Innana Descending: Desire, Power, and Fluidity by André Consciência (Part II)

The Three Divine Classes of the Mesopotamian Cosmos

In Mesopotamian religion, the deities were often categorized into three main classes or groups based on their roles, functions, and powers. These classifications helped to organize the pantheon and define the relationships between the gods, as well as their interactions with the cosmos and humans. The three classes of deities in Mesopotamian mythology are Anunnaki (The High Gods), Igigi (The Lesser Gods) and The Gigmū (Spirit or Ghost Deities).

The Anunnaki were the most powerful deities in the pantheon. They were with the heavens, the cosmic order, and creation. These deities are the rulers of the universe, and their decisions have far-reaching consequences for both gods and humans.

The Igigi were the lower gods who served the Anunnaki. They were often associated with more mundane or functional tasks in the divine realm, performing the labor necessary to maintain the cosmos or enact divine orders.

Being gods of smaller domains, they influence the forces of nature and the elements, farming, agriculture, and seasonal cycles. In some myths, the Igigi are depicted as working for the Anunnaki and later revolting due to the heavy burden of labor placed upon them. Be that as it may, these gods are viewed as mediators between the high gods and humanity, and as such, they maintain order.

The Gigmū were spirits of the deceased, sometimes seen as mortal souls who had passed on or deities that represented more specific forces in nature or life. This class often worked in the afterlife or dealt with issues related to death, spirits, and fate. They possess less influence than the Anunnaki or Igigi, but still balance the world.

It could be argued that these three classes of Gods correspond to the three classes of people, the Anunnaki being favored by the Royal Class, the Igigi by the Commoners, and the Gigmū by the Servants in their rebellious sorcery.

Inanna’s Unique Place Among the Powers

Inanna (or Ishtar) is Anunnaki, a high goddess. However, her nature and role in Mesopotamian mythology are multifaceted, and she also has strong associations with other aspects of Divine Providence. While Her power extends over both celestial (planetary) and earthly matters, making her an essential part of the celestial hierarchy, she also has links to the Igigi when it comes to her roles and actions. The Igigi are tasked with maintaining natural and seasonal cycles, such as storms and rain, and sometimes serve the high gods. Inanna’s mythical actions, such as her descent into the underworld (which represents both death and rebirth and the seasonal cycles) and her intervention in wars, fertility, and cosmic events, bear functional connections to the Igigi, though she is not part of their class.

Inanna’s descent into the underworld aligns her with certain themes of the spirit world. While she does not belong to the Gigmū (spirit or ghost class) directly, her journey through the underworld places her in their context, as she comes into contact with death and the afterlife.

This descent closes the gap between life and death, a power often of the Gigmū deities. Yet, Inanna’s primary identity remains that of a high goddess in the Anunnaki class.

In the same way as she seems to take on aspects of all three classes (due to that divine ecstasy that expands and that we can find present in her name), she also starts to incorporate the Me of other Anunnaki.

The Nature and Purpose of the Me

In my book “A Guide to Stellar Magic & Astrological Mysticism” (Falcon Books Publishing) I write: “It is peculiar but not without sense that Virgo, meaning virgin, connects to the Akkadian Ishtar. Ishtar’s primary legacy from the Sumerian tradition is the role of fertility figure, also, to a greater extent, an astral deity, associated with the planet Venus. Ishtar, Queen of the Universe, taking on the powers of An, Enlil, and Enki, was the protectress of prostitutes, who were priestesses of divine love, high-ranked in their society.”

But what are these powers, or ME?

In another of my books, “Wisdom for a Unified Humanity” (Sura Academy), I have put that:

Mesopotamian culture did place attention on social order and harmony, and their philosophy reflects this through what we have previously met as Ma’at in Ancient Egypt. In Mesopotamia, it is known as Me, the divine order and justice that ensured the harmony of society, expressed through the worship of various gods and goddesses who oversee different aspects of society and ensure their functioning.

The term “Me” refers to the divine laws, powers, and decrees that were essential to civilization and culture. The “Me” were a divine gift to humanity, bestowed by the goddess Inanna. They governed agriculture, crafts, music, justice, and kingship, and were associated with the gods and goddesses of the Sumerian pantheon.

These “Me” were embodied in ritual objects, statues and sacred stones that were kept in temples, where they were venerated and used. “Me” were also transmitted through human agents, priests and kings, who were in charge of maintaining the balance of society.

The king, as a divine embodiment on Earth, is the primary transmitter of the “Me.” His accession to the throne was accompanied by the reception of a set of “Me” that had been handed down through generations of kings before him. Likewise, the king was responsible for preserving and transmitting the “Me” to future generations.

Priests were transmitters of the “Me” because they were responsible for performing the rituals that maintained the relationship between the gods and humanity. Priests communicated with the gods and received the “Me” directly from them.

However, ordinary people could also receive the “Me” through divine inspiration or revelation. In this way, the “Me” were not just a set of laws to be followed, but a way of life that was open to all who sought to live in divine order.

Eridug and the Abzu as the Primordial Source

The Me Tablets (from the myth Inanna and Enki) describe Inanna receiving and holding these divine laws and powers governing civilization, magic, and mysticism. As a bearer of divine mysteries She takes these from Enki, the god of wisdom, and She does it in Eridug, over Abzu. Eridug (Eridu) was one of the oldest and most significant cities of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia. It was considered the first city ever created by the gods. The Patron of the city was Enki himself (later called Ea by the Akkadians), not only the god of wisdom but of magic and sorcery, fresh water, and creation. This city housed the E-abzu temple, dedicated to the Patron, believed to have been built over the Abzu, the freshwater abyss that nourished the world. It is the first city to receive kingship from heaven (civilization), and Enki resided in it before Inanna took the divine Me to Uruk.

Eridug, therefore, represents the primordial foundation of civilization, wisdom, and reality. In Eridu is the birth of structure from the primordial waters (Abzu), and the transition from chaos (unformed potential) to order (kingship and divine law). Like Atlantis or Shambhala in other traditions, it is the archetype of the lost sacred city, a place of knowledge now hidden or forgotten.

Esoterically, in Enki is revealed the hidden virtue of the deep. Eridu, as Enki’s city, is the source of mysticism, akin to a temple of initiation. And so, the E-Abzu temple in Eridu was built directly over the Abzu (Apsu), the great subterranean ocean. In esoteric thought, this shows an occult wisdom that must be tapped into through initiation and meditation.

The Abzu is the primordial source of life, existing below the surface of reality as an unconscious void, the place where raw creation, energy, divinity, and intuition reside. Just as Enki draws wisdom from the Abzu, the adept must descend into the depths of the self to retrieve self-awareness and erect his personality in the image of the E-Abzu temple that, at Eridu, connects heaven, earth, and the underworld. This is a cosmic axis of enlightenment where mystics integrate the forces of the self into conscious mastery. The subterranean waters of the Abzu are the substance of transmutation, the prima materia of alchemy that dissolves false identities.

This aligns with the Descent and Ascent of Inanna, where one must journey downward, face the dissolution of the self, and return. Because Inanna takes upon Her the Me, she, who is the heavens, must become also the city emerging from Abzu, that is, the Temple.

We may see Eridu still when we look long and deep and dreamily into the well waters in involuntary trance and scrying, falling into a gateway to unchecked revelation. We witness Eridu when the Christians gather to submerge in sacred waters, dissolving and being given birth to. Like Inanna’s descent or the Orphic underworld adventure, one might go down, voluntarily or not, into the “Abzu within” to unlock death itself.

Eridu, on its own, represents the structured, enlightened self, built upon the foundation of the unconscious and divine wisdom. Mastery of the self requires balancing the ordered city (conscious awareness) with the waters of potential. Just as Eridug was the first city, representing civilization emerging from chaos, so too must the pilgrim establish their own inner city of wisdom upon their subconscious. And that is why Inanna does not rule Eridu but Uruk, and in the myth “Inanna and Enki” Enki, dwelling in the Abzu, bestows upon Her the Me that she takes to Her own city (Uruk), effectively transferring authority and the mysteries to humanity.

We mean to affirm Inanna exemplifies the path of an initiate who seeks to access the deep (the Abzu). She represents the soul in love with enlightenment. The Abzu is the well of pre-existence, the source of creative power and knowledge. Enki, the god of wisdom and magic, lives in it, so this is wisdom that comes from engaging with the forces of the void. Inside the void, lay the Me, which means the Me can only reach the circles of time from outside it. These are the blueprints of reality, containing decrees and powers. They are the laws of the void that govern politics and civilization, ritual and temple practices, music, love, and war, magic and priesthood. But Enki does not hand over the Me consciously, he becomes intoxicated and gives them up unknowingly. Transmitting the Me, then, is certainly not an intellectual exercise.  

Inanna as the One Who Claims Power

Just as Prometheus steals fire for humanity, Thoth retrieves the sacred writings and Hermes, and Loki trick their way into knowledge, we cannot expect wisdom to be given; it must be earned, claimed, or even wrestled from the divine through cunning, effort, and risk.

Once Inanna secures the Me and carries them back to Uruk, bringing divine wisdom to human civilization, she is side-to-side with knowledge-bearers like Odin. The mission of the initiate or priestess, she who has descended into the mysteries, is to return and share them with the world.

The spiritual city of Uruk, symbolizing a new way of being that integrates divine order with earthly reality, is not unlike the New Heaven and New Earth of the New Testament in the Bible. After dissolving in the Abzu, so too the initiate returns with new power.

However, like a star whose flame burns and spreads throughout the Universe, Inanna does not seem to stop with Enki. She takes divine authority from Enlil and An, even if the context and implications differ. She defies Enlil, bypasses him, and seizes aspects of kingship and rule. Enlil, in his cosmic authority, is the ruling sky god, a banner of patriarchal power. He resists Inanna’s rise in The Descent of Inanna, where he refuses to resurrect her when she dies in the underworld. Yet, Inanna ultimately asserts her own form of kingship, taking power for herself.

When Enlil represents the rigid, structured aspect of divine rule, Inanna shows the rise of an initiate who claims sovereignty not through lineage but through mastery. Although divine kingship originally came through Enlil, Inanna claims her own version, one based on personal conquest. This rebellion, where the seeker does not passively accept imposed structures but forges their own divine path, is the transition from imposed power or passive rulership (Enlil’s kingship) to self-generated power (Inanna’s active sovereignty).

So, unlike other gods who inherit or guard power, Inanna is a deity who seeks it, takes it, and invents it. From Enki, she takes the Me, absorbing mystical wisdom from the subconscious and the primordial deep (Abzu). From Enlil she creates a new form of rulership based on becoming.

Thus, Inanna unifies the three great forces of power: Wisdom (Enki / Abzu / Magic), Authority (Enlil / Sky / Kingship) and Transformation (Ereshkigal / Underworld / Death and Rebirth), as much as the alchemical adept must integrate the Three Great Principles (Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury) to achieve wholeness.

The Complete Sovereign of Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld

But we have yet to deal with An, altough in the myths Inanna does not directly “take” power from An (Anu), the supreme sky god, but receives, inherits, or negotiates power from him in ways that elevate Her authority. An is the ultimate source of cosmic divinity, so Her relationship with him is different from how she deals with Enki (wisdom) or Enlil (rulership).

That being said, Inanna does absorb and transform An’s celestial principle, integrating it into her own sovereignty.  Unlike Enlil (who rules the material world) or Enki (who governs occult wisdom), An is the transcendent formlessness that legitimizes kingship. While not active in many myths, he grants authority to deities and kings, meaning whoever controls An’s power holds supreme rule. To gain power from An means to access the purest divine current before it manifests in worldly form.

An gives Inanna the “House of Heaven” (E-Anna) in Uruk, granting her authority over the city (Uruk as the seat of civilization), the celestial mysteries (E-Anna as a cosmic temple) and rulership derived from the heavens, rather than just earthly kingship.

An bestowing a temple is a spiritual transmission of cosmic flow. The E-Anna temple itself represents a “cosmic pillar,” a connection between heaven and earth, just as Inanna herself bridges the two.

Yet it is also with An that we see the Goddess humbled. When Inanna (as Ishtar) demands the “Bull of Heaven” from An to punish Gilgamesh for rejecting her advances, at first, An refuses, fearing it will cause a famine on Earth. As Inanna insists,  An yields, giving her the Bull. The Bull of Heaven is then unleashed upon Uruk but is ultimately slain by Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Inanna’s ability to command the raw, celestial force, the uncontrolled divine current of the Bull of Heaven, teaches us that she has access to An’s highest cosmic energy, but she does not yet fully master it. Its destruction by Gilgamesh tells us of the limitation of raw divine power in the human dimension: it cannot be wielded recklessly.

Still, unlike Enki (whose wisdom she takes) or Enlil (whose authority she challenges), An does not resist Inanna’s rise, he legitimizes it. He gives her the House of Heaven, confirming her celestial status. He grants her the Bull of Heaven, showing that she has access to the highest divine power. He does not actively oppose Her, meaning She is not a challenger but a rightful heir to his celestial authority.

Instead of stealing An’s power, Inanna becomes its extension, the creativity of the heavens made manifest in the world even if the sensual time of Venus is not yet fully upon us, the intellect still stands guard and wisdom has not matured.

To summarize, Inanna integrates all divine forces into her being, making her a complete spiritual monarch, both of the heavens (An), the earth (Enlil), and the underworld (through her descent). It is at this point that we reach Innana as a guide through the labyrinth of ecstasy.