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The Myth of Ishtar in Performance

P. M. Staunton

People have been performing and reinacting the story of Ishtar and other Goddesses for thousands of years. I have been driven to join those who have interpreted the myth in so many ways. Dance is a way to change consciousness and allow Goddess energies to possess the receptive individual. Movement and image can inform people in a way that speaks to their unconscious selves.

Louvre 1Using dance, music and visual imagery the show tells the story of the journey of Ishtar as queen of heaven to her descent into the under world. Ishtar kills her lover because she is jealous that people like him more than her, she then bitterly regrets this act. Ishtar descends to the underworld of the dead, ruled by Queen Ershekiggle. Like so many myths involving sacrifice (including the son God Jesus) this was a necessary prerequisite to liberation and awareness of spiritual resurrection. Every one is food in the material world, -animals and people die and feed the ground, which grows food to feed the animals and people. The essence of existence is cyclical; a dance of circles spirals and figure eights.

When Ishtar descends into the underworld the world dies and becomes baron. To reach Tammuz she must go through seven gates. The gatekeeper requires Ishtar to give him a piece of her clothing or in some accounts a veil. When we search for completion we must first become psychologically naked. Veil 777 shows how the veil is symbolic of the phenomena of revealing and concealing that which we are. Our interactions with the universe and ourselves consist of a dance, whose choreography is created by what we choose to show and what we choose to hide.

The number seven appears in a variety of international mythologies. We have seven charkas in the body; each is a vortex of energy that represents one aspect of consciousness. From the root charka that helps us survive in the material world to the seventh chakra that connects us to the divine infinite consciousness. In the myth of Ishtar she must go through seven gates and give the gate keeper a piece of her clothing / veil to be allowed access to the next level. If we are to evolve we must transcend our primitive nature and see beyond the desires of the ego. To evolve we need to access higher states of consciousness. As human beings we need to survive and enjoy our material world. Ishtar returns with her son/consort to the earth and regains her clothes/veils from the gate keeper. When they return the world springs to life again. Ishtar is changed by the experience, she is rebirthing herself and also the rest of creation.Louvre 2

Ishtar returns with Tammuz who must live with Ershegkiggal for half the year. Plants die and their seed lies dormant in the dark earth for half the year. When does the plant begin and end? This is the symbology. Like the moon can be dark and light but still one moon, Ishtar the Queen of heaven is half of her dark sister. We are all an interplay of dark and light, good and bad. As the divine female principle is both the giver and taker of life. Arab dance and music has always been about reconciliation of duality. Up and down, reserve and sensuality, life and death. This style of music is appropriate to relay the complexity of feelings and concepts of the Ishtar myth. The show maybe about the Goddess but contains universal themes. The use of conscious changing images projected onto screens adds to the hypnogogic effect. The audience are transfixed and moved. As well as being entertained they experience catharsis and connect to primal and collective memories.

I interpret the myth of Ishtar through my own eyes. I see the events through the lens of my own experience. I give the drama life from my own training and creativity. Ultimately, it is the mixing of the archetypal with the personal. The mix of the sacred and the profane, the ancient and the contemporary, make one aware that some themes of human existence never really change. As we celebrate our individuality we realise we are really all the same, connected by one universal web. The virgin and the whore, the angel and the devil are all part of one reality.

To save you, I give away my seven selves,
to meet my dark sister in the seven hells,
naked and alone I fight,
I want you to live I need you in the light.
She wants you in the dark with her.
The word is crying so we must share.

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