How have our perceptions of the underworld tainted our ability to decode ancient symbolism ?
What if the darkest place you could go wasn’t a punishment—but a rite of passage? Today, we’re diving deep into the ancient myths of two powerful goddesses: Inanna and Persephone. One descends into the underworld, shedding her power layer by layer. The other is abducted into the realms of death and accepts her fate- which allows her to live between both worlds. These myths aren’t just stories—they’re blueprints of feminine initiation, grief, and return.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:36):
Hello and welcome to another episode of Esoterica and
Nonsense, a podcast where we discuss myths, legends, folk
tales, fairy tales, supernaturalphenomenon and religions from
around the world. I'm your host, Annabelle
Bananabelle. It is another day here on planet
(01:02):
Earth. We're all doing our best.
We're all trying to stay in highspirits as we watch the
patriarchy seemingly ruin every anything and I'm I'm over it.
I'm over it Hot take. Our greatest ambition should be
(01:26):
relaxation, fun and symbiosis. There is no reason why any of us
need to be working 9 to fives inthe same sense that we have now.
We could all be planting gardensand forests and living in tune
with the seasons. It's really not that hard.
(01:48):
Sorry about it, sorry about it. Sometimes I just feel like a
little loop de loop. Well, today I'm very excited.
Today we are going to talk aboutthe legend of Inanna's descent
(02:11):
into the underworld and the legend of Persephone and her
descent into the underworld. How are they similar?
How are they different? What do these stories mean?
What are they getting at? Also, I want to have an
honorable mention to a fan of the podcast who reached out to
(02:36):
me. Actually, wait, let me get my
phone. Look, I want to, I want to shout
them out properly. OK, here we go.
Have my phone out. We're going to go into my
e-mail. I got the cutest e-mail of all
(02:57):
time. I'm I literally it like made me
cry. I read it in the grocery store.
Where? Oh my God, I'm really, I'm
really dropping the ball right now.
OK, Tyler. Tyler reached out to me and is
(03:20):
so, so, so sweet. They sent me the deleted scene
from The Devil's, which I had never seen before and I'm so
grateful for that. And they also sent me a picture
of their pepper plant and it is so super cute.
And so I really just wanted to shout out Tyler and say thank
(03:43):
you for so much for writing in. I am just so tickled.
And This is why I started this podcast.
I wanted to make more friends. I wanted to connect with people
who think about humanity from the terms of esotericism,
ghosts, magic, folk tales. Freaky.
(04:04):
I want to talk about the freaky.Come on, come on, people.
So that's, that's your invitation.
Send me an e-mail. Just say hi.
Tell me about some weird dream you had when you were a kid.
Tell me about some weird cult that you heard about or your mom
was a part of. Tell me something interesting.
You know, Speaking of which, this actually does remind me not
(04:28):
to go on a full on tangent. A girl I was friends with had
she told me the story. She so her family like is from
Berkeley, born and raised. And so her aunt went to Berkeley
High back in the 70s and when she was a freshman in high
(04:50):
school, she started dating like this grown man.
Classic. Oh my God, classic dude.
Like PSA let's like no grown manshould not be dating high
schoolers anyway. She's dating this grown man and
he basically like had started a cult and it started getting more
(05:12):
members joining. Obviously this is the 70s.
Everyone's like doing a bunch ofacid.
Everyone doesn't need an excuse to just do acid in the woods or
whatever. So she like fully drops out of
high school. She's she's 15, drops out of
high school, goes and moves on this commune somewhere in North
(05:33):
Cal with this guy and becomes like the queen of this cult.
Like I and granted, I don't think she was like leading
anything, but like, she was likedating the guy who was the
center of this cult. And apparently, like, after a
few years, you know, as she was getting closer to 18, the glitz
(05:58):
and glamour of the fantasy was kind of wearing off because she
was basically babysitting everyone's babies and kids as
they were just getting super fucking ripped.
Everyone was just tripping ballsall day and fucking.
And she was just like 17 babysitting a bunch of babies.
And it was like, this is fuckingweird.
Like, I'm not going to stay. And I just think that's such an
(06:21):
iconic story. What an iconic story.
Send me stories like that. I want to hear cool stories.
I like hearing ghost stories. I want to hear anything weird.
Visions that you've had, premonitions that you've had.
Time travelling, astral projection, I don't know.
Fairy tales that your grandma used to tell you?
(06:43):
I don't know. You tell me.
Write me an e-mail. Send me a picture of your pepper
plant. I want to be your friend.
Also, I feel like maybe I shouldlike raffle off T-shirts or
something. Wouldn't that be fun?
Who doesn't love a free shirt? Maybe, maybe like the 1st 10
people who write me an e-mail, I'll draw names and send you a
(07:05):
free shirt. I should send Tyler a shirt.
Tyler also, I'm going to send you a shirt.
I'll e-mail you later. OK, without further ado, let's
get into the business, baby girl.
Let's get into the business. We are going to get into the
Descent and the Return, Inanna, Persephone, the sacred feminine
(07:30):
rites of death and rebirth. And I want to open with this
question. How have our modern perceptions
of the underworld tainted our ability to decode ancient
symbolism? What if the darkest place you
(07:51):
could go wasn't a punishment, but a rite of passage?
Today's episode, we're diving deep into the ancient myths of
two powerful goddesses, Inanna and Persephone. 1 descends into
the underworld, shedding her power layer by layer by layer,
(08:15):
and the other descends into the underworld, surrenders and eats
the fruits of the dead. These myths are not only
stories, but they are blueprintsfor ancient rites and feminine
initiation, stories and symbols that tackle grief and the nature
(08:43):
of rebirth. I'm so fucking excited about.
I just love women. I just want to take a second and
say I love women. Women are incredible.
Thank you so much. Women love you.
Women love you. OK, so let's start with Inana.
Shout out to a previous episode.There is an episode of my
(09:07):
podcast that is all about ISIS. And Inana is one of the more
ancient incarnations of the goddess of love and war.
It's kind of like this symbol ofof fertility, love and a little
(09:29):
bit of blood. And so she has many names.
So it is thought to believe thatInanna is also an kind of like
the ancient version of Isis slash Ishtar.
But of course, as local mythology often goes, there can
(09:49):
be local beliefs and ideals thatmaybe are based off of the stars
or the planets or certain natural occurring elements in
that area. And as time goes on and as
humans interact with each other,it is very common for mythos and
stories to start merging. So Inanna is 1 of the oldest
(10:15):
recorded goddesses. According to our modern
historians. She was a goddess of the ancient
Mesopotamian culture. Inanna is considered one of the
one of the most important deities in ancient summer.
And again a little refresher that ancient Sumeria is now.
(10:35):
Well I feel like I'm saying thatweird.
Ancient Sumeria or summer, right, Do you say?
I feel like you say Sumeria, right?
Yeah. Ancient Sumeria is located in
what is now considered modern day Iraq.
So some of the earliest recordings of Inanna are from
(11:00):
4000 BC, which means it's like 6000 years ago.
That's quite a long time. She is associated with love,
beauty, sex, justice, war, bloodAKA my twin, and she's also
known to hold immense cosmic power.
(11:20):
A lot of modern day historians assume that Inanna is actually
an allegory for the planet of Venus and we're going to get
into that in a bit. The story of Inanna's descent
into the underworld represents aspiritual initiation, a sacred
(11:41):
death and rebirth cycle. And this possibly could also be
an allegory and or blueprint which would inspire a lot of
like quote shamanic rituals thatwomen would go through in the
ancient world. Now I feel like I'm a broken
record, but I just have to say this again.
(12:03):
I kind of can't stand the term shamanic.
And obviously English is a very.English is is a very.
I have a lot of problems with the with the language of
English, mostly because English has been engineered as not only
(12:28):
a colonizer language, but also aslave language.
A lot of the words that we use in English don't reflect the
root meaning. And, or I mean, I'm kind of
getting off track, but let's just talk about shamanic.
The word shaman comes from a word samman, which was a
(12:53):
recorded word from I believe, Dutch travellers that were
travelling through Mongolia and meeting with tribes of Mongolia
and Russia. And in these tribes they had
seers, you know, medicine men, whatever you want to call them.
(13:14):
And their specific word for themwas Salman or something similar.
And these Dutch travellers wroteit, wrote it down as Salman.
And then as their papers were read, it became very common for
people to start using this term as a blanket term for any
culture that did any kind of of spiritual rights.
(13:38):
So I'm going to say it once, I'mgoing to say it again.
I will never stop saying it. The word shaman and shamanic is
a little bit reductive and frustrating for me, but take
what you will from that. Take what you will.
I mean English. I feel like if we play this
(13:59):
game, every word in English is basically the same story.
So I mean, maybe I'm just ice skating up a hill.
So one other aspect of our girl Inanna is that she is often
associated with the moon and considered to be a lunar
goddess. She embodies the waning moon and
(14:23):
dark moon phases because she is associated with disappearance
into the underworld. So let's get into the story,
shall we? I'm going to burn some more Palo
Santo because I really want to set the vibe.
You should burn some Palo Santo with me.
It just smells so good. It's like a blanket for your
(14:46):
nostrils, dude. It's just so good.
Once I did mushrooms and I thinkI burnt, I like had a whole pack
of Palo Santo and I just never stopped burning it.
I like burnt so much Palo Santo and it was like, I was like, it
was almost like I was smoking the Palo Santo.
Oh my God. Wow.
(15:09):
OK, let's get into it. So preface, there are a few
different versions of the story of Inanna, but we're going to be
focusing on the Sumerian versionone because it's the oldest 2
because it's it's kind of like the most well documented and
just for simplicity's sake, we're just going to stick with
(15:29):
this version. So reminder that in the ancient
Sumerian culture, the underworldwas known as Kur Kur.
So Khur was ruled by a goddess named Ereshkigal, and Ereshkigal
(15:56):
is actually the sister of Inana.OK so as the story goes, Inana
decides to visit her sister Oreshkigal who is the goddess of
the underworld. The ancient texts never
explicitly state why she is going.
(16:18):
Some people, like some versions,claim that her sister Arash
Kigal was lonely and longed for company.
Other versions say that perhaps their older sister died, which
is why Inanna wants to go visit her sister.
Or perhaps even Arash Kigal's husband died.
(16:39):
Regardless, Inanna decides to descend into the underworld to
visit her sister. Before leaving, Inana instructs
her minister and her servant, who's named Ninjubur, to plead
(17:00):
with the deities and Lil Nana onand Enki to rescue her if she
does not return after three days.
Now, all of these are like really famous Anunnaki, who are
both the quote UN quote gods of the ancient Sumerian and
(17:21):
Mesopotamian religions, and theyare also the notorious aliens.
So and Lil and Anki are brothersand Nana are and on are the
parents of them. So this is kind of like the the
pantheon, if you will. So Inanna tells her servant that
(17:42):
if I don't come back in three days, you're going to tell the
highest ranking people of our Kingdom, the highest ranking
gods, to come get me after threedays just in case.
Insurance policy. We love that the laws of the
underworld dictated that, with the exception of appointed
messengers, anyone who was to enter the underworld may never
(18:06):
leave it. So Inanna prepares for her
descent, and she dresses elaborately for her visit with
her sister. She puts on a turban.
She wears a wig. She wears a necklace of lapis
lazuli, and she wears a bunch ofbeads.
(18:26):
And she wears what is known as aPaula dress, which is a garment
of high status. She wears mascara and she wears
a golden ring, and she carries ascepter of lapis lazuli.
Oh my God, this outfit is a 10 out of 10.
(18:48):
So Inanna proceeds to the gates of the underworld, and she
knocks. She demands to be let in.
The gatekeeper, who was named Nettie, asks her why she has
come. Inanna tells them that she
wishes to attend the funeral of Gugalana, who was the husband of
(19:11):
her sister Arashkigal. So the servant Nettie goes and
reports to the goddess of the underworld herself, Arashkigal,
and in response she tells him bolt the seven gates of the
underworld and then one by one open each gate just a crack and
(19:34):
let Inanna enter. However as she enters have her
remove her royal garments 1 by 1.
So Oh my God that's so good. Actually before we get into it,
let's take a quick break. Hello Traveller, have you
(19:56):
forgotten that you are an incredible 1 of the kind Pepper?
There is no one on planet Earth like you.
Do you know how incredible that is?
Never forget it. It might take time, it might
take practice, but whatever yourdreams are, you can attain them.
(20:17):
Yes you can. And you know that it's true.
I believe in you. I'm so proud of you.
One step at a time and you're going to make it.
Oh yeah, baby. Just as the story is getting
good, so Inanna is now at the first gate and like peeling away
(20:42):
armor to her core self, as if she's stripping away her ego,
identity and status, she is instructed 1 by 1 to remove a
piece of her clothing. It's like strip poker.
So at the first gate she is toldto give in her scepter of lapis
(21:03):
lazuli. Interestingly though, some
versions say that she actually gives up her crown.
But I do think that regardless if it's a crown or a scepter, I
actually think that it's an allegory for the, for the, the
(21:24):
crown chakra. It's a symbol of like your
nobility. And like this, it's, it's
stripping you away. Right.
OK, so gate #1 she gives up her crown and or her scepter of
lapis lazuli. She's giving up her symbol of
divine authority and connection to the heavens.
(21:45):
She's surrendering her celestialidentity.
Then at the second gate, Nettie instructs her to give up her
royal necklace, the symbol of her status and power.
You can also think about this asbeing her third eye chakra.
Then she is instructed at the third gate to give up her double
(22:10):
strand of beads and her breastplate.
The protection over her heart tied to her willpower and
sexuality. Really kind of like giving up
the vulnerability of heart and desire, which could be the
throat chakra. Then we have the breast pins and
(22:30):
tell me why. Like when I read breast pins I
thought of nipple piercings. But most likely I think a breast
pin are like metal appendages that you would use to like clasp
your dress clothes or like your your robes closed like some kind
of giant safety pin type of idea.
(22:55):
By giving up her breast pins, she's giving up the closure of
her clothing, the release of vanity and attachment to our
personal appearance. And you could consider that to
be the heart chakra. Then finally she gives up her
belt of lapis lazuli, which would be the solar plexus
(23:19):
chakra. This would be the symbol of
fertility, authority over life and death, surrendering the
reproductive and creative control.
Then at the 6th gate she gives up her bracelet, which I think
is very interesting I'm because I'm superimposing this chakra
analogy over this right? But I would think of something
(23:42):
different. But the arms are kind of your
your tools of autonomy. So I do think that it's
interesting that those are second to last.
By giving up her bracelets at the 6th gate, which in my
analogy would be the second chakra.
These are the adornments of status, strength, magic.
(24:03):
This would be giving up and yielding of personal power and
magic. I guess.
Though it does make me think because the second chakra does
have a lot to do with your relation to others.
And in Indian culture for example, Bengals are a symbol of
marriage. So instead of a wedding ring,
you would wear a bindi and your Bengals to symbolize marriage.
So maybe that really does kind of tie in very nicely.
(24:26):
And then lastly at the 7th gate,the last thing that Inanna had
to give up was her robe, her heractual clothes, which would also
be an allegory for her identity her her nobility in general, her
final layer of power, prestige and identity.
(24:47):
A complete ego death. And with that Inanna enters the
underworld completely naked, symbolically reborn as nothing,
as no one. So once inside the seven gates,
a Reshkigal who is her sister ofDarkness judges her and strikes
(25:08):
her dead, and she is then hung on a hook.
The corpse of Inanna is hung from a hook.
That's fucking brutal. So of course, if you remember,
Inanna had told her servant Ninjubar to wait three days and
three nights, and if they hadn'theard from her to go seek help.
(25:30):
Remember that from that coffee hot.
Well, Ninjubar is loyal, and Ninjubar waited for three days
and three nights to pass. And sure enough, no sign from
Inana. So Nin Shabar goes to the
temples of Enlil, of Nana, of Onand Anki, and he pleads with
(25:51):
each of them to rescue Inana. No one gives a fuck, but Anki
decides to help. He's deeply troubled, and he
decides to help dear Inana, which checks out.
We fucking love Anki. Anki's hella lit Anki is most
likely what we consider to be Capricorn.
(26:11):
He is like a mad scientist character.
He lives under the ocean. He is the member of the Anunnaki
who most likely molded humans out of clay AKA out of like
natural material. So anyway, so Anki decides to
help and he creates 2 sexless orI guess like non gender
(26:36):
conforming beings. They're almost like little fairy
creatures and he names them Galatura and Kurjara and he
molds their bodies from the dirtfrom underneath his fingernails.
What like how fun is that? I love see and he's so much fun.
(26:56):
Like yeah let's help you. Not I'm going to just take dirt
from my fingernails and make little fairies.
Like yes, this is the kind of content I want write in about
content like this. OK so Enki instructs the 2
little fairies Galatuda and Kurjara to appease Areskiga, the
(27:18):
goddess of the interworld. And when she eventually asks
them what they want, they are toask for the corpse of Inana.
And after they get her corpse, they must sprinkle her body with
the food and water of life when they come.
Eventually, when the two fairiesmake it to the underworld, they
(27:39):
come before a rush Kikal and allegedly the story goes that
she is in agony, almost like a woman giving birth.
She's just besides herself and she just tells them that they
can have whatever they want, shedoesn't really care.
And she even says that they can have the life giving rivers of
water and fields of grain if they can relieve her of her
(28:01):
pain, but they refuse all of heroffers because the only thing
they seek is the corpse of Inana.
So the two little fairies, Galatura and Kurjara, sprinkle
Inana's corpse with the food andwater of life and they revive
her. And that was how Inana was
(28:23):
resurrected from death and eventually was able to leave the
underworld, a feat that almost no one was able to do before
then or possibly after. What's interesting about the
story is. I.
What I feel like a lot of the stories that we often think
(28:49):
about or cite about the underworld kind of revolve more
from like a Christian perspective.
And it's always like a man, right?
It's always like a man who goes to the underworld and sees like,
the darkest parts of himself or like the devil and like pain and
suffering. And what I find so fascinating
about this story, which is one of the older stories on the
(29:11):
planet, is how different it is from a lot of these more typical
stories that we often think about, like Dante's Inferno, for
example, or even themes in the story of Faust.
And what I like so much about this story is how the underworld
(29:33):
itself isn't like hell. And I really kind of see it as
an allegory of like the sisters being different hemispheres of
each other, like a yin and the Yang.
And to go into the underworld, which is like the yin, right?
The darkness, the the passivity,almost like the nothingness.
(29:54):
Inanna had to become nothingness.
She had to surrender and she hadto die.
And this actually kind of reminds me of the tarot because
she is eventually hung from a hook, right?
And in the tarot, the number 11 is the hanged man.
And it's all about conscious surrender, consciously
surrendering everything, lettinggo and, and like literally
(30:16):
hanging yourself upside down. And by doing so, you see like a
completely new perspective on reality in the world.
And you're also like relinquishing all love your
autonomy, like you're using yourautonomy to let go of your
autonomy, which eventually leadsto, oh, sorry, the hangman is
number 12. I'm so sorry.
And after the hangman comes 13, which is death, which is really
(30:40):
actually transfiguration transformation, because after
death becomes a rebirth temperance.
And to me, this story is very that it's very like hanged man
into death. So one thing that's interesting,
there's not a lot of like recorded history on specific
(31:05):
spiritual rights and or ceremonies that people were
doing mostly just because a lot of it wasn't necessarily written
down. But a lot of historians believe
that these stories were like a blueprint and almost copied
during spiritual initiation rites specifically for women.
(31:25):
And it was possible that they that priestesses would practice
these rituals and enter trance States and very possibly like
would go into underground temples and kind of like reenact
the story. It also really kind of revolves
around humility and stripping yourself from titles and
(31:50):
lavishness to really get to the meat of who you are.
Like with without ego and full vulnerability.
It also really kind of touches on shadow work, right?
Like this is her sister. It's not like she's evil.
It's the third. Her sister's like a piece of
her. She lives in the darkness.
(32:12):
And like, the other thing I think is so interesting too, is
like they're starting to discover so many more
underground cities all throughout the Eastern
Mediterranean and the Middle East.
And so like, what if this also was a story about like during
the colder times of year going to live underground?
(32:33):
Like what if they lived above ground in the summer and in the
winter time went below ground and the winter time when you
would live below ground was about like humility, shedding
yourself from whatever summer, whatever wealth that summer
brought you. And in winter, all are
equalized, all are equal and living underground, right?
(32:55):
That's like, that's just my hot take.
Obviously a lot of historians really just associate this with
being an allegory for the seasons and why the seasons
change the Oh my bad, sorry. The other thing that a lot of
(33:19):
historians associate this with is sacred sexual rituals and how
that was also kind of tied into death and rebirth and that sex
itself could be a part of this ritual.
So theoretically, like if they were doing a ceremony or ritual
(33:40):
about Inanna and her descent into the underworld, perhaps sex
would be involved because it is like a death and a rebirth.
Again, take that with a grain ofsalt.
Who knows what these who these historians are and what their
ideas are. But I do love hearing about
these, all these ideas. And I'm, I believe it.
(34:00):
I mean any culture anywhere, if you have a holiday, people are
fucking right. What I find really interesting
though, is that modern astrologers recognize the story
of Inanna's descent into the underworld as a reference to an
astronomical phenomenon associated with the retrograde
(34:21):
of Venus. Seven days before.
Venus retrograde makes it's a quote UN quote inferior
conjunction with the Sun. Venus disappears from the
evening sky. The seven day period between
this disappearance and the conjunction itself is seen as
the astronomical phenomenon in which the myth of the descent
(34:43):
was based. After the conjunction, 7 more
days elapse before Venus appearsas the morning star,
corresponding to the ascent fromthe underworld.
Like what? That's the other thing.
Like that's where mythology getsso wild and interesting to me.
Like they could just be allegories for ideas and
(35:04):
concepts, but they could also just be allegories for the
planets and how they move through the sky.
Oh, there's just so much. So that kind of brings me to the
story of Persephone. I mean, how could you not think
about Persephone when you're hearing this story?
There are so many similarities and it almost feels like the
story of Persephone is kind of like a Inana 2.0.
(35:28):
Like they borrowed the story andjust kind of tweaked a few
things, right? Am I crazy?
I feel like they did. It's just so good.
Let's take a quick break. Hey little Pepper, this is
Annabelle here reporting live from Pepper World HQ.
If you enjoy the podcast, it would help so much if you could
(35:52):
follow me. You could write a comment.
Give me 5 stars perhaps. Also, I would love to hear from
you. e-mail in at esotericaandnonsense@gmail.com.
I'd love to hear about your stories.
I'd love to hear about suggestions.
I would love to hear about any kind of weird, freaky thing that
comes to your mind. Also, if you would like to
(36:15):
support my podcast, you can follow me on Patreon.
It's Patreon back slash esoterica and nonsense.
I will also have a YouTube page coming at you so soon.
And I also sell merch. You can look up my merch.
It's in the show notes for everysingle episode as well as the
show notes for my show. I appreciate you so much.
(36:36):
I made this podcast to connect with cool freaky people like
you. So thank you so much and we're
back, baby boy. So the story of Persephone, you
may have heard it, it's a classic, it is a Greek myth.
(36:56):
And in a nutshell, Persephone, who is the daughter of Demeter,
She is the Demeter is the goddess of grain, of harvest, of
fertility. So Persephone, the daughter of
Demeter, is also kind of referred to as a cord or Cory, a
(37:18):
maiden. The Peppers, the Peppers are
added again, Honestly, we love them.
We, we welcome the Peppers here in the podcast.
They are autonomous. They do whatever the fuck they
want and they may bark when theywill.
So Persephone is known as a maiden and she spends her days
(37:44):
picking flowers often. Interestingly, she's known to
pick Narcissus flowers, which are flowers associated with the
word narcissist. That's we should tell that story
another time. OK so one day as Persephone was
picking flowers, the earth opened up and Hades abducted
(38:05):
Persephone into the underworld. Interestingly, the act was
sanctioned by Zeus, which kind of adds this like layer like
patriarchal oppression and like control over femininity.
But anyway. So Demeter is distraught.
(38:26):
Demeter wanders the earth for 9 days holding a torch.
She refuses to eat and she refuses to sleep.
She's on a full on strike. She eventually learns of the
betrayal that Hades was the one that ended up taking Persephone,
and she demands for her daughterto be returned.
(38:48):
She decides to withhold fertility from the planet.
No crops grow. A famine begins.
So in the underworld, Persephonedecides to give in.
So she eats food of the underworld.
She eats 6 pomegranate seeds andthis binds her to the
(39:11):
underworld. By ingesting food of the
underworld she is bound there. One thing I think it's
interesting though just to like bring up the story of Inanna.
Inanna was dead and then was given the food of life.
Whereas in this story she eats the pomegranate in the
underworld and then like becomesa part of the underworld.
(39:34):
Interesting. So after all of this, Hades
strikes a deal with Demeter to bring peace and balance back to
the living world. He allows for Persephone to go
leave the underworld for half ofthe year and to live with her
(39:57):
mother, and then for the other half of the year to come back to
the underworld and be the wife of Hades.
And so in this myth. Changing of the season, the
winter would be the grieving of Demeter missing her daughter and
basically going on strike only for Persephone to be let out of
(40:19):
the underworld for spring and summer to begin.
So before we go into like my deep like comparison and
analysis, I do want to talk about the pomegranate part
because obviously this is like areally big part of this story.
And I did some research on like some of the ancient and cultural
(40:41):
context of really like what a pomegranate meant in the ancient
world. So and I actually have a theory.
I have a theory that the food oflife from the Inana story could
have referred to a pomegranate and I'll tell you why.
So first and foremost, the pomegranate actually comes from
(41:05):
Iran and northern India, OK. And it is very possible, very
possibly one of the first domesticated trees.
It was domesticated as early as the 5th Millennium BCS that's
over 7000 years ago. And yeah, so like I'm just
(41:26):
saying it is it's possibly the first ever domesticated tree.
And in the ancient world it was considered often a fruit of
heaven and a great luxury in ancient.
Iran it was. Believed that pomegranates grew
from places or the blood of Siavash had been spilled.
(41:49):
Siavash was a man and or demigodwho was known for being an
innocent and having like a pure spirit.
So it is believed that like pomegranates grew from places
where he had spilled blood. So I just think that's really
interesting, right? Like that would kind of make it
a fruit of life if it's like springing from blood.
Obviously, as far as the ancientworld, as far back as the
(42:17):
ancient world, pomegranates havebeen associated with blood,
they've been associated for withfertility and they've been
associated with life. What I also find really
interesting. Is that in the ancient world?
Specifically, in ancient Sumeria, the leaves of the
pomegranates were used in fire temples during ceremonies and
(42:41):
the fruit was often eaten duringweddings to ensure a healthy
future and family. Also, there was a famous holiday
known as Yalda which was a ceremony at night in ancient
Iran and this was basically the winter solstice.
People would eat pomegranates tocelebrate the victory of light
(43:06):
over darkness. Like is this not reminding you
of the story of Inanna slash Persephone?
What if the food of life was in fact a pomegranate?
And like, what if the story of Persephone is just the same
story retold slightly differently?
Right, Just saying. OK, The other thing I found
(43:30):
really interesting as well is that in ancient Greece, some
believed that the pomegranate was actually the fruit of the
dead. And they also believe that
pomegranates grew from places where Adonis had had shed blood,
(43:51):
right? And that's weird.
I just, I just find this stuff so interesting.
I find this, I find this stuff so interesting, especially just
like the idea of life and death.I, I, I have this like thought.
I think about this a lot like the idea.
(44:16):
Basically, our modern ideas of death can change how we
interpret. Ancient symbology.
And storytelling and. I think.
I guess this is true for everything.
Our modern beliefs shape our reality and I think it makes it
hard for us to interpret ancientstories, even if like word for
(44:39):
word is literally translated, wemight not understand the
context, right? So like, for example, in ancient
Greece, if they consider pomegranates to be the fruit of
the dead, what if it's actually about like blood and blood
bringing rebirth? And so it's like about death and
rebirth. You know what I'm saying?
The reason why I think about this is because I remember when
I was in India and I was learning about Shiva and I was
(45:03):
like, I like, loved learning about Shiva, but I was taken
aback by how their interpretation of death and
destruction was so much different than ours.
Like Shiva is like a, like a really like the God of rebirth.
They don't say that he's like the God of death and
destruction, but it's actually like a gift and a natural part
(45:25):
of the cycle. And really the just the
destruction is the rebirth. And I always thought that was so
interesting because obviously, like when I hear death and
destruction, my mind kind of like immediately assumes that
they're like not nice or like anasshole or like a symbol of
evil, right? But no, not at all.
(45:47):
Like Shiva is actually like incredibly patient and gentle
and kind. And Shiva smokes weed because
it's like such a great burden tohave to be the God of
destruction. So he smokes weed to like stay
relaxed. Like what?
And so anyway, my point is like,I think about this a lot when
(46:08):
I'm hearing ancient stories and folk tales and myths.
Because even if we're getting information that's accurate, our
interpretation of that information could be inaccurate,
right? So another fun fact about
pomegranates is that according to some Jewish scholars, the
(46:30):
pomegranate was the original forbidden fruit in the Garden of
Eden. Now I don't really know a lot
about like Aramaic and or like the Hebrew language, but I do
know that in. Like the word?
(46:52):
Pomegranate basically means likeapple grenade, palm palm means
apple and like like Grenada means grenade.
So pomegranate kind of means like an explosive apple.
(47:16):
And so my point is like, I don'twho's to say how they originally
translated the original scriptures because perhaps they
could have been referring to a pomegranate, perhaps not.
Perhaps it was an apple. Who am I to say?
But I do think that's interesting that some scholars
believe that. Another.
Interesting fact about pomegranates is that in the book
(47:37):
of Kings in the Bible they describe 2 pillars in front of
the temple of Solomon and in these two pillars they were both
engraved with pomegranates and it is said that King Solomon had
his crown designed to look like the little crown on top of a
(47:58):
pomegranate. How cute is that?
I just love. That I just.
Love that. So really, in my opinion, it
really does seem like the story of Persephone is directly
derivative of the story of Inana.
It really does kind of sound like this is the same story that
(48:19):
just kind of taken slightly different twists and turns with
with maybe different takeaways or like different additives.
But I see a lot of similarities here.
The idea of, in the story of Inana, these two sisters who are
different versions of each other, kind of like a yin and a
Yang. Whereas in Persephone, in
(48:41):
Persephone's case, it's about her and her mother, which is
also two pieces of the same whole reflections of each other.
And it's really about them coming together and being
together and kind of like fusingas one while also being separate
parts. I feel like this is like a yin
and Yang story. OK, so this.
(49:05):
Brings us to the Elusinian mysteries.
These were the sacred rites and spiritual rites practice around
the mythos of Persephone. So these ceremonies were held
annually in Elusius near Athens.And this was like a thing for
(49:29):
over 1000 years. So people would travel to a
Lucius and both men and women would come, both Greece, both
Greece, both Greek people and foreigners.
And the only rules was that theyhad to speak Greek and that they
were not murderers, which I guess are fine rules.
(49:52):
And this was known to be an extremely secretive ceremony.
People were forbidden from revealing details of the
ceremonies and it is alleged that people would be killed if
they violated these rules. It is.
Most likely that big parts of their ceremonies included ritual
(50:14):
fasting and purification. Probably like vomiting.
If they mean purification, they probably mean like vomiting.
Torch lit processions. They would may have done
reenactments of the the dissent and return of Persephone and the
ritual use of a psychoactive barley drink known as kaichi on
(50:39):
which is kind of interesting because I know that acid is
derived from mold that grows on wheat.
So if this is a psychoactive drug and it's derived from
barley, I'm I'm assuming that this may have like some kind of
acid effect. So people are basically fucking
(51:00):
dropping acid. Sick as fuck really.
It is thought that these ceremonies were really like a
symbolic death experience and people would have visions of
rebirth and or the afterlife andtheir goal was really to
spiritually transform and perhaps obtain immortality.
(51:25):
Sadly, there isn't a lot of information on the Lucian
mysteries and that's kind of whythey're called the Lucian
mysteries. These were highly secretive
events, but I guess what's like so exciting to me about them is
that they revolve around a woman's journey into the
underworld. There's something about this
(51:47):
that feels very like magical andsacred, you know, like you meet
with a group of people and, and do a lot of drugs to visit the
underworld and come back. Like that's, that's, that's kind
of beautiful. I love that.
Another. Kind of festival, which is not
(52:09):
quite the same but honorable mention was known as the
Fesmorphia and this was a three day fertility festival held
exclusively for women. Sign me up.
This festival honored Demeter and Persephone as bringers of
fertility. They would often bury old dead
(52:34):
piglets and would offer phallic objects in underground pits as a
symbol of both decay and rebirth.
Like kind of like re fertilizingall the dead things.
They would often also engage in ritual, ritual fasting, group
(52:58):
grieving sessions and celebratory feasts.
And this three day festival served as initiation rites for
married women and priestesses. How beautiful.
Was that? That's actually so beautiful I I
want to do something like this. Ultimately, what these.
(53:18):
Two stories have in common, though, which I really find so
interesting, is this concept of the feminine descent into the
darkness. And it's really not into death,
but actually into transfiguration and
transformation. And in my mind, I feel like the
(53:41):
pomegranate kind of exists in both stories, but really like
the pomegranate for. Persephone was.
Completely like relenting, like giving up.
Not, I don't want to say giving up, but like relaxing and
accepting her fate, like being in the underworld.
(54:02):
And for Inanna, her removing herrobe was a similar initiation.
She let go of all of her earthlypossessions and entered the
underworld naked and accepted her fate.
And she did die, obviously before she was resurrected.
However, what is important to notice is that both of them made
(54:27):
these choices with autonomy. They both decided.
To accept their fate in the underworld.
And that was a choice they both consciously made.
And this led to their. Transformation and for me, this
does really kind of ring a bell.This sounds like the hangman
(54:48):
from the tarot. It really does.
It really, really does. Obviously, like one thing I also
want to think about too is just like these cycles of the seasons
really do relate with the cyclesof the moon, menstrual cycles,
and like really just how rooted in femininity all of these
(55:12):
cycles are. Regardless if these are like
literal stories or allegories, they are rooted in the idea of
femininity, Fertility change, cycles.
And. I also think it has a lot to do
with like mourning, like grief. It seems like a big part of
(55:35):
these stories do revolve around grief and.
That grief is a. Part of this cycle of fertility.
It is a part of the death cycle and.
It is a part. Of the birth cycle.
And I do think that's really interesting that both of these
(55:59):
stories do involve grief, because if you remember,
Inanna's sister was beside herself when those two fairies
came down to retrieve her body. And of course, Demeter was
devastated. And what if?
The afterlife or death was only a moment, like a winter, and
(56:22):
there was an inevitable rebirth afterwards.
I also feel like it's worth. Mentioning and I, I think next
week I'm going to do an episode focusing on Dante's Inferno and
Faust. But from the stories I can think
of a lot of a lot of male centered.
(56:47):
Stories about. Descents into the underworld
seem to have a lot more themes of regret and shame and
punishment and like, layers of hell.
And I do think. That's really interesting.
Because I see the descent into the underworld as like both a
(57:10):
literal death, but also as like an allegorical death.
And if you live with regret and and shame for things that you've
done, that is how you basically make extra work for yourself.
Like when you die, you aren't ready to be reborn because you
are still having to sort throughand make amends for all of your
(57:32):
earthly mistakes and really likelive with your shame.
Whereas in these stories, these women are able to give up
everything to let go and therefore be reborn.
So I do think. That's something like that is.
Worth noting and something to think about because I think
through the patriarchy. So many.
(57:56):
Stories and and aspects of spirituality that involved
femininity have been erased. And this really isn't just about
women in general. It's about the feminine quality
within us all, which is the energy of fertility, the energy
of creation. This is a quality that lives
within all things. It's not really just about like
gender, right? These are all like, allegorical
(58:18):
terms. And one thing that the
patriarchy has done is condemn femininity and erase a lot of
these stories. So I do think it's important for
us to think about. I do think it's important for us
to talk about and to really, like, break down the allegories
of these stories. And like, what does it mean for
you, for the creative side of you, the fertile side of you,
(58:41):
the reflective side of you? What does it mean for that side
of you to, like, completely let go of everything and to die and
come back to life? Like, what does that look like?
Right. And that's kind of like, that's
kind of like what psychedelics are all about.
Like if you've ever tripped balls, that's basically what
happens. Like, you become incredibly
(59:01):
vulnerable. You have a little death and
you're like reborn in such a special way.
And it's not really about like power or ego or like how you
perceive yourself. It's really just about like
heart centred and like very present awareness.
(59:22):
So yeah, I mean, maybe this is atime for all of us to do some
acid, meet with some friends, free bleed and like lay on the
earth and and be reborn. That's kind of my take away.
What's your take away? Thank you.
So. Much for listening to the.
Podcast. It really helps if you follow my
(59:45):
podcast if you try to review it or comment.
I really appreciate you. This podcast means a lot to me.
These are the kinds of things that I used to think about
privately and not share with anyone.
And I still feel like I'm working up the courage every
episode just to be able to speakfreely.
But life is too short and who fucking cares?
(01:00:05):
I'm just going to share my ideas.
And maybe you like them, maybe you don't, maybe some resonate,
maybe some don't like. That's totally cool.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
And I just want to remind everyone that this.
This. Life is one of many and I.
(01:00:29):
Really don't think we should take it too.
Seriously, I think that life is supposed to be enjoyed and it's
supposed to be fun. And I think if we can all do
better at being kind to ourselves, it will be a lot
easier to be kind to each other.And I do believe that it is
possible, some way, somehow, forhumanity to end its cycle of
(01:00:52):
self destruction and self exploitation.
It doesn't have to be this way. And with that, I will let you
go. I'm sending you so much love.
I'm sending you a hug. Bye for now, over and out.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Esoterica and
Nonsense, a podcast where we discuss myths, legends, folk
tales, fairy tales, supernaturalphenomenon and religions from
around the world. I'm your host, Annabelle
Bananabelle. It is another day here on planet
(01:02):
Earth. We're all doing our best.
We're all trying to stay in highspirits as we watch the
patriarchy seemingly ruin every anything and I'm I'm over it.
I'm over it Hot take. Our greatest ambition should be
(01:26):
relaxation, fun and symbiosis. There is no reason why any of us
need to be working 9 to fives inthe same sense that we have now.
We could all be planting gardensand forests and living in tune
with the seasons. It's really not that hard.
(01:48):
Sorry about it, sorry about it. Sometimes I just feel like a
little loop de loop. Well, today I'm very excited.
Today we are going to talk aboutthe legend of Inanna's descent
(02:11):
into the underworld and the legend of Persephone and her
descent into the underworld. How are they similar?
How are they different? What do these stories mean?
What are they getting at? Also, I want to have an
honorable mention to a fan of the podcast who reached out to
(02:36):
me. Actually, wait, let me get my
phone. Look, I want to, I want to shout
them out properly. OK, here we go.
Have my phone out. We're going to go into my
e-mail. I got the cutest e-mail of all
(02:57):
time. I'm I literally it like made me
cry. I read it in the grocery store.
Where? Oh my God, I'm really, I'm
really dropping the ball right now.
OK, Tyler. Tyler reached out to me and is
(03:20):
so, so, so sweet. They sent me the deleted scene
from The Devil's, which I had never seen before and I'm so
grateful for that. And they also sent me a picture
of their pepper plant and it is so super cute.
And so I really just wanted to shout out Tyler and say thank
(03:43):
you for so much for writing in. I am just so tickled.
And This is why I started this podcast.
I wanted to make more friends. I wanted to connect with people
who think about humanity from the terms of esotericism,
ghosts, magic, folk tales. Freaky.
(04:04):
I want to talk about the freaky.Come on, come on, people.
So that's, that's your invitation.
Send me an e-mail. Just say hi.
Tell me about some weird dream you had when you were a kid.
Tell me about some weird cult that you heard about or your mom
was a part of. Tell me something interesting.
You know, Speaking of which, this actually does remind me not
(04:28):
to go on a full on tangent. A girl I was friends with had
she told me the story. She so her family like is from
Berkeley, born and raised. And so her aunt went to Berkeley
High back in the 70s and when she was a freshman in high
(04:50):
school, she started dating like this grown man.
Classic. Oh my God, classic dude.
Like PSA let's like no grown manshould not be dating high
schoolers anyway. She's dating this grown man and
he basically like had started a cult and it started getting more
(05:12):
members joining. Obviously this is the 70s.
Everyone's like doing a bunch ofacid.
Everyone doesn't need an excuse to just do acid in the woods or
whatever. So she like fully drops out of
high school. She's she's 15, drops out of
high school, goes and moves on this commune somewhere in North
(05:33):
Cal with this guy and becomes like the queen of this cult.
Like I and granted, I don't think she was like leading
anything, but like, she was likedating the guy who was the
center of this cult. And apparently, like, after a
few years, you know, as she was getting closer to 18, the glitz
(05:58):
and glamour of the fantasy was kind of wearing off because she
was basically babysitting everyone's babies and kids as
they were just getting super fucking ripped.
Everyone was just tripping ballsall day and fucking.
And she was just like 17 babysitting a bunch of babies.
And it was like, this is fuckingweird.
Like, I'm not going to stay. And I just think that's such an
(06:21):
iconic story. What an iconic story.
Send me stories like that. I want to hear cool stories.
I like hearing ghost stories. I want to hear anything weird.
Visions that you've had, premonitions that you've had.
Time travelling, astral projection, I don't know.
Fairy tales that your grandma used to tell you?
(06:43):
I don't know. You tell me.
Write me an e-mail. Send me a picture of your pepper
plant. I want to be your friend.
Also, I feel like maybe I shouldlike raffle off T-shirts or
something. Wouldn't that be fun?
Who doesn't love a free shirt? Maybe, maybe like the 1st 10
people who write me an e-mail, I'll draw names and send you a
(07:05):
free shirt. I should send Tyler a shirt.
Tyler also, I'm going to send you a shirt.
I'll e-mail you later. OK, without further ado, let's
get into the business, baby girl.
Let's get into the business. We are going to get into the
Descent and the Return, Inanna, Persephone, the sacred feminine
(07:30):
rites of death and rebirth. And I want to open with this
question. How have our modern perceptions
of the underworld tainted our ability to decode ancient
symbolism? What if the darkest place you
(07:51):
could go wasn't a punishment, but a rite of passage?
Today's episode, we're diving deep into the ancient myths of
two powerful goddesses, Inanna and Persephone. 1 descends into
the underworld, shedding her power layer by layer by layer,
(08:15):
and the other descends into the underworld, surrenders and eats
the fruits of the dead. These myths are not only
stories, but they are blueprintsfor ancient rites and feminine
initiation, stories and symbols that tackle grief and the nature
(08:43):
of rebirth. I'm so fucking excited about.
I just love women. I just want to take a second and
say I love women. Women are incredible.
Thank you so much. Women love you.
Women love you. OK, so let's start with Inana.
Shout out to a previous episode.There is an episode of my
(09:07):
podcast that is all about ISIS. And Inana is one of the more
ancient incarnations of the goddess of love and war.
It's kind of like this symbol ofof fertility, love and a little
(09:29):
bit of blood. And so she has many names.
So it is thought to believe thatInanna is also an kind of like
the ancient version of Isis slash Ishtar.
But of course, as local mythology often goes, there can
(09:49):
be local beliefs and ideals thatmaybe are based off of the stars
or the planets or certain natural occurring elements in
that area. And as time goes on and as
humans interact with each other,it is very common for mythos and
stories to start merging. So Inanna is 1 of the oldest
(10:15):
recorded goddesses. According to our modern
historians. She was a goddess of the ancient
Mesopotamian culture. Inanna is considered one of the
one of the most important deities in ancient summer.
And again a little refresher that ancient Sumeria is now.
(10:35):
Well I feel like I'm saying thatweird.
Ancient Sumeria or summer, right, Do you say?
I feel like you say Sumeria, right?
Yeah. Ancient Sumeria is located in
what is now considered modern day Iraq.
So some of the earliest recordings of Inanna are from
(11:00):
4000 BC, which means it's like 6000 years ago.
That's quite a long time. She is associated with love,
beauty, sex, justice, war, bloodAKA my twin, and she's also
known to hold immense cosmic power.
(11:20):
A lot of modern day historians assume that Inanna is actually
an allegory for the planet of Venus and we're going to get
into that in a bit. The story of Inanna's descent
into the underworld represents aspiritual initiation, a sacred
(11:41):
death and rebirth cycle. And this possibly could also be
an allegory and or blueprint which would inspire a lot of
like quote shamanic rituals thatwomen would go through in the
ancient world. Now I feel like I'm a broken
record, but I just have to say this again.
(12:03):
I kind of can't stand the term shamanic.
And obviously English is a very.English is is a very.
I have a lot of problems with the with the language of
English, mostly because English has been engineered as not only
(12:28):
a colonizer language, but also aslave language.
A lot of the words that we use in English don't reflect the
root meaning. And, or I mean, I'm kind of
getting off track, but let's just talk about shamanic.
The word shaman comes from a word samman, which was a
(12:53):
recorded word from I believe, Dutch travellers that were
travelling through Mongolia and meeting with tribes of Mongolia
and Russia. And in these tribes they had
seers, you know, medicine men, whatever you want to call them.
(13:14):
And their specific word for themwas Salman or something similar.
And these Dutch travellers wroteit, wrote it down as Salman.
And then as their papers were read, it became very common for
people to start using this term as a blanket term for any
culture that did any kind of of spiritual rights.
(13:38):
So I'm going to say it once, I'mgoing to say it again.
I will never stop saying it. The word shaman and shamanic is
a little bit reductive and frustrating for me, but take
what you will from that. Take what you will.
I mean English. I feel like if we play this
(13:59):
game, every word in English is basically the same story.
So I mean, maybe I'm just ice skating up a hill.
So one other aspect of our girl Inanna is that she is often
associated with the moon and considered to be a lunar
goddess. She embodies the waning moon and
(14:23):
dark moon phases because she is associated with disappearance
into the underworld. So let's get into the story,
shall we? I'm going to burn some more Palo
Santo because I really want to set the vibe.
You should burn some Palo Santo with me.
It just smells so good. It's like a blanket for your
(14:46):
nostrils, dude. It's just so good.
Once I did mushrooms and I thinkI burnt, I like had a whole pack
of Palo Santo and I just never stopped burning it.
I like burnt so much Palo Santo and it was like, I was like, it
was almost like I was smoking the Palo Santo.
Oh my God. Wow.
(15:09):
OK, let's get into it. So preface, there are a few
different versions of the story of Inanna, but we're going to be
focusing on the Sumerian versionone because it's the oldest 2
because it's it's kind of like the most well documented and
just for simplicity's sake, we're just going to stick with
(15:29):
this version. So reminder that in the ancient
Sumerian culture, the underworldwas known as Kur Kur.
So Khur was ruled by a goddess named Ereshkigal, and Ereshkigal
(15:56):
is actually the sister of Inana.OK so as the story goes, Inana
decides to visit her sister Oreshkigal who is the goddess of
the underworld. The ancient texts never
explicitly state why she is going.
(16:18):
Some people, like some versions,claim that her sister Arash
Kigal was lonely and longed for company.
Other versions say that perhaps their older sister died, which
is why Inanna wants to go visit her sister.
Or perhaps even Arash Kigal's husband died.
(16:39):
Regardless, Inanna decides to descend into the underworld to
visit her sister. Before leaving, Inana instructs
her minister and her servant, who's named Ninjubur, to plead
(17:00):
with the deities and Lil Nana onand Enki to rescue her if she
does not return after three days.
Now, all of these are like really famous Anunnaki, who are
both the quote UN quote gods of the ancient Sumerian and
(17:21):
Mesopotamian religions, and theyare also the notorious aliens.
So and Lil and Anki are brothersand Nana are and on are the
parents of them. So this is kind of like the the
pantheon, if you will. So Inanna tells her servant that
(17:42):
if I don't come back in three days, you're going to tell the
highest ranking people of our Kingdom, the highest ranking
gods, to come get me after threedays just in case.
Insurance policy. We love that the laws of the
underworld dictated that, with the exception of appointed
messengers, anyone who was to enter the underworld may never
(18:06):
leave it. So Inanna prepares for her
descent, and she dresses elaborately for her visit with
her sister. She puts on a turban.
She wears a wig. She wears a necklace of lapis
lazuli, and she wears a bunch ofbeads.
(18:26):
And she wears what is known as aPaula dress, which is a garment
of high status. She wears mascara and she wears
a golden ring, and she carries ascepter of lapis lazuli.
Oh my God, this outfit is a 10 out of 10.
(18:48):
So Inanna proceeds to the gates of the underworld, and she
knocks. She demands to be let in.
The gatekeeper, who was named Nettie, asks her why she has
come. Inanna tells them that she
wishes to attend the funeral of Gugalana, who was the husband of
(19:11):
her sister Arashkigal. So the servant Nettie goes and
reports to the goddess of the underworld herself, Arashkigal,
and in response she tells him bolt the seven gates of the
underworld and then one by one open each gate just a crack and
(19:34):
let Inanna enter. However as she enters have her
remove her royal garments 1 by 1.
So Oh my God that's so good. Actually before we get into it,
let's take a quick break. Hello Traveller, have you
(19:56):
forgotten that you are an incredible 1 of the kind Pepper?
There is no one on planet Earth like you.
Do you know how incredible that is?
Never forget it. It might take time, it might
take practice, but whatever yourdreams are, you can attain them.
(20:17):
Yes you can. And you know that it's true.
I believe in you. I'm so proud of you.
One step at a time and you're going to make it.
Oh yeah, baby. Just as the story is getting
good, so Inanna is now at the first gate and like peeling away
(20:42):
armor to her core self, as if she's stripping away her ego,
identity and status, she is instructed 1 by 1 to remove a
piece of her clothing. It's like strip poker.
So at the first gate she is toldto give in her scepter of lapis
(21:03):
lazuli. Interestingly though, some
versions say that she actually gives up her crown.
But I do think that regardless if it's a crown or a scepter, I
actually think that it's an allegory for the, for the, the
(21:24):
crown chakra. It's a symbol of like your
nobility. And like this, it's, it's
stripping you away. Right.
OK, so gate #1 she gives up her crown and or her scepter of
lapis lazuli. She's giving up her symbol of
divine authority and connection to the heavens.
(21:45):
She's surrendering her celestialidentity.
Then at the second gate, Nettie instructs her to give up her
royal necklace, the symbol of her status and power.
You can also think about this asbeing her third eye chakra.
Then she is instructed at the third gate to give up her double
(22:10):
strand of beads and her breastplate.
The protection over her heart tied to her willpower and
sexuality. Really kind of like giving up
the vulnerability of heart and desire, which could be the
throat chakra. Then we have the breast pins and
(22:30):
tell me why. Like when I read breast pins I
thought of nipple piercings. But most likely I think a breast
pin are like metal appendages that you would use to like clasp
your dress clothes or like your your robes closed like some kind
of giant safety pin type of idea.
(22:55):
By giving up her breast pins, she's giving up the closure of
her clothing, the release of vanity and attachment to our
personal appearance. And you could consider that to
be the heart chakra. Then finally she gives up her
belt of lapis lazuli, which would be the solar plexus
(23:19):
chakra. This would be the symbol of
fertility, authority over life and death, surrendering the
reproductive and creative control.
Then at the 6th gate she gives up her bracelet, which I think
is very interesting I'm because I'm superimposing this chakra
analogy over this right? But I would think of something
(23:42):
different. But the arms are kind of your
your tools of autonomy. So I do think that it's
interesting that those are second to last.
By giving up her bracelets at the 6th gate, which in my
analogy would be the second chakra.
These are the adornments of status, strength, magic.
(24:03):
This would be giving up and yielding of personal power and
magic. I guess.
Though it does make me think because the second chakra does
have a lot to do with your relation to others.
And in Indian culture for example, Bengals are a symbol of
marriage. So instead of a wedding ring,
you would wear a bindi and your Bengals to symbolize marriage.
So maybe that really does kind of tie in very nicely.
(24:26):
And then lastly at the 7th gate,the last thing that Inanna had
to give up was her robe, her heractual clothes, which would also
be an allegory for her identity her her nobility in general, her
final layer of power, prestige and identity.
(24:47):
A complete ego death. And with that Inanna enters the
underworld completely naked, symbolically reborn as nothing,
as no one. So once inside the seven gates,
a Reshkigal who is her sister ofDarkness judges her and strikes
(25:08):
her dead, and she is then hung on a hook.
The corpse of Inanna is hung from a hook.
That's fucking brutal. So of course, if you remember,
Inanna had told her servant Ninjubar to wait three days and
three nights, and if they hadn'theard from her to go seek help.
(25:30):
Remember that from that coffee hot.
Well, Ninjubar is loyal, and Ninjubar waited for three days
and three nights to pass. And sure enough, no sign from
Inana. So Nin Shabar goes to the
temples of Enlil, of Nana, of Onand Anki, and he pleads with
(25:51):
each of them to rescue Inana. No one gives a fuck, but Anki
decides to help. He's deeply troubled, and he
decides to help dear Inana, which checks out.
We fucking love Anki. Anki's hella lit Anki is most
likely what we consider to be Capricorn.
(26:11):
He is like a mad scientist character.
He lives under the ocean. He is the member of the Anunnaki
who most likely molded humans out of clay AKA out of like
natural material. So anyway, so Anki decides to
help and he creates 2 sexless orI guess like non gender
(26:36):
conforming beings. They're almost like little fairy
creatures and he names them Galatura and Kurjara and he
molds their bodies from the dirtfrom underneath his fingernails.
What like how fun is that? I love see and he's so much fun.
(26:56):
Like yeah let's help you. Not I'm going to just take dirt
from my fingernails and make little fairies.
Like yes, this is the kind of content I want write in about
content like this. OK so Enki instructs the 2
little fairies Galatuda and Kurjara to appease Areskiga, the
(27:18):
goddess of the interworld. And when she eventually asks
them what they want, they are toask for the corpse of Inana.
And after they get her corpse, they must sprinkle her body with
the food and water of life when they come.
Eventually, when the two fairiesmake it to the underworld, they
(27:39):
come before a rush Kikal and allegedly the story goes that
she is in agony, almost like a woman giving birth.
She's just besides herself and she just tells them that they
can have whatever they want, shedoesn't really care.
And she even says that they can have the life giving rivers of
water and fields of grain if they can relieve her of her
(28:01):
pain, but they refuse all of heroffers because the only thing
they seek is the corpse of Inana.
So the two little fairies, Galatura and Kurjara, sprinkle
Inana's corpse with the food andwater of life and they revive
her. And that was how Inana was
(28:23):
resurrected from death and eventually was able to leave the
underworld, a feat that almost no one was able to do before
then or possibly after. What's interesting about the
story is. I.
What I feel like a lot of the stories that we often think
(28:49):
about or cite about the underworld kind of revolve more
from like a Christian perspective.
And it's always like a man, right?
It's always like a man who goes to the underworld and sees like,
the darkest parts of himself or like the devil and like pain and
suffering. And what I find so fascinating
about this story, which is one of the older stories on the
(29:11):
planet, is how different it is from a lot of these more typical
stories that we often think about, like Dante's Inferno, for
example, or even themes in the story of Faust.
And what I like so much about this story is how the underworld
(29:33):
itself isn't like hell. And I really kind of see it as
an allegory of like the sisters being different hemispheres of
each other, like a yin and the Yang.
And to go into the underworld, which is like the yin, right?
The darkness, the the passivity,almost like the nothingness.
(29:54):
Inanna had to become nothingness.
She had to surrender and she hadto die.
And this actually kind of reminds me of the tarot because
she is eventually hung from a hook, right?
And in the tarot, the number 11 is the hanged man.
And it's all about conscious surrender, consciously
surrendering everything, lettinggo and, and like literally
(30:16):
hanging yourself upside down. And by doing so, you see like a
completely new perspective on reality in the world.
And you're also like relinquishing all love your
autonomy, like you're using yourautonomy to let go of your
autonomy, which eventually leadsto, oh, sorry, the hangman is
number 12. I'm so sorry.
And after the hangman comes 13, which is death, which is really
(30:40):
actually transfiguration transformation, because after
death becomes a rebirth temperance.
And to me, this story is very that it's very like hanged man
into death. So one thing that's interesting,
there's not a lot of like recorded history on specific
(31:05):
spiritual rights and or ceremonies that people were
doing mostly just because a lot of it wasn't necessarily written
down. But a lot of historians believe
that these stories were like a blueprint and almost copied
during spiritual initiation rites specifically for women.
(31:25):
And it was possible that they that priestesses would practice
these rituals and enter trance States and very possibly like
would go into underground temples and kind of like reenact
the story. It also really kind of revolves
around humility and stripping yourself from titles and
(31:50):
lavishness to really get to the meat of who you are.
Like with without ego and full vulnerability.
It also really kind of touches on shadow work, right?
Like this is her sister. It's not like she's evil.
It's the third. Her sister's like a piece of
her. She lives in the darkness.
(32:12):
And like, the other thing I think is so interesting too, is
like they're starting to discover so many more
underground cities all throughout the Eastern
Mediterranean and the Middle East.
And so like, what if this also was a story about like during
the colder times of year going to live underground?
(32:33):
Like what if they lived above ground in the summer and in the
winter time went below ground and the winter time when you
would live below ground was about like humility, shedding
yourself from whatever summer, whatever wealth that summer
brought you. And in winter, all are
equalized, all are equal and living underground, right?
(32:55):
That's like, that's just my hot take.
Obviously a lot of historians really just associate this with
being an allegory for the seasons and why the seasons
change the Oh my bad, sorry. The other thing that a lot of
(33:19):
historians associate this with is sacred sexual rituals and how
that was also kind of tied into death and rebirth and that sex
itself could be a part of this ritual.
So theoretically, like if they were doing a ceremony or ritual
(33:40):
about Inanna and her descent into the underworld, perhaps sex
would be involved because it is like a death and a rebirth.
Again, take that with a grain ofsalt.
Who knows what these who these historians are and what their
ideas are. But I do love hearing about
these, all these ideas. And I'm, I believe it.
(34:00):
I mean any culture anywhere, if you have a holiday, people are
fucking right. What I find really interesting
though, is that modern astrologers recognize the story
of Inanna's descent into the underworld as a reference to an
astronomical phenomenon associated with the retrograde
(34:21):
of Venus. Seven days before.
Venus retrograde makes it's a quote UN quote inferior
conjunction with the Sun. Venus disappears from the
evening sky. The seven day period between
this disappearance and the conjunction itself is seen as
the astronomical phenomenon in which the myth of the descent
(34:43):
was based. After the conjunction, 7 more
days elapse before Venus appearsas the morning star,
corresponding to the ascent fromthe underworld.
Like what? That's the other thing.
Like that's where mythology getsso wild and interesting to me.
Like they could just be allegories for ideas and
(35:04):
concepts, but they could also just be allegories for the
planets and how they move through the sky.
Oh, there's just so much. So that kind of brings me to the
story of Persephone. I mean, how could you not think
about Persephone when you're hearing this story?
There are so many similarities and it almost feels like the
story of Persephone is kind of like a Inana 2.0.
(35:28):
Like they borrowed the story andjust kind of tweaked a few
things, right? Am I crazy?
I feel like they did. It's just so good.
Let's take a quick break. Hey little Pepper, this is
Annabelle here reporting live from Pepper World HQ.
If you enjoy the podcast, it would help so much if you could
(35:52):
follow me. You could write a comment.
Give me 5 stars perhaps. Also, I would love to hear from
you. e-mail in at esotericaandnonsense@gmail.com.
I'd love to hear about your stories.
I'd love to hear about suggestions.
I would love to hear about any kind of weird, freaky thing that
comes to your mind. Also, if you would like to
(36:15):
support my podcast, you can follow me on Patreon.
It's Patreon back slash esoterica and nonsense.
I will also have a YouTube page coming at you so soon.
And I also sell merch. You can look up my merch.
It's in the show notes for everysingle episode as well as the
show notes for my show. I appreciate you so much.
(36:36):
I made this podcast to connect with cool freaky people like
you. So thank you so much and we're
back, baby boy. So the story of Persephone, you
may have heard it, it's a classic, it is a Greek myth.
(36:56):
And in a nutshell, Persephone, who is the daughter of Demeter,
She is the Demeter is the goddess of grain, of harvest, of
fertility. So Persephone, the daughter of
Demeter, is also kind of referred to as a cord or Cory, a
(37:18):
maiden. The Peppers, the Peppers are
added again, Honestly, we love them.
We, we welcome the Peppers here in the podcast.
They are autonomous. They do whatever the fuck they
want and they may bark when theywill.
So Persephone is known as a maiden and she spends her days
(37:44):
picking flowers often. Interestingly, she's known to
pick Narcissus flowers, which are flowers associated with the
word narcissist. That's we should tell that story
another time. OK so one day as Persephone was
picking flowers, the earth opened up and Hades abducted
(38:05):
Persephone into the underworld. Interestingly, the act was
sanctioned by Zeus, which kind of adds this like layer like
patriarchal oppression and like control over femininity.
But anyway. So Demeter is distraught.
(38:26):
Demeter wanders the earth for 9 days holding a torch.
She refuses to eat and she refuses to sleep.
She's on a full on strike. She eventually learns of the
betrayal that Hades was the one that ended up taking Persephone,
and she demands for her daughterto be returned.
(38:48):
She decides to withhold fertility from the planet.
No crops grow. A famine begins.
So in the underworld, Persephonedecides to give in.
So she eats food of the underworld.
She eats 6 pomegranate seeds andthis binds her to the
(39:11):
underworld. By ingesting food of the
underworld she is bound there. One thing I think it's
interesting though just to like bring up the story of Inanna.
Inanna was dead and then was given the food of life.
Whereas in this story she eats the pomegranate in the
underworld and then like becomesa part of the underworld.
(39:34):
Interesting. So after all of this, Hades
strikes a deal with Demeter to bring peace and balance back to
the living world. He allows for Persephone to go
leave the underworld for half ofthe year and to live with her
(39:57):
mother, and then for the other half of the year to come back to
the underworld and be the wife of Hades.
And so in this myth. Changing of the season, the
winter would be the grieving of Demeter missing her daughter and
basically going on strike only for Persephone to be let out of
(40:19):
the underworld for spring and summer to begin.
So before we go into like my deep like comparison and
analysis, I do want to talk about the pomegranate part
because obviously this is like areally big part of this story.
And I did some research on like some of the ancient and cultural
(40:41):
context of really like what a pomegranate meant in the ancient
world. So and I actually have a theory.
I have a theory that the food oflife from the Inana story could
have referred to a pomegranate and I'll tell you why.
So first and foremost, the pomegranate actually comes from
(41:05):
Iran and northern India, OK. And it is very possible, very
possibly one of the first domesticated trees.
It was domesticated as early as the 5th Millennium BCS that's
over 7000 years ago. And yeah, so like I'm just
(41:26):
saying it is it's possibly the first ever domesticated tree.
And in the ancient world it was considered often a fruit of
heaven and a great luxury in ancient.
Iran it was. Believed that pomegranates grew
from places or the blood of Siavash had been spilled.
(41:49):
Siavash was a man and or demigodwho was known for being an
innocent and having like a pure spirit.
So it is believed that like pomegranates grew from places
where he had spilled blood. So I just think that's really
interesting, right? Like that would kind of make it
a fruit of life if it's like springing from blood.
Obviously, as far as the ancientworld, as far back as the
(42:17):
ancient world, pomegranates havebeen associated with blood,
they've been associated for withfertility and they've been
associated with life. What I also find really
interesting. Is that in the ancient world?
Specifically, in ancient Sumeria, the leaves of the
pomegranates were used in fire temples during ceremonies and
(42:41):
the fruit was often eaten duringweddings to ensure a healthy
future and family. Also, there was a famous holiday
known as Yalda which was a ceremony at night in ancient
Iran and this was basically the winter solstice.
People would eat pomegranates tocelebrate the victory of light
(43:06):
over darkness. Like is this not reminding you
of the story of Inanna slash Persephone?
What if the food of life was in fact a pomegranate?
And like, what if the story of Persephone is just the same
story retold slightly differently?
Right, Just saying. OK, The other thing I found
(43:30):
really interesting as well is that in ancient Greece, some
believed that the pomegranate was actually the fruit of the
dead. And they also believe that
pomegranates grew from places where Adonis had had shed blood,
(43:51):
right? And that's weird.
I just, I just find this stuff so interesting.
I find this, I find this stuff so interesting, especially just
like the idea of life and death.I, I, I have this like thought.
I think about this a lot like the idea.
(44:16):
Basically, our modern ideas of death can change how we
interpret. Ancient symbology.
And storytelling and. I think.
I guess this is true for everything.
Our modern beliefs shape our reality and I think it makes it
hard for us to interpret ancientstories, even if like word for
(44:39):
word is literally translated, wemight not understand the
context, right? So like, for example, in ancient
Greece, if they consider pomegranates to be the fruit of
the dead, what if it's actually about like blood and blood
bringing rebirth? And so it's like about death and
rebirth. You know what I'm saying?
The reason why I think about this is because I remember when
I was in India and I was learning about Shiva and I was
(45:03):
like, I like, loved learning about Shiva, but I was taken
aback by how their interpretation of death and
destruction was so much different than ours.
Like Shiva is like a, like a really like the God of rebirth.
They don't say that he's like the God of death and
destruction, but it's actually like a gift and a natural part
(45:25):
of the cycle. And really the just the
destruction is the rebirth. And I always thought that was so
interesting because obviously, like when I hear death and
destruction, my mind kind of like immediately assumes that
they're like not nice or like anasshole or like a symbol of
evil, right? But no, not at all.
(45:47):
Like Shiva is actually like incredibly patient and gentle
and kind. And Shiva smokes weed because
it's like such a great burden tohave to be the God of
destruction. So he smokes weed to like stay
relaxed. Like what?
And so anyway, my point is like,I think about this a lot when
(46:08):
I'm hearing ancient stories and folk tales and myths.
Because even if we're getting information that's accurate, our
interpretation of that information could be inaccurate,
right? So another fun fact about
pomegranates is that according to some Jewish scholars, the
(46:30):
pomegranate was the original forbidden fruit in the Garden of
Eden. Now I don't really know a lot
about like Aramaic and or like the Hebrew language, but I do
know that in. Like the word?
(46:52):
Pomegranate basically means likeapple grenade, palm palm means
apple and like like Grenada means grenade.
So pomegranate kind of means like an explosive apple.
(47:16):
And so my point is like, I don'twho's to say how they originally
translated the original scriptures because perhaps they
could have been referring to a pomegranate, perhaps not.
Perhaps it was an apple. Who am I to say?
But I do think that's interesting that some scholars
believe that. Another.
Interesting fact about pomegranates is that in the book
(47:37):
of Kings in the Bible they describe 2 pillars in front of
the temple of Solomon and in these two pillars they were both
engraved with pomegranates and it is said that King Solomon had
his crown designed to look like the little crown on top of a
(47:58):
pomegranate. How cute is that?
I just love. That I just.
Love that. So really, in my opinion, it
really does seem like the story of Persephone is directly
derivative of the story of Inana.
It really does kind of sound like this is the same story that
(48:19):
just kind of taken slightly different twists and turns with
with maybe different takeaways or like different additives.
But I see a lot of similarities here.
The idea of, in the story of Inana, these two sisters who are
different versions of each other, kind of like a yin and a
Yang. Whereas in Persephone, in
(48:41):
Persephone's case, it's about her and her mother, which is
also two pieces of the same whole reflections of each other.
And it's really about them coming together and being
together and kind of like fusingas one while also being separate
parts. I feel like this is like a yin
and Yang story. OK, so this.
(49:05):
Brings us to the Elusinian mysteries.
These were the sacred rites and spiritual rites practice around
the mythos of Persephone. So these ceremonies were held
annually in Elusius near Athens.And this was like a thing for
(49:29):
over 1000 years. So people would travel to a
Lucius and both men and women would come, both Greece, both
Greece, both Greek people and foreigners.
And the only rules was that theyhad to speak Greek and that they
were not murderers, which I guess are fine rules.
(49:52):
And this was known to be an extremely secretive ceremony.
People were forbidden from revealing details of the
ceremonies and it is alleged that people would be killed if
they violated these rules. It is.
Most likely that big parts of their ceremonies included ritual
(50:14):
fasting and purification. Probably like vomiting.
If they mean purification, they probably mean like vomiting.
Torch lit processions. They would may have done
reenactments of the the dissent and return of Persephone and the
ritual use of a psychoactive barley drink known as kaichi on
(50:39):
which is kind of interesting because I know that acid is
derived from mold that grows on wheat.
So if this is a psychoactive drug and it's derived from
barley, I'm I'm assuming that this may have like some kind of
acid effect. So people are basically fucking
(51:00):
dropping acid. Sick as fuck really.
It is thought that these ceremonies were really like a
symbolic death experience and people would have visions of
rebirth and or the afterlife andtheir goal was really to
spiritually transform and perhaps obtain immortality.
(51:25):
Sadly, there isn't a lot of information on the Lucian
mysteries and that's kind of whythey're called the Lucian
mysteries. These were highly secretive
events, but I guess what's like so exciting to me about them is
that they revolve around a woman's journey into the
underworld. There's something about this
(51:47):
that feels very like magical andsacred, you know, like you meet
with a group of people and, and do a lot of drugs to visit the
underworld and come back. Like that's, that's, that's kind
of beautiful. I love that.
Another. Kind of festival, which is not
(52:09):
quite the same but honorable mention was known as the
Fesmorphia and this was a three day fertility festival held
exclusively for women. Sign me up.
This festival honored Demeter and Persephone as bringers of
fertility. They would often bury old dead
(52:34):
piglets and would offer phallic objects in underground pits as a
symbol of both decay and rebirth.
Like kind of like re fertilizingall the dead things.
They would often also engage in ritual, ritual fasting, group
(52:58):
grieving sessions and celebratory feasts.
And this three day festival served as initiation rites for
married women and priestesses. How beautiful.
Was that? That's actually so beautiful I I
want to do something like this. Ultimately, what these.
(53:18):
Two stories have in common, though, which I really find so
interesting, is this concept of the feminine descent into the
darkness. And it's really not into death,
but actually into transfiguration and
transformation. And in my mind, I feel like the
(53:41):
pomegranate kind of exists in both stories, but really like
the pomegranate for. Persephone was.
Completely like relenting, like giving up.
Not, I don't want to say giving up, but like relaxing and
accepting her fate, like being in the underworld.
(54:02):
And for Inanna, her removing herrobe was a similar initiation.
She let go of all of her earthlypossessions and entered the
underworld naked and accepted her fate.
And she did die, obviously before she was resurrected.
However, what is important to notice is that both of them made
(54:27):
these choices with autonomy. They both decided.
To accept their fate in the underworld.
And that was a choice they both consciously made.
And this led to their. Transformation and for me, this
does really kind of ring a bell.This sounds like the hangman
(54:48):
from the tarot. It really does.
It really, really does. Obviously, like one thing I also
want to think about too is just like these cycles of the seasons
really do relate with the cyclesof the moon, menstrual cycles,
and like really just how rooted in femininity all of these
(55:12):
cycles are. Regardless if these are like
literal stories or allegories, they are rooted in the idea of
femininity, Fertility change, cycles.
And. I also think it has a lot to do
with like mourning, like grief. It seems like a big part of
(55:35):
these stories do revolve around grief and.
That grief is a. Part of this cycle of fertility.
It is a part of the death cycle and.
It is a part. Of the birth cycle.
And I do think that's really interesting that both of these
(55:59):
stories do involve grief, because if you remember,
Inanna's sister was beside herself when those two fairies
came down to retrieve her body. And of course, Demeter was
devastated. And what if?
The afterlife or death was only a moment, like a winter, and
(56:22):
there was an inevitable rebirth afterwards.
I also feel like it's worth. Mentioning and I, I think next
week I'm going to do an episode focusing on Dante's Inferno and
Faust. But from the stories I can think
of a lot of a lot of male centered.
(56:47):
Stories about. Descents into the underworld
seem to have a lot more themes of regret and shame and
punishment and like, layers of hell.
And I do think. That's really interesting.
Because I see the descent into the underworld as like both a
(57:10):
literal death, but also as like an allegorical death.
And if you live with regret and and shame for things that you've
done, that is how you basically make extra work for yourself.
Like when you die, you aren't ready to be reborn because you
are still having to sort throughand make amends for all of your
(57:32):
earthly mistakes and really likelive with your shame.
Whereas in these stories, these women are able to give up
everything to let go and therefore be reborn.
So I do think. That's something like that is.
Worth noting and something to think about because I think
through the patriarchy. So many.
(57:56):
Stories and and aspects of spirituality that involved
femininity have been erased. And this really isn't just about
women in general. It's about the feminine quality
within us all, which is the energy of fertility, the energy
of creation. This is a quality that lives
within all things. It's not really just about like
gender, right? These are all like, allegorical
(58:18):
terms. And one thing that the
patriarchy has done is condemn femininity and erase a lot of
these stories. So I do think it's important for
us to think about. I do think it's important for us
to talk about and to really, like, break down the allegories
of these stories. And like, what does it mean for
you, for the creative side of you, the fertile side of you,
(58:41):
the reflective side of you? What does it mean for that side
of you to, like, completely let go of everything and to die and
come back to life? Like, what does that look like?
Right. And that's kind of like, that's
kind of like what psychedelics are all about.
Like if you've ever tripped balls, that's basically what
happens. Like, you become incredibly
(59:01):
vulnerable. You have a little death and
you're like reborn in such a special way.
And it's not really about like power or ego or like how you
perceive yourself. It's really just about like
heart centred and like very present awareness.
(59:22):
So yeah, I mean, maybe this is atime for all of us to do some
acid, meet with some friends, free bleed and like lay on the
earth and and be reborn. That's kind of my take away.
What's your take away? Thank you.
So. Much for listening to the.
Podcast. It really helps if you follow my
(59:45):
podcast if you try to review it or comment.
I really appreciate you. This podcast means a lot to me.
These are the kinds of things that I used to think about
privately and not share with anyone.
And I still feel like I'm working up the courage every
episode just to be able to speakfreely.
But life is too short and who fucking cares?
(01:00:05):
I'm just going to share my ideas.
And maybe you like them, maybe you don't, maybe some resonate,
maybe some don't like. That's totally cool.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
And I just want to remind everyone that this.
This. Life is one of many and I.
(01:00:29):
Really don't think we should take it too.
Seriously, I think that life is supposed to be enjoyed and it's
supposed to be fun. And I think if we can all do
better at being kind to ourselves, it will be a lot
easier to be kind to each other.And I do believe that it is
possible, some way, somehow, forhumanity to end its cycle of
(01:00:52):
self destruction and self exploitation.
It doesn't have to be this way. And with that, I will let you
go. I'm sending you so much love.
I'm sending you a hug. Bye for now, over and out.
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