🔥💀✨ THE GODDESS CODEX: Your Mythological Ancestors in Transformation
The Women Who Walked This Path Before You (And Left Breadcrumbs Made of Skulls)
Listen. You didn’t stumble onto this by accident. You’re here because some part of you, the part that’s been buried underneath all the performance, all the “I’m fine,” all the decades of making yourself SMALL, that part KNOWS. She knows this isn’t your first time through the underworld. She knows you’re part of a LINEAGE. She knows that every woman who ever dared to choose TRUTH over COMFORT has walked this exact path before you. And they left MAPS. Not in books. Not in temples. But in STORIES. In myths. In the bones of cultures that knew: transformation isn’t a METAPHOR. It’s a PROTOCOL. It’s an INITIATION. It’s the oldest technology on the planet. So let me introduce you to your ANCESTORS. Your spiritual resume. Your mythological co-conspirators. The women, GODDESSES, who died to their old selves and came back SOVEREIGN.
Because you need to know: You’re not crazy. You’re not broken. You’re not “too much.” You’re just following ANCIENT PROTOCOL.
🌑 INANNA: The Queen Who Chose The Underworld
Culture: Sumerian (ancient Mesopotamia, like 4000 BCE, we’re talking OLD)
Also Known As: Ishtar (Babylonian), the original “Queen of Heaven and Earth”
Her Vibe: Beyoncé at the Super Bowl but make it ancient, covered in lapis lazuli, worshipped by MILLIONS, literally had temples where people brought her OFFERINGS
The Story Nobody Tells You Right
Everyone knows Inanna went to the underworld. But nobody tells you WHY. Nobody tells you she had EVERYTHING. She was the goddess of love, sex, fertility, war, justice, political power. She had the CROWN. She had the EMPIRE. She had people literally BOWING to her. And she CHOSE to go down.
Not because she was kidnapped. Not because she was punished. But because she heard something CALLING from the depths. Her sister Ereshkigal, the dark goddess, the shadow sister, the one who rules the realm of death, was in pain. Was grieving. Was RAGING in the underworld. And Inanna said: “I have to go see her.”
Everyone was like “Girl, WHY? You have EVERYTHING up here. Why would you go DOWN THERE?” And Inanna basically said: “Because I’m not WHOLE without her. Because I can’t be the Queen of Heaven if I don’t know the underworld. Because there’s something down there I need to REMEMBER.” (Which is ancient Sumerian for “My Saturn return is happening and if I don’t integrate my shadow I’m going to IMPLODE.”)
The Seven Gates (Or: How To Strip An Identity)
So Inanna descends. She dresses in her FULL regalia: crown, jewels, royal robes, the works. She’s going in as the QUEEN. But there are seven gates to the underworld. And at EACH gate, the gatekeeper says: “You can pass, but you have to leave something behind.”
GATE ONE: The Crown
“But I’m the QUEEN. The crown is WHO I AM.”
“Not down here, you’re not. Crown. Now.”
She takes it off. She goes through. (Translation: Your TITLES don’t matter here. Your credentials are IRRELEVANT. Who are you without the role?)
GATE TWO: The Lapis Lazuli Beads (Her jewels, her worth made visible)
“But these prove my VALUE. These show I MATTER.”
“Not down here. Beads. Now.”
She takes them off. (Translation: External validation is STRIPPED. Your worth cannot be WORN. It must be INHERENT.)
GATE THREE: The Double Strand of Beads (More worth, more proof)
At this point she’s starting to realize: They’re taking EVERYTHING. Every piece of evidence that she matters. Every symbol of her status. She takes them off. She continues. (Translation: Even your BACKUP proof, your safety net of “at least I have THIS”, gone.)
GATE FOUR: The Breastplate “Come and See”
This was her PROTECTION. Her armor. The thing that kept her SAFE. The thing that said “Try me, I DARE you.”
“The breastplate.” “But without this, I’m VULNERABLE.”
“Exactly. Breastplate. Now.” (Translation: Your defenses: the walls you built to keep from getting hurt, they have to GO. You can’t transform while ARMORED.)
GATE FIVE: The Gold Ring (Her adornments, her beauty, her ATTRACTION)
The thing that made people WANT her. The thing that gave her POWER through desirability. Gone. (Translation: Even your BEAUTY, the thing you thought would save you, isn’t currency here.)
GATE SIX: The Measuring Rod and Line (This is the BIG one)
This is what she used to MEASURE. To assess worth. To determine if she (or anyone else) was ENOUGH. To CONTROL outcomes. To maintain ORDER. This is her need for CERTAINTY. For PROOF. For being able to QUANTIFY whether she’s doing it right.
“The measuring rod.”
“NO. Not that. That’s how I KNOW. That’s how I stay in CONTROL. That’s how I make sure I’m ENOUGH.”
“Especially that, then. Measuring rod. NOW.”
She gives it up. (Translation: Your need to CONTROL: to measure, to manage, to KNOW if you’re doing it right, has to DIE. You have to walk forward without PROOF.)
GATE SEVEN: The Royal Robe (Everything else. The WHOLE performance.)
At this point she’s almost naked. And they want the LAST thing. The robe. The final covering. The last shred of “I am the QUEEN.” She takes it off. She walks through the final gate NAKED. Stripped. Nothing left but HER. Not her ROLE. Not her STATUS. Not her IDENTITY. Just... her. Raw. Undefended. Completely EXPOSED.
The Death
And then? Ereshkigal, her dark sister, her SHADOW, looks at her. This sister who’s been in the underworld the whole time. This sister who NOBODY worships. This sister who holds all the grief and rage and pain that Inanna never had to FEEL because she was too busy being GLORIOUS up on the surface. And Ereshkigal KILLS her. Just. Kills her. Strikes her dead. Hangs her body on a HOOK like a piece of meat in a butcher shop.
And Inanna hangs there. DEAD. For three days and three nights. The Queen of Heaven. Dead in the underworld where nobody even KNOWS who she is. Where her crown means NOTHING. Where all her power, all her glory, all her WORSHIP… irrelevant. She dies the FULL death. Not metaphorical. Not “letting go.” DEATH. Complete annihilation of the identity she thought she WAS.
The Resurrection (But Not How You Think)
After three days, her faithful servant, the one she told “If I don’t come back, FIND ME”, comes looking. Brings helpers. They go to Ereshkigal and they don’t try to TAKE Inanna back. They don’t fight. They don’t argue. They WITNESS Ereshkigal’s pain. They sit with the dark goddess and they SAY: “Oh. Oh, your heart. Oh, your suffering. We SEE you.”
And Ereshkigal, who has NEVER been seen, who has been alone in the underworld holding all the GRIEF that the upper world doesn’t want to feel, she SOFTENS. And she lets Inanna return. But here’s the catch: Inanna has to send someone to take her place. She has to choose who goes to the underworld. (Translation: The old world has to LOSE something when you come back changed. Someone or something that benefited from your old identity has to GO.)
And when Inanna gets back to the surface? She finds her husband Dumuzi sitting on HER throne. Wearing HER crown. Acting like he’s the KING now. He didn’t even MOURN her. He didn’t even MISS her. He just took her SPOT. And Inanna looks at him and says: “Him. HE goes to the underworld.” (Translation: The people who tried to take your POWER while you were transforming? The ones who didn’t HONOR your death? They don’t get to stay in your NEW life.)
What Inanna Teaches You
You cannot transform and keep everything. The gates STRIP you. That’s the POINT. You can’t take your old identity into your new FREQUENCY. You have to let it DIE.
The death is NECESSARY. Inanna didn’t come back as “healed Inanna” or “Inanna with better boundaries.” She came back as “I KNOW WHAT DEATH TASTES LIKE” Inanna. She came back with UNDERWORLD KNOWLEDGE. She came back SOVEREIGN.
Your shadow sister is waiting. Ereshkigal represents the parts of you that you’ve been AVOIDING. The grief you haven’t felt. The rage you’ve been swallowing. The pain you’ve been performing your way AROUND. You can’t be WHOLE without her. You have to GO THERE. You have to MEET her.
Someone’s not going to like the new you. When you come back CHANGED, some people will try to take your throne. Some people benefited from your OLD identity. Some people LIKED you better when you were smaller. They have to GO. Send them to the underworld. (Metaphorically. Please don’t actually send your ex to the underworld. Although...)
🌸 PERSEPHONE: The Girl Who Ate The Seeds On Purpose
Culture: Ancient Greek
Also Known As: Kore (her maiden name before the underworld), Proserpina (Roman)
Her Vibe: The eternal SPRING GIRL turned DEATH QUEEN, “I contain multitudes and you can’t HANDLE it”
The Patriarchal Version (That’s Bullshit)
Here’s the story you probably learned: Persephone, sweet innocent maiden, picking flowers in a meadow (because of COURSE she was), gets kidnapped by Hades, god of the underworld. Dragged down against her will. Her mother Demeter, goddess of the harvest, GRIEVES so hard that nothing grows anymore. Winter is invented because Mom is SAD. Eventually Zeus is like “Okay this is getting ridiculous, we’re all starving,” and makes Hades give her back.
But WAIT. Persephone ate pomegranate seeds while she was down there. And once you eat the food of the dead, you’re BOUND to the underworld. So now she has to spend half the year below and half the year above. Poor Persephone. Such a VICTIM. So TRAGIC. Except. EXCEPT. That’s the version the PATRIARCHY tells because they’re TERRIFIED of what actually happened.
What ACTUALLY Happened (The Goddess Version)
Persephone wasn’t “picking flowers.” That’s CODE. That’s ancient Greek for “living a SURFACE-LEVEL existence.” She was being the good daughter. The MAIDEN. The one who stayed pure and innocent and ACCEPTABLE. She was performing YOUTH. She was performing SWEETNESS. She was doing what MOMMY wanted. And she was BORED OUT OF HER MIND.
Then the earth OPENED UP. And listen, goddesses don’t get KIDNAPPED unless some part of them WANTS to go. The earth cracked open like reality itself was saying “There’s ANOTHER WORLD down here and you NEED to see it.”
Did she go willingly? Did she get pulled? The myths are DELIBERATELY ambiguous because the TRUTH is: it doesn’t matter. What matters is what happened NEXT.
The Pomegranate Seeds (The Choice Nobody Talks About)
Persephone is in the underworld. Hades offers her food. A pomegranate. And here’s what everyone FORGETS: Persephone is a GODDESS. She’s not some naive girl who doesn’t know the RULES. She KNOWS that eating the food of the dead means you can never fully return to the surface. She knows EXACTLY what it means. And she eats SIX SEEDS. Not one accidentally. Not “oops I didn’t know.” SIX. INTENTIONALLY.
Why? Because some part of her KNEW: I cannot go back to who I was. I cannot UNKNOW what I now know. I cannot return to being Mommy’s perfect little MAIDEN who picks flowers and smiles sweetly and never gets her hands DIRTY.
I have SEEN the underworld. I have seen DEATH. I have seen the SHADOWS. I have seen what happens to souls when they die. I have learned the MYSTERIES.
And I’m not giving that back. I’m not UNLEARNING this. I’m CLAIMING it.
The Queen of the Dead
So yes, she has to spend half the year in the underworld. But here’s what the patriarchal story SKIPS: She doesn’t go down there as a PRISONER. She goes as the QUEEN.
Persephone becomes Queen of the Underworld. She doesn’t just SIT there waiting to be rescued every spring. She RULES. She guides souls. She holds the mysteries of DEATH. She becomes a psychopomp: one who walks between worlds. She learns what happens after ENDINGS. She understands TRANSFORMATION at the deepest level.
And when she returns to the surface every spring? She’s not the sweet little Kore anymore. She’s not Demeter’s DAUGHTER. She’s PERSEPHONE. The one who holds BOTH life and death. The one who brings spring BACK because she CHOOSES to, not because she HAS to. The one who knows that you can’t have LIFE without death. Growth without DECAY. Beginning without ENDING.
She’s the goddess of CYCLES. Of SEASONS. Of the truth that everything must DIE to be REBORN.
What Persephone Teaches You
You can’t go back to innocence once you’ve SEEN. Persephone can never be JUST the maiden again. She’s BOTH. She holds spring and death in the same hands. You can’t UNKNOW what you now know. You can’t unsee what you’ve seen. And trying to go BACK to who you were before? That’s not transformation. That’s REGRESSION.
Being “split” between worlds isn’t a CURSE, it’s a SUPERPOWER. Yes, Persephone spends half the year in the underworld and half on the surface. The patriarchy framed this as TRAGIC. But actually? She’s the ONLY goddess who can move between BOTH worlds. She understands LIFE because she understands DEATH. She can hold the FULL cycle. That’s not weakness. That’s WHOLENESS.
Your mother might not understand. Demeter GRIEVED when Persephone went to the underworld. She STOPPED the harvest. She made the world COLD. Because she wanted her daughter to stay SMALL, to stay SAFE, to stay the MAIDEN. But Persephone couldn’t STAY. And your transformation might GRIEVE the people who loved the old you. That doesn’t mean you go BACK. That means they have to learn to love the NEW you. Or not. That’s their CHOICE.
Eating the seeds is BINDING, and that’s the POINT. Once you eat the pomegranate seeds of truth, once you TASTE the underworld, once you KNOW what you know: you’re BOUND to it. You can’t just PERFORM surface-level existence anymore. You’re connected to the DEPTHS now. And yes, that means you lose access to certain kinds of INNOCENCE. But you gain access to POWER that the surface-dwellers will never UNDERSTAND.
🗡️ KALI: The Mother Who Destroys Everything (Including Your Bullshit)
Culture: Hindu (India, still VERY much alive and worshipped TODAY)
Also Known As: Kali Ma (Mother Kali), Mahakali, Bhadrakali, Kalika
Her Vibe: “I will LOVE you by destroying every lie you’re living,” the ultimate “cruel to be kind” energy, your soul’s FIERCE PROTECTOR
Why Everyone’s Terrified Of Her
Let me paint you a picture: Kali is DARK BLUE or black-skinned (the color of the VOID, of infinite space, of the womb of creation AND destruction). She has FOUR ARMS because apparently two aren’t enough when you’re dismantling REALITY ITSELF. Her tongue hangs OUT, bright red, dripping, in a gesture that’s part ecstasy, part RAGE, part “I just tasted your bullshit and I’m NOT impressed.”
She wears a SKIRT made of severed ARMS. (Stay with me.) She wears a NECKLACE made of fifty SKULLS. (I promise this gets BETTER.) She holds a SWORD in one hand and a severed HEAD in another. She’s covered in BLOOD. She often stands or DANCES on the body of Shiva, her consort, the god of DESTRUCTION himself, and he’s just lying there like “Yep, this is fine, this is my WIFE, I’m into it.”
She is TERRIFYING. She is the NIGHTMARE. She is everything patriarchal religion tried to ERASE when they invented the “nice goddess” who’s all flowers and SMILES. And THAT’S why you need her.
The REAL Story (Why She’s Actually The Most Loving)
Here’s what happened: There was a demon named Raktabija (which means “blood-seed”) who was TERRORIZING the world. And this demon had a special POWER: every time a drop of his blood hit the ground, a NEW demon would spring up. So you could cut him, stab him, kill him, but every drop of blood would create a CLONE. The gods were LOSING. They couldn’t WIN.
So they called on KALI. And Kali came. And she FOUGHT. She killed demons. She cut them DOWN. But here’s the thing: she didn’t just kill them. She DRANK their blood. She caught every DROP before it could hit the ground. She consumed the POISON. She took in the DARKNESS so it couldn’t multiply. And she kept GOING. She killed Raktabija. She killed EVERY demon. She killed and killed and killed until they were ALL gone. But then she couldn’t STOP.
She kept dancing. Kept destroying. Kept RAGING. Because once you UNLEASH that much truth, that much raw power, that much “I will BURN DOWN every illusion”, it doesn’t just turn OFF. So Shiva, her beloved, lay down BENEATH her feet. He lay down in her PATH. And when she stepped on him, when she realized she was dancing on the one she LOVED, she stopped. She came back. She softened. (Translation: The ONLY thing that can stop the RAGE of truth is LOVE. But not the love that asks you to be SMALLER. The love that can WITNESS you at your most destructive and say “Yes. THIS too. You’re SACRED even like this.”)
What The Skulls ACTUALLY Mean
Okay so everyone sees the skull necklace and thinks “Oh she’s VIOLENT, she’s about DEATH, she’s SCARY.” WRONG. Those skulls? Those are HER OWN PAST IDENTITIES. Every skull represents a version of HERSELF that she had to KILL to become more FREE. Every skull is a “who I used to be.” Every skull is an identity she OUTGREW, a mask she wore, a performance she gave.
She wears them around her NECK, close to her THROAT, her voice, her TRUTH: as TROPHIES. As PROOF. As EVIDENCE that says: “Yeah, I was her once. And HER. And HER. And I let every single one of them DIE so I could be FREE.”
The skirt of arms? Those represent the ACTIONS of the ego. All the things you DO to prove your worth, to maintain control, to MANAGE your image. GONE. Cut off. You don’t need them anymore. The sword? That’s DISCRIMINATION. The ability to cut through ILLUSION. To separate truth from LIES. To say “This is real. THIS is bullshit.”
The severed head? That’s the EGO. The one who thought it was in CHARGE. The one who thought it KNEW. Kali’s holding it like “Look, I already KILLED this part. You can stop defending it now.”
Why She’s The Most LOVING Goddess
Here’s what everyone misses about Kali: She destroys out of LOVE. She doesn’t burn down your life because she HATES you. She burns it down because she loves you too much to let you keep LYING. She loves you too much to watch you stay SMALL. She loves you too much to let you keep performing a version of yourself that’s KILLING you.
She’s the mother who says “I will NOT collude with your self-abandonment. I will NOT pretend that your false self is your REAL self. I will DESTROY every mask, every defense, every ‘this is who I’m supposed to be’ until all that’s LEFT is TRUTH.” And yes, it HURTS. Yes, it feels like DEATH. Yes, you will BEG her to stop, to let you keep SOMETHING, to not take EVERYTHING.
And she’ll say “No. I’m taking it ALL. Because YOU, the real you, the TRUE you, you’re worth it. And I’m not letting you settle for LESS.” That’s LOVE, babe. That’s fierce, uncompromising, “I will burn down your whole life if that’s what it takes to set you FREE” LOVE.
What Kali Teaches You
Your rage is HOLY. Kali’s tongue is OUT. Her rage is VISIBLE. She’s not “nice.” She’s not APPROPRIATE. She’s FIERCE. And she teaches: your anger is SACRED. Your rage is INFORMATION. The part of you that wants to burn it all down? That’s not something to SUPPRESS. That’s your soul saying “This isn’t TRUE anymore and I’m DONE pretending.”
You have to KILL your old selves. Those skulls around her neck? That’s YOUR practice. Every version of you that no longer serves? She has to DIE. Not “transform.” Not “integrate.” DIE. You have to be willing to LET GO of who you were, even the parts you LIKED, even the parts that WORKED, so you can become who you’re MEANT to be.
Sometimes you have to be STOPPED. Kali kept DESTROYING until Shiva lay down in her path. Sometimes your rage, your truth, your FIRE will keep burning until someone or something you LOVE enough makes you pause. And that’s OKAY. That’s not weakness. That’s BALANCE. You can be FIERCE and still need to be REMINDED when to soften. You can be the DESTROYER and still need LOVE to call you home.
🏚️ BABA YAGA: The Witch Who Will Eat You If You’re Not Sincere
Culture: Slavic (Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and surrounding regions)
Also Known As: Baba Jaga, Ježibaba, “Old Witch Yaga”
Her Vibe: Lives in the FOREST in a house on CHICKEN LEGS, will give you wisdom if you pass her tests, will EAT YOU if you don’t, absolutely zero tolerance for bullshit
The House On Chicken Legs (Which Is Everything)
Let’s start with the HOUSE because the house IS the message. Baba Yaga lives in a HOUSE that stands on CHICKEN LEGS. Not on a foundation. Not built into the GROUND. On LEGS. That MOVE. That can WALK AWAY. And the house is surrounded by a FENCE made of BONES. With SKULLS on top. With EYES in the skulls that GLOW at night. And the gate is made of HUMAN LEGS. And the lock is a mouth with SHARP TEETH.
(Are you getting the MESSAGE? This is not a place you just WANDER into. This is not a place that’s trying to be WELCOMING. This is a place that TESTS you before you even GET to the door.) And here’s the thing: The house can SPIN. It can turn its BACK on you. It can WALK AWAY if you’re not worthy. You have to know the WORDS to make it turn around. You have to say “Little house, little house, turn your BACK to the forest and your FRONT to me.” You have to ASK. You have to show RESPECT. You have to prove you’re SERIOUS.
Who She IS
Baba Yaga is OLD. ANCIENT. She’s got iron TEETH. Long nose. Scraggly HAIR. She’s not trying to be PRETTY. She’s not trying to be ACCEPTABLE. She lives in the FOREST, away from civilization, away from the rules of SOCIETY. She flies around in a MORTAR (like a giant bowl), using a PESTLE as an oar, and she SWEEPS away her tracks with a broom made of SILVER BIRCH. (Translation: She moves through the world and leaves NO TRACE. You can’t FOLLOW her. You can’t TRACK her. She’s UNTRACEABLE.) She eats PEOPLE. Specifically, she eats people who come to her house with IMPURE intentions. People who LIE. People who try to TRICK her. People who want something for NOTHING. People who think they can manipulate an ancient WITCH.
Those people? She puts them in her OVEN and eats them for DINNER. But the people who come SINCERELY? The people who are RESPECTFUL? The people who are willing to WORK, to be TESTED, to PROVE themselves? Those people get MAGIC. They get WISDOM. They get the FIRE they came for.
The TASKS (Or: How Baba Yaga Tests You)
When you come to Baba Yaga’s house (in the stories), she doesn’t just GIVE you what you want. She gives you TASKS. Impossible tasks. Tasks that seem DESIGNED to make you fail.
“Sort these seeds: the poppy seeds from the DIRT seeds. And have it done by MORNING.”
“Wash these LINENS until they’re white. But the water is FILTHY. And you have until DAWN.”
“Clean my HOUSE. All of it. Every corner. Every surface. By SUNRISE.”
And here’s the thing: You CAN’T do these tasks alone. They’re IMPOSSIBLE. You need HELP. You need the mice to help sort the seeds. You need the wind to help with the washing. You need the HOUSE ITSELF to help with the cleaning. (Translation: You can’t do this work through EGO alone. You can’t FORCE your way through transformation. You need to be in RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with the WORLD. You need to be HUMBLE enough to ask for help. You need to recognize that you’re not SEPARATE from nature, from magic, from the FIELD.)
The FIRE (What You Actually Came For)
In most of the stories, people come to Baba Yaga’s house because they need FIRE. Their fire went OUT. Their hearth is COLD. They can’t cook, can’t see, can’t SURVIVE without fire. And Baba Yaga HAS fire. Lots of it. The skulls on her fence GLOW with fire. Her house is FULL of fire. But you can’t just TAKE it. You have to EARN it.
And if you DO earn it, if you pass the tests, if you’re SINCERE, if you’re RESPECTFUL, she gives you a skull FULL of fire. A skull with GLOWING EYES. And you carry it home through the dark FOREST. And when you get home? That fire BURNS AWAY everything that’s false. It burns away the people in your house who were LYING to you, using you, manipulating you. (In the most famous story, it burns away the wicked stepmother and stepsisters. VERY convenient.) The fire of TRUTH doesn’t just light your way. It CLEANSES your life.
What Baba Yaga Teaches You
You have to ASK for what you need. The house won’t turn around unless you ASK. Baba Yaga won’t help you unless you’re CLEAR about why you’re there. You can’t just show up and expect the universe to GUESS. You have to be DIRECT. You have to NAME it. “I need FIRE. I need WISDOM. I need to transform. HELP ME.”
Sincerity is EVERYTHING. Baba Yaga can smell BULLSHIT. She can tell if you’re performing. If you’re manipulating. If you’re trying to GET something without GIVING anything. And if you’re not SINCERE? You’re dinner. This is not a path you can FAKE. This is not a transformation you can PERFORM. You have to be REAL or you don’t get through the gate.
The tasks are IMPOSSIBLE: that’s the point. You’re not SUPPOSED to be able to do them alone. You’re not supposed to WHITE-KNUCKLE your way through transformation. You’re supposed to recognize: I need HELP. I need MAGIC. I need to surrender CONTROL and trust that forces beyond my understanding will ASSIST me if I’m in right relationship with them.
Wisdom is EARNED, not given. Baba Yaga doesn’t hand out free ADVICE. She doesn’t write BLOG POSTS. She doesn’t do TED TALKS. If you want her wisdom, you have to DO THE WORK. You have to pass the TESTS. You have to prove you’re WORTHY. And that’s not MEAN. That’s SACRED. Because wisdom that’s freely given is rarely VALUED. Wisdom that’s earned is INTEGRATED.
The house can WALK AWAY. This is maybe the most important teaching: Baba Yaga’s wisdom is not ALWAYS available. The house can turn its BACK. The house can leave. You have to come at the RIGHT TIME. You have to be READY. And if you’re not? The opportunity PASSES. This work doesn’t wait for you forever. At some point, you either step through the gate or the gate CLOSES.
🌊 IZANAMI: The Mother Who Became Death (And Wouldn’t Go Back)
Culture: Japanese (Shinto mythology)
Also Known As: Izanami-no-Mikoto (”She Who Invites”)
Her Vibe: Creator goddess turned death goddess, “You can’t UN-see me like this,” the one who says NO to resurrection
The Creation (Before Everything Went DARK)
Izanami and her husband Izanagi were the original POWER COUPLE. Together, they created the Japanese islands. They stood on the floating bridge of heaven, dipped a jeweled spear into the PRIMORDIAL ocean, and when they lifted it, the drops that fell became LAND. They created islands. They created GODS. They created LIFE. She was the MOTHER of everything. The CREATOR. The SOURCE. And then she gave birth to the god of FIRE. And the fire KILLED her.
The Descent (When Creation Turns To Death)
When Izanami died giving birth to fire (which, METAPHOR much?), she descended to Yomi, the underworld, the land of DEATH. And she wasn’t visiting. She STAYED there. She became PART of it.
Izanagi, her husband, her creative PARTNER, was DEVASTATED. He couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t let her GO. So he did what grieving people do: he went after her. He descended to Yomi to bring her BACK. (Sound FAMILIAR? This is the same story as Orpheus and Eurydice, as Persephone and Demeter: the MYTH of “I love you so much I’ll go to the underworld to get you back.”)
He found her in the darkness. And he said “Come BACK. Come back to the world of the LIVING. Come back and CREATE with me. Come back and be my WIFE. Come back and be the MOTHER.”
And Izanami said: “I can’t. I’ve already EATEN the food of the underworld. I BELONG here now. But... wait. Let me ask the gods of this place if I can return. But you MUST NOT look at me while I’m asking. You must not LOOK at me in this form. Promise me.” And Izanagi promised. (Narrator: He did NOT keep his promise.)
The SEEING (When Love Becomes Horror)
So Izanami went into the depths of Yomi to consult with the death gods. And Izanagi WAITED. And waited. And WAITED. And the waiting became UNBEARABLE. And he thought “What’s taking so LONG? Why won’t she just COME?” And he broke his promise. He lit a TORCH. And he went looking for her. And he FOUND her.
But she wasn’t the Izanami he remembered. She wasn’t the BEAUTIFUL creator goddess. She wasn’t the MOTHER. She wasn’t the WIFE. She was ROTTING. Her body was decomposing. MAGGOTS crawled through her flesh. Eight THUNDER GODS had been born from her corpse and were living IN her body. She was DEATH itself. And Izanagi SCREAMED. He turned and RAN. He ran from his WIFE. He ran from the woman he claimed to love enough to descend to the underworld for. He ran because he couldn’t HANDLE what she had become.
The RAGE (When The Mother Says NO)
And Izanami? She was HUMILIATED. She was BETRAYED. She had WARNED him not to look. She had told him “You can’t see me like THIS.” And he looked ANYWAY. And then he RAN. So she CHASED him.
She sent the HAGS of Yomi after him. She sent WARRIORS. She sent THUNDER. She chased him herself, this ROTTING goddess, this DEATH MOTHER, this woman who had been ABANDONED by the one who claimed to love her. And Izanagi RAN. He ran until he reached the entrance to Yomi. And then he did the ULTIMATE betrayal: He sealed the entrance with a MASSIVE boulder. He trapped her IN the underworld. He made sure she could NEVER return.
And from behind the boulder, Izanami RAGED. She said: “If you do this, if you SEAL me here, I will take ONE THOUSAND LIVES every day. I will bring DEATH to the world of the living. I will be the DESTROYER.”
And Izanagi said: “Then I will create FIFTEEN HUNDRED lives every day.”
And that, according to the myth, is why there is DEATH in the world. Because the mother was betrayed. Because the creator became the DESTROYER. Because love FAILED when faced with the reality of TRANSFORMATION.
What Izanami Teaches You (The HARD Lessons)
Not everyone can handle your transformation. Izanagi CLAIMED he loved Izanami enough to go to the underworld for her. But when he SAW what she had become, when he saw the REALITY of her death, her rot, her CHANGE, he RAN. He couldn’t handle it. And that’s the truth about transformation: Some people will SAY they support you. They’ll say they WANT you to grow. But when you actually CHANGE, when you’re no longer the person they fell in love with, when you’re no longer PERFORMING the role they needed you to play, they’ll RUN. And it will HURT. And you’ll feel BETRAYED. But that’s THEIR limitation. Not YOURS.
Your ROT is part of your transformation. The thing that horrified Izanagi, Izanami’s DECOMPOSITION, her maggots, her DECAY, that wasn’t a BUG. That was a FEATURE. That was the PROCESS. You can’t go from life to death to NEW LIFE without the ROTTING phase. You can’t skip the DECOMPOSITION. You can’t bypass the part where you’re MESSY, where you’re falling APART, where you’re not YET the beautiful new thing but you’re no longer the OLD thing. You’re in the IN-BETWEEN. You’re in the ROT. And it’s SACRED. It’s NECESSARY. And anyone who can’t WITNESS that? They’re not your PEOPLE.
The ones who claim to love you might seal you in your underworld. This is the BRUTAL part. Izanagi didn’t just leave. He SEALED THE ENTRANCE. He made sure Izanami could never RETURN. He trapped her in her DEATH. And people will do this to you, too. When you’re transforming, when you’re in your underworld, some people won’t just LEAVE, they’ll try to keep you THERE. They’ll remind you of every MISTAKE. They’ll bring up every FAILURE. They’ll define you by your WORST moment. They’ll seal you in your shame, your pain, your DEATH. And you have to have the STRENGTH to say: “I’m not staying here. I’m not TRAPPED. I’m finding another way OUT.”
Sometimes the MOTHER becomes the DESTROYER. Izanami was the CREATOR. She birthed ISLANDS. She birthed GODS. She birthed LIFE. But when she was betrayed, when she was ABANDONED, when she was SEALED in her pain, she became the DESTROYER. She became DEATH. And here’s the lesson: Your RAGE at being abandoned during transformation is VALID. Your anger at the people who couldn’t handle your BECOMING is SACRED. You don’t have to be the “evolved” one who FORGIVES everyone. You’re allowed to say “You couldn’t handle my DEATH? Then you don’t get access to my RESURRECTION. You SEALED me in my underworld? Then I’m bringing DESTRUCTION to the world we built together.” That’s not PETTY. That’s BOUNDARIES. That’s CONSEQUENCES.
You can’t create AND hold death: some people only loved the CREATOR. Izanagi loved Izanami when she was CREATING with him. When she was the MOTHER. When she was LIFE. But he couldn’t love her when she became DEATH. And that’s the truth: some people only love the CREATIVE you. The PRODUCTIVE you. The you that GIVES LIFE. They can’t handle the you that DESTROYS. The you that says NO. The you that brings ENDINGS. The you that ROTS. And when you become the FULL CYCLE: creation AND destruction, life AND death, they’ll run. Let them.
🌋 PELE: The Volcano Goddess Who Burns Everything (Including Herself)
Culture: Hawaiian / Polynesian
Also Known As: Pelehonuamea (”She Who Shapes The Sacred Land”), Ka wahine ‘ai honua (”The Woman Who Devours The Land”)
Her Vibe: FIRE incarnate, volcanic RAGE, passionate LOVE, “I will burn it ALL down and create something new,” zero chill EVER
The FIRE That MOVES
Pele is not a goddess you WORSHIP from a distance. She’s a goddess you LIVE WITH. Because she’s ACTIVE. She’s PRESENT. She’s literally RESHAPING the Hawaiian islands RIGHT NOW through volcanic activity. She is LAVA. She is MAGMA. She is the FIRE beneath the earth that builds NEW LAND by destroying the OLD. She is the volcano that ERUPTS and buries entire villages and then, years later, those same fields are FERTILE, LUSH, ALIVE.
She doesn’t apologize for DESTROYING. She doesn’t ASK PERMISSION. She doesn’t give you WARNING. She just ERUPTS. And everything in her path? GONE. Burned. Transformed into ASH. And then, eventually, into NEW LIFE.
The Story Of CONSTANT MOVEMENT
Pele wasn’t always in Hawaii. She was DRIVEN there. She had to FLEE her homeland (some versions say Tahiti, some say the celestial realms) because she was being pursued. Sometimes it’s her older sister Namakaokaha’i (goddess of the SEA) who’s chasing her. Sometimes it’s because she seduced her sister’s HUSBAND. Sometimes it’s because she was just too MUCH: too fierce, too DESTRUCTIVE, too UNCONTROLLABLE.
So she FLED. She traveled from island to island trying to find a HOME. Trying to dig a fire pit, trying to create a HEARTH. But every time she tried to SETTLE, her sister (the ocean) would FLOOD it. Would put out her FIRE. Would force her to MOVE AGAIN. Until finally she reached the Big Island: Hawaii. And there, in the volcano Kilauea, she found a place the ocean COULDN’T reach. A place where her fire could BURN without being extinguished. A place where she could be HER FULL SELF without being TAMED.
(Translation: Sometimes you have to keep MOVING, keep SEARCHING, keep getting REJECTED until you find the place: the people, the work, the LIFE that can actually HOLD your fire. That doesn’t try to PUT YOU OUT.)
The JEALOUS Lover (Or: When Fire BURNS)
Pele is PASSIONATE. About EVERYTHING. When she loves, she loves with VOLCANIC intensity. When she’s angry, she ERUPTS. There’s no IN-BETWEEN. There’s no “calm Pele.” There’s FIRE or there’s... well, there’s still fire, just DORMANT fire, waiting to EXPLODE.
The most famous story is about Pele and the demi-god Kamapua’a (he’s a PIG god, which, SYMBOLISM). They have this TEMPESTUOUS relationship. They’re lovers. They’re ENEMIES. They fight. They fuck. They try to KILL each other. It’s PASSIONATE and TOXIC and CONSUMING.
She sends LAVA after him. He sends RAIN to put out her fire. She BURNS his forests. He FLOODS her lava fields. They’re both trying to DESTROY each other and also they can’t STOP wanting each other. Eventually they have to be SEPARATED by the other gods because their relationship is literally threatening to DESTROY THE ISLAND. (Translation: Sometimes your FIRE is incompatible with certain people. Sometimes the passion is REAL but also DESTRUCTIVE. Sometimes love means WALKING AWAY before you burn each other to ASH. Sometimes you have to choose: Do I want to be RIGHT or do I want to be at PEACE? Do I want to WIN or do I want to SURVIVE?)
The OFFERINGS (What Pele Demands)
People who live near active volcanoes in Hawaii still make offerings to Pele. They leave FLOWERS (especially lehua blossoms: red like fire, like BLOOD). They pour GIN (she apparently likes gin, which, MOOD). They chant to her. They ask for PERMISSION before taking lava rocks (and if you DON’T ask permission and you take rocks anyway? LEGEND says you’ll have BAD LUCK until you return them. The park service gets HUNDREDS of rocks mailed back every year from tourists who took them and then had terrible things happen.)
Why? Because Pele demands RESPECT. She demands ACKNOWLEDGMENT. You don’t just TAKE from her. You don’t just USE her fire, her land, her POWER without HONORING her. Without saying “I SEE you. I RESPECT you. I’m GRATEFUL.” (Translation: Your FIRE: your passion, your rage, your TRUTH, deserves to be HONORED. Not USED. Not EXPLOITED. Not taken for GRANTED. And if people are benefiting from your fire without ACKNOWLEDGING it? Without RESPECTING it? They’re stealing from you. And there will be CONSEQUENCES.)
What Pele Teaches You
Passion can be DESTRUCTIVE, and that’s okay. Pele’s relationship with Kamapua’a was VOLCANIC. Literally. They nearly destroyed the island with their PASSION. And sometimes your intensity, your FIRE, your ALL-IN energy is going to be too MUCH for certain people. It’s going to be DESTRUCTIVE. It’s going to BURN. And you’re going to have to choose: Do I dim my fire to SAVE this relationship? Or do I honor my fire and let what needs to BURN, burn?
Your fire demands RESPECT. Pele doesn’t give her gifts for FREE. She demands offerings. She demands RESPECT. She demands ACKNOWLEDGMENT. And so should you. Your fire: your gifts, your PASSION, your energy should not be AVAILABLE to people who don’t HONOR it. Who don’t VALUE it. Who take it for GRANTED. You’re allowed to say “If you want access to my FIRE, you have to RESPECT it. You have to TEND it. You have to give something BACK.”
Being TOO MUCH is not the problem: being in the WRONG PLACE is. Pele wasn’t too much. She just kept trying to exist in places that couldn’t HOLD her. Once she found Kilauea, once she found her VOLCANO, she was PERFECT. She was HOME. She was exactly what she needed to be. And the same is true for you. If you feel like you’re too INTENSE, too EMOTIONAL, too PASSIONATE, too MUCH: you’re not. You’re just not in your VOLCANO yet. Keep looking. It’s out there.
🔥 WHY THESE STORIES MATTER (The Meta-Teaching)
These aren’t just STORIES. These aren’t just ancient myths from cultures you don’t belong to. These are MAPS. These are PROTOCOLS. These are INITIATIONS that have been walked by women for THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
And here’s what they’re ALL teaching you:
Transformation REQUIRES death. Every single one of these goddesses DIES in some way. Inanna dies on the hook. Persephone “dies” to her maiden self. Kali IS death. Baba Yaga LIVES in the space between life and death. Izanami BECOMES death. Pele destroys TO create. You cannot transform WITHOUT something dying. The old identity. The old way. The old STORY. It has to GO. And our culture doesn’t TEACH this. Our culture teaches “upgrade yourself.” “Improve yourself.” “Add MORE to yourself.” But that’s not transformation. That’s ACCUMULATION. Real transformation is SUBTRACTION. It’s DEATH. It’s letting go of who you WERE so you can become who you ARE.
Your old relationships might not SURVIVE. Inanna sends her husband to the underworld. Persephone’s mother GRIEVES her but can’t stop her. Kali almost kills Shiva. Baba Yaga’s house can walk AWAY from you. Izanami is SEALED in death by her husband. Pele has to be SEPARATED from her lover. Every single story involves LOSS of relationship. Because when you transform, you’re no longer the person they fell in love with. You’re no longer the person they needed you to BE. And some people can’t ADJUST. Some people can’t HANDLE the new you. And that’s not YOUR problem. That’s THEIRS.
You become POWERFUL through DEATH, not despite it. Every single one of these goddesses is MORE powerful AFTER their death/transformation than before. Inanna comes back SOVEREIGN. Persephone becomes QUEEN. Kali IS the destroyer. Baba Yaga holds the FIRE. Izanami controls DEATH. Pele creates NEW LAND. They didn’t get power by AVOIDING death. They got power by GOING THROUGH IT. By BECOMING it. By letting it TRANSFORM them. Your breakdown is your BREAKTHROUGH. Your death is your RESURRECTION. Your pain is your PORTAL. Not because you “learned from it” or “grew from it” in some NICE way. But because you DIED and came back as something that the old world can’t TOUCH.
🌙 WHAT TO DO WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE
You just read about women who went to the underworld. Who died. Who were stripped. Who were DESTROYED. Who became DEATH. Who erupted. Who BURNED. And some part of you recognized YOURSELF in these stories, didn’t you? Some part of you said “Oh. OH. That’s what’s happening to ME right now.”
So here’s what you do:
Pick ONE goddess whose story resonates MOST. Not the one you WANT to be. Not the one who seems SAFEST. But the one who made you feel something. The one who SCARED you a little. The one whose story made you go “Fuck. FUCK. That’s ME.”
Study her. Not academically. DEVOTIONALLY. Read her myths. Look at her images. Understand her SYMBOLS. Light a candle for her. Make an offering. (It doesn’t have to be LITERAL, although if you want to leave gin for Pele or sort seeds for Baba Yaga, GO FOR IT. But it can also be METAPHORICAL. An offering of your ATTENTION. Your PRESENCE. Your willingness to LEARN.)
Ask her: “What are you trying to teach me RIGHT NOW?” Not “what’s my life purpose?” Not “should I quit my job?” But specifically: “What lesson from YOUR story do I need to EMBODY in this moment?”
Let her walk WITH you. You’re in YOUR underworld right now. You’re at YOUR gates. You’re being stripped. You’re dying. You’re BURNING. And these goddesses? They’ve BEEN THERE. They know the WAY. They’re not going to SAVE you, that’s not the POINT. But they can WITNESS you. They can remind you: This is ANCIENT PROTOCOL. You’re not BROKEN. You’re being INITIATED.
And when you come back, when you’ve been through YOUR seven gates, when you’ve eaten YOUR pomegranate seeds, when you’ve sorted YOUR impossible seeds, when you’ve hung on YOUR hook, when you’ve ROTTED in your underworld, when you’ve found YOUR volcano… You won’t come back as “healed.” You won’t come back as “better.” You’ll come back as CHANGED. You’ll come back as the woman who KNOWS. You’ll come back as the woman who carries her ashes like CREDENTIALS. You’ll come back as SOVEREIGN. And baby? The world will BEND. Now go back to the main article. You have practices to DO. You have a NEW IDENTITY to embody. You have a life to BURN DOWN and rebuild.
These goddesses? They’re watching. They’re WAITING. They’re saying:
“Good. FINALLY. One more woman remembering who the fuck she IS.”
Welcome to the LINEAGE, love. Your skull necklace is waiting. 🔥💀✨
I Love your version of the myths of the the Goddesses! Thank you, Dea, for bringing a smile to my face and soul!
Wow. This brought so much recognition to me, I love mythology and to read of ancient goddesses as guides to this transformation (personal and cultural) really made my soul go, “yes! I remember this”. Thank you. You are wonderful writer, clear, witty, you connected us to the ancient within. Thank you.