Facing Your Demons: Inanna's Descent

There are many types of fairy tales, and thus there is more than one Heroine’s Journey. The one I learned of first is the one based on The Descent of Inanna, which Victoria Lynn Schmidt writes about in 45 Master Characters. As Inanna's descent is also the earliest known version of the Heroine's Journey, going all the way back to the 19th century B.C. (the Bronze Age), I'm going start with this one.

In the stories about Inanna, she is variously forced to confront her fears and her dark side. She is in one case obliged to give up aspects of her power as queen, as priestess, and as a woman, and she is also forced to pay a price for her misbehavior. Thus, she serves as a model for more than one kind of story, as I shall get into later. For this particular journey, understand this: like Inanna, your Journeyer must face their fears and any demons they may have.

As I wrote in Mythic or Fairy-Tale Journeys for Heroes and Heroines, a key difference in this Journey concerns the difference in the worlds in which the Fairy-Tale Journeyer lives vs. the Mythic Journeyer. The Fairy-Tale Journeyer will not be supported by their society; they will have to fight for their own autonomy. The Mythic Journeyer will have their society’s support behind them as they fight to protect their society.

The Mythic Journeyer will begin their Journey with their power intact, but in Act III will realize power must be yielded up in order to gain enlightenment. An example in Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Edward and Alphonse Elric begin their Journey with the incredible ability to commit acts of alchemy without having to draw a transmutation circle, as all other alchemists must in their world. This power makes them formidable.

But it turns out their ability to transmute without a circle is related to a specific transgression they committed that granted them forbidden knowledge, resulting in the loss of Edward’s arm and leg, and all of Alphonse’s body.

In the end the Elric brothers realize the key to getting what they wanted, the restoration of their bodies and the salvation of their country, will only come when they visit the Gate of Truth to yield up the forbidden knowledge ... and the power it gave them.

Differences Between the Other Fairy-tale Journeys

Inanna’s Journey differs from the other Fairy-Tale Journeys in that it recognizes the dysfunctional world in which the Journeyer lives by putting at the forefront the coping mechanism the Journeyer uses to live within that world. Schmidt outlines a few strategies:

• THE NAIVE STRATEGY: "Bad things only happen to bad people." No matter what happens to anyone else, or how obviously out of whack their surrounding environment, the Journeyer is confident that being an agreeable person protects them from harm.
• THE CINDERELLA STRATEGY: "I always rely on the kindness of strangers." This Journeyer has been relying on the protection and guidance of others to survive. Whether the Journeyer is Scarlett O’Hara assuming she will always have a man to help her, or a male scion who thinks his parents’ money will open doors and soften life’s rough edges, this Journeyer does not expect to stand on their own two feet.
• THE EXCEPTIONAL STRATEGY: "If at first you don’t succeed, then you just weren’t good enough." This Journeyer assumes they are better than everyone else, and they belong to the ranks of the elite. An episode of Law & Order has a snooty headmaster at a tony boy’s school who thinks he’s one of the elite, too, but is driven to murder when he realizes he’s not actually “one of us.”
• THE PLEASING STRATEGY: "Oh, it's no trouble at all." This Journeyer is a doormat who believes happiness lies in making others happy, regardless of what it costs them. Pleasers are conformists who never buck the status quo, exactly the way Youko Nakajima behaves in the first episode of Twelve Kingdoms. Youko doesn’t stand up for an outcast classmate because that would make everyone else hate her ... even though the only reason the class likes Youko herself is because she does their homework for them. The Pleaser walks on eggshells, and resists anyone who tries to “steady the boat” against the toxic individuals rocking it.
• THE DISAPPOINTED TYPE: "Life is pain, Your Highness. Anyone who says different is trying to sell you something." Unlike the other strategists, this particular Journeyer is aware of how bad he or she has got it. The first step is to acknowledge a problem, but this Journeyer is not ready to take the next step: solve the problem. Rather, the Journeyer resorts to martyrdom, enduring some form of hardship ostensibly for the good of those the Journeyer cares about. Dreams are a carefully kept secret, but if only someone could show the path to making the dreams come true...

Inanna herself exemplifies the Cinderella “let everyone fight my battles for me” strategy when she goes to build herself a throne. She plants a tree and tends to it. When it finally splits open a decade later, she is shocked to discover that others have made it their home: a snake, the Eastern symbol of renewal and sexuality; an anzu-bird, who craved power and knowledge; and Lilith, the rebellious woman spoken of in the midrash.

Inanna wanted to build a throne and a bed from this [huluppu] tree, but she can't because these three beings reside in it. Schmidt compares these creatures and what they symbolize to the heart, brains, and courage Dorothy seeks in The Wizard of Oz.

Seeing these inhabitants in her tree distresses Inanna, and she cries. The snake is immune to charms, and she has no power over it. Samuel Noah Kramer, translator of Inanna's stories, has several interesting things to say about her situation.

First, the snake, bird, and Lilith represent "a triad of sexual lawless creatures who live outside the bounds of the Sumerian community and seek power only for themselves. These are Inanna's unexpressed fears and desires, which have now been 'named.'"

Second, the deal about "naming" is that in ancient beliefs, to name a thing is to bring it into fruition, and make it possible to know and understand that thing. The discovery of the snake, bird, and Lilith helps Inanna to grasp her own weakness and darker aspects. Still, though, she cries. Still, though, the three lawless beings are unmoved. So also, is her brother Utu. Only Gilgamesh will step in to help her.

Is Inanna worthy of her would-be throne? She would be, if she seized these three symbols for herself. But as the Cinderella-strategist in this scenario, she calls upon her brother Gilgamesh to deal with them. Like any hero he dispatches these antagonists, and then he builds her a throne to boot. In gratitude, she gives him two mysterious objects that possibly represent kingly power. Nevertheless, because she did not fight her own battle, Inanna’s journey to claim her own power does not begin here.

While in the actual story there is benefit to Inanna (and Gilgamesh) in Gilgamesh coming to her rescue, note that if your Journeyer must take the Journey, needs to take the Journey, then a Gilgamesh is dangerous. Stick a pin here, we'll circle back. Other differences in this FTJ compared to others:

Specifics of the Betrayal

On Inanna’s Journey, as with Psyche's, the Journey will be kicked off by a betrayal. The difference is that with Inanna’s Journey, the betrayal will “target” and destroy the particular coping strategy the Journeyer was using to survive their dysfunctional world.

Your Cinderella’s protectors will throw them to the wolves, the Naive person will discover bad things happen to good people, too; the Exceptional will be shown definitively to not be “one of us,” the Pleaser who thought eating bull crap will make them liked will simply be dumped into a bigger pile of crap, and the Disappointed one learns that being the stoic immovable rock just means they’ll be shattered by the unstoppable force.

Betrayal awakens this Fairy-Tale Journeyer, which means unlike the Mythic Journeyer, the Journeyer starts the Journey already awakened to the world as it truly is. The Fairy-Tale Journeyer has just been destroyed, and like the Six Million Dollar Man, must be rebuilt, "better than [he was] before." Questioning everything they thought they knew, the Journeyer realizes their old self must die if they’re to ever have a chance at a new and better life.

Just as the Psyche's Journey starts with losing one’s home, and finding a new one in the end, Inanna’s Journey is similar. However, her version has an important variation:

Weapons

Specifically, the Inanna-type Journeyer has recognized they’re stepping into uncharted territory, and so they avail themselves of external weapons designed to survive their potential obstacles. However, each time this Journeyer comes to a particular obstacle — a Gate of Judgement — they will lose the weapon they relied on to face that trial. Inanna’s Journey specifically has the Journeyer confront their deepest fears by yielding up the external weapons they used to protect the most vulnerable parts of their psyche.

There’s a scene in Angel, the spinoff to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that exemplifies this concept. In the episode “That Vision Thing,” Angel must save his friend Cordelia from telepathic torment, at the cost of doing the bidding of the evil cabal, Wolfram & Hart. They demand he literally walk into the fires of hell itself and retrieve one of the damned. Naturally since demons reside in hell, Angel first arms himself with an assortment of weapons before going into the hellgate. Like Inanna with her friend Ninshubur, Angel asks his friend Wesley to stay behind in case something goes wrong.

However — all of the weapons Angel armed himself with drop to the floor at his headquarters the minute he steps into the hellgate. Like Inanna he is essentially naked, albeit still wearing clothes. Angel falls back on his own strength, charm, fighting prowess, and cunning: internal weapons. The Journeyer on Inanna’s Journey must do the same.

With Friends Like These...

While it’s not unusual for the Fairy-Tale Journeyer to be accompanied by friends on the Journey, à la Black Widow with Captain America in the Winter Soldier, remember there’s a difference in the support given to the Fairy-Tale Journeyer vs. the Mythic Journeyer. The Mythic Journeyer may face enemies who try to prevent their Journey, but the Fairy-Tale Journeyer will face friends or family will try to hold them back from taking the Journey.

Remember I asked you to "stick a pin" in Gilgamesh's hero moment above? It is possible for a well-meaning hero to be a danger to the Fairy-Tale Journeyer by cutting off their Journey before the Journeyer can take it. The would-be rescuer may attempt to “solve” the Fairy-Tale Journeyer’s problems, but doing so would only trap them in a kind of dependent world known to the Penelope Journeyer. A world which deprives the Journeyer of freedom and autonomy, for the Journeyer’s “own good,” of course. This is of course, a False Rescue, a hazard often faced by Penelope Journeyers.

Another possibility is someone trying to discourage the Journeyer by reminding them of their inadequacies. If the Journeyer has to board a ship, “You hate water! You don’t know how to swim!” If the Journeyer wants to go to law school, “College is for smart people! You’re not good enough!” And so forth. Elle Woods' parents and friends initially try to discourage her from going to Harvard Law School in Legally Blonde because they're skeptical she's the type of woman who could be a lawyer.

In the Hero’s Journey there’s a step popularly misunderstood by those who never read Hero With a Thousand Faces: the Refusal of the Call. Those unfamiliar with the source material assume that a hero must Refuse the Call for some reason or other. But in fact an actual hero, e.g., Xena or Wonder Woman, Captain America or Hercules, will answer the phone as it were. For narrative purposes you’ll see a side character try to dissuade them from taking the Journey by telling them how dangerous it is. The point is to emphasize this danger, so you can see just how much it matters that Xena or Captain America answers the call.

Similarly, the stakes of the Inanna Journey are emphasized by meddlers and naysayers who try to knock the Journeyer off the path by whatever means suits their own agenda. Inanna’s own husband, her father, and her paternal grandfather refuse her aid.

With this in mind, here are Schmidt's beats for the Inanna-Style Fairy-Tale Journey:

Act I: Containment

1. The Illusion of a Perfect World:

In a haunted house story, the simplest thing would be for the characters to leave the house. Therefore, a good haunted house story, like any good story, must make it abundantly clear why the simplest answer won’t work. In Poltergeist the family can’t leave the demon-haunted house because the Dark One has kidnapped the little daughter. Thus, the family remains in the house to effect her rescue.

The seedy underbelly of the Journeyer's world must be similarly exposed, and the case for escaping it must be compellingly made. The Journeyer is at least partially aware of what's wrong, hence the coping strategy.

2. The Betrayal or Realization | Inciting Incident:

The betrayal is most effective if it destroys the coping strategy. This betrayal brings about the necessary awakening that goads the Journeyer onto their own Yellow Brick Road. If there’s a “wicked witch” in this story, this is where you set up their villainy.

3. The Awakening—Preparing for the Journey | Key Event:

Recognizing their coping strategy is no longer an option, the Journeyer gathers “weapons” of a kind. Your Journeyer may gather money, evidence, lists of potential allies, etc., whatever forms the equivalent of Inanna’s seven Me. Note well that none of these tools will actually avail them on the Journey, but it’s important that the Journeyer and the reader think they will help.

Act II: Transformation

4. The Descent—Passing the Gates of Judgment:

The Journeyer must face a fear that manifests in an external form. Whatever weapons the Journeyer brought will prove useless. Money can’t buy them what they need. Evidence won’t be seen by a judge (so to speak) because its provenance is doubted, allies can’t help for whatever reason, and so forth. Villains will make their presence and influence felt at this stage as well.

Inanna went through Seven Gates, which Schmidt compares to the seven chakras of the body. Apparently chakras are assorted energies in one’s body, according to Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Schmidt suggests using these chakras to create potential conflicts and lessons for the Journeyer. Curious, I found a list of chakras and what they represent for narrative purposes:

• The Root Chakra: focuses on feeling safe and secure in the world, and is located at the base of the spine in one’s perineum. For this Gate, the Journeyer may run to a supposed shelter, but find the shelter is unavailable, or not as safe as previously believed.
  
  In Lucifer’s Hammer, the wealthy astronomer and his friend Eileen run to the refuge he set up in his mountain observatory after a comet brings about TEOTWAWKI. However, the caretakers took it over and refuse to allow him entry, and offer Eileen the dubious privilege of being a “new Eve,” if you get my drift.
• The Sacral Chakra: located in the genitals, this chakra’s energy is about creative power, particularly as it concerns sex, power, and money. Sex creates life, a person can create their own power and their own money-making business.
  
  Queen Latifah’s character in Beauty Shop seeks a bank loan to open her own beauty parlor. However, the loan officer won't approve her for a high enough loan. Latifah's character notices the loan officer is attracted to another official, so she uses her talents to beautify the officer. In this way she secures a loan and passes through her Gate.
  
  If your Journeyer takes a mercenary view of sex, supposing it can be used to gain an ally, this is where they’ll discover the affection and loyalty of the would-be ally can’t be bought by such means. In HBO’s Rome, Caesar’s niece Atia attempts to gain Pompey’s loyalty by offering up her daughter Octavia. But Pompey is not impressed, and marries someone else instead.
  
  If your Journeyer believed “Screw the Rules, I Have Money,” they will find their bribes fail against someone who believes, “Screw the Money, I Have Rules.” Thanks to TV Tropes for those pithy names!
• The Solar Plexus Chakra: Self-esteem and self-worth, the energy for which is located in the navel. This is supposed to be power center of the body. Obviously, this one lends itself to the Journeyer facing doubts, shame, and questions of self-worth. The chakra website linked to above points out that having a “pit” in your stomach is a clue you need to come to your own emotional rescue from these particular maladies, and the idea suits this scenario quite well, no?
• The Heart Chakra: is within one’s heart, and it represents unconditional love, of yourself and others. But this must be balanced: too much self-love is the path of narcissism and self-absorption, too much love of others makes one a doormat, a victim. This strikes me as a good “gate” for a Pleaser-strategist to face. At the link, the author says this chakra is difficult to get into balance without dealing with the lower three chakras first. That makes sense, particularly if you consider Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs: you can’t get to the top until the base needs are taken care of.
• The Throat Chakra: This chakra is all about “speaking the truth.” You must be able to clearly, unambiguously, speak what’s in your heart. Does your Journeyer love someone, but was never able to say so? Recall how Jane Bennet is so circumspect in Pride & Prejudice that it was easy for Mr. Darcy to believe she didn’t truly love his friend, Mr. Bingley. If your Journeyer is always downplaying their values and what they know to be right — snitches get stitches — this is the Gate for them.
• The Third-Eye Chakra: aka one’s Third Eye, above and between the eyebrows. Intuition, imagination, and inspiration are governed by this chakra. The sixth chakra is supposed to connect the bearer to knowledge of the truth to be spoken of with the Throat Chakra. Think of how Huckleberry Finn decides “I’ll go to hell” when he chooses to do the right thing and help Jim escape slavery. If the Journeyer can’t discern the right path for themselves, the right thing to do, or the right choice to make, this chakra is their Gate to help them learn to trust their intuition.
• The Crown Chakra: connection to spirit and a higher power, and of course it’s located at the top of one’s head. This is the “crown chakra” connecting you to divine energy. A Journeyer in a story about faith may find this is the Gate that tests them most, especially in a horror story.

This Journey is very much a “face one’s demons Journey.” And at this stage of the Journey, antagonists will directly show their influence in some fashion or another: a bank may foreclose on their ranch, the bad guys may initiate a car chase, etc. In a horror or mystery thriller, the Journeyer will barely escape the monster/killer.

5. The Eye of the Storm:

Having survived a Gate / Encounter with the villain, the Journeyer has as false sense of confidence and security. In this stage, the Journeyer may believe its safe to relax, or even contemplate abandoning the Journey. But of course, the Journeyer will soon learn differently …

6. Death—All Is Lost:

But the villain will make a mockery of the Journeyer’s false belief that she or he is safe. There’s a scene in the book, Watchers, where recluse Nora Devon is preparing to enjoy a nice dinner. Only her stalker destroys her attempt to overcome the mental shackles her abusive aunt placed on her, by ambushing her at just the moment she thought she was free to do something she loved. Stage 6 demonstrates the Journeyer’s conflict with the story’s villain.

Act III: Emergence

7. Support:

Fairy-Tale Journeys are about the relationship between the individual Journeyer, and the group they are part of. The Mythic Journey requires Journeyers to prove themselves to the group by acting alone to obtain the boons. In the Fairy-Tale Journey, Journeyers must accept help from others. The Journeyer proves herself to herself, then accepts help to share the boon of knowledge with the group. Harry Potter accepts his friends’ help in The Deathly Hallows, and only because he lets them in on what he knows is he able to finally defeat the villain.

Even in a Final Girl-type of horror, the Journeyer isn’t truly alone because a friend or ally has given them a tool, weapon, or information necessary to defeat the villain. The guidance may even be spiritual, as the Player Character in Jade Empire is aided by the spirit of a fallen ally in the final battle against the villain. Regardless of genre, this stage sees the Journeyer's strength emerge. In the book, Dune, the emperor’s elite forces, the Sardaukar, are said to have such pride that they can seem “fully clothed while naked.” Like the Sardaukar, no humiliation or hardship can touch the Journeyer at this stage. The Journeyer also knows now who their true friends are.

8. Rebirth—The Moment of Truth:

Did the Journeyer learn important lessons? Truth, love, courage, steadfastness, etc? This is the stage where the Journeyer demonstrates their mastery of the lessons their experiences taught them. Remember the coping strategy from Stage 1? Now the Journeyer embodies the opposite of their strategy. The Pleaser is now assertive and heroic, the Cinderella can stand on her own two feet, the Disappointed one is now proactive, the Exceptional one is humble and compassionate, and the Naive one is wiser but not cynical.

9. Full Circle—Return to the Perfect World:

The Journeyer goes home, and sees just how far he’s come. But what stops the Journeyer from slipping back into the old role? Often people from dysfunctional families find themselves assuming their designated “roles” when they visit their relatives. The screwup, the scapegoat, the caretaker — any of these roles were limiting the Journeyer before.

Now; however, comes the smaller climax where the Journeyer abandons their old role and asserts a new one within their group. This change may astonish and awaken another member of their group, who becomes so intrigued by what they see in the Journeyer that they decide to embark on their own Journey. In Anne of Green Gables the Sequel, the pinch-faced teacher, Katherine Brooke, decides to take a page from Anne’s book and allow more joy and whimsey into her life. But more often the new Journeyer will be someone who was close to the previous Journeyer before the transformation. Inanna sends her own husband on the Journey.

Wrap Up

If your Journeyer is on Inanna’s path, they will hopefully come out the better for having faced their flaws, fears, or demons. Because a Fairy-Tale Journey is cyclical, that is, other people are sent on the Journey once the previous Journeyer has completed it, you may find this type of story a suitable catalyst for change in other characters. Especially if you’re writing a series. You may also consider, if you haven’t noticed already, that Inanna’s journey lends itself marvelously to redemption arcs. I delve into that usage of her journey in this post Redemption and the Heroine's Journey: Asajj Ventress. In the meantime, good writing to you!