IV. Of the Sleep of ISHTAR

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Yet ISHTAR
Queen of Heaven
Bright Light of Nights
Mistress of the Gods
Set her mind in that direction
From Above she set her mind,
To Below she set her mind
From the Heavens she set forth
To the Abyss
Out of the Gates of the Living
To enter the Gates of Death
Out of the Lands we know
Into the Lands we know not
To the Land of No Return
To the Land of Queen ERESHKIGAL
ISHTAR, Queen of Heavens, she set her mind
ISHTAR, Daughter of SIN, she set forth
To the Black Earth, the Land of CUTHA
She set forth
To the House of No Return she set her foot
Upon the Road whence None Return
She set her foot
To the Cave, forever unlit
Where bowls of clay are heaped upon the altar
Where bowls of dust are the food
Of residents clothed only in wings
To ABSU ISHTAR set forth.
Where sleeps the dread CUTHALU
ISHTAR set forth.

The Watcher
Stood fast.
The Watcher
NINNGHIZHIDDA
Stood fast.
And ISHTAR spoke unto him

NINNGHIZHIDDA! Serpent of the Deep!
NINNGHIZHIDDA! Horned Serpent of the Deep!
NINNGHIZHIDDA! Plumed Serpent of the Deep!
Open!
Open the Door that I may enter!
NINNGHIZHIDDA, Spirit of the Deep, Watcher of the Gate, Remember!
In the Name of our Father before the Flight, ENKI, Lord and Master of Magicians
Open the Door that I may enter!
Open
Lest I attack the Door
Lest I break apart its bars
Lest I attack the Barrier
Lest I take its walls by force
Open the Door
Open Wide the Gate
Lest I cause the Dead to rise!
I will raise up the Dead!
I will cause the Dead to rise and devour the living!
Open the Door
Lest I cause the Dead to outnumber the Living!
NINNGHIZHIDDA, Spirit of the Deep, Watcher of the Gate, Open!

NINNGHIZHIDDA
The Great Serpent
Coiled back on itself
And answered
ISHTAR

Lady
Queen among the Gods
I go before my Mistress
ERESHKIGAL
Before the Queen of Death
I will announce Thee.

And NINNGHIZHIDDA
Horned Serpent
Approached the Lady ERESHKIGAL
And said:
Behold, ISHTAR, Thy Sister
Queen among the Gods
Stands before the Gate!
Daughter of SIN, Mistress of ENKI
She waits.

And ERESHKIGAL was pale with fear.
The Dark Waters stirred.

Go, Watcher of the Gate.
Go, NINNGHIZHIDDA, Watcher of the Gate,
Open the Door to ISHTAR
And treat Her as it is written
In the Ancient Covenant.

And NINNGHIZHIDDA loosed the bolt from the hatch
And Darkness fell upon ISHTAR
The Dark Waters rose and carried the Goddess of Light
To the Realms of the Night.
And the Serpent spoke:
Enter
Queen of Heaven of the Great Above
That KUR may rejoice
That CUTHA may give praise
That KUTU may smile.
Enter
That KUTULU may be pleased at Thy presence.

And ISHTAR entered.

And there are Seven Gates and Seven Decrees.

At the First Gate
NINNGHIZHIDDA removed the Crown
The Great Crown of Her head he took away
And ISHTAR asked
Why, Serpent, hast thou removed my First Jewel?
And the Serpent answered
Thus it is, the Covenant of Old, set down before Time,
The Rules of the Lady of KUTU.
Enter the First Gate.

At the Second Gate
NINNGHIZHIDDA removed the Wand
The Wand of Lapis Lazuli he took away
And ISHTAR asked
Why, NETI, hast thou removed my Second Jewel?
And NETI answered
Thus it is, the Covenant of Old, set down before Time,
The Decrees of the Lady of KUTU.
Enter the Second Gate.

At the Third Gate
NINNGHIZHIDDA removed the Jewels
The Jewels around her neck he took away
And ISHTAR asked
Why, Gatekeeper, hast thou removed my Third Jewel?
And the Gatekeeper answered
Thus it is, the Covenant of Old, set down before Time,
The Decrees of the Lady of KUTU.
Enter the Third Gate.

At the Fourth Gate
NINNGHIZHIDDA removed the Jewels
The Jewels on her breast he took away
And ISHTAR asked
Why, Guardian of the Outer, hast thou removed my Fourth Jewel?
And the Guardian answered
Thus it is, the Covenant of Old, set down before Time,
The Rules of the Lady of KUTU.
Enter the Fourth Gate.

At the Fifth Gate
NINNGHIZHIDDA removed the Jewels
The Belt of Jewels around her hips he took away
And ISHTAR asked
Why, Watcher of the Forbidden Entrance, hast thou removed my Fifth Jewel?
And the Watcher answered
Thus it is, the Covenant of Old, set down before Time,
The Rules of the Lady of KUTU.
Enter the Fifth Gate.

At the Sixth Gate
NINNGHIZHIDDA removed the Jewels
The Jewels around her wrists
And the Jewels around her ankles he took away.
And ISHTAR asked
Why, NINNKIGAL, hast thou removed my Sixth Jewel?
And NINNKIGAL answered
Thus it is, the ancient Covenant, set down before Time,
The Decrees of the Lady of KUTU.
Enter the Sixth Gate.

At the Seventh Gate
NINNGHIZHIDDA removed the Jewels
The Jeweled Robes of ISHTAR he took away.
ISHTAR, without protection, without safety,
ISHTAR, without talisman or amulet, asked
Why, Messenger of the Ancient Ones, hast thou removed my Seventh Jewel?
And the Messenger of the Ancient Ones replied
Thus it is, the Covenant of Old, set down before Time,
The Rules of the Lady of KUTU.
Enter the Seventh Gate and behold the Nether World.

ISHTAR has descended to the Land of KUR
To the Depths of CUTHA she went down.
Having lost her Seven Talismans of the Upper Worlds
Having lost her Seven Powers of the Land of the Living
Without Food of Life or Water of Life
She appeared before ERESHKIGAL, Mistress of Death.
ERESHKIGAL screamed at Her presence.

ISHTAR raised up Her arm.
ERESHKIGAL summoned NAMMTAR
The Magician NAMMTAR
Saying these words she spoke to him
Go! Imprison her!
Bind her in Darkness!
Chain her in the Sea below the Seas!
Release against her the Seven ANNUNNAKI!
Release against her the Sixty Demons!
Against her eyes, the demons of the eyes!
Against her sides, the demons of the sides!
Against her heart, the demons of the heart!
Against her feet, the demons of the feet!
Against her head, the demons of the head!
Against her entire body, the demons od KUR!

And the demons tore at her, from every side.

And the ANNUNNAKI, Dread Judges
Seven Lords of the Underworld
Drew Around Her
Faceless Gods of ABSU
They stared
Fixed her with the Eye of Death
With the Glance of Death
They killer her
And hung her like a corpse from a stake
The sixty demons tearing her limbs from her sides
Her eyes from her head
Her ears from her skull.

ERESHKIGAL rejoiced.
Blind AZAG-THOTH rejoiced
IAK SAKKAK rejoiced
ISHNIGGARAB rejoiced
KUTULU rejoiced
The MASKIM gave praise to the Queen of Death
The GIGIM gave praise to ERESHKIGAL, Queen of Death.

And the Elder Ones were rent with fear.

Our Father ENKI
Lord of Magick
Receiving word by NINSHUBUR
ISHTAR's servant NINSHUBUR
He hears of ISHTAR's Sleep
In the House of Death
He hears how GANZIR has been
Opened
How the Face of the Abyss
Opened wide its mouth
And swallowed the Queen of Heaven
Queen of the Rising of the Sun.

And ENKI summoned forth clay
And ENKI summoned forth wind
And from the clay and from the wind
ENKI fashioned two Elementals
He fashioned the KURGARRU, spirit of the Earth,
He fashioned the KALATURRU, spirit of the Seas,
To the KURGARRU he gave the Food of Life
To the KALATURRU he gave the Water of Life
And to these images he spoke aloud
Arise, KURGARRU, Spirit of the Earth
Arise, KALATURRU, Spirit of the Seas
Arise, and set thy feet to the Gate GANZIR
To the Gate of the Underworld
The Land of No Return
Set thine eyes
The Seven Gates shall open for thee
No spell shall keep thee out
For my Number is upon you.
Take the bag of the Food of Life
Take the bag of the Water of Life
And ERESHKIGAL shall not harm you
ERESHKIGAL shall not raise her arm against you
ERESHKIGAL SHALL HAVE NO POWER OVER YOU.

Find the corpse of INANNA
Find the corpse of ISHTAR our Queen
And sprinkle the Food of Life, Sixty Times
And sprinkle the Water of Life, Sixty Times
Sixty Times the Food of Life and the Water of Life
Sprinkle upon her body
And truly
ISHTAR will rise.

With giant wings
And scales like serpents
The two elementals flew to the Gate
Invisible
NINNGHIZHIDDA saw them not
Invisible
They passed the Seven Watchers
With haste they entered the Palace of Death
And they beheld several terrible sights.

The demons of all the Abyss lay there
Dead but Dreaming, they clung to the walls
Of the House of Death
Faceless and terrible
The ANNUNNAKI stared out
Blind and Mad AZAG-THOTH reared up
The Eye on the Throne opened
The Dark Waters stirred
The Gates of Lapis Lazuli glistened
In the darkness
Unseen Monsters
Spawned at the Dawn of Ages
Spawned in the Battle of MARDUK and TIAMAT
Spawned by HUBUR
With the Sign of HUBUR
Led by KINGU...

With haste they fled
Through the Palace of Death
Stopping only at the corpse of ISHTAR

The Beautiful Queen
Mistress of the Gods
Lady of all the Harlots of UR
Bright Shining One of the Heavens
Beloved of ENKI
Lay hung and bleeding
From a thousand fatal wounds.

ERESHKIGAL
Sensing their presence
Cried out.

KURGARRU
Armed with Fire
Looked upon the Queen of Corpses
With the Ray of Fire

KALATURRU
Armed with Flame
Looked upon the Queen of the Graves
With the Rays of Flame.

And ERESHKIGAL
Mighty in CUTHA
Turned her face

Upon the corpse of INANNA
Sixty times they sprinkled
The Water of Life of ENKI
Upon the corpse of ISHTAR
Sixty times they sprinkled
The Food of Life of ENKI

Upon the corpse
Hung from a stake
They directed the Spirit of Life

INANNA AROSE.

AZAG-THOTH screamed upon his throne
CUTHALU lurched forth from his sleep
ISHNIGGARAB fled the Palace of Death
IAK SAKKAK trembled in fear and hate
The ANNUNNAKI fled their thrones
The Eye upon the Throne took flight
ERESHKIGAL roared and summoned NAMMTAR
The Magician NAMMTAR she called
But not for pursuit
But for protection.

INANNA ascended from the Underworld.

With the winged elementals she fled the Gates
Of GANZIR and NETI she fled
And verily
The Dead fled ahead of her.

When through the the First Gate they fled
ISHTAR took back her jeweled robes.

When through the Second Gate they fled
ISHTAR took back her jeweled bracelets.

When through the Third Gate they fled
ISHTAR took back her jeweled belt.

When through the Fourth Gate they fled
ISHTAR took back her jeweled necklace.

When through the Fifth Gate they fled
ISHTAR took back her Belt of Jewels.

When through the Sixth Gate they fled
ISHTAR took back her Wand of Lapis.

When through the Seventh Gate they fled
ISHTAR took back her jeweled Crown.

And the Demons rose
And Spirits of the Dead
And went with her out of the Gates
Looking neither right nor left
Walking in front and behind
They went with ISHTAR from the Gate of GANZIR
Out of the Netherworld they accompanied her
And ERESHKIGAL
Scorned Queen of the Abyss Wherein All Are Drowned
Pronounced a Curse
Solemn and Powerful
Against the Queen of the Rising Sun
And NAMMTAR gave it form.

When the Lover of ISHTAR
Beloved of the Queen of Heaven
Goes down before me
Goes through the Gate of GANZIR
To the House of Death
When with him the wailing people come
The weeping woman and the wailing man
When DUMUZI is slain and buried
MAY THE DEAD RISE AND SMELL THE INCENSE!

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