"Aesthetics are a matter of life and death," quotes Ryan, relaying the words of our mutual friend and highly skilled therapist Gillian. That's where Ryan Nielsen and I start, with Venus/Inanna and the 4,000-year-old story of her descent to the underworld. Inanna, queen of heaven and earth, bangs on the door of the underworld and demands to be let in. At each of seven gates she is instructed to relinquish something: her crown, her lapis beads, her breastplate, her measuring rod, until she arrives with nothing of her upper-world self left. "What is this?" she demands of the gatekeeper, and every time he says the same thing. Quiet, Inanna. The ways of the underworld are perfect. We take our time working through the myth, toggling between our in-the-moment experience and the events of the myth itself, allowing for the pace of our own descent. We recorded on the day Venus disappeared from the evening sky. She comes back as the morning star on 29 October. This is Part 1. Part 2, Inanna's return to the upper world, is coming. Among many things, Ryan Nielsen is a Jungian scholar, author, jazz musician, somatic skills coach and reluctant astrologer, living in Utah with his wife Holly, their three kids and Holly's Garden. We Are Enough with Vive Oldham, recorded on Bibbulmun country, Manjimup, Western Australia, in Kambarang, the second spring. ꩜ Connect with Ryan IG @yourveryownmyth Astrology Personalised: yourveryownmyth.com ꩜ Connect with me IG @vive_oldham 📩 Get my emails: viveandco.kit.com/get-emails 👉 For 1:1 sessions: viveoldham.com REFERENCES Books on the myth Sylvia Brinton Perera, Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women Carly Mountain, Descent & Rising: Women's Stories & the Embodiment of the Inanna Myth "Inana's descent to the nether world", Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (Oxford) Writers and thinkers we mention Liz Greene, writing on Venus in astrology Marion Woodman, lunar roots and solar shoots, and the Dance of Three James Hillman, "Venus is our recourse", and Alchemical Psychology (the essay on alchemical blue) Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves (life/death/life, The Red Shoes) Hafiz, The Gift Michael Meade, emotions come in pairs James Hollis, on living our resonance Perdita Finn, Mothers of Magic: Summoning the Wisdom of Our Ancestors Kimberly Ann Johnson, Call of the Wild Brené Brown and Roshi Joan Halifax, strong back, soft front Teachers and practices BodyDreaming, Marian Dunlea Chris James, Sounds Wonderful Jaye Marolla, The Body Innate