Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.    This week’s Femme Fatale Friday is about Inanna and Ereshkigal and how they may have been the earlier versions of Aphrodite and Persephone.   I am looking to do this post in order to further illuminate that although Aphrodite and Persephone are often simply seen as rivals who are set against one another, Goddesses who can never get along, there is much more to the story.   In reality, in my personal experience, they get along quite well and often work well together, they even seem to be entwined in how they work and act as Goddesses to their worshippers!

Now, Inanna, who is also often referred to as Inanna-Ishtar or just Ishtar, is a Mesopotamian Goddess.   Inanna is often known as the Queen of Heaven, The One Who is Joy, The One Who Roams About, The Lady of Battle & Conflict, the Lady of Victory, and the Opener of the Womb.   Her name Inanna is of Sumerian origin, while Ishtar is of Semitic origin.   While the names are often used interchangeably, and they have been since ancient times, Ishtar is often said to be the more extreme version of Inanna!   As a fertility and war Goddess, she is often equated with Astarte, Anat, and Aphrodite, since they are all of common associations.   In short, she is seen as a Goddess who will be happy to be at battle all day and have sex all night long!   She is the Supreme Spirit of Love, War, Fertility, Childbirth, and Healing.   She holds sway over Joy, STDs (both the curing of STDs or the cursing of people with STDs), and the ability to Kill or Bless with a single glance.   Over time the image of a sexy young independent warrior woman Goddess fell from favor, leading to a more Divine Masculine dominated world.   That is when she was depicted more as a simple Goddess of Love Lust and Sexuality, in the form of Aphrodite.   However, Aphrodite also has a War aspect, even if it is usually relegated to the sidelines!   Some of Inanna’s associations include having a Crown of Stars, a Lapis Necklace, the planet Venus, the numbers 7 and 15, the Fig Tree, Dolphins, Lions, Scorpions, Snakes, Hedgehogs, and Dogs (she has 7, as well as a chariot pulled by 7 lions),  and she is known to ride a Fire Breathing Dragon!   Overall, it is easy to see that this Goddess is a total badass.   Although she is known as Queen of Heaven, her most famous myth is her Descent into the Underworld, which connects her directly to her sister Ereshkigal.

Ereshkigal is the ruler of Irkalla, the Mesopotamian Underworld and she is known as the Great Lady Beneath the Earth.   Inanna is most often depicted as Ereshkigal’s sister, rival, and even her alter-ego.   The alter-ego part is of great interest to me, so I will be going into that after I describe more about Ereshkigal herself.   Interestingly, Ereshkigal is both a Goddess of Life and Death, given that she had both Rulership over the Land of the Dead, as well as the Waters of Life, which hold the ability to resurrect the dead.   Ereshkigal is described as tempestuous, volatile, and aggressive.   She has rulership of the Dead, and can therefore control them.   Ereshkigal is often invoked in Necromantic spells in Egyptian Magickal Papyri.   Her consort was named Nergal, and their relationship began when they fell passionately in love when he was delivering her food offerings and they quickly conceived a child.   Nergal was sent back to his home court of spirits, but thanks to Ereshkigal threatening a Zombie army unless he was sent back to her, Nergal was allowed to return to her!   Some of Ereshkigal’s associations include a Scepter in the form of a Snake, Snakes, Scorpions, and Lions (sometimes she is even depicted as Lion-headed).   Ancient Greeks would have more likely associated Ereshkigal with Athena or Aphrodite, instead of Persephone.   I personally find this to be a strange thing, because she holds so much Persephone energy in my opinion!   Both Persephone and Ereshkigal ruled over the Underworld, having governance over the dead, but also having associations with life, in Persephone’s case she was a Spring Goddess first, and in Ereshkigal’s case she controlled the Waters of Life.   While many think of Persephone as just Queen of the Underworld and wife of Hades, in ancient times she was known as Dread Persephone, and just like her husband people feared speaking her name because of the association with death.   I find that this energy of dread seems to echo how much fear Ereskigal could bring about in people in her tales!        

Now, let’s turn focus toward the idea that Inanna and Ereshkigal are possibly alter-egos of one another.   The commonality is intriguing when you look at their associations, which have a good deal of overlap.   Both have associations with Lions, Snakes, and Scorpions.   There is a common way that the sisters are described, both are described as volatile and aggressive.   I also find that there seems to be a connection between the ability to kill or bless with a glance shown by Inanna and Ereshkigal’s control over the Waters of Life, given that both show governance over the balance between life and death!  

If we state that Inanna and Ereskigal are the earliest names of Aphrodite and Persephone, we can see very interesting parallels.   Both Aphrodite and Persephone are often believed to have been pre-Hellenic in origin, pre-dating many of the other Gods of Greek Myth, so the idea that they may have both traveled from ancient Sumeria and Mesopotamia is not much of a stretch!   Both Aphrodite and Persephone are attracted to Adonis, eventually being forced to share him in one of their famous myths.   Both Aphrodite and Persephone are Goddesses associated with fertility, and Persephone is often seen as the Maiden not very sexually in tune with her own body, but who can go through a sexual awakening with her husband Hades, making her a Goddess who is now embracing Aphrodite energy.    Finally, I want to mention that both Aphrodite and Persephone show up in the myth of Eros and Psyche.   In fact, in the course of the story, Psyche is sent by Aphrodite to get a beauty potion from Persephone.   So, not only is Persephone helping Aphrodite with challenging Psyche, but Persephone is also given an association with beauty which is usually specifically Aphrodite’s domain!    At the end of the day, Aphrodite and Persephone are Goddesses who can get along well with one another and work as sisters in ritual, instead of only being Goddesses who will be in opposition to one another.

I hope you have enjoyed this analysis of Inanna and Ereshkigal and their connections to Aphrodite and Persephone.    Do you agree with my assessment?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a famous carving believed to be either Inanna or Ereskigal.   I found the image on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ereshkigal.

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Illes
• Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms by Frances Billinghurst
• Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess by Demetra George
• Mythology by Edith Hamilton