EANNA PRESS

EANNA PRESS EANNA PRESS is the Publishing Imprint of Temple of Inanna

Inannanthology II Announcement:I would personally like to thank the project contributors who submitted artwork and writt...
15/09/2025

Inannanthology II Announcement:

I would personally like to thank the project contributors who submitted artwork and written pieces for the second Inannanthology publication from the Temple of Inanna’s publishing arm, EANNA PRESS.

While seven days remain until the originally scheduled deadline of September 22, the few contributions received since March are not enough to justify the costs involved with editing, layout, design, and subsequent publication.

Realistically speaking, I do not anticipate the number of contributions to double, much less triple within the next week in order to meet the project criteria and allow us to proceed as planned.

That being said, I must regrettably announce that Inannanthology II: “The Descent of the Goddess” is being canceled.

As with the first publication, contributors retain the rights to their own work and are not contractually bound to any copyright or publishing agreement both verbal and written.

— Samuel David, Inannanthology II project manager

OUT NOW: THE HEAD OVERTURNING RITE !For centuries, whispers of the Head Overturning Rite have intrigued scholars, mystic...
02/03/2025

OUT NOW: THE HEAD OVERTURNING RITE !

For centuries, whispers of the Head Overturning Rite have intrigued scholars, mystics, and members of the transgender community alike. Was there truly an ancient Mesopotamian ritual, performed in the temple of Inanna, that transformed men into women and women into men? How much of this legend is based on historical fact, and how much is modern speculation?

This groundbreaking work cuts through the myths and mistranslations to uncover the real history behind the Head Overturning Rite. Drawing on original cuneiform sources, academic research, and comparative analysis of sacred hymns and temple rituals, this book explores the evolving interpretations of this enigmatic ceremony—tracing its misrepresentation, its suppression, and its deeper spiritual significance.

More than just a historical investigation, this book also offers a contemporary reimagining of the ritual, allowing it to be reclaimed and practiced in the modern world. For those who seek transformation, affirmation, and connection with the ancient divine, the Head Overturning Rite is ready to be rediscovered.

AVAILABLE NOW IN PAPERBACK AND HARDCOVER EDITIONS:

https://www.eannapress.com/category/all-products

IN THE WORKS:  GATEWAYS TO BABYLON !An Introduction to the Sumerian and Babylonian Pagan ReligionWeighing in at an enorm...
02/03/2025

IN THE WORKS: GATEWAYS TO BABYLON !
An Introduction to the Sumerian and Babylonian Pagan Religion

Weighing in at an enormous 800 pages in length, G2B is a work of devotion and dedication to the late-Dr. Rosa Lopes, one of the earliest founders of Sumerian Paganism. This book captures just a snapshot of the essential groundwork she put into place, much of which helped shape the community to what it is today.

Also included is an in-depth history of her life and times, who she was, what she achieved, and why she is remembered today as a modern Enheduanna by many of her followers.

About the book:

"For thousands of years, the gods and goddesses of Mesopotamia reigned over one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Now, their wisdom and power call to a new generation of seekers.

In Gateways to Babylon, the pioneering scholar and priestess Lishtar—Dr. Roseane R. Velho Lopes—unveils the rich spiritual traditions of Sumer and Babylon, blending historical scholarship with practical devotion. Drawing from ancient texts, hymns, and rituals, this book offers a foundational guide to honouring deities such as Inanna-Ishtar, Enlil, and Enki, reviving their sacred rites for modern practitioners.

Lishtar’s work was instrumental in shaping Mesopotamian Reconstructionist Paganism, inspiring hundreds of thousands of seekers across the world through her extensive writings. This book stands as both an introduction and a tribute to her lifelong dedication—an enduring beacon for those who feel the call of the gods of the ancient Near East.

Step through the gates and rediscover a lost spiritual world, rich with mystery, magic, and divine connection."

Inannanthology is OUT NOW! An Anthology of Literature, Prayers, Poetry, Original Artwork, Hymns, Pathworkings, Personal ...
26/01/2025

Inannanthology is OUT NOW!

An Anthology of Literature, Prayers, Poetry, Original Artwork, Hymns, Pathworkings, Personal Reflections, Solitary and Temple Rituals all dedicated to the Goddess Inanna.

It comes in two unique editions: A Standard B/W Edition (to keep prices reasonable for the community), and a Special Full Colour Hardback Edition with additional content.

Early Editions are now available exclusively through Lulu, and will soon be available directly from our own Publishing House Website.

Watch this space for more updates!

https://www.eannapress.com/category/all-products

Standard Edition proof copies of Inannanthology arrived today. These look absolutely stunning!Getting closer and closer ...
12/01/2025

Standard Edition proof copies of Inannanthology arrived today. These look absolutely stunning!

Getting closer and closer to seeing these little lion cubs released out into the wild.

29/03/2024

ISHTARFEST 2024 NEWS!

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT TO BUY YOUR EARLY BIRD TICKETS!

GRAB YOURSELF A BARGAIN!

Ishtarfest, the largest and longest running Conference dedicated to the Goddess Inanna / Ishtar have launched Early Bird Tickets for a very limited time!

You have until March 31st to Get Tickets at this ridiculously low rate before they go up!

You are invited to our 9th Annual Ishtarfest, where we bring together presenters and participants from all over the world to celebrate our pagan roots in ancient Mesopotamia.

The festival will be held virtually on Zoom from June 1-2, 2024. In the past we've had classes, rituals, cooking demonstrations, musical performances, and other spiritual offerings surrounding Sumerian mythology and culture.

Our theme for this year's IshtarFest is Passion & Strength: Sheroes & Heroes. Inanna/Ishtar is known as a goddess of love and war – we explore those aspects in her qualities of passion and strength. Many instances of these attributes exist in Sumerian lore, and so we look to the mythology of Mesopotamia to guide us on our own Hero’s Journey.

A hero is typically defined as a person who is admired or idealized for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. They are often seen as a symbol of hope and inspiration for others. On the other hand, shero is a term that specifically refers to a female hero.

It is often used to highlight the accomplishments of women who have overcome obstacles and achieved great things.

Register Here: https://sites.google.com/view/ishtarfest/home

EANNA PRESS NEWS: Eanna Press are delighted to announce our Fourth Publication will be author Steff V Scott's highly ant...
07/03/2024

EANNA PRESS NEWS: Eanna Press are delighted to announce our Fourth Publication will be author Steff V Scott's highly anticipated rendition of 'SAG ŠU-BAL - The Head Overturning Rite'.

Preliminary work on the text is now complete, and the book now enters the editing process, with the First Edition expected to be ready for publication by Summer 2024.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The ‘Head-Overturning Rite’ is thought to be one of the most important Ancient Mesopotamian Magical Ceremonies in recorded History. The Ritual itself was thought to take place in the Temple of the Goddess Ishtar, a Goddess very much known for her liminal nature, and her Gender diversity.

In some texts referred to as ‘The Bearded Venus’, Ishtar’s Temples were welcoming of people of all Genders, identities and Sexualities. Their colourful parades throughout the streets of the cities of the Ancient World were one of the highlights of her Temple Cult, and could probably have been described as 'Pride Parades' long before the concept of ‘Pride’ ever existed.

During this ancient magical ceremony, men were ritually transformed into women, and women into men, and celebrated in their true gender. The ceremony itself is long and elaborate, and begins with a beautiful hand lifting prayer in which the Goddess is praised for her ‘manliness’.

It is thought, by several academics, that this ritual was the cause of the now-infamous passage found in Deuteronomy, which today is believed to be focused on the ‘prohibition against wearing clothes of the opposite s*x’, but in reality this prohibition was more focused on ritual changes of s*x within Near Eastern cultic practice.

“A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God”, Dt 22 : 5, RSV

In our modern Western society, especially to those who campaign for LGBTQIA+ rights and recognition, this now-mythical ‘Rite’ is thought to be the stuff of legend! A Ceremony which, many believe, was once used to ritually “turn men into women”, and “women into men”, and is highly coveted. Especially to those among the Trans, Q***r, nonbinary and gender diverse communities, who see this as a path and method of affirmation of their true gender identity, and as a potential ‘Rite-of-Passage’.

The Ceremony itself had been thought to have been lost to history, and only mentioned in passing in several of the Prayers and Temple Hymns of the Goddess Inanna / Ishtar.

However, author Steff V Scott firmly believes this sacred 'Rite' has been gathering dust in a Museum archive, waiting to be unleashed upon the world once more. A task they fully intend to enact!

Join them in a journey of rediscovery, affirmation, and ritual rebirth!

EANNA PRESS NEWS: Special Announcement.Almost two years on since Author Steff V Scott lectured at Witchfest on his first...
07/03/2024

EANNA PRESS NEWS: Special Announcement.

Almost two years on since Author Steff V Scott lectured at Witchfest on his first book, the controversial 'From Ishtar to Eostre', and we have a special announcement!

To mark the two year anniversary of our first publication, we plan on releasing a Second Expanded Edition of this now-infamous volume.

This edition bigger and bolder! It will delve deeper into the history of the worship of the Goddess Ishtar and Astarte, a Goddess whose cult spanned the length and breadth of the Western World at the very height of her worship. It will act as a roadmap to her many altars, both across Europe, and within the British Isles. But it is so much more!

Watch this space for more updates over the coming weeks!

Ave Inanna!

EANNA PRESS NEWS - INANNANTHOLOGY IS NOW CLOSE TO PUBLICATION!Inannanthology has just passed it's final hurdle! We have ...
28/02/2024

EANNA PRESS NEWS - INANNANTHOLOGY IS NOW CLOSE TO PUBLICATION!

Inannanthology has just passed it's final hurdle! We have been in touch with contributors, and all contacts are now signed, and we are working through the final editing process. We will be in touch over the coming weeks to sign off any last minute edits to their submissions. If you are a contributor, please watch your inboxes!

This Volume will be well over 500 pages in length! After final edits are passed back, we will move on to typesetting, finalising fonts, formatting, and setting the publication date.

Due to ethical issues with AI artwork, we have taken a stance with our original artists and illustrators, and all AI submissions will not be included in this volume. Apologies to those who submitted AI generated images. These will not be included in the final publication.

We are blessed to have our first Anthology Cover artwork gifted by the wonderful Damara Carpenter, and original high quality art prints of this will be available directly from the artist herself. We will be posting more on this, and on our other contributors, to coincide with the book launch. Watch this space!

We are very excited to see this work soon-to-be in print!

Ave Inanna!

EANNA PRESS NEWS - INANNANTHOLOGY II BEGINS ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS!  Due to demand, Eanna Press will now begin accepting ...
18/01/2024

EANNA PRESS NEWS - INANNANTHOLOGY II BEGINS ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS!

Due to demand, Eanna Press will now begin accepting submissions for our second 'INANNANTHOLOGY', this time entitled: 'THE DESCENT OF THE GODDESS'.

This will be an Anthology of literature, artwork, devotional work, prayers, hymns, songs, rituals (both solitary and full Temple rituals), path-workings, and personal reflections, dedicated entirely to ‘Reclaiming’ the Descent of the Goddess Inanna by her contemporary devotees.

Work will still continue on in the background as we finalise our first Inannanthology, which is now in the final stages before publication. All authors have now been notified, and final sign off of all submitted works in progress.

For more information, or to submit an offering, please contact us though our Official Page, or email us at: [email protected]

Submission Guidelines:

1. All writers and artists submitting material for the publication will be acknowledged in the publication itself by name (or pseudonym if reque histed).
2. Contributions should be original work only and not previously published within a copyrighted publication (unless with rights or permission to do so).
3. Contributors will not be paid for their submitted content, but will receive full recognition for their work(s).
4. Inclusion of submitted content is up to the discretion of the editors who will be reviewing the content prior to publication.
5. Plagiarized content will not be accepted for publication.
6. No AI Generated artwork will be accepted for publication.


RECLAIMING THE DESCENT OF INANNA

During the late 1970’s and early 80’s the Myth of ‘Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld’ captured the hearts, minds and imagination of a series of second wave feminism, neo-paganism, and the Goddess spirituality movement.

At this point the Descent myth was re-appropriated and re-packaged, and, using Jungian psychology, turned into a series of path-workings as a way of empowering women. In this process the Goddesses in the text were reduced to archetypes by which the women undergoing this process went through what could be described as a rite-of-passage to ‘re-connect with their feminine-principle’.

From this point on feminist theologians would try to re-imagine the Goddess Inanna using gender re-appropriation to repackage her into a ‘mother Goddess archetype’. This led to many advocates of the movement rejecting the war-like aspects of the Goddess Inanna, as they believed these traits were the result of ‘the Patriarchy’. As a result of this the Goddess was re-imagined as a “loving, protecting, nurturing, fertile Inanna” and one who “embodies fertility, the wheel of birth, growth, death and regeneration” which they believed was a “more genuine understanding of the Goddess”. Many Publications followed, all focused on rewriting the Descent of Inanna to suit their own ideology.

These are all elements of gender stereotyping which one would expect to see in the Abrahamic religions, yet we find it also alive and well, and deeply rooted in the modern Goddess spirituality. We see this served up as an ideal image of a meek subservient mother Goddess, as a peacekeeper and a good little wife, reduced to a chalice to be the vessel for the male seed, which is inserted in the form of a ceremonial dagger.

We like to look back on the fantasy of a once Matriarchal society, one where the Mother Goddess took centre stage, yet many in today's Pagan world cast the Mother Goddess in a role that perpetuates the idea that women can be only kindly mothers, and little else. It in turn reduces women to baby-making machines by its own actions.

Yet what is a mother? When you think of mother, rather than thinking of a caring loving nursemaid archetype, who picks you up off the ground when you fall, puts a bandage on your wounded knee, and pulls you into a warm loving hug, instead, think of a mother lion. Think of a mother lion, fiercely protective of her cubs. Think of her teeth bared, snarling ferociously, claws razor sharp and ready to attack. Picture another predator wandering unknowingly into her vicinity, posing a threat to her children. Picture her flying wildly into attack, ripping the intruder limb from limp, its blood dripping from her gaping maw. There are many aspects to a mother, and not all exude pacifism.

Inanna is the same mother lion in many ways, and it is such a shame the Goddess spirituality movement of this Era did not embrace this at the time. For a good mother can go to war to protect her own children, as well as defend herself. One of Inanna’s most powerful myths is ‘Inanna and Shukalletuda’.

In this myth we see the Goddess Inanna stopping in a city to rest, and falls asleep. While she is asleep, she is r***d by one of the town’s inhabitants: a gardener named Shukalletuda. Rather than acting like the defanged and declawed Mother Goddess that the 70‘s Goddess Movement made her into, Inanna goes to war. She seeks divine retribution against her ra**st on a yet untold Biblical scale.

Seeing the storm that is coming his way, the gardener asks the town’s people to hide him. This infuriates the Goddess more, and we see her in the myth turning the rivers of the city to blood, tearing up plants by their roots, poisoning the city’s food supply, unleashing a series of powerful storms, and sending great plagues upon the inhabitants of the city.

This is perhaps the most powerful feminist myths we have today: one where a woman seeks justice against a man who has violated her, and it is truly sad that the Goddess spirituality movement would choose to ignore such a myth, and instead try to turn Inanna into the very thing that she opposes.

We at Eanna Press, therefore, would like to redress this balance. With this endeavour we aim to produce a publication focused more on Inanna’s Descent in respect to the historical aspects of the Goddess herself, and more respectful of her mythology, detached from misappropriation or Jungian stereotyping.

Yes, some of these submissions still can include Pathworkings, though we would ask for these to be more deeply rooted in all of the mythological aspects of the Goddess, and celebrating and rejoicing in them, rather than attempting to repackage them into something they are not. For through this work, we aim to produce a Publication far greater in tune with the Goddess herself, more respectful, and, uncoupled from Jungian psychology, far more authentic in their praxis.

Ave Inanna!

EANNA PRESS NEWS - INANNANTHOLOGY NEARS PUBLICATION!Inannanthology has just passed it's final hurdle! We have been in to...
28/12/2023

EANNA PRESS NEWS - INANNANTHOLOGY NEARS PUBLICATION!

Inannanthology has just passed it's final hurdle! We have been in touch with contributors, and we well soon begin sign off on any edits to their submissions. If you are a contributor, and have still to reply, please check your inboxes!

This Volume will be well over 500 pages in length! After final edits are passed back, we will move on to typesetting, finalising fonts, formatting, and setting the publication date.

Due to ethical issues with AI artwork, we have decided to take a stance with our original artists and illustrators, and all AI submissions will not be included in this volume. Apologies in advance for those who submitted AI generated images. These will not be included in the final publication.

We are blessed to have our first Anthology Cover artwork gifted by the wonderful Damara Carpenter (mock-up cover as attached), and original high quality art prints of this will be available directly from the artist. We will be posting more on this, and on our other contributors, to coincide with the book launch. Watch this space!

We are very excited to see this work soon-to-be in print!

Ave Inanna!

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