Most ancient religions have a god that represents something their society has or needs. Whether they’re praying to the god that controls the weather or the crops or building an altar to the god of the dead, these older societies have understood life through their higher powers. To them, these deities are incomprehensibly sacred, even the ones who preside over baser things, like sex.
Sex has always been idolized. Entire religions have formed to follow certain fertility/sex goddesses—think the Cult of Venus. Shrines are erected and doctrine is written around these higher beings. Greco-Roman mythology is, for Western cultures at least, the starting point (and often finishing point) of our understanding of mythology—Aphrodite would be “our” Goddess of Love and is easily recognizable on her foam, as is her son Cupid. There are many other untold and unknown goddesses of love and sex that helped shape the Aphrodite and Venus images of today.
In this new series, I plan to retell the stories of the ancient sex goddesses. Their stories, as a collective, make up the cultural understanding of womanhood: the virgin, the lover, the mother, the old crone, the seducer. The one that can both birth and demolishes worlds, a god to be revered, if not a little feared. My goal is to shed light on the often-forgotten (and certainly censored) goddesses of sex and pleasure that were once protected and celebrated.
At times, a goddess may preside over fertility and sex, in which case I plan on featuring them. However, I chose to focus on the goddesses of sex and pleasure primarily. These are the images we as a modern society have tried to forget, to staunch and make women believe they have no power.
Beginning with two central goddesses of ancient religions, Inanna of Mesopotamia and Isis of Egypt.
INANNA: THE MISTRESS OF HEAVEN
Inanna is a goddess of many names. She has been associated with Ishtar and Nanaya (or Nanajā), all goddesses of sexuality and reproduction in the ancient middle east. Some scholars even connect her to the possibly dangerous Babylonian femme fatale goddess. Regardless of her true history, Inanna was critical to the ubiquitous Mesopotamian ritual of marriage—during such occasions, she would have intercourse with the king in order to bring fertility to the land. Her story is intertwined with love and loss, fertility and reproduction.
She is possibly best known for stealing the mes (all positive and negative aspects of civilization) from Enki, the God of Wisdom. She was the enforcer of divine justice and tempted many, like Gilgamesh, to be her consort. Her most known story is, naturally, her death story. In an attempt to usurp her sister, Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld, Inanna is convicted of hubris by the seven judges of the underworld and sentenced to death. Inanna is more or less rescued and brought back to earth.
Often not discussed when talking about Inanna is one of the oldest love poems ever written: “The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi.” Translated by Diana Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer in 1983, tells of Utu, the sun god, and Ianna’s twin brother, who reminds his sister that she must marry to truly become the Queen of Heaven. As the Goddess of Sex, she has many suitors but chooses between two: Enkimdu, the farmer, and Dumuzi, the shepherd (sometimes fisherman). In David Adam Leeming’s 2004 book, Jealous Gods and Chosen People: The Mythology of the Middle East, “Inanna at first favors the farmer but finally decides on the shepherd, who woos her with Utu’s enthusiastic support.”
The poem continues to the couple’s wedding night. That evening, Inanna is instructed by her mother to “open [her] house” for her new husband. When they are united that evening, the newlyweds are overcome with passion and Inanna tells Dumuzi to fill her with his love:
“My vulva, the horn
The Boat of Heaven,
In full eagerness like the young moon.
My untilled land lies fallow.”
And Dumuzi, the shepherd-farmer-king, obliges: “I, Dumuzi, the King, will plow your vulva.”
After their public consummation of the marriage, we have possibly the earliest version of the universal story of the conflict between love and duty. Dumuzi wants to be “set free” by his wife so he can continue his kingly duties.
ISIS: THE GREAT MOTHER
Isis is commonly considered the most popular Egyptian goddess; so much so, she had a cult following well into Roman times. She is the Queen of the Underworld, adjacent to her brother-husband-king, Osiris. She is the theological basis for the role of the queen in society. Her associations are that of death and rebirth, but also she stands as the protectress of children and childbirth. Historically she most likely originates from Hathor, the “cow goddess” who is the personification of the whole pantheon.
Isis’ role is determined by her fate with Osiris. Osiris is the most important Egyptian god. As his queen, he is the theological basis for monarchy and sacred kingship as he was the first god-king. Osiris is a “dying god” which provides him with the shared human experience of mortality, likening him to central figures of mortality like Dumuzi or Jesus.
With Osiris came a golden age of sorts, which was ruefully stripped down when Osiris is usurped and killed by his brother, Seth. There are multiple stories detailing the death but the most recognized one is that Seth tricked Osiris into lying in a special coffin, which he then sealed and threw into the sea. When the coffin finally found the shoreline, a tree began to grow around it. This tree grew tall and mighty, so much so the king of the region had it chopped down and turned into a wooden column; it featured a protruding erection, one of the many symbols of Osiris.
Isis, meanwhile, had been searching the globe for her lost husband. She manages to find the coffin and returns to Egypt with Osiris’ body. While she attempts to keep him hidden, Seth hears the recovered body. Seth, in rage, finds Osiris, chops him into many pieces, and throws him in the sea, again. Determined as ever, Isis and other maidens gather the pieces and begin to mend him, creating the basis of mummification.
It is said that the only piece Isis couldn’t find was Orisis’ penis, as it was eaten by a fish. Others say his penis was found and she masturbated him, using the semen to become pregnant with their son, Horus, who would grow up to avenge his father’s death.
By Shelby Lueders