CHRISTINE ANDREAE

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Resolution

Christine Andreas November 30, 2017 Inanna Project

Inannas-Resolution

Inanna’s grief over the death of her husband Dumuzi is heartfelt. As a fertility goddess and a warrior, her love for him was fierce and sexual – their sacred union made the land of Sumer fruitful. She will miss his…
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The Death of Dumuzi

Christine Andreas October 31, 2017 Inanna Project Dumuzi, Inanna

Death-of-Dumuzi-1

After demons of the Underworld captured and killed Inanna’s husband, the people of Sumer raised a great cry. “Woe for Inanna’s house! Woe for her city!” they lamented. They grieved for the death of Inanna’s “wild bull” – the young…
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Escape and Capture

Christine Andreas September 28, 2017 Inanna Project

Dumuzi-as-gazelle-cropped

The first time Inanna’s husband Dumuzi escaped the demons of the Underworld, Utu, the Sun God, transformed him into a snake and he wiggled away on his belly into the underbrush. When the demons found him in the ditches of…
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Betrayal

Christine Andreas September 14, 2017 Inanna Project

Dumuzi-hiding

Even under torture, Dumuzi’s sister Geshtinanna refused to betray his whereabouts to the demons of the Underworld. But Dumuzi’s friend accepted the demons’ bribes and told them to look among the grasses of Sumer. But, he hedged, “I do not…
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A Sister’s Sacrifice

Christine Andreas August 23, 2017 Inanna Project

Gestinannas-torture

In my previous post, we left Inanna’s husband Dumuzi and his sister Geshtinanna sitting by a river with a sympathetic friend. As the three of them grieved over Dumuzi’s dream – a dream that foretold his death – Dumuzi happened…
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Dumuzi’s Dream

Christine Andreas July 28, 2017 Inanna Project

Inanna-Dumuzi's-dream

“A myth is a story about the way things never were but always are.” -Thomas Mann If a myth is a collective dream full of impossible happenings, Dumuzi’s dream is a dream within a dream – a personal dream full…
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Inanna’s Choice

Christine Andreas October 21, 2016 Inanna Project demons, Inanna, inanna project, Woodcut

dumuzi

When Inanna returns to the land of Sumer, she is trailing demons who want someone to take her place in the Underworld. This woodcut depicts whom she chose. Here’s the story. The first person Inanna meets upon surfacing is Ninshubur,…
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Inanna Ascending

Christine Andreas September 30, 2016 Inanna Project Inanna, Woodcut

Never before has anyone left the realm of the dead. After the River God’s little creatures have brought Inanna’s corpse back to life, the judges of the underworld make up a new rule. As Inanna starts to leave, they seize her…
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The Gift

Christine Andreas September 6, 2016 Inanna Project Ereshkigal, Inanna

Inanna-the Gift

Among the pantheon of Sumerian Father Gods, only the River God Enki responds to Inanna’s faithful helper Ninshubur who begs him to rescue Inanna from death in the Underworld. Enki pares out mud from under his fingernails. (Of course the…
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The River God

Christine Andreas August 10, 2016 Inanna Project Inanna, River god

River God

Three days and three nights after Inanna’s death, her fellow warrior and closest advisor Ninshubur set up a lament. She beat the drum for her in the assembly places. She circled the houses of the gods. She tore at her…
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On the Hook

Christine Andreas August 2, 2016 Inanna Project death, Inanna, On the Hook

Inanna On-the-Hook

After Inanna was declared guilty by the seven judges of the Underworld, her sister Ereshkigal stepped down from her throne. The poet tells us: Then Ereshkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death. She spoke against her the world of…
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The Judgement

Christine Andreas June 30, 2016 Inanna Project Ereshkigal, Inanna, Judgement, Mesopotamia

Inanna---the-Judgement

Having squeezed through the last gate to the Underworld, Inanna is now in the realm that belongs to her voracious, angry sister Ereshkigal. “Naked and bowed low, Inanna entered the throne room. Ereshkigal rose from her throne. Inanna started toward…
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The Seventh Gate

Christine Andreas June 21, 2016 Inanna Project Inanna, Seventh Gate

Inanna-at-Seventh-Gate

When she entered the seventh gate, From her body the royal robe was removed. Inanna asked: “What is this?” She was told: “Quiet, Inanna, the ways of the underworld are perfect. They may not be questioned.” The seventh gate to…
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The Fourth Gate

Christine Andreas May 31, 2016 Inanna Project fourth gate, inanna project

Inanna-4th-Gate

At the second gate and third gates of the Underworld, Inanna gave up her blue lapis beads – a pair of “small” ones plus a “double strand”. This was a big loss. While Mesopotamia was rich agriculturally, it had no…
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The First Gate

Christine Andreas April 28, 2016 Inanna Project

Inanna-First-Gate

When Inanna arrives in the Underworld, her sister Ereshkegal orders all seven gates to be bolted. She then instructs the gatekeeper to open them one by one, each one no more than crack, to let Inanna through. “As she enters,…
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Queen of the Underworld

Christine Andreas April 12, 2016 Inanna Project Art, Christine Andreae, Diane Wolkstein, Ereshkegal, Inanna, Woodcut

Ereshkigal- woodcut

The Sumerian Underworld is ruled by Inanna’s older sister Ereshkegal whose husband, Gugalanna (aka the Bull of Heaven) has died. When, at the start of the poem, Inanna opened her ear to the Great Below, I imagined her hearing her…
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On the Brink

Christine Andreas April 1, 2016 Inanna Project Art, Christine Andreae, Diane Wolkstein, Inanna, Woodcut

Inanna On-the-Brink

In this second woodcut, I imagine Inanna on the edge of a downward spiral to the Underworld. It is a journey from which no one has ever returned and as she hesitates on the first steps, she sets up a…
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Discovering Inanna

Christine Andreas March 16, 2016 Inanna Project Art, Christine Andreae, Diane Wolkstein, Inanna, Woodcut

Inanna 1

A dozen years ago, when I was struggling with a fog of depression and Fibromyalgia, at the insistence of a worried friend, I dutifully started seeing his therapist. She is a wonderfully wise and caring woman and in the course…
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Recent Posts

  • Resolution November 30, 2017
  • The Death of Dumuzi October 31, 2017
  • Escape and Capture September 28, 2017
  • Betrayal September 14, 2017
  • A Sister’s Sacrifice August 23, 2017

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