The Saga of Vanadís, Völva and Valkyrja

athing ritual seems to be a part of the worship of many goddesses. Kybele, who also
rode in a wagon, like Freyja and Nerthus, was bathed annually (Gimbutas, 2001, p. 192).
A part of the preparation for the hieros gamos ritual in ancient cultures was the ritual
bathing of the high priestess and/or goddess (image), as well as the king or priest (Dalley,
1989, p.154; Meador, 2000, p. 60). Before her annual marriage to Dumuzi, Inanna, queen
of heaven and earth, was bathed and so was he. In one of Inanna’s poems she says:
“listen
I will scrub my skin with soap
I will rinse all over with water
I will dry myself with linen.”
From Holy Song, Meador, 1992, p. 61
This bathing is done in honor of the lover/husband Dumuzi, the shepherd who
became king by his marriage to Inanna. When Inanna took on the journey to the
Underworld and was killed by her sister Ereshkigal, to be revived by the messengers of
Enki, Dumuzi betrayed her and was punished by being outlawed from his kingdom in
Uruk, to dwell half of each year in Ereshkigal’s realm. Inanna, his queen and lover,
mourns him. So does his sister, Geshtinanna.
Inanna wept for Dumuzi:
Gone is my husband, my sweet husband.
Gone is my love, my sweet love.
My beloved has been taken away from the city,
O, you flies of the steppe,
My beloved has been taken from me ...
From “The descent of Inanna”, Wolkstein and Kramer, 1983, p. 86
Inanna weeps for Dumuzi and her tears may be red gold. She is the star, the
morning and evening star, the goddess of opposites, of paradox.
80