Learning to let go: the financial piece

A third gate, a book recommendation, and a bit of gratitide.

Hi friends,

In case you’re just joining us, I’m walking readers through the ancient ritual of the Journey of Inanna. This metaphoric journey is so many things…

… a way to remember your core values.

… a way to practice for life’s inevitable losses.

… a way to work with grief.

… a way to wash your psyche clean.

The short story:

Inanna was a goddess: the Sumerian Queen of Heaven. She descended to the Underworld to visit her sister, at the death of her sister’s husband. This funerary trip requires that Inanna pass through the seven gates. As she crosses each threshold she must leave behind a part of her regalia, which represents a piece of her identity.

The Underworld has always represented our deepest truths, our interiority. This journey is a way home to ourselves, the self that pre-exists our worldly identities.

Read the First Gate here.

Read the Second Gate here.

Before we dive into the third gate, let me mention some worldly things:

• Book coaching & editing slots are filling fast. There are only a few spots left between now and May 2025. Drop me an email (you can reply to this one) if one of them is yours.

• Mountain Rose Herbs had me as a guest on their podcast. It’s a good one!

• In America, we are heading into Thanksgiving week which for me is a time of conscious gratitude.

  So I want to take a moment to say how deeply grateful I am for you, my readers. In the months since the hurricane ravished (a word choice that is not a writerly exaggeration) Western North Carolina, so many of you have upgraded your subscription here as a way of supporting me through this difficult and ridiculously expensive time (neither insurance nor FEMA covers the expense of dealing with the hundred or so trees down or damaged by the twisters that accompanied this storm.). I am so grateful for your notes of support and timely generosity. Thank you.🙏💗

  Called a biography of the idea of gratitude, We Gather Together, by Denise Kiernan, is a compelling read for the holiday season.

And, now, back to the journey…

We are approaching the Third Gate.

Remember, Inanna traveled to the Underworld losing one thing, then the next: this experience is cumulative. So at the first gate you lost your role in the world, and, at the second, your voice and ability to express yourself.

At the third gate Inanna was told to lay down her double strand of beads.

Traditionally money—your wealth—was carried and traded in the form of beads. Giving this up meant Inanna was losing her material wealth and the security that comes with it.

Imagine having to give up your bank account, your house, your car... the things you've accumulated in this lifetime. What do those things mean to you? Maybe they represent freedom of choice. Perhaps they make you feel sheltered and safe. Maybe you have surrounded yourself with objects that represent how you want to appear to others and these objects act like a shield.

How do you move forward without the things you've worked so hard to get, to buy, for yourself? How do you move forward with no financial security for the future? Who are you without your stuff?

I had a conversation with a friend whose possessions were all lost to a fire. She shared that with the loss, there was also relief. As you sit with your journal and contemplate these questions, allow yourself to be surprised.