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Goddess Ishtar on an Akkadian Empire seal, 2350–2150 BCE.
Goddess Ishtar on an Akkadian Empire seal, 2350–2150 BCE.

The New Moon in Aquarius on Friday 9th February at 22.59 GMT is at 20° Aquarius… which happens to be on my natal Venus.

Venus is at 21° Capricorn conjunct asteroid Ishtar at 19° Capricorn.

Why is this Venus Ishtar conjunction interesting? Could it shed light on our collective karma and the skipped step?

Venus is the Roman goddess of sex, fertility, beauty, prosperity, and victory. As one of the most widely referenced deities in the Greco-Roman pantheon, Her myths and attributes were adopted by the Romans from the Greek Aphrodite. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from the Phoenician goddess Astarte, who is cognate with the East Semitic goddess Ishtar; Ishtar’s cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. These goddesses form a lineage not of Mother goddesses, or consort goddesses, but of love sex, fertility, divine justice, and war goddesses.

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.

In modern astrology the qualities of Venus are eros, aesthetics, value, money, things that make us feel good, that which we desire… our love language. When we think of Venus we do not think of war, or even fertility as that is largely the domain of the Moon.

Mars is the god of the war and is often paired with Venus in a yin/yang, masculine/feminine contrast. Venus is harmonious, pleasant, accommodating, attractive, and charming. She is not aggressive, angry, wilful, selfish, or domineering. Venus and Mars are magnetically attracted to each other; in synastry the combination can be explosive. In astrological interpretation Venus can be regarded as rather passive, or else people pleasing depending on how She relates to other elements in the chart.

How did we get from Ishtar to Venus?

Inanna/ Ishtar in her role of goddess of war is described as moving from conquest to conquest, wilful, stubborn and at times strategic if not manipulative. Inanna/Ishtar tricks Enki, god of wisdom into giving her ‘mes’ civilisation in all its positive and negative aspects. She demands admittance to the underworld, starts a fight with a mountain, unleashes the heavenly bull on Gilgamesh, and brokers a deal with the ‘galla’, (demons of the underworld) to take her consort, Dumuzid as a sacrifice for her release. This is no passive, charming, harmonious goddess, this is a goddess who demands the keys to the underworld while retaining Her sovereignty and role as Queen of Heaven. She pays a price for such honours however: She literally goes to hell and back, is divested of Her powers (before regaining them) and is hung on a meat hook naked for 3 days- not to mention a betrayal by Her lover who Lords it up with serving girls in Her absence.

Inanna/Ishtar is a kick ass goddess, fierce in Her sexual prowess as much as Her warring instinct and wilful temperament. She gets what she wants when She wants it… until She doesn’t but that’s another story about the demotion of the goddess in a move to usurp the goddess and install primacy of the solar gods.

In a poem written by the Akkadian poet Enheduanna, Ishtar is referred to as “The Goddess of Fearsome Divine Powers”. In a poem about Inanna and Shukaletuda, the poet begins by praising Inanna as the planet Venus before telling us how She is raped by the inept Gardener, Shukaletuda. When the goddess wakes from Her slumber and realises that She has been violated She is furious and unleashes great plagues and storms upon the Earth… She turns the rivers to blood. This part of Inanna/Ishtar’s myth has resonance with Persephone/ Demeter, when grief-stricken Demeter prohibits the growth of corps on earth until She is reunited with Her daughter… this myth also involves a rape or violation.

In the Akkadian version of the myth, after Ishtar descends to the underworld, all sexual activity ceases on Earth. The gods intervene and Ereshkigal- Ishtar’s dark sister- enraged though She is, is forced to give the waters of life to Asu-shu-namir who sprinkles Ishtar and brings Her back to life. Ishtar then ascends back through the seven gates receiving one item of clothing at each gate until on exiting the underworld She has reclaimed her powers and gathered some more… She has now been invested of the secrets of the underworld.

There are so many strands to this myth that can be brought into our contemporary awareness for the purposes of healing and a deeper understanding of a full feminine consciousness. It is also a myth that imparts important insights about our current ecological situation… we reject the dark goddess at our peril.

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