Ereshkigal: The Goddess of True Love

I find Ereshkigal to be a very loving goddess. The western mind is so unfortunate. Their view of
Ereshkigal is based on one myth, but when you look at how she became ruler of Kur, you begin to see
her compassion. You begin to see how she overcame racism in her day. You begin to see that her love is
not superficial. in the Sumerian epic, !" E#ESKI$%& '!SE TE ()*E#"!#&*, we gain a
deeper perspective about her being. En+oy,
ow Ereshkigal 'hose The (nderworld
-Ereshkigal, Enki.s twin sister, is also the mighty and very much feared /ueen of the (nderworld.
ere is how she might have chosen to be so,
%fter Ki, 0other Earth and /ueen, was separated by Enlil, &ord %ir, 0aster of "inds, their firstborn,
from %n, Sky father and King, and the primal (nity of eaven and Earth was forever lost, in the
eights %bove, %n wept for Ki, longing for her embrace and kiss. is heartfelt tears met )ammu the
Sea. She reached out for the Sky &ord, and 0other and grieving son made for the first time sweet &ove.
1rom the mingling of their bodies a 2oy and a $irl, *ivine Twins were born. Enki and Ereshkigal, they
were called.
%s time went by, Ereshkigal and Enki grew with the blessings of 'reation.s dawn. 'urious and
sometimes wise beyond their years, brother and sister played especially in the "atery *eep of
)ammu the Sea. Enki would float here and there, whereas Ereshkigal swam and dived everywhere.
3Ereshkigal, I can.t see you4 'ome back to the surface, will you5 "hy do you have to hide within the
waters when there is so much to see and do without5. asked Enki with a sigh.
3% rhetoric 6uestion, young brother, without doubt., countered Enlil amusedly from the shore, where he
kept watch over the *uku, the oly 0ound of 'reation, and 0other Ki, his eyes gleaming with fond
laughter. 37ust let Ereshkigal be for a while. %t least I could do without her whys and wherefores for a
minute or so4.
3I heard you, 2ig 2rother4. replied Ereshkigal. She came out to the surface riding a wave, and
immediately put all her efforts together to raise a mighty wall of splashing water towards the rock
where Enlil watched over the Earth and Enki.s floating body. 2oth Enlil and Enki ran for cover. They
were going to succeed and escape Ereshkigal.s watery rage8 perhaps this time5
-)ot as yet9, thought Ereshkigal with a satisfied grin, dripping with water and as fresh as the purest
springs of 0other (rash. She sat by Enlil.s and Enki.s feet.
3So I ask too many 6uestions, brothers of mine5 !f course I do4 I want to Know and to Know I must
ask first4 %t least this is what I feel it should be4. Ereshkigal ignored the resigned amusement of Enlil
and Enki and proceeded with confidence, : There is a whole world within the Sea and I suspect in
everything there is. 0oreover, there must be things beyond and below I feel I should know, and I will,
one day. "hile you, Enlil, devise the ;lans of 'reation, and you, Enki, busy yourself with forms and
shapes these plans may take without, I am concerned with the power within that binds these plans and
images together in combinations of all sorts. I don.t know how to e<plain it, but I simply feel there is a
refulgence within, there is a ;attern that binds words and shapes together, beings and things, and it is
this pattern I want to know. I will know. I +ust need to find out how.:
% fleeting shadow crossed Enlil.s smiling face. :I wish I saw things your way, Ereshkigal, +ust to
understand and e<plain the une<plained. Take Kur, for e<ample, and our dark little brothers and sisters
who followed him to the land.s end. It is true Kur and the others looked different from us. 2ut why did
they leave the safety of the *uku, the mound of creation, why did they go beyond the "aters of 0other
)ammu..
:You are worrying about Kur and the *ark $uardians again, Enlil. "hy don.t you take them and Kur
for what they are5 "hatever and wherever they are5. asked Ereshkigal.
:ad you laid your eyes on Kur, you.d understand my concern. e and the others are different from us,
from our younger sisters and brothers. 3
:2ut why should we all be the same, !lder 2rother5 Indeed, I believe we are all very, very different. In
1orm and Essence, despite some #esemblance in %ppearance. I may be very wrong, Enlil, but I feel
that if you keep fi<ing your eyes on but one thing, you.ll miss out what could be the other side of the
same thing. !r person and being,. remarked thoughtfully Ereshkigal.
3"ise words, little sister4 The point is that I take my $uardianship over the Earth too serious,. agreed
Enlil. 32ut there is something odd I cannot understand about Kur. %nd I for sure wouldn.t like to visit
the place where he chose to dwell either, at the entrance of the (nderworld,. countered Enlil.
:I am sort of curious about these unknowable things. %nd I don.t fear what I don.t know. Even this Kur
you don.t understand, Enlil. Indeed, I am curious about Kur,. replied Ereshkigal. :%nd where is this
(nderworld, by the way5.
:)one have gone there yet., answered Enki. 3 It is beyond the edge of this world. 0other )ammu says
that it spreads itself as deep below as the heights of 1ather %n stretch above..
3This sounds really interesting4 % whole new realm nobody has been to or knows so much about4.
e<claimed Ereshkigal.
:!, sister, sometimes I wish you showed more respect for what you don.t know. 7ust for safety.s sake.,
supplied Enki.
:I am careful. %nd In6uisitive and 'urious.. In her mind, Ereshkigal added silently 9 even about this
mysterious Kur and the (nderworld9.
%nd so it was that Ereshkigal, the daughter of )ammu the Sea, born of the bittersweet loss that the Sky
father felt for Ki, twin Sister of Enki, grew with the *esire to Know the (nknown and #eveal ;atterns
(nseen. Everyday she would play with Enki, her 'ompanion and 2est of 1riends, and pester Enlil with
countless 6uestions. Everyday Ereshkigal would dive into the deep waters of the 0other and swim
longer distances to resurface energi=ed, with more and more 6uestions in her mind and a deeper resolve
forming inside.
!ne day, Ereshkigal chose not to return to the 0iddle world. This was the day she had found Kur >or he
had found her perhaps5?, and the little dark half brothers and sisters of theirs. They looked ugly and
threatening, scattered over the edge of the world, at the entrance of the (nderworld. They seemed to be
lonely too, for all kept to their spaces, alone and isolated, but looking pretty menacing.
&ittle dark half brothers and sisters 5, So this must be a -wrong9 and other creation of her mother
)ammu with another $od, but maybe an e<perimental creation of the $ods.
-So much pain and loneliness, such rage and hunger for what they know not what. Such desire to
belong, but they know not where or how9 , she thought, but didn.t say a word.
1aithful to herself, Ereshkigal didn.t flinch at Kur.s features or at the misshapen faces of the dark little
ones. Yes, he did not look like any of the other %nunnaki Ereshkigal knew very well, but this didn.t
make him threatening to her. Kur was8 different. Indeed, with his huge scaly body and wings,
;rimeval Snake and *ragon, Ereshkigal felt he was like the raw power of 0other )inhursag@Ki. %
2east, but she knew there was beauty within him8 Still, Ereshkigal l felt no fear for the (nknown and
a longing embrace it and make her it own.
:I am not afraid of you. !f any of you. she said out loud, and she meant it. : You are my half brother,
Kur, and so are the dark little ones. %nd somehow I feel there is beauty within you all, even if you and
others don.t have eyes to see. 2ut I have. *ive into your Essence, brother, search for the seed that
brought you, me and all into being. I also came from that seed. There you will find what unite us, what
make us !ne of a Kind with the !ne who is %ll Kinds..
Thus she dived into the immensity of Kur.s anguish and loss, for she accepted Kur for what he was,
ugliness, pain, rage and loneliness to find out his all whys.
:I vowed to challenge and fight to the very end all who dared to fare to the world.s end,. said Kur.
:%nd I take up the 'hallenge,. answered Ereshkigal. :2ut I.ve travelled long and far to come to you.
You are a 'hallenge to me. I need to understand you. %nd myself along the process..
-"hy are you doing this59
Ereshkigal heard the 6uestion in her mind, as she held Kur closer and closer to her own self.
9 I myself don.t know very well why, but I simply need to. ;erhaps to grow in (nderstanding of who I
am, of who and what you and your own are. To learn and Share, out of a *esire for &ove and ealing
that comes from the bottom of my heart, mind, body and Soul. %nd may this way, when I am wise
about these things, may I perhaps earn my crown in a brand new #ealm, : she replied loud and clear.
Kur.s features must have shown the e6uivalent to a smile, for his voice sounded also light@hearted and
interested.
:You are strange, half@sister. I won.t fight you8 as yet. Tell me about this new realm where you want
to con6uer your crown,. said Kur, his curiosity stirred.
:ow8 I still must find out. "here8.
Ereshkigal turned round pointed at the distance, where the (nknown lied yet une<plored.
:There,. she said, 3the (nknown, the (nderworld, the *epths "ithin, where %ppearances don.t count,
+ust Essence. ;erhaps I.ll go further by going deeper. "ho knows5.
Kur came closer and closer still. Ereshkigal kept her ground, +ust waiting. So although he might think
he was sei=ing her, indeed it was she who had captured him. To stretch his and her boundaries of being.
eart pounding, but keeping very still outwards, Ereshkigal felt her awareness grow as she e<perienced
the wounds Kur had inside, his desire to belong anywhere, to fit in. Suddenly, she also reali=ed how
different she had always felt. Even from Enki and Enlil, whom she loved with all her heart, mind and
soul, but who could never dive into the depths she longed to thread upon.
Ereshkigal sighed deeply, and glanced into the distance for a brief moment, in the direction where Enlil
and Enki sure were. 0aybe her /uest was another. She turned to Kur.
:"hat I will be from now on, I must discover., was her cryptic reply to Kur.s unspoken 6uestion, but
she knew he understood what she still was unable to say out loud.
:It may be a long task,. Kur replied.
:;erhaps if I let each day bring what it has to offer, and see what I can do with what it brings, I will be
able to accomplish something different. To learn something different and grow likewise. "ill you do
this with me5.
Thoughtfully, but with an engaging smile, Ereshkigal stretched her hand to hold Kur.s scaly paw.
Together, they crossed the threshold to the (nderworld.
Ereshkigal had always felt the pull to feel and e<perience the (nknown. )ow she chose to go where no
one had gone before, to stay in the uncharted realms of the $reat 2elow, to fill up its Emptiness with
her 2eing. er voice then resonated loud and clear in all worlds of 'reation, eights %bove, 0iddle
world, over the edge of the Earth and, for the first time, echoed in the *epths 2elow, : I claim the
#ealm of the *epths, the (nderworld as my domain..
She had found her life.s /uest. )ot looking back, Ereshkigal crossed the threshold to the 2elow, never
to come back.

-0%Y TE *E%* #ISE %)* S0E&& TE I)'E)SE49