Monday, July 3, 2017

Descent of the Feminine into the Belly of the Beast: Wonder Women Inanna, Persephone, Yeshe, Savitri - Neela Bhattacharya Saxena


Wonder Woman, the film, has been making quite a stir among moviegoers, and in all that ruckus one may almost miss the deeply mythopoeic element that the tale captures. That is the descent of the divine feminine into the belly of the beast to rescue the lost wholeness of humankind. There is no way to skirt the fact that we must face the fiend within us so that we can be the light of consciousness that arises out of that clear seeing. The mythic heroine enters the realm of darkness, faces the beast within; then, without turning away in fear and loathing, she dissolves the specter.

Tales of women traversing brave new worlds are not always appreciated as hinting at profound truths of our human existence. However, our mythologies that hide deep psychological insight and wisdom in plain sight are replete with such women. Also, the age-old conviction that love can transform and transmute us is reflected in tales around the world. Beginning with Mesopotamian myths where goddess Inanna must descend into the hell realm to our current deluge of films, we may detect a psycho-spiritual stream just below the surface story line.  

In the DC film Wonder Woman the supreme power of Diana, the Amazon warrior, comes alive as she descends into the turmoil of the first world war, the war to have ended all wars. Instead it spawned many new ones. She interrupts history and infuses it with mythic resonance. While the story follows the popular comic book’s adventures, the visual depiction is startling as it presents an ancient goddess figure disguised as a comic book heroine. 

Our dual nature and the magic of love inherent in our very structure is portrayed with all the energy and thrill of modern technology. The story also reveals the power of transmutation through love. With her arms crossed, symbolizing the balanced power of intertwined life and death, Wonder Woman descends into our imagined landscape with an energy that heralds the return of the divine feminine in all her glory.   

              
The tale touches upon archetypal myths of many forms where a divine female quiets the demon. Whether it is Durga who eternally stops the buffalo demon as it arises in every eon or a Savitri who enters the realm of death to rescue her Satyavan, the myth ritually re-enacts an awesome truth.  We must awaken the feminine energy that helps us heal our split psyches.  Durga as she is portrayed in this 9th century Pallava sculpture below keeps the head of the asura effortlessly under her feet. She enters the realm of the beast who represents unbridled but vital sexual energy and tames it in a form that is simultaneously sensual and pulsating with the sublime light of consciousness. Tantric India understood that magic and presents innumerable images of the Great Mother who is a composite figure beyond all dualism of flesh and spirit.


If we return to our most ancient mythic world and look at the Akkadian seal below, we can see an interesting archetypal pattern. Here the goddess Inanna has her foot on a lion, and according to a scholar, Durga’s lion riding image could be traced back to this figure. This five-thousand-year-old Sumerian goddess represents the paradoxical energy of desire and death. There are many tales about her, and she cannot be categorized in any straightforward way. It is said that the Akkadian high priestess Enheduanna wrote the hymns to her goddess, and slowly a local deity pervaded the entire Mesopotamian consciousness as a supreme figure with many names.

In The Descent of Inanna, the queen of heaven enters the underworld and faces her own dual nature.  As she passes through the gates of the netherworld, she is stripped of all her finery and her naked corpse hangs from a hook.  The poignant poem sings, “From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below…My Lady abandoned heaven and earth to descend to the underworld” and how the majestic goddess is decreed by her sister Ereshkigal, “As she enters, remove her royal garments. /Let the holy priestess of heaven enter bowed low.” While the details of the tale are as complex and multilayered as any ancient myth, the archetype speaks loud and clear. Emptied of her pretensions and in her eventual resurrection, heaven and hell are reconciled.
When we enter the Greek world, we find a similar tale in the rape of Persephone/Proserpine/Kore. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, we can hear the echo of the mythopoeic recognition that without facing the terror of life, we are unable to understand the majestic beauty of life.  Persephone the tender aged daughter of Demeter was taken into the world of Hades, the realm of death, our own unconscious. When her mother Demeter discovers the theft of her daughter, rage and grief stricken, she abandons her life sustaining role, searching for her child.

Thanks to Hekate, Helios and Hermes, Demeter finds out what Hades had done with Zeus’ blessings, and the process of restoration begins. Having tasted the pomegranate seed, Persephone is to periodically visit the underworld. As she is partially restored to Demeter, the cycle of life and seasons resumes. A mature Persephone becomes an all pervading chthonic goddess who rules the realm of the dead and initiates resurrection.  Powerful Eleusinian mysteries were woven around these myths.

Jean Shinoda Bolen in Goddesses in Every Woman interprets the Greek tale as an important landmark in the development of female psyche. In her form as Kore, this goddess remains a child. Bolen writes: “The Kore was the ‘nameless maiden’; she represents the young girl who does not know ‘who she is’ and is yet unaware of her desires or strength” and although “Persephone’s first experience with the underworld was as a kidnap victim, she later became Queen of the Underworld, the guide for others who visited there.” This aspect shows the power of the feminine to grow despite severe adversities inflicted on her. 

Tibetan story of Guru Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, the female Buddha, repeats the archetype but with its charcteristic Tantric flavor that overlaps both Hindu and Buddhist myths. As an emanation of Nila Saraswati Tara, Yeshe’s story mirrors the myth of another rape of the goddess. In the Brihannila Tantra, a Shakta text, we learn how the goddess of speech was kidnapped by two demon brothers whom she herself had blessed with boons. She is tied up in a dark underwater pit with deadly poisons that she absorbs and becomes Nila/blue.  She is able to save the world (Tarini) only by becoming one with all of its horrors. 

Yeshe Tsogyal had to face incredble suffering, abuse and was raped by seven bandits, but was given the supreme wisdom of delightful emptiness thanks to the love and teachings of Guru Rinpoche. As Inanna unleashes plagues and Demeter withdraws from life, Yeshe too unleashes her wrath on Tibetan people to avenge the rape. She ultimately initiates the rapists themselves into the Vajra path as she recognizes her own nature and abandons hatred of these violating men.

 In Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyal, Keith Dowman retells her story.  Yeshe utters these powerful words: “O pity! Listen you faithful, sad Tibetan people! This Supreme Being is the Dakini Queen of the Lake of Awareness! My defiled body has been absorbed in immaculate inner space, And I am a Buddha in the lotus-light of dynamic space; I tell you you need not be anxious, be happy” (181).

The well-known story of Savitri embedded in the mythic landscape of India was first found in the Mahabharata. It is immortalized by Rishi Aurobindo in his epic Savitri.  She too descends into the underworld and faces Yama, the god of death, to bring her beloved Satyavan back to life.  She had chosen her husband only to find out from Narada of his short life. Unrelenting, she marries him and at the terrible hour, through profound courage, strength and intelligence she debates with Yama. Pleasing him, she restores not only her husband to life but regenerates the kingdoms of her father and father in law.

In Aurobindo’s retelling Savitri takes on a cosmic significance. In her name, she carries the resonance of the Sun god Savitra and she is the goddess of the light of consciousness. He makes Savitri the beacon of regeneration for the entire cosmic and evolutionary awakening. He writes how Savitri must “Look into the lonely eyes of immortal Death/ And with her nude spirit measure the Infinite’s night.” It is the depth of her love that makes her the fitting heroine. Aurobindo portrays her as “A deep of compassion, a hushed sanctuary, / Her inward help unbarred a gate in heaven;/ Love in her was wider than the universe, / The whole world could take refuge in her single heart.” (Book One, Canto 2, p 15)
Aurobindo’s Savitri belongs to the epic realm and could be inaccessible without literary initiation. However, our current visual and virtual world is replete with many echoes of the archetypal image. In the latest version of the film Beauty and the Beast, we once again see a fearless young woman entering the layer of the so called “beast” and transforming him through the power of love. 

It was one of our favorite cartoon films when the kids were young, and Mrs. Pots with little Chip on her side singing away was delightful. Now watching it in this recent version where Emma Watson brings her Harry Potter magic and Dan Stevens is charming as the beast, it is clear why such a tale enthralls us.  These wonder women from around the world clothe themselves in mythic raiment and speak in a single voice that renews life by immersing us in its apparent opposite.  


7 comments:

  1. Thank you Neela for capturing the mono-myth of the Heroine's Journey that wonder women across time and space have lived to tell!

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  2. Thanks a lot for reading it Nilima. You are living it.

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  3. This is wonderful in so many ways. It was shared with me by a friend on FB who knows I write about mythology and various forms of descent, including grief. I've studied Jung since 1970 and studied goddess mythology for 27 years with a group of women. We're slow and thorough. Finally, finally, turning to the Hindu Goddesses after years with Egyptian, Greek, Sumerian, Eastern European, and more. You've already pointed me in good directions. With gratitude.

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    1. So grateful for your comments Elaine. I am very happy you discovered my blog and hope you will read more of these entries and respond. Jung is my favorite too. With best wishes.

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  4. What a vivid translation from myth to modern world. Thank you, Neela����

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