Inanna’s Descent: An Online Gathering for Women
Following Inanna through the seven gates, from the darkening days of autumn to winter solstice
We don’t choose every descent life brings us. Grief, loss, change, uncertainty, and periods of unraveling arrive whether we want them to or not. During these times, we often feel like we are being stripped of the things we counted on: a role, a relationship, a familiar way of living, even a familiar sense of who we are.
But this descent is one we can choose.
Inanna’s myth gives us an ancient story for something we still go through. On her way down, Inanna has to surrender the items that represent her status at each of the seven gates guarding the underworld. She reaches the depths stripped and bowed low. Eventually, she ascends from the underworld, taking her regalia back up again, but changed by what she has encountered.
This autumn, as the days grow darker, we’ll descend alongside Inanna, paying attention to what she lays down and what our version of that might be. We’ll enter this ancient story, work with its symbols, and see what happens.
» » » Nine online gatherings on Saturdays from October 17–January 2, plus an optional solstice meeting. Intimate group, limited space. $375 for the full journey. Read on for detailed info, or register now for the group » » »
“From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below…”
So begins Inanna’s Descent, the Sumerian myth in which Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, descends to the underworld, the realm of her sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Great Below. The myth doesn’t give us one simple reason for why she goes. What we do know is that she chooses to descend.
In our work, Inanna’s royal adornments become living symbols. When Inanna lays down her crown, for example, we might ask: What identity do I lead with? The competent one, the intelligent one, the caretaker, the has-it-all-together one? What do I want others to see first? What does that identity give me, and what does it hide away? What would it feel like to set “my crown” down for a while? What is underneath all of this?
And that’s really the journey here: using an ancient myth as a doorway into shadow, self, soul, and what lies beneath the roles and identities we carry.
Why descend?
The dark months of the year have their own rhythm. Plants die back and trees draw their energy into their roots. As the evenings come earlier and earlier, we may find ourselves craving more rest, more quiet, more time at home, even as the holidays ask us to do the opposite: to be social, busy, productive, outward.
Working with Inanna’s myth this time of year is a way of saying yes to winter, to the dark and to slowing down, rather than simply pushing through it. The dark is much more than an absence of light. It is a place of rest, mystery, and gestation… things die back, go underground, and eventually feed new life. Our lives do this too.
This work won’t necessarily hand you a shiny new self at the end. But it may help you make more sense of those times when something is falling away and you don’t yet know what comes next. It gives you a way to stay with descent without rushing to fix it, and perhaps to trust that even at the darkest point, something is already beginning to turn… And you might just come back a little changed by what you encountered in the dark.
You don’t have to be in the middle of a major loss or upheaval to make this descent. Yes, you might join us because you are grieving or going through a life change. Or, you might be curious about the roles and identities you carry. You might be drawn to the season, to mythology, shadow work, ritual, or women’s work. Or you might simply feel the strange pull: I want to lay down my crown.
What happens when we gather
Each gathering will include some teaching about the week’s gate and symbol, a short guided exercise using our imagination to enter the myth, writing, and conversation in very small groups.
Between gatherings, I’ll send a few reflection questions and simple practices to carry the gate into the week. How deeply you engage is up to you. This is not meant to become another thing on your to-do list. At the very least, I’ll invite you to keep the symbol in your awareness and notice what shows up in your thoughts, your body, your daydreams, your night dreams, or your everyday life.
The underworld and winter solstice
At our final gate, right before the winter solstice, Inanna reaches the underworld, where she remains for three days and three nights, just as we arrive at the year’s darkest point. We’ll use the days around solstice as our own quiet underworld time… making a little more room for darkness, stillness, dreaming, and whatever has been stirred up by our descent.
There will also be an optional short gathering on the solstice itself to mark the moment together. Because of course, at the darkest point of the year, the light begins to return.
After the holidays, we’ll gather one final time to begin the movement of ascent and complete our journey together.
Practical details
Dates:
- October 17: Opening gathering
- October 31: Gate One
- November 7: Gate Two
- November 14: Gate Three
- November 21: Gate Four
- December 5: Gate Five
- December 12: Gate Six
- December 19: Gate Seven and final descent
- December 21: Optional solstice gathering (Monday)
- January 2: Final gathering: ascent and completion
Time: Saturdays, 10:00–11:30 a.m. Mountain Time
Format: Online via Zoom
Group size: Limited to 16 women
Investment: $375 for the full journey (If you feel drawn to the group and the full fee would make it difficult to join, you’re welcome to reach out about a reduced-rate spot.)
Sessions will not be recorded. Because this work can get personal, keeping the gatherings live helps protect privacy and creates a more present, contained space for the group. If you miss a gathering, I’ll send copious notes about the gate and its symbol, along with the reflection questions and practices for that week.
If you have questions or want to talk with me before registering, you’re welcome to reach out.