Geshtinanna

I am Sumerian Geshtinanna!

(Anna! Grandmother of the Years!)

My twin brother Damuzi, Tammuz,

first of the pastoral dying god-kings,

was consort to Inanna (5000 years ago.) 

I was handmaiden, aide, acolyte,

while She sang him

unequalled songs of love, 

while he slept with Her,

and then without Her in Her bed, 

while She left him on Her throne,

while She made Her perilous descent,

while She chose to visit

Darkness in the underworld.

Returning, with the shadow of death

at Her heels, under Her eyes,

looking for the scapegoat demanded

in return for Her life,

She blamed him for enjoying Her absence,

usurping Her throne,

and chose him

to be banished forever from the light.

I chose to intervene, chose love,

asking Inanna to let me share his fate.

I became the archetype

of compassion and partnership,

welcoming dark initiation into mystery,

allowing both male and female

in lonely alternation

to descend and return,

to become priestess and priest, shaman,

both to know darkness

so that both could know light,

both to experience

the sacred marriage within,

both to be fertilized by wisdom,

experiencing rebirth,

becoming allies of Inanna: 

like Her, like the sun and moon,

like the morning star,

becoming guides of whumankind,

mirroring the seasons.

I am Persephone, Kore, Corn Mother.

My brother is Corn Man, Green Man, Deer Man,

harvested, cut down in his prime

to renew life’s fertility,

symbolic sacrificial savior,

Year God, dying and reborn.

Alone, together,

We fall and rise, cycling renewal,

giving hope.

© Tamara Rasmussen 2018