Black+Moon+A+Guide+to+Healing+the+Shadow+Side

Enki then tranforms the Kurgarra and the Galatur into flies so
they can enter the Underworld undetected. After they shift back into
their forms, they find Queen Ereshkigal, who indeed is in great pain.
“Oh! My inside!” she moans.
“Oh! Your inside!” the creatures echo.
“Ohhhh! My outside!” she continues.
“Ohhhh! Your outside!” they repeat.
This continues as Ereshkigal reports all of her woes to the
creatures, who in turn acknowledge her pain and grief. Because she is so
grateful, she offers them many gifts, each of which they refuse. The
creatures tell her they wish only one thing: the corpse that hangs from the
hook on the wall. Ereshkigal is surprised and tells them she cannot grant
their wish. They tell her this is the only thing they will accept. Finally,
with a dismissive wave of her hand, she grants their wish. The creatures
quickly sprinkle Inanna‟s body with the Food and Water of Life that they
brought with them and Inanna is reborn.
Fully restored to life, Inanna travels back to the Upperworld,
accompanied by the creatures. Ninshubur and Inanna‟s sons weep with
joy that she has returned alive and well. But the celebration is interrupted
when the creatures tell Inanna that no one returns from the Underworld
without paying a price. Someone must take her place. They ask for her
loyal handmaiden, but Inanna cannot part with her. They ask for each of
her sons, but she cannot part with them either.
At this point, Inanna notices that her husband, Dumuzi, is not at
her homecoming celebration. The creatures follow her as she scours the
palace in search of him. She finds Dumuzi sitting on his throne, finely
dressed, and seemingly oblivious to her prolonged absence. He has
obviously fared well while she was dead. She turns coldly to the creatures
and utters a single command. “Take him.”
Dumuzi flees the palace before the Kurgarra and the Galatur can
seize him, escaping to the land of the god Utu, a sorcerer. Utu changes
Dumuzi into a snake so that he can hide from the creatures, but they find
him nonetheless. Utu then transforms him into a gazelle so that he can
outrun them, but they catch him nonetheless. As they prepare to take
him to the Underworld, Dumuzi‟s sister, Geshtinanna, intervenes, in an
effort to protect him. The creatures capture and torture her for her
interference. Mourning for her brother, Geshtinanna cries out that she
will not let her brother go into the Underworld alone. She will share his
fate.
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