Dear ones,
Today I’m sharing the final chapter (for now) of our Inanna series on the podcast. It’s the episode where she returns. Changed. Risen. Fierce.
This is the part of the myth that cuts deeper for me.
Inanna rises from the Great Below, but she does not return untouched. She’s followed by the galla demons. A sacrifice must be made. And as she meets those who loved her, she sees clearly who mourned… and who didn’t.
This myth is about the Goddess and it’s about us all.
In this episode, I share the ways I’ve descended and returned.
How sobriety reshaped me.
How two miscarriages taught me a grief no one knew how to hold.
How motherhood cracked me open.
How migration stripped me of language and reference and asked me to rebuild from scratch.
I speak of the people who stayed… and the ones who didn’t.
The sacred clarity that comes when you rise with your truth.
This episode is deeply personal. Deeply mythic. And at the end, I offer you questions to help you trace your own cycles of descent and return.
And if this story speaks to you, send it to someone who might need it. Someone who is still in the dark. Someone who is rising.
With love and deep breaths,
Marianna
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Reflection questions from the episode:
What have you returned from?
Who failed to grieve you when you were gone? Who stood by you?
What did your descent teach you - not about others, but about yourself?
What are you reclaiming now, as the version of you who came back?
What rhythms are shaping your life?
This is part of my podcast “Goddess, Witch, Woman.” New episodes arrive with myth, moon, and memory.
📺 YouTube: @mariannaportela
📸 Instagram: @healingstoriesforwomen
🎙️ Podcast: “Goddess, Witch, Woman” on all platforms
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