New Moon in Leo
It's Time to Master Your Destiny
By Abbey Quinn | SumerianAstrology@gmail.com
The Celestial Lion
Since time immemorial, the lion has been admired—often for the same reasons it was feared. In Mesopotamia, the lion was known for its strength and savagery as much as it’s grace and beauty. It’s no wonder such powerful deities such as the sun-god Utu, and the king of the Underworld Nergal were sometimes compared to lions or given lion-like attributes (think lion’s mane and rays of the sun). But while the occasional mighty king and god were got the offhand comparison, there was only deity who owned the title of celestial lion: The Sumerian goddess Inanna (dinana 𒈹)—the Lioness of Heaven.
Inanna was one of the seven major gods of Sumer, who was worshiped en mass in myriad guises, presumably since before the written word, right into the Hellenistic period, in the from of the Babylonian Ishtar. Not only was she the Lioness of Heaven, she was also the deity embodied in the planet Venus.
While a few myths portray her as petulant and vengeful, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Descent of Inana, the vast majority of textual sources proclaim her awesomeness. Rather than provide a shabby summary of Inana’s Mesopotamian attributes, I decided to let the ancients speak for themselves.
The Ancient Meaning of Leo (and Venus)
I present the bulk of A Hymn to Inana as Ninegala (adapted from Black, Cunningham, Robson, & Zólyomi, 1998–2006), believed to have been composed during the Old Sumerian Period (c. 2100–2000 BCE). As you read through it, keep in mind that not only are these the traits ascribed to the constellation of Leo, but also the planet Venus.
Featured Image: Ishtar on an Akkadian seal (c. 2350 – 2150 BCE). Image by Sailko, licensed under CC BY 3.0.
Great light; heavenly lioness; always speaking words of assent! Inanna, great light, lioness of heaven, who always speaks words of assent! Ninegala! As you rise in the morning sky like a flame visible from afar, and at your bright appearance in the evening sky, the shepherd [the king] entrusts the flocks of Sumer to you. Celestial sign, … glory of heaven! All the countries are building a house for you as for the risen sun. A shining torch is assigned to you, the light of the Land!
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala. Let me tell of your grandeur! …
After the first watch of the night has passed; as like a shepherd, you get up from the grass. You seize your battle-mace like a warrior. You fasten the guma cloth on your arms, and you bind on your unrelenting strength. Thus, you appear brilliantly, together with An, in the city.
On earth, Inana, you emit awe-inspiriting splendor from the holy dais. … the religious attendants stand at your service, lined up for you … to provide for you. …
Inanna, in heaven, you are the lightening. On earth, you move swiftly… against the foreign land that you are angry with. … When in your precinct and shrine, … you regulate the divine ordinances like the divine powers of An. When you regulate the heavenly ordinances like the divine powers of Enki, and cause awe of you to reach up to the heavens, then your seat is on the… dias on the terrace by your Gate of Four Faces.
Inanna, you go into the interior of heaven like your father Suen (the moon-god). Ninegala, you appear like moonlight in your shrine in the Ibgal, placing your foot on your ordinances ….
When you slip through brambles and foul, great thorns grow. When you stride along all the mountains; when you drink from puddles with the dogs; when you share the stall with the horses; when with the storm, you reduce everything to a mere shadow. Inanna, when you cause the rain to fall all day long, then your seat is in the Ekugnuna at Eridu, on the dais where destinies are determined.
At the New Year Festival… The channels of the underworld are opened for you, and memorial libations are poured down them for you. The en priests, the lords, great priests, and priestesses, and the dead… eat meals for you to keep away the ghosts, and drink water for you to keep away the ghosts. …
Inanna… when you come forth from the corner, when you come forth from the side, when you are to be seen on the horizon; Inanna, when in your destructiveness, you make storm-floods wash over everything, then the great priests…, then the priestesses wear the tonsure for you; then your seat is on the Dais of Silence.
The young men fasten in the neck-stocks …. before you. The mother of the sick lays her child in your arms. The mother of the uprooted (homeless?)…. in your great hall. You cut the …. of the weak, you release …. the weak. …
When you act as the shepherd with the herdsman; when you … with the cowherd, you throw the halters on the cows. When you mix the butter; when you purify the milk; when you find joy in the embrace of your spouse Dumuzid; when you have pleasure in the embrace of your spouse Dumuzid; when you take your seat on the high dais in the great hall…, where judgement is passed, then the people of the holy uzga stand there in your service. …
In the evening, when the stars return together again, and when Utu (the sun-god) enters into his chamber; when in heaven, Inanna, you diffuse awesomeness like fire, and when on earth, Ninegala, you screech like a falcon, then you … in play and dancing. You go from moonlight to star. You go from star to moonlight.
Inanna, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur! …
Awesomeness Unmatched
In short, Inana was the divine feminine par excellence. She was beauty and splendor, protection and healing, love and support—truly awesome, in every sense of the word.
The New Moon in Leo (conjunct with Regulus—the Breast of the Lioness) awakens this divine power within all of us; a power which is as much masculine as it is feminine.
It is the power to create or destroy; to love or to rage; to heal or to curse. Like Inana, you get to decide how you’ll wield your divine power. Will you don your armor and battle-mace, and face your challenges with unrelenting strength? Will you be a light in the world, helping those in need—not from a place of sacrifice, but from a limitless well of abundance? Will you speak words of assent; decree fate, co-create with divinity, and allow the cosmic forces provide for and serve you?
The Lioness of Heaven is a sign from the Universe that you are the master of your own destiny, and every day is an opportunity to create the world anew.
References
Black, J. A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E., & Zólyomi, G. (1998–2006). A hymn to Inana as Ninegala (Inana D) [ETCSL 4.07.2]. Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. University of Oxford. http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4072.htm
“Ishtar on an Akkadian seal” by Sailko, licensed under CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
About the Author
Abbey Quinn is a Mesopotamian Astrologer specializing in Sumerian Astrology, and co-founder of the International Sidereal Astrology Association. In addition to providing ancient sidereal astrology readings, she teaches ancient astrology and the Sumerian Language, and hosts a weekly YouTube livestream with Niki Tennessen.
Website: SumerianAstrology.com | YouTube @SumerianAstrology
