Inanna’s Descent:
A Journey Through the Seven Gates
An off-the-beaten-path depth process with Inanna’s myth as the guide
In this 9-week process, we follow the Sumerian myth of Inanna’s Descent as a guide for inner work.
This program is for people moving through grief, loss, major transition, or a quieter recognition that old roles, identities, protections, or ways of being have begun to itch, chafe, or no longer feel true.
Or, maybe you simply feel drawn to Inanna’s story: a goddess stripped of power, protection, and identity at each gate on her journey to the underworld, who returns changed. When Inanna surrenders her crown, you might find yourself intrigued: What would it be like to set mine down for a while?
The myth is ancient, but it’s not dead or dusty. It’s a living story… vibrant, earnest, sacred and still very much alive.
In this work, the myth becomes our kind of roadmap to the underworld, as it were. We move slowly, with room to notice what has protected you, what no longer fits, and what may need to be laid down before it can be taken up differently.
If you’re new to the story, you can read more about the myth of Inanna’s descent and why I return to it.
This work is for you if:
» You feel between identities, roles, or ways of being
» You are questioning the agreements you’ve made to belong, fit in, or protect yourself
» You are in a time of grief, uncertainty, undoing, or unraveling
» You are curious about shadow, hidden parts, and what has been exiled
» You are intrigued by the idea of “entering” an ancient myth, not just reading about one
The structure of the descent
» 9 one-on-one sessions, typically held over 9–12 weeks
» An opening orientation, followed by sessions through the seven gates of Inanna’s descent
» Reflection questions between sessions for noticing and integration
» A final session for the first movements of return
» Reflection prompts for the seven weeks following your descent, to accompany your ascent
In the myth, Inanna surrenders one of her power items at each gate. In our work, those items become living symbols. So, for example, at Gate 1, we look at the crown:
What is your crown?
What are its associations?
What does it project to the outer world?
What does it protect you from?
What might it be hiding, managing, or exiling?
What might it look like / feel like to surrender your crown?
We listen for what each gate reveals: the roles, identities, performances, patterns, and powers you’ve been carrying — and what it might mean to loosen your grip.
Throughout the process, we circle around an orienting question:
What is your deeper Self asking of you?
Not the part of you shaped by who you’ve had to be, but something quieter, more essential in you.
We don’t need to force an answer. It just becomes something we bring attention to.
This is coaching, not therapy, and we work at a pace that respects your real life, nervous system, responsibilities, and support.
Why Inanna?
Inanna’s Descent gives this work a shape. It is a mythic pattern we can enter slowly, symbolically, and in conversation with your actual life.
The point is not to strip everything away for the sake of suffering, or to manufacture an underworld. Life is usually quite capable of doing that on its own.
What this work can offer is more capacity inside the descents we are already in: a steadier way to stay with yourself when something is falling away, to recognize the gates as gates, and to move with more awareness and inner support.
The effects are not always dramatic. More often, they show up in subtle, ongoing ways: in what you notice, what you make room for, what you stop performing, and the choices you make.
Logistics
This is a 9-session, one-on-one coaching container, usually held over 9–12 weeks. Sessions are held by Zoom.
I am also planning to offer Inanna’s Descent as an online group program in autumn 2026. If you’re more interested in the group version, you’re welcome to let me know and I’ll add you to the interest list.
Investment: $675–$1,125 for the full 9-session container, using my usual sliding scale of $75–$125 per session. You’re welcome to choose the rate that best fits your current financial reality. Payment can be made per session or in full.
If this work is tugging at you, the next step is simply to reach out. We can have a conversation and see whether this particular mythic journey feels like the right one for you.