If you’ve been following along you remember the overview I gave of Descent Shoots in V1I1. I am continuing the explanation of these shoots with my interpretation of the 7 gates of death found in the myth of Inanna’s descent to Ereshkigal. In the translation of the myth (which you can read HERE) the individual significance of each gate is not discussed beyond noting what piece of regalia is stripped from Inanna at each barrier. I felt it would help my models connect more deeply to the descent process if each gate had a particular significance. To give each gate meaning, I applied a loose interpretation of the seven chakras, mixed with my understanding of the tangible to disintegrated spectrum.

Gate 1— Turban Removed from her Head

Going through the first gate is when you will feel the most powerful and sure of your direction. This is the moment when you are at your fullest vitality and are consciously choosing to descend. You are grounded in your belief that stripping away your identity will be a profound experience.

Gate 2— Lapis Lazuli Beads Removed from her Neck

The second gate is where you feel the most enthusiastic about your descent. You begin to lose yourself to this passion, in a state of flow that dances you to darkness and divine oblivion.

Gate 3— Twin Egg Shaped Beads Removed from her Breast

At gate three, your assuredness and passion for the descent light fire to your will. This is needed to complete this downward journey. You begin to feel forces pulling apart your identity. Your first reaction is to hold even tighter to your self-conception and your determination to complete this decent.

Gate 4— Breast Plate Removed from her Chest

Now you feel grief. Gate four is where you begin to mourn the loss of connection you had in the upper-world. You now feel empathy for all sisters, mothers, and friends who have also taken this road to confront death and their shadow self. Your heart is flooded with love for their courage and your connection to these powerful women helps to guide you forward as the journey becomes markedly darker. Your circle of self has expanded to include your loved ones.

Gate 5— Golden Ring Removed from her Hand

Now the light is significantly lower and it’s harder to pinpoint the boundaries of your identity. Gate five brings on a drastically different state of consciousness than you are used to and you are afraid. You use the lessons of the past gates and the new lesson of this gate, creativity, to shift what’s left of your perception so that you can be present with and commune with this darkness.

Gate 6— Lapis Lazuli Measuring Rod and Line Removed from her Hand

At gate six, you feel a flood of insight from everything that is. Your form and individual identity has left you. You are dancing as dark intuition. This would be the moment where “life flashes in front of your eyes,” but it’s more accurately described as knowing and becoming everything that exists.

When I work with a model to choose seven layers of regalia to remove, I usually advise a mixture of practicality (what seven layers can all be worn at once?) and identity (what adornment represents you?). Unlike the regalia that Inanna removes, for the photoshoot I suggest that each adornment layer cover your entire body. This is so that removing a layer feels like shedding a complete skin of yourself, like a snake, to reveal the next layer of your identity that will also die during the shoot. Examples of layers are: wigs and overcoats, shawls that cover your full body, robes or kimonos, dresses, shirt and skirt combinations, leggings, tights, intimate apparel. The bottom layer (below the 7th piece of regalia) can be a nude slip, nude undergarments, or complete nudity— depending on the comfort and desired vulnerability of the model.

As you can imagine choosing regalia becomes very personal for each model and thus changes the significance of each gate. My interpretation above is only meant to be a starting place designed to facilitate a deeper connection to the descent process. Ultimately, each gate should represent a different aspect of the models identity, thus making the significance of the barrier unique to that individual.

How would you define the seven gates of death?

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The 7 Gates of Death