A few days ago, I was looking at the publishing schedule I had made several weeks ago to see whom I would be conversing with in this week’s meditation. As soon as I saw that it was to be Ishtar (also—and originally—known as Inanna), I immediately felt a strong, powerful presence. I wanted to read a bit about this goddess to refresh my memory on her personality and what she represents, but she very clearly told me that I could read about her later, after we were done talking—well, after she was done talking to me.

I began my normal preparations—lighting a candle, planning to meditate to prepare my mind, and so on—when I reached for the oil to anoint my third eye, I heard—very clearly—a sigh and “Forget the damn oil!” I had already told her when she had first made herself known that I needed to prepare myself because she is so overwhelming a presence, and she had begrudgingly stepped back and guided me to grab a piece of petrified wood to help. But she was still doing the energetic equivalent of standing huffily just behind me and tapping her foot to show her displeasure.

So, completely out of my element, without any of my usual preparations except a lit candle, I took a deep breath and opened myself to Ishtar.

Finally. You should never keep a goddess waiting, my dear.

Yes, fine, you don’t see me as a goddess. Whatever. I’m sure that’s important. We are all equal, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Yes, I do have a message for you. It is spring. Rejoice! Revel! Have sex with wild abandon! Honor me in all these ways!

Stop thinking about all of your readers who are Christian or who don’t believe in me. You don’t believe in me in that way [as a goddess], either, though you are letting me speak through you. Is that crazy or what? Humans!

Stop it! You don’t need coffee. [I had been reaching for my mug to take a drink.] Listen. Just listen.

Any time you perform a rite of spring, you are paying homage to me. Think of me as the essence of Mother Earth in spring, if you like. I am flowers blooming, animals copulating, pollen spreading. If it is fertile, it is mine. I gain power from fertility, and they gain power from me. It is an ongoing relationship, balanced in the extreme.

But now is not the time for balance. It is the time for wild abandon, for bursting forth, for sex! For joy! For life to spring forth! Pay homage to me! Celebrate Easter in all the usual ways, for I am honored by all of the rites. Hide eggs, give candy, copulate!

 

The message stopped flowing through me, so I asked gently if she had more to add. In response, she said, “Yes, of course I do!” and the energy changed, feeling as if she were thinking hard about what to say next. Then she seemed to realize that she actually had said everything she had come to say, and her energy got “quiet”—though she never admitted that she had nothing more to add, and she did not remove her presence as so many others do. She simply pulled back but stayed near. Her energy gave the impression that she was inclining her head, as if telling me that I finally had permission to read about her and to ask her any questions I might have. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

Before reading, however, I asked why she requires us to honor her or to make offerings to her.

Are you not creatures of this earth? Do you not benefit from the fertility of the planet? Do you not feel the wild impulses that drive other animals and even the plants? I am part of that impulse.

She is not the cause of the impulse, she gives me to understand, only part of the impulse. Thus, to honor life and the impulses of life is to honor her. It was clear to me that she’s got some pride and wants to think of us as honoring her when we give in to the natural urges of spring, so, if you are so inclined, while you plant, walk in nature, sing to the birds, or even copulate (she suggested this word), give her a figurative tip of the hat, and she will be very pleased. She tells me that she will rain blessings of fertility (not necessarily physical; you can make a special request for the type of fertility—ideas, money, and so on—that you would like) down upon those who do one or all of these things in honor of her. Stroke her ego a little as you stroke other things humming with life, and she will reward you.

 

In her book Archangels & Ascended Masters, Doreen Virtue describes the Ishtar who contacted her as loving and even gentle, and focused on healing.¹ Ishtar is a mother of all types, Virtue reports. That is completely in keeping with the energy that Ishtar brought to me, but Ishtar was in something of a frenzy from the spring here where I live. It’s not quite an ecstatic, orgyistic feeling, but it was very close, like a teenager in the throes of puberty …

 

 

 

 

According to the Encyclopedia of Spirits (EoS), Ishtar is of Mesopotamian origin. Although the names Ishtar and Inanna have long been used interchangeably, they refer to slightly different aspects of her personality. “Ishtar is Inanna taken to a greater extreme; she is more sexual, more violent, more aggressive; more volatile. They are the same, but Ishtar is just more so.”²

This is definitely the case with what I felt—boy, oh boy! Ishtar is a goddess of both fertility and war; she “battles all day and loves all night”:

Inanna-Ishtar is the supreme spirit of love, war, fertility, childbirth, and healing. She can cause and cure disease, bestow and withhold children. Her influence extends over humans, plants, and animals. In particular, she provides or withholds the spark of desire that initiates all procreative action and fertility.² (emphasis added)

I read a bit more and began to understand why Ishtar has a bit of an ego—she was worshipped in a major, state-sponsored religion. She was Big Time.

Or maybe she had been Big Time because she had so much of an ego and managed to find those who would pay her the tribute she so desired?

Either way, she fell out of favor once patriarchal religions began to dominate: “The goddess in the guise of a sexy, young, independent warrior-woman was no longer considered an appropriate role model.”²

Spoil sports, I heard the goddess say with a pout.

So, if you feel the desire or the urge to pay tribute to Inanna-Ishtar, feel free, and do so with joy and love. But be careful, because she is definitely temperamental and volatile, especially as Ishtar. If you want to maintain a long-term offering or altar to her, be sure that you make offerings consistently and give her things that she will enjoy—and keep the offering place clean and extremely well cared for, as befits the sacred space dedicated to an ancient deity who was once revered by an entire nation.

(If you want to get a better feel for what this “just more so” side of the Inanna-Ishtar goddess of war and fertility, give a listen to “Kiss with a Fist” by Florence + The Machine.)

Once Ishtar had spoken, the more tempered Inanna came through to offer reassurance that both aspects of this goddess are equally pleased with those one-time offers of copulation and eggs and other representations of fertility that are so traditional around Eastertime, but she stressed that if you think you may be more lax in the timing of offerings and upkeep of a sacred space, you may wish to dedicate such offerings and space to Inanna or to the integrated Inanna-Ishtar. Keep in mind that you’re offering to the same goddess, only slightly different parts of her personality. Think of it like Mama when she’s a little crazy and you never know what will set her off, versus Mama when she’s nice and relaxed and has had a very good day. That’s the difference between Ishtar and Inanna—both are still Mama, but Inanna is the “I brought you into this world” version and Ishtar is the “and I can take you out of this world” version.

If you wish to make non-copulative offerings or offerings that we think of as more conventional in this day and age, consider incense, wine, sweet cakes, and sweet breads (especially homemade). Remember, if you want to make an offering to the Ishtar form specifically, “absolute, unconditional adoration, devotion, and loyalty” are best.²

 

Sources

1. Virtue, Doreen. Archangels & Ascended Masters: A Guide to Working and Healing with Divinities and Deities. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2003.
2. Illes, Judika. Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses. New York: HarperOne, 2009.

 

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