS: I mean you don't, but you can.
AM: But it's 5:00 o'clock somewhere as --
JS: We’re not gonna tell you what to do.
AM: -- your mom's plaque says in her kitchen.
JS: Yes, it does.
AM: And we recommend that you, you drink along if you're so inclined. Pomegranates are amazing. You just, like, cut it open, put in a bowl of water, and get all the seeds out.
JS: I can't believe you just put my mom on blast.
AM: I mean I think it's a motto to live by.
JS: Okay. Yeah. That’s a Jimmy Buffett motto. We can live by it. It’s fine.
AM: Anyway, thank you all very much for listening. Thank you for talking to us on Twitter. We love it. Thank you for talking to us in our Facebook group. So much fun to share your urban legends, to share your articles, to share your art for art meme Friday. And we, we love you so much.
JS: We do. Are Jimmy Buffett and Warren Buffett related?
AM: No.
JS: Okay.
AM: I don't think so. Huh. Illuminati confirmed. Enjoy Spirits Podcast Episode 65: Innana.
JS: Were such nerds.
AM: Yeah. It’s what they come for, Jules.
Intro Music
JS: Amanda, you know the saying, right? All’s fair in love and war.
AM: I do.
JS: Yes. I don't even know who said that. Is that a Shakespeare quote?
AM: It is Shakespeare.
JS: Okay. What play is it from?
AM: I think Troilus and Cressida, but I could be wrong.
JS: Okay.
AM: Or Julius Caesar. I don't know.
JS: I don't know either. It feels, like, almost, like, a – what's the – I think you're gonna Google it right now. What's the one where it's a war one also in Rome? Coriolanus.
AM: Uhh, Coriolanus.
JS: Yeah. That, that seems right. I don't think it is right, but it seems right.
AM: The second – type all’s F and then the first one was all's fair in middle school? I don't know what that is.
JS: That's probably a middle schooler book. That's what I'm gonna guess. Oh, you know what? It's probably that, like, shitty, like, Diary of a Wimpy Kid kind of thing.
AM: Oh, no.
JS: Oh.
AM: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
JS: This is a – this is a great segue we’ve made within two minutes of us starting.
AM: And I was just gonna brag about how we only had 90 seconds of pre-episode banter for Eric to cut, but that's not true.
JS: Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.
AM: Interesting.
JS: What is it?
AM: It comes from Don Quixote.
JS: Really?
AM: Not Shakespeare.
JS: Wouldn't have guessed that.
AM: Would not have guessed. I would have gotten that wrong in HQ.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Uh, huh.
JS: So, much for English and History major. Am I right?
AM: Well. Well, also, a great start.
JS: Doing great. Super proud. Yeah. Let's do this. Amanda, I'm curious as to how often you realize that those things, surprisingly, crossover together in ancient Sumerian mythology?
AM: That I don't know. I mean, proverb wise, you know, we talked about wars of the heart. We talk about fighting for affection.
JS: Mhmm.
AM: We talk about heartbreak, you know, and all of this kind of conquering terminologies. So, it makes sense that they are tied together, but I don't know very much at all about ancient Sumerian mythology.
JS: That's great, because I'm gonna tell you about it today.
AM: I bet, in about 45 minutes, I'm going to know a lot more.
JS: Ah, you will. You will, indeed.
AM: I hope so.
JS: So, love and war crossover quite a bit in – for one goddess in particular. And that is the Goddess Inanna.
AM: Ooh, I like her name.
JS: Yes, she's great.
AM: Very close to Inarra, who is a rogue assassin that I play in Join the Party.
JS: Plug, plug, plug.
AM: Just saying.
JS: Yeah, I know. It's great. She’s adorable.
AM: And she’s also – she’s very big into fighting and very big into love.
JS: She is. She is, indeed. Fair warning, in advance, Inanna predated a lot of different cultures. And you might notice some influences that she had on various goddesses that existed before her.
AM: Mhmm.
JS: For example, the Assyrian goddess, Ishtar, the Phoenician, Astarte, Aphrodite from Greek mythology and, therefore, Venus from Roman.
AM: So, this – these are goddesses that Inanna inspired.
JS: Yes, because she predated them.
AM: Yeah. Cool.
JS: And we know how much we love synchronization.
AM: Oh, super do.
JS: So, right off the bat, we know that Inanna is the Sumerian goddess of love, sensuality, fertility, procreation, and, of course, war.
AM: You had me till the war.
JS: Yep. Don't – go – come on.
AM: I know.
JS: I’m [Inaudible 7:45].
AM: I'm just saying I'm surprised.
JS: Okay. Yes.
AM: And I'm curious. And I'm here with you.
JS: And I'm here for it. In many stories, she is the daughter of Enki, who's the god of wisdom, freshwater, magic, and a bunch of other stuff depending on the source or time period.
AM: Sounds like Prospero.
JS: Kinda.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Since we're on that Shakespeare grind.
AM: I mean, apparently, the false Shakespeare grind, which is whatever.
JS: The false Shakespeare grind. That's okay. That's a good band name. The false Shakespeare grind.
AM: Mmm. I know. Because, like, if you just saved enough authority, like, “Oh, that comes from Shakespeare. Who's gonna say no?”
JS: I mean no one.
AM: Because the donkey who takes the collar.
JD: Also, you can’t remember all of the lines from Shakespeare. There's so many plays and so many lines.
AM: Yeah. He originated so much more than we actually know.
JS: And like a bunch of words and stuff. Anyway, we're getting off track again. So, other myths say that Inanna is the daughter of Nanna, who is the god of the moon and wisdom. Personally, I say, “Why not both?” Let her have her wisdom gods.
AM: Yeah, obviously.
JS: Yeah. She is said to be the twin sister of the sun god, Utu or Shamash, but we're going to focus on Inanna for the most part in this episode.
AM: All right.
JS: You know what we don't talk about enough, Amanda?
AM: The importance of intersexual feminism and modern policy?
JS: I mean we do talk about that quite a bit on the show.
AM: We do talk about that a lot.
JS: For, for –-
AM: We don’t talk a lot about the superiority of Belgian Beers. It’s a hot take.
JS: Yeah.
AM: We don't talk a lot about the dismissal that we face when going into cocktail bars and ordering Bourbon or, like, really, like, Juneberry gin drinks, and bartenders are like, “Are you sure?” And we're like, “Try me, motherfucker.”
JS: Try me, motherfucker.
AM: What do we talk about?
JS: That’s a good question. Why the gods and goddesses we talked about in our episodes have such a prominent place in their society.
AM: Huh, that's true. Like, why they, they made the cultural selection to become really important?
JS: Right, exactly.
AM: Huh.
JS: So, there are so many gods and goddesses. Why do some only exist in a few stories and then others really, really dominate the storytelling?
AM: Yeah, I guess I really just take it for a given, you know, that there's going to be love god, war god, peace god, wisdom god. And I don't think about why those are the gods that end up representing those things.
JS: Right. So, for example, Zeus versus Zephyrus would be a great example.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Why is Zephyrus in so few stories but Zeus is in so many?
AM: I don't know.
JS: That kind of begs the question. Why is Inanna, who, you know, becomes, at the height of her power and popularity, known as the Queen of Heaven to the Sumerian people? Why is she so prominent? Why is she so popular?
AM: Yeah.
JS: And we can thank the work of Enheduanna, who is an Akkadian poet and high priestess.
AM: Ooh.
JS: So, not only was she a badass poet and the daughter of a Mesopotamian king, Sargon of Akkad, but she was the High Priestess at the most prominent of the Sumerian temples in the city of Ur.
AM: Oh, my god. A, all of these names are just knocking it out of the park.
JS: Yeah.
AM: These, these are, like, I want a graphic novel series about every single one of the characters we met so far. And, also, is there any bad High Priestess? Like, are there any high priestesses who are not fucking badass?
JS: Oh, okay. So, this is gonna put me on a whole other tangent. But it's really interesting. Whenever you have sort of like an evil High Priestess character --
AM: Yeah.
JS: -- it's always like a very sexualized woman.
AM: Oh, for sure.
JS: All the time. So. --
AM: Yeah. Like, sex, power, evilness kind of all wrapped up together.
JS: Right. So – and then – and this is, like, a media thing. But it always implies that, because this woman is so sexual, that's how she became – like, came into power.
AM: Yeah. And, also, she can't be powerful without, also, being sexually [Inaudible 11:08].
JS: Yeah, that’s some bullshit. And I'm not a fan.
AM: Mhmm.
JS: But we're gonna talk about, fucking, this one because it's amazing.
AM: Okay.
JS: So, she becomes insanely important because she's given the responsibility of melding the Sumerian gods with the Akkadian ones after the two kingdoms are united.
AM: Oh, shit.
JS: So, she's in charge of creating stability for the empire based on these two religions coming together.
AM: No pressure.
JS: So, Enheduanna combines Inanna with Ishtar and is also this badass, because she uses poetry, Psalms, and prayer to solidify the worship of the goddess.
AM: Oh, my god.
JS: Yeah.
AM: I don't know. I can't think of a thing that's harder than changing the way and whom, you know, people value. Like, saying this thing that you're used to turning to support for, you might have to turn to a different version of that thing or a whole different one all together and the ways in which you're used to getting support and solidarity, you know, and, and peace were now going to change, and that is crazy.
JS: Also, we're talking about this revolutionary idea that, “Hey, in order to worship this goddess, who is associated with, like, sensuality and fertility and also war, we're going to sing songs. We're going to tell poetry about her and, like, sing her praises literally to the heavens. And that's how she becomes so cemented in the society.
AM: Yeah. Right. People remember Psalm.
JS: Yeah.
AM: They remember songs. They remember poems.
JS: Right. And it's like it's a very unifying thing.
AM: Yeah.
JS: And, as someone who, you know, studied poetry in college, I'm sure you can talk about sort of the universal experience of poetry and song in storytelling. You know what I mean?
AM: Yeah. And, also, as an instructional device. I, I was a research assistant in college for a professor who focused on recitation. Like, reading poetry out loud as a pedagogical tool. So, as a way for --
JS: That’s awesome.
AM: Yeah, kids, especially she focused in Britain. That's where she grew up. And, so, in the UK, really until very recently, memorizing and reciting poetry was like a thing that everybody did. And everyone's parents knew like Rime of the Ancient Mariner, you know, and, like, various poems. And not only is it, like, a nation building thing, where, you know, like we know the Pledge of Allegiance and we know the state song and whatever. You know, it was just – it's just, like, body of work that everybody was expected to know and then, later in life, to be able just to reference like in the way that we can sling Shakespeare quotes at each other.
JS: Or in the way that you can rap The Raven.
AM: I can. I can. Link in the description
JS: Link – yeah. Link in the description.
AM: But, anyway, her research is so interesting. She actually wrote a book about this, which I'll put in the description as well.
JS: Yes, please. There's something about the, like, singsongingy nature of things that are set to meter things that rhyme, especially where it's just like it's trance making. And it allows you to cram more stuff into your head than you could if you're just memorizing facts or prose.
JS: Yeah. I – that's – it's so cool. It's one of my favorite, like, aspects of religious history.
AM: Yeah.
JS: It’s the idea of how gods and goddesses were worshiped.
AM: Yeah.
JS: And this is such a – this is such a revolutionary thing at the time. It’s really cool.
AM: Exactly. Yeah. And, now, it's like – you know, as the rise of free verse and, like, modernism and stuff, like, made poems less kind of traditional structured rhyme, that kind of fell out of favor slowly over, over the 20th century. But I'd be really curious too. Like, we hear people quote Bible verses all the time.
JS: Mhmm.
AM: And it's always like, you know, a certain number of words. Like, you can't memorize, like, you know, a hundred word Bible passages easily. So, I'd be really curious to see if listeners know of any, like, you know, textual, like, linguistic analysis of certain versions of the Bible and how the sentences are chopped up. Like, I would kind of – I would posit probably that the sentences are likely shorter than average so that, you know, it can be more. Like, give little units of it for people to remember. And, like, the quotable portions I bet are, like, have a very narrow, like, statistical average length. Like, I bet they're all kind of very similar.
JS: Yeah, especially New Testament stuff. I, I would imagine.
AM: I don’t know. Get us Bible folks.
JS: So, because of Enheduanna, we get some really great stories about Inanna from many ancient Mesopotamian myths.
AM: Yeah. And talk about reasons why we remember her. You know, if they're freaking committed to poetry and song, that's a great way to remember.
JS: Exactly. Yeah, it's so freakin cool.
AM: Uh.
JS: So, the first we're going to tell is the story of Inanna and the Huluppu-Tree.
AM: Ooh.
JS: Which is adorable. I just like the name Huluppu.
AM: I love all, all the names, Julia, 11 out of 10 on the names.
JS: Yeah, they’re really good.
AM: I’m, I’m not – like, we rate Dagos level on these names.
JS: 10 out of 10 wood pet.
AM: Yeah, 13 out of 10 poor boys, so pure.
JS: So, Enki, the god of wisdom and Inanna’s dad, attempts to visit the underworld, which is ruled by Ereshkigal.
AM: Retro.
JS: Enki’s efforts to go to the underworld cause a great storm. Arguably, this is the same flood that we talked about when we talk about the flood in Genesis or shout out to our first roundup episode, Great Floods.
AM: Great Floods. I was gonna mention it earlier. But that's where our first visit to Sumeria was.
JS: Yeah. The result of the storm is a tree that grows besides the Euphrates, which is one of the main rivers and was super important to Mesopotamians.
AM: Yes.
JS: Do you remember the two rivers?
AM: The Tigris and the Euphrates, baby.
JS: Yeah, I'm proud of you. You remember you're APUSH – not APUSH.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Your world history.
AM: Yes, World History. AP World. Shout out to our very hot eighth grade World History teacher. Ninth grade?
JS: Ninth grade.
AM: Ninth grade.
JS: With the tattoo on her --.
AM: She had a tattoo in her ankle.
JS: Yeah. Yeah.
AM: It was – well, it was – it was mind-blowing.
JS: So, this tree that was growing besides the Euphrates is pulled up by the storm. Inanna finds the tree and takes it to her sacred garden to nurture it hoping that it will grow in size and she can make it into a throne and a bed.
AM: Ooh.
JS: But, before the tree can grow to full maturity, three creatures find the garden and make a home out of the tree; a serpent, an Anzu bird, and the dark maid, Lilith. And this is the same Lilith from certain Hebrew texts that are supposed to be the first wife of Adam.
AM: Yes.
JS: Who, later, in certain Christian and Judean texts, we’ll call her the first succubus.
AM: Right.
JS: Which is really cool.
AM: Yes. There’s a lot of like --
JS: Or vampire depending on the story.
AM: Oh, yeah.
JS: Yeah.
AM: And there's a lot of references to that. Like, that name is a very popular, like, vampiric, like, high horror. I know what to call that genre.
JS: Yeah.
AM: But, like, like – like capital R, Romantic horror.
JS: Mhmm.
AM: Huh.
JS: Very like Cthulhu-esque.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Anyway. So, Inanna cries, because she cannot get the creatures to leave her tree. But the creatures are obviously not moved by her tears, because they're, like, kind of portrayed as evil.
AN: And can I get a visual on this bird? What kind of bird are we talking? What? What? What kind of birds it is then?
JS: I'm picturing, like, an evil version of that big bird from Up.
AM: Oh, good. Okay. I was picturing, like, a toucan but greyscale. I don't know why my brain went there. Like, like, The Jungle Book, you know.
JS: Yeah, all right. I could see that. I'm also kind of picturing now the, like, sad Phoenix from Harry Potter.
AM: Oh, sure. Sure.
JS: Which I can't remember the name of. Ogre, I guess, maybe or something.
AM: I guess so.
JS: Yeah.
AM: All right.
JS: That sounds about right.
AM: Well, send us here sketches, people.
JS: Send us your sketches of this creepy bird. So, she calls her brothers for help to remove the beasts. First, calling her twin, Utu, who refuses to help her. The next person she calls is Gilgamesh. You know, from the Epic.
AM: Oh, man. Gilgamesh on speed dial, man.
JS: He puts on armor, takes his axe, and then kills the snake. The Anzu bird and Lilith flee, and Gilgamesh and the men of Uruk take the tree and turn it into a throne and bed for Inanna.
AM: Oh, like chop it down, cut it up, construct those things?
JS: Yep.
AM: Okay. Cool.
JS: Like, carve it for her.
AM: Wow.
JS: That's dope as hell.
AM: Yeah.
JS: This story actually leads into our next one, which is the story of Inanna and the god of wisdom. Inanna goes to visit the god of wisdom after she has taken her throne. And, so, if you'll remember correctly, that's Enki, her father.
AM: Yes.
JS: Enki has a servant greet her and invite her to share food with him.
AM: And this is god of the moon.
JS: Nope. This is Enki who is the god of wisdom, freshwater, and magic.
AM: Okay. But just like humanoid type. Normal.
JS: Yep.
AM: Yeah.
JS: He's a normal type.
AM: I was – I don’t know. I was picturing like a – like a man in the moon type face.
JS: I got you. No. He's, he's like pretty chill. Enki and Inanna sit down for a drink. And Enki gets more than little bit drunk.
AM: Wooh. Always a great turn in a story.
JS: So, he begins bestowing “me” powers on Inanna. So, in Sumerian mythology, me is one of the decrees of the gods that is the foundation for basically everything in society; social institutions, religious practices, technologies, anything that makes civilizations, civilization.
AM: That reminds me of Sharia in Islam. Like, there's certain things that the Quran says and then there are certain rules and things that like scholars and, you know, faith leaders help you to live your life by.
JS: Right. The rules that govern society.
AM: Yeah. Like --
JS: Yes. Kind of like the testaments. I mean --
AM: Leviticus?
JS: Yeah.
AM: Is that – yeah.
JS: Like, Leviticus but also the 10 commandments in the Old Testament.
AM: Sure, yeah. Or like all – like, there are 10 commandments. Great. And then there are, like, so many other ways that you can, you know, decide and kind of influence how people work.
JS: Exactly. The mes were actually collected by the god, Enlil, who's the god of wind, earth, and storms.
AM: So, he's like a scribe? Or like physically bestowed?
JS: They’re physical – they're, like, physical manifestations. The power in which the gods are like channeling these things.
AM: Huh.
JS: So, Enlil hands these over to Enki. Now, Inanna thought Enki was getting a little bit too big with his boots for all this power that he has been given.
AM: Hmm.
JS: So, Inanna begins complaining to her father that she's been given the short end of the stick when it comes to her divine spheres of influence. At this point, she is the goddess of sexuality and womanhood and nothing else.
AM: I mean I can see how that would be, like, frowned upon --
JS: Yeah.
AM: -- and, like, shoved into a corner.
JS: Yes. So, Enki starts giving her the mes bestowing her with more power. And she's, like, just accepting these set of gifts until Enki has given her all of the powers.
AM: Oh, my gosh. Because he just, like, got drunk, he was like, “I love you daughter.”
JS: You know, I love --
AM: Yeah.
JS: Oh, yeah. You, you want the societal structure? Sure. Sure. Sure. Agriculture. Yeah. You just have it. It’s great.
AM: Take it. Take it. Take it.
JS: When Enki finally sobers up, however, Inanna has left and has taken all of the me with her.
AM: Amazing.
JS: She has sailed back to her garden at this point accompanied by Ninshubur, who is the messenger goddess and her second-in-command, which is great.
AM: I love it.
JS: I love her.
AM: I'm picturing them at, like, the prow of a ship. You know, just, like, standing there with the – with the first mate behind her.
JS: Yep. So, Enki sends servants after her to try to retrieve the me. But Ninshubur is able to fight them all off.
AM: Hmm.
JS: The two return to her garden in Uruk. And she makes it known that she will bestow the powers of the me to the mortals that live in the city. So, she becomes the benefactress of all mankind by giving them the tools that they need in order to create a civilization.
AM: Is she like the divine source of self-rule?
JS: Yeah.
AM: Wow.
JS: Yeah.
AM: That is incredible.
JS: Yeah. So, Enki, understanding that she wasn't going to use all the powers for herself, allows the humans to receive the gifts and calls off his servant from hunting her down.
AM: That is so much more profound than like Prome – who’s the – who’s the fire one?
JS: Prometheus. You got it.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Yeah. Yeah.
AM: Oh, all right. Hey.
JS: I'm proud of you. That’s good.
AM: Thank you. But, but, like, okay, it's like fire. Great. Thank you. I'm glad for, like, this foundational tool of society.
JS: Yeah.
AM: But], for someone else to be, like, hey, you have the actual divine right to govern this stuff for yourself --
JS: Yeah.
AM: -- like, that gets at my, like, democratic bleeding heart, you know.
JS: I know. I understand. It’s real good.
AM: Oh, so good.
JS: Now, at this point, Inanna is considered a young goddess. So, a story about her courtship and marriage is not uncommon.
AM: I thought you're gonna say so she dropped her first EP. Yeah.
JS: She did. She dropped her first EP. So, Utu, the sun god and her brother, as we talked about before, helps to prepare Inanna for marriage and selecting a mate by assisting her in weaving her bridal sheet.
AM: Cool.
JS: Yeah. Utu also suggests that his sister take Dumuzi as her mate. Inanna has it set in her mind that she wants to marry a farmer, which, like, “Girl, same.”
AM: Oh, my god. I know.
JS: But Dumuzi is a shepherd. And she kind of balks at the suggestion that they would make a good match.
AM: Umm. Are we going to sing the entirety of the Farmer and the Cowman or no?
JS: Umm, yes. Yes, we are.
AM: One man pokes a cow with this.
JS: Likes to push a plough.
AM: The farmer steals butter and cheese.
JS: Others like to chase a cow. We just said different lines into the mic at the same time.
AM: We did. Yes. One man likes to push upon plough. The other likes to chase the cow. But that’s the reason why they can't be friends.
JS: Berp, ba, dap, berp, berp, berp.
AM: God, I love that song.
JS: Okay. But let's talk about this for a second because, apparently, this has something to do with the fact that the Sumerians would argue about land usage.
AM: Yeah.
JS: So, they would argue, “Should the land be used by farmers to plant their crops? Or should it be used by shepherds to – that allow their herds to range over the land?”
AM: Aka, the background plot of Oklahoma.
JS: Yes, which is also the plot of Oklahoma is, “Can we be a state now?”
AM: Yeah, the plot of Oklahoma is, like, everything is uncertain, like relationships and statehood, and like industry. That’s the thing.
JS: Territory folks should stick together.
AM: Territory folks should all be pals.
JS: Cowboys dance with the farmers’ daughters.
AM: Farmers dance ranchers’ gals.
JS: Okay. We're good? Are you okay?
AM: I feel like I could run a marathon right now.
JS: Okay. Still, Utu insisted that the two of them should meet. And it does not go well at first.
AM: Oh, no.
JS: They basically go like full Much Ado About Nothing.
AM: Yes.
JS: Bring it back to Shakespeare again.
AM: I love it.
JS: They hated each other. They fought. And then they were – got into each other. And then they get it on. So, the sex --
AM: Classic. Tales as old time.
JS: The sex is so good between them, in fact, that the land became more fruitful as a result of their union.
AM: Oh, my god.
JS: Yeah.
AM: This is the best thing I've ever heard.
JS: This is also – this also, like, becomes a thing where the Kings of Uruk would establish their legitimacy through a sacred marriage ceremony, where the Kings would play the role of Dumuzi and then would have sex with the High Priestess of Inanna.
AM: I mean I get it.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Yeah. One of the, you know, kind of duties of the ruler is to make sure that people can make a living, and be fed, and stay healthy, and the land is fertile. And, so, I completely get how they would want to, like, have all things aligned when they start their rule.
JS: Right. And we also saw that with the Mermaid Queen.
AM: We did.
JS: We were talking about the Javanese Mermaid Queen.
AM: We did.
JS: The – all of the lines of kings have this like spiritual and also, like, vaguely romantic relationship with this goddess.
AM: Yeah. And, also, kind of the source of power of the grandfather of our Korean Rice King.
JS: Yeah. Oh, I like that. My, my Dragon King. My good, good Dragon King.
AM: I know. We like him.
JS: Do you want to go sing some musicals and refill our wine?
AM: Let's do it.
JS: Okay.
MIdroll Music
JS: All right, Amanda. Now, that we have our wine again.
AM: We do.
JS: We are --
AM: I sing. I'm all right. Got it out of my system.
JS: I'm glad. I'm really glad. You did a little bit of square dancing. It was very cute.
AM: Did a little jig.
JS: It was – it was adorable. We talked a little bit about who we would marry from the fuckin’ Oklahoma musical.
AM: Yeah. Yeah. There's not a lot of no’s from me.
JS: No.
AM: Probably go with the farmer over the cowman though.
JS: Yeah. That's fair. I like a good cowboy though.
AM: I was just gonna say I feel like you definitely choose cowman.
JS: Yeah.
AM: See, Julia, that’s why – part of why we're so compatible as best friends, because we never choose the same thing.
JS: Yeah, that’s true.
AM: There’s enough for both of us.
JS: There is. There’s enough to go around. There’s enough Hugh Jackman to go round. So, finally, we come across the last and best story of Inanna.
AM: Ooh.
JS: The Descent of Inanna, which is told in the form of a poem that was written somewhere between 1900 and 1600 BC.
AM: Oh, my word. That is very old.
JS: Yes, here are the opening lines.
AM: Okay.
JS: From the great above, she opened her ear to the great below. From the great above, the goddess opened her ear to the great below. From the great above, Inanna opened her ear to the great below.
AM: I'm rocked frankly.
JS: Yes, it's already really good.
AM: Yes, it is.
JS: I know you always love a good poem. I tried to include poetry whenever I can.
AM: I know. I really appreciate it. I really appreciate it.
JS: It’s all for you, babe.
AM: It also, like, how, how do people frame the story. Like, we know now all that there is to know about the goddess, but how do they like to remember her? People are like, “Oh, a story about Inanna.” Oh, you know, like, what is the lens on that story that gets people's, like, little arm hair standing up, you know?
JS: It's all for you, babe. It's all for you. So, Inanna starts the story dressed to the nines. The crown of Heaven is on her head. Beads are around her neck. She's wearing a breastplate, golden rings, and is carrying a scepter.
AM: Great start. Sidebar, can we just discuss how, whenever you look at Egyptian and Sumerian and Persian jewelry in museums, you’re, like, “Yeah, I would wear that.”
JS: I would wear all of it a hundred percent of the time.
AM: Isn’t it amazing how human beings had been like, “Yep, that, that's how you do it.”
JS: Go look.
AM: That’s how we adorn them. You’re, like, “Yeah, that is.”
JS: I'm into it.
AM: Ah, so good.
JS: So, she is about to enter the Underworld. And Ninshubur is by her side. And she tells the messenger goddess how to come to her aid if she fails to return when expected.
AM: Oh, good. Like, if I don't come back in 24 hours, call the cops.
JS: Yeah.
AM: All right.
JS: So, Inanna then knocks loudly and demands entrance to the Underworld. Neti, who is the chief gatekeeper, asks who she is, and she answers, “I am Inanna, Queen of Heaven.”
AM: Whoa. Just such an image, you know. Like standing there. Scepter, beads, bracelets, fucking dress, like, hands on hips, you know, looking up at the Gates of the Underworld.
JS: Bitch, this is who I am. I love it. So, when Neti asks why she wishes to enter the land, “from which no traveler returns,” Inanna answers, “Because of my older sister, Ereshkigal, her husband, Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, has died. And I come to witness the funeral rites.”
AM: Oh.
JS: So, Neti is a little nervous about this, because it's not every day that the Queen of Heaven comes to the Underworld to observe a funeral.
AM: Yeah. And is that where the funeral rites are traditionally done? Or are they done like on the mortal coil?
JS: No, they would be done in the Underworld. And, because Gugalanna is the husband of Ereshkigal, so, his funeral service would be overseen by her.
AM: I see.
JS: Neti tells Inanna to stay where she is, while he goes to talk to his boss, Ereshkigal.
AM: Make sense. Make sense.
JS: Ereshkigal is not pleased about the news of her sister being there, because it's revealed later that Inanna is responsible for Gugalanna 's death because she sent him against Gilgamesh after Gilgamesh rejected Inanna’s sexual advances.
AM: Okay. This is a bit of a sticky situation, and I understand it.
JS: Ereshkigal tells Neti to bolt the seven gates of the Underworld against Inanna, but then to let her in, one gate at a time, requiring that Inanna to remove one of her royal garments at each gate.
AM: I love this idea so much. I want it in a graphic novel.
JS: Yep.
AM: Like, the person emerging with just the frickin clothes that she wore. Like, just, just the fabric on her back and none of the finery and yet a goddess despite it all. Ugh.
JS: So, Inanna does what is asked of her, but demands an answer as to why she has to suffer the indignity as she strips off her clothing.
AM: Sure.
JS: Neti responds, “Quiet, Inanna, the ways of the Underworld are perfect. They may not be questioned.”
AM: Whoo. As Catholics, we, we are just, “Yep. Yep. Fair enough.”
JS: So, Inanna makes it through the gates and enters the throne room of Ereshkigal naked and bowing low.
AM: Whew.
JS: She approaches the throne. And then something happens. The Annuna, the judges of the underworld surround her and pass judgment on her.
AM: Wow.
JS: And then her sister Ereshkigal looks at Inanna with “the eye of death” and strikes Inanna down with death.
AM: And kills her?
JS: Yep. Inanna’s corpse is then hung from a hook on the wall of the throne room.
AM: Wow. This is some serious vengeance, my dude.
JS: Yeah. Well, I mean, if someone sent your husband to die over, like, someone not, like, wanting to date her.
AM: Now, wait, did she send the husband to, like, avenge her upon Gilgamesh?
JS: Yes.
AM: Or did she send him to, like, die instead of Gilgamesh somewhere?
JS: No, she sent him against Gilgamesh. But, because Gilgamesh was a great hero, he slaughtered him.
AM: Yeah. Like, obvi, right.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Huh. I'm having some, like, weighing of the feather. You know, Egyptian sort of [Inaudible 30:47].
JS: Yes. Interestingly, there's a lot of cross pollination between ideas of the underworld in Sumerian mythology or Mesopotamian mythology and Egyptian mythology.
AM: Yeah, makes sense.
JS: Yeah. They're both very physical Underworlds.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Which is interesting, like, Mesopotamian mythology or Underworld as shown in the Epic of Gilgamesh. It's really interesting. The dead eat dirt and wear feathers. Like, that's the description of the Underworld.
AM: Wow.
JS: Yeah, it's really weird. Meanwhile, Ninshubur is waiting three days and three nights for Inanna to return. But, when she does not, the messenger goddess rushes to Enki for help. Enki gives her two servants, known as Galla who are --
AM: Enki’s like, “I got no power left, but here's some servants.”
JS: No. He, he still has power.
AM: Yeah. Yeah.
KS: But he's – you know, he just doesn't have the, the me anymore. So, Enki give her two servants known as Galla, who are androgynous demons to help Ninshubur return Inanna to Earth.
AM: Aesthetic. Androgynous demons, get out of me. I want to just start that Tumblr tag right now.
JS: Yeah, that's pretty cool. So, the galla enter the underworld and attached themselves to Ereshkigal, who's apparently in labor at this point.
AM: Oh, Jesus.
JS: It's weird, because, the way that they talk about it in the story, it's, it's implied that she's in labor, but it's not outright said. Like, she's in pain. She's in a position one would be in one that give birth.
AM: Right.
JS: Like, on her back with her legs up.
AM: Huh.
JS: It's really, really interesting. But they don't explain why or how. And they don't really discuss the, like, after-effects of this.
AM: Do you think it was somewhat of a, like, societal propriety? Like, we don't really discuss these kinds of things.
JS: Right.
AM: Or more of a, like, this is a person in power, and they're in a vulnerable state. And we're just kind of gonna allude to that.
JS: I think that – I, I honestly don't know. It could go either way.
AM: Yeah. I'm curious if many people who have studied Sumerian history and culture have a – have a take on that.
JS: I bet Jim does.
AM: Shout out to Jim.
JS: Shout to Jim.
AM: Who always brings the facts and the humor and the puns. Jim and Thea tweeting on this Chat Monday is honestly like the highlight of my week.
JS: They’re just my favorite thing in the world. Did you see Jim in our Facebook group? Someone was asking for D&D suggestions for like --
AM: Oh, I did.
JS: -- cryptid-based summer camp style.
AM: Yep.
JS: Jim and Eric just came the fuck out with answers for that, and it was great.
AM: Yeah. If you're not in our Facebook group, we're at facebook.com/groups/spiritspodcast or you can just search for us.
JS: It’s so much fun.
AM: It is so much fun. People tell their urban-like, if you send us an email, go back into your sent folder, copy the email, and paste into our Facebook group. People are going to love it.
JS: It's really, really good. Anyway, sorry. So, the galla sympathized with the queen's pains, and she offers them a gift for their empathy.
AM: Ooh. Good tactic.
JS: The galla respond – it’s good tactic. Yeah. The galla respond that they wish for the corpse. And Ereshkigal gives it to them without question.
AM: I hope a resurrection is in order.
JS: But the galla – the galla then revived Inanna with food and water of life, which I think that they got from Enki. But I can't remember exactly.
AM: I would assume. Yeah. Or her gardens somewhere.
JS: Yeah. As we learned from the story of Persophone though, someone who has wound up in the Underworld cannot easily leave it.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Someone had to take Inanna’s place in the Underworld. And the galla leave her at the entrance so that they might find a substitute for her on Earth.
AM: Fair enough.
JS: First, they tried to take Ninshubur, then Inanna’s sons, Shara and Lulal, and even her beautician, Cara.
AM: Oh, no. They’re like looking around.
JS: Which is great that she has a beautician.
AM: Yeah. They’re like, “Who's closest to us? Who lives in the mansion?”
JS: I kind of love that a goddess has a beautician.
AM: I love it so much.
JS: It’s so – it's so cool. I love it so much. Okay.
AM: Like, she, she's so much of a person.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Like, she, like, ages. She goes through phases of her life. She's, like, romantic in the knot. She has, like, physical needs. I just – I love it so much.
JS: Yeah, it's really great. But Inanna prevents any of them from being taken, because they are all in mourning clothes when the galla come for them.
AM: Ooh.
JS: But then the galla come upon Inanna’s husband, Dumuzi --
AM: Oh, oh.
JS: -- and find that he is dressed in shining garments and sitting on his magnificent throne.
AM: My dude.
JS: And Inanna is pissed. It has the demon seize him.
AM: Oh, my gosh.
JS: So, Dumuzi appeals to Utu for help and is transformed into a snake in order to escape, but, eventually, is caught and carried away to the Underworld. Dumuzi’s sister, Geshtinanna, volunteers herself to go into Dumuzi’s place. And it is decreed that Dumuzi would spend half of the year in the Underworld and Geshtinanna would spend the other half. And, yes, this is how the Sumerians explain why seasons happen.
AM: I mean, good sister. And, also, I'm digging the vibes here.
JS: Yeah. And then Inanna is able to return to the world of the living.
AM: Wow.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Wow. That's like – that's a return that isn't without consequences. And we've talked before about how much I love systems of magic that have really physical components of, like, we are transforming energy from a source into a different form.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Like, in the Dresden Files. Like in The Magicians, as problematic as that book is, I think, there's also just really good senses of, like, magic as like a physical exertion.
JS: Yeah. And you love a good alchemy too.
AM: Like, alchemy. Right. Exactly. Jinx. But I love that this return from death leaves its mark on you.
JS: Yes.
AM: Yeah.
JS: And I love a goddess who has a story arc, who grows as the mythology is told. You know what I mean?
AM: Yeah. Because you said that she was kind of, early in some of those stories, like a maiden.
JS: Yeah.
AM: You know, pre-marriage, getting her powers. Like, it, it's a whole comic book arc.
JS: Yeah.
AM: I mentioned at the start kind of a graphic novel. And I've been thinking about that the whole time that she has an origin story. And she has a plot arc. And she is, you know, redeemed by her friends at the end of it.
JS: Mhmm. And it's really interesting because I think the reason that we get so much of this is because of her patron, because of her – because of her poetry telling High Priestess.
AM: Oh, my gosh.
JS: The reason that we're able to tell these stories and remember them and have them accounted for is because of one woman's work. How cool is that?
AM: That is so incredible, especially when like the story of history is a story of, like, men who have dominated other cultures, you know. To have this whole narrative that was shaped and archived, you know, by a woman is so incredible.
JS: Yeah. This is one of my favorite stories exactly for that reason.
AM: Yeah.
JS: Because it feels modern. And it's telling almost because of how human Inanna feels in the stories.
AM: Yeah. Yeah. Right.
JS: It doesn't feel like this was a story that was told in 1900 BC. You know what I mean?
AM: Yeah, truly. I mean, in, in some of the ways, like, you described some of the – you know, again, we're theater kids. So, we studied, like, the mystery place. And we studied like ancient Greek theater. And, in some of those, it's like, “Okay. Well, I get at themes like love and loss, and murder, and, you know, usurping the throne, whatever.”
JS: Human experiences.
AM: Yes. But they’re sort of like the archetypes of human experiences. And we don't really get into the, like, individual character-driven – like, I identify with someone else's specific story and not the, like, archetype of that story until, like, post-Freudian --
JS: Yeah.
AM: -- you know, kind of texts in the 19th and 20th centuries. And, so, to see something that is so old and also so, like an individual experience. Like, she doesn't – she doesn't like the ideal of beauty, right, or the ideal of strength, or has the ideal marriage. Like, she didn't want her spouse. They like had a – had an argument. They had a time. They, like, had certain chemistry and other kinds of chemistry. And, you know, they have ups and downs.
JS: Yeah.
AM: And, like, that is so much more relatable than a kind of platonic, idyllic, you know, shape or outline of a thing.
JS: Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I love the story for all of its faults. And, you know, it's – you don't get a story where the god feels so human very often. And it's wonderful. And it's – I – I'm just so glad to be able to tell it to you, Amanda --
AM: Yeah.
JS: -- and to tell it to our listeners.
AM: I know. And thank you for choosing a story with poetry in it for me.
JS: Always.
AM: I love the images. I love all the clothing. I love that she had a staff beautician. Incredible.
JS: It's great.
AM: Ah, so, good. Man, Sumeria, really under --
JS: Killing it, Sumeria.
AM: -- under-appreciated in, in our historical education at least.
JS: Mhmm. Well, I'm glad we, we were able to tell it. Don't get stuck in the Underworld.
AM: Think when you go on a date with somebody. Is it a farmer or cowman?
JS: And stay creepy.
AM: And stay cool.
Outro Music
AM: Spirits was created by Amanda McLoughlin, Julia Schifini, and Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod and visual design by Allyson Wakeman.
JS: Keep up with all things creepy and cool by following us on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram @SpiritsPodcast. We also have all our episodes, collaborations, and guest appearances plus merch on our website, spiritspodcast.com.
AM: Come on over to our Patreon page, patreon.com/spiritspodcast, for all kinds of behind-the-scenes stuff. Throw us as little as $1 and get access to audio extras, recipe cards, director’s commentaries, and patron-only live streams.
JS: And, hey, if you like the show, please share this with your friends. That is the best way to help us keep on growing.
AM: Thank you so much for listening, till next time.
Transcriptionist: Rachelle Rose Bacharo
Editor: Krizia Casil