If you live on planet earth, chances are you’ve been to hell at least a few times. What particular halls do you traverse in your own underworld? Childhood abuse? Abandonment? Addiction? Loss? Illness? Depression? Breakup or divorce? Financial trouble? Death of a loved one? A suffering child? Psychological vulnerabilities? It may be of comfort to know that even the gods must make the journey to the Great Below. Witness Persephone. Dionysus. Orpheus. Inanna. Jesus. It also may help to know that there are codes and clues from their stories as to how to handle a life descent. 
I’m talking here in particular about the ancient story known as the Descent of Inanna. It chronicles what happens to this great Sumerian goddess of heaven when she decides to visit her sister Ereshkigal in the underworld. Her story offers guidance for how to Go Down Under with wisdom, whether your descent has been a lifelong one or is precipitated by a shock. Here are just three insights:
1) Tie your tether: Inanna told her trusted servant Ninshubur that she was about to make her trip, and asked her to sound the call to helpers if she did not return in three days. This calling out for support –– to friends, helpful family members, therapists –– is critical when you feel yourself slipping.
2) Surrender: Inanna made her descent more difficult by resisting the stripping process as she descended the rungs of hell. Don’t resist. Surrender to what is happening.
3) Embrace radical self-compassion: In the bowels of hell, Ereshkigal moans out in pain and is mirrored compassionately by the beings sent to help retrieve Inanna. Through this compassion, Ereshkigal begins the process of Inanna’s ascent back to the light. Witness your own pain in the dark. Be tender to it. Love your brokenness. This is the start of the journey back up.
Warmly,
Marguerite Rigoglioso
Founding Director
Seven Sisters Mystery School