Inanna and the Descent Within: Regression as a Path of Renewal
As a regression and transpersonal hypnotherapist and a Hellenistic astrologer who works with archetypes, I am always reminded that the inner world speaks in symbols. Beneath our conscious mind lies a world of patterns, images, and stories that shape our lives. Whether I guide the mind through trance work or explore the hidden layers of the psyche through a birth chart, one truth is always clear: healing is a journey inward.
The descent inward is not easy. Visiting the past can feel like passing through the seven gates of Inanna’s underworld, where each memory asks us to release something we once held tightly: grief, belief, or a part of our identity. Yet in this letting go, transformation begins.
In the ancient Mesopotamian myth, Inanna was the goddess of love, fertility, and the heavens who chose to descend into the underworld. At each gate, she had to leave behind a part of herself; her crown, her royal clothing, until she stood bare before her sister, Ereshkigal. There she faced symbolic death, a deep transformation, before being reborn and returning to the world above. This story, thousands of years old, still reflects the healing process today.
In regression work, the underworld lives within us, in the subconscious, holding forgotten memories, unspoken emotions, and hidden parts of the self. When we enter this inner world through guided trance, we begin to meet the parts of ourselves that were left behind: the child who felt unseen, the protector who failed us, or the part that learned survival before safety.
This descent can be disorienting. We may revisit moments we thought were long gone or feel emotions we once buried. Like Inanna, we may feel stripped of the identities that once helped us feel safe. Yet through this encounter, what was trapped in suppression starts to flow. Every descent carries the potential for renewal when met with awareness and compassion.
Regression hypnotherapy is, at its heart, an act of remembering. It is not about erasing the past but reclaiming its wisdom. Each time we reconnect with a forgotten part of ourselves, we come back with more light. Healing does not remove our history; it transforms our relationship with it, turning the past into a passageway rather than a prison.
The inner descent reminds us that healing is not linear. There is no final arrival, only a rhythm of release and renewal. Each time we return from an inner journey to our subconscious, we come back changed, with more understanding, tenderness, and connection to our essence.
Like the old myth of Inanna that has lasted for centuries, every healing journey is a story of descent and return. It calls for courage to enter the world within, releasing, and rising again.