Samhain Mystery Play: Inanna and Erishkegal

Dumuzi (D)
Inanna (I)
Erishkegal (E)
Narrator (N)
Two Beings (B)
Also: two guards, a drummer and Enki the God of Wisdom.

Inanna and Dumuzi stand, embracing and gazing at one-another. They are surrounded by candles. She wears white and gold. He wears green and gold.

D: My Inanna. My love.

I: My Damu. My enchanter and priest.

D: This sweet time must never end.

I: No. For us, it cannot end.

They freeze. Enter Ereshkigal. She wears black and red, and is imposing and terrifying. She wraps her cloak around Dumuzi, then blows out the candles.

E: It ends.

Exit Ereshkigal and Dumuzi, she leading him authoritatively. Out of clear sight of the audience, Ereshkigal covers Dumuzi with a dull cloak. When they are gone, Inanna appears to awake from a sleep.

I: My Damu! My enchanter and priest lives no more.

The Lord of Destiny lives no more.

I am Queen, and my husband lives no more.

My son lives no more.

The Lord of the Folds lives no more.

The Shepherd, the lord Dumuzi lives no more.

The Consort of the Queen of Heaven lives no more.

The Brother of the Mother of Wine lives no more.

The Fruit of the Land lives no more.

When he slumbers, the sheep in the fields slumber also.

When he dies, the corn dies in the ear.

Oh World, thy lord to the Nether-world has taken his way.

On account of the Lord, no food will I eat.

On account of the Lord, no water will I drink.

For his kindly look no longer gives me peace,

And his kindly voice gives me cheer no more.

Instead he sleeps like a dog in the dark place:

Alone in the Underworld, my lord slumbers like a raven.

I wail for Dumuzi!

At his vanishing away I lift up a lament – my Damu!

At his vanishing away I lift up a lament – my enchanter and priest!

In Eanna, above and below I lift up a lament.

Like the lament that a house lifts up for its master,

Like the lament a city lifts up for its lord,

I lift up a lament.

My lament is for a herb that grows not in the bed.

My lament is for the corn that grows not in the ear.

My lament is for a life emptied of life:

A weary woman, a weary child, drained and spent.

My lament is for a great river where no willows grow.

My lament is for a field bereft of crops.

My lament is for a pool where fish no longer thrive.

My lament is for a reed-thicket stripped bare.

My lament is for a wood where tamarisks grow not.

My lament is for the garden of hive and vine, where honey and wine grow not.

My lament is for the house where increase of life

Grows not from the lovers’ embrace.

To the abode of the deep I will turn my thoughts.

Crowned and robed in finery, to the Underworld I will fly,

And bring back my husband,

And restore life to the land.

Inanna robes and crowns herself.

N: Crowned and robed in finery, to the Underworld she flies. But the Underworld has seven gates, and at each gate we must leave something behind.

Inanna reaches the first gate, and places her crown on the ground. At the second gate, she drops her robe. At the third, she drops her gold belt.  Now clothed only in many veils covering a simple shift, she sheds a veil at each gate, the final veil being the one that covers her face. Finally she stands dressed only in the simple shift.

N: Naked and unadorned, Inanna steps into the Underworld.

A bloodcurdling scream is heard, and Erishkegal appears, furious that her realm should be invaded.

E: How dare you show your face here?

A steady drum beat begins, slow and ominous, reminiscent of the drumming at the gallows before a hanging. It continues through the following confrontation, getting faster and faster, more and more frenzied, until it stops at Inanna’s scream.

I: I come to claim back my husband, the god Dumuzi.

E: Leave. He is yours no more.

I: Give him to me, sister.

E: He is gone. You cannot find him.

I: (Her voice begins to belie confusion) I know you have him here!

E: You know he is here, but you cannot find him. All the ghouls in the Underworld and from among them you can’t make out your one true love to save him from death.

I: It’s not true. I’ll find him if I have to search forever.

E: But should it take that long? You thought you would know him straight away. All you need to do is find him, and you can’t even do that. Sound travels well here. He hears. He has no will any longer to speak, but he hears. Oh, how devoted he once thought you. Lulled by your honey-tongue, he believed you loved him. And now he knows better. Now he knows that your far vision cannot discern him from thousands of others.

I: But I love him!

E: Words, words, words, words, words! Do you imagine he wants another poisoned word from your pretty, painted lips, my little painted doll? How plain the doll looks when you throw away the dress. How flimsy.

I: (Unsure of herself but stubborn) I am a goddess.

E: You dress as a goddess. But now look at you. You must have the pride of a goddess, I’ll grant that, to keep standing there when you know there’s no hope. You can’t see him. Do you tire of pretending that sometime you will? Or do you plan to let the world that mourns its God go without a Goddess also? And would they miss you? Day after day they prayed for their sick and dying. Prayed that they would never have to meet Ereshkigal. To you they prayed. How gratifying for you. But the diseases still spread, and their loved ones still died, and in their darkest night they still couldn’t hear your voice.

I: Stop.

E: Is that what you said to the voices, the thousands of voices calling you, imploring, day and night, begging you to do the one thing you couldn’t do? To save the mothers and fathers, and the lovers, and the children, and the babies choked in the womb from the Underworld? Except it’s not the only thing, is it? You can’t even make them hear you. Sometimes, you don’t even try.

I: No, stop!

E: (Imitating Inanna’s voice) Stop coming to me with your problems! I can’t help you all! Oh, how they hate you for what you did! Oh, how they despise you for what you didn’t do!

I: (Beginning to sound hysterical, covering her ears and turning from Erishkegal) I can’t hear you!

E: Is this the Great Goddess? (Turns Inanna forcefully to face her) Is this the Queen of Heaven!? (Shoves Inanna down to the floor)

Erishkegal. The laughter escalates, and Erishkegal ignores Inanna as she grasps at her clothes her hands covering her ears.

I: (The following is ‘more what you’d call guidelines’. Basically Inanna is begging Erishkegal for mercy, rapidly losing control of her mind and emotions) No, please! Why are you laughing like that? This isn’t funny! Please! Just give him back! Give my husband back! Damu! Shut up! Stop laughing! No! Stop! Stop! Father! Father, come and rescue me!

Mentally and emotionally destroyed by Erishkegal, who finally has her hands pulling Inanna’s head back by her hair, Inanna screams in desperate terror before passing out. Ereshkigal throws a cloak over her.

[First part of the spellworking here: each person approaches Erishkegal, taking the sickle from her and putting into it what they want to leave behind with her in the Underworld. Giving it back, they are handed an apple by Erishkegal.]

N: And so Inanna lies, the Great Goddess and the Queen of Heaven, shattered into pieces in the cold depths of the Underworld. But her father, Enki, Lord of Wisdom, has heard her cries. From the dirt beneath his fingernails he fashions two beings, and down into the Underworld they fly.

In the Underworld, Ereshkigal rocks and moans, looking now less like a monster and more like an old, tired woman. The beings approach without her noticing. With every sentence, they move closer. When they speak, it is in unison, as one.

N: Alone in the Underworld, Ereshkigal sits. With no one to hear her, Lady Death recalls her own sorrow, her own weakness.

…

E: (Angrily) Oh, my aching bones!

B: (Sympathetically, as though they understand) Oh, my aching bones!

E: Oh, my aching back!

B: Oh, my aching back!

E: Oh, the anger inside!

B: Oh, the anger inside!

E: Why was I cursed with this?

B: Why was I cursed with this?

E: My sister had everything!

B: Everything!

E: I just wanted somebody!

B: Just wanted somebody.

E: But everything I touch dies.

B: Everything I touch dies.

E: I have no one.

B: I have no one.

E: I am alone.

B: (They are now at her side, and resting their hands on her shoulders) I am alone.

Ereshkigal looks up at the two beings. Their countenances are filled with compassion. If she is crying – which would be appropriate – they are too. She is transformed. Suddenly she is vulnerable. Without a word, she nods at the beings, walks over to Inanna and takes off the cloak. She sprinkles water over her, helps her up, leads her to Dumuzi and takes the cloak off him too, revealing his face. Ereshkigal sprinkles water over him too.

[Second part of spellworking here: ritual participants are encouraged to chant “Rise! Rise” as Inanna and Dumuzi make their way out of the Underworld. N sings “Rise Inanna, Rise Dumuzi” at same time, and the chant speeds up and gets louder until finally the two have risen completely.]

Inanna and Dumuzi leave by the seven gates, and Inanna picks up an item of finery at each gate until she is crowned once again. Dumuzi lights the candles as Inanna sprinkles water around. When the candles are all lit, they speak.

I: Inanna returns!
D: Dumuzi returns!
I+D: The land is restored!