Vern Barnet's email Interview with Diane Wolkstein, 
who presents “Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth,” April 17 and a workship April 18 
sponsored by the Friends of Jung at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut.


1, Why is story telling important, even in an electronic age? Storytelling unites people with spirit and art. A Storyteller cannot tell  well without the enthusaiasm and contribution of those present and the people who are present create with the storyteller a sacred place for new spirit to appear. Storytelling is really community art; one depends upon the other. It ignites and awakens people’s imaginations and hearts. So upon hearing a good story they start to dream again.
2.  What was it like for you working with Samuel Kramer? My co-author, Samuel Noah Kramer was the foremost Sumerologist in the world. He was a great scholar and at the same time he so loved the material he was deciphering that he didn’t want to merely excel before his peers, he wanted all the world to know about the Sumerians who lived in ancient Iraq between 5,000 and 2,000 BCE. He popularized his work in a book that was translated throughout the world: History Begins in Sumer which speaks about the first laws, architecture, writing and education beginning in Sumer. He was very straightforward, slyly humorous, demanding and difficult, but that didn’t stop me from asking him the same question again and again.  When his wife, Millie would walk by his office, he would say, “Shh, lower your voice. Shut the door. We don’t want her to hear these secrets.” We would be talking about how to translate hip from Sumerian to English.
3.  Who was Inanna and why should folks today be interested in her story and her relationships? Inanna, which means Nin (Queen)—ANNA  (heaven) Queen of Heaven is the planet that we today call Venus; she was known and loved throughout the Mesopotamian area as the Great Goddess from 4,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE. She was the goddess of love, war, and fertility; the prototype for Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter—really she was all the goddesses in one. Mary ,who is also called the Queen of Heaven carries attributes of Inanna. Inanna’s story of birth and rebirth; her journey to the God of Wisdom, her daring journey to the underworld were prototypes for the many heroic stories which follow hers. Plays, movies, operas have been written about her story. It is the great human story of death and rebirth.

People who attend the performance will not only hear the author spin the story, they will hear Geoffrey Gordon play the most haunting moving music. He is known throughout the world and is coming specially from California for this performance. Diane and Geoffrey have performed Inanna at Lincoln Center, the United Nations, London, Vienna.

Anyone who wants to listen to a 3 minute portion of their performance can do so by going to dianewolkstein.com then storyteller and then Inanna.
 
4.  What parts or dimensions of the Inanna story will you present? -- I understand that you will focus on "Inanna's coming of age, maturation and later descent into the underworld." Can you give an example or two of why any aspect of the story is "mythologically as relevant today as it was in ancient Iraq"? The first part of Inanna’s story is springtime. It is lusty, earthy, sensuous, compelling and courageous in its clarity of emotion.

The second part of Inanna’s story asks the questions we all ask:  Who are we? When we give up everything that covers us? What remains? That is the story of The Descent of Inanna. It is the unmasking of the persona, the letting go of the outer riches to see what it is that continues to live.

In the workshop we will speak about the meaning of Inanna’s story and investigate similar stories. At the same time, we will tell our own stories and develop storytelling skills.
 
5. Should folks expect to learn to improve their story-telling (or story-listening) skills by attending the events with you here? I’ve been teaching storytelling for 35 years and have more than 500 students who are now telling stories. Every person who attends the workshop will tell a story, just in the telling they will increase their confidence in their abilities and in the listening they will develop a knowledge of how to appreciate and refine their skills. It is a great opportunity especially in our times in which closeness, family, and community are increasingly important to develop storytelling skills.
6. As you have presented similar material elsewhere, is there greater interest or resistance nor no effect because of modern Iraq being a concern for Americans? After the VietNam war, there was great grief among many of the veterans who entered a culture they did not know and wrecked great harm to the people. I have met many VietNam vets who have recovered from their grief by helping the Vietnamese people. One of the ways to help others is to understand their culture. The Sumerian culture from which Inanna was the number one deity is revered by the Iraqi people. They love the art and the culture from their past which is  full of wisdom, beauty and sophistication. It is on the level of the beautiful art as ancient Egyptian art. 

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