On the latest episode we're diving deep, using the ancient myth of the descent of the Sumerian Goddess Inanna as our guide, as we explore what it means for women to traverse the underworld of our psyches and return with hard-won, precious wisdom for our life journeys. My guest today is Carly Mountain, a psychosexual somatic therapist, breathworker and writer, whose new book is "Descent and Rising: Women's Stories and the Embodiment of the Inanna Myth" (Womancraft Publishing). For the last 20 years, Carly has worked with sacred embodiment practices, and in her latest book, she explores women's real lived experiences of descent and rising, and familiarizes us with a process of female psycho-spiritual growth  pften overlooked in patriachal culture. On today's episode we explore:

• Carly's spiritual background, including how she learned powerful lessons of devotion through observing her grandmother's Catholic faith
• The myth of Inanna, including its origins and how each character can represent an important part of ourselves to examine and explore
• The surprising intersection of pleasure and pain, and how we might find relief and possibly even joy by facing the most exiled parts of ourselves
• How the myth of Inanna provides us instructions of how we may change, and why sometimes we wish to refuse the invitation to evolve
• How Carly views the Goddess as "the body of the world," and why in this moment in time we're feeling the call to evolve ourselves and our relationship with the planet

Show Notes

• If you’d like to know whose ancestral tribal lands you currently reside on, you can look up your address here: https://native-land.ca/
• My book, “Home to Her: Walking the Transformative Path of the Sacred Feminine,” is now available Womancraft Publishing! To learn more, read endorsements and purchase, please visit www.womancraftpublishing.com.  It is also available for sale via Amazon, Bookshop.org, and you can order it from your favorite local bookstore, too.
• Please – if you love this podcast and/or have read my book, please consider leaving me a review! For the podcast, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful, and for the book, reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are equally helpful. Thank you for supporting my work!
• You can watch this and other podcast episodes at the Home to Her YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@hometoher
• Carly's new book is Descent and Rising: Women's Stories and the Embodiment of the Inanna Myth, and is available from Womancraft Publishing:  https://womancraftpublishing.com/product/descent-and-rising/
• You can learn more about Carly and her work at: https://carlymountain.com/ 
• Find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/carly_mountain/ 
• Find her on Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063485346635
• Here's a link to the gorgeous poem Carly recited - Angels, by Miriam Darlington: https://www.guideforconscioushealing.com/wild-words-poetry-blog/angels
• Carly also referenced the work of Anodea Judith. You can learn more about her books and writing here: https://anodeajudith.com/
• Carly also referenced Dr. Gabor Mate - more on his work here: https://drgabormate.com/

Other Relevent Episodes: 

Several Womancraft authors have joined me for prior podcast episodes, including: 

• Bridget Supple - https://hometoher.simplecast.com/episodes/the-sacred-nature-of-childbirth-with-bridget-supple
• Stella Tomlinson - https://hometoher.simplecast.com/episodes/cycles-of-belonging-with-stella-tomlinson
• Molly Remer - https://hometoher.simplecast.com/episodes/embracing-a-mythopoetic-life-with-molly-remer
• Lucy H. Pearce - https://hometoher.simplecast.com/episodes/facing-sacred-fear-with-lucy-pearce and https://hometoher.simplecast.com/episodes/the-wisdom-of-the-sea-with-lucy-h-pearce
• Amantha Murphy - https://hometoher.simplecast.com/episodes/the-way-of-the-seabhean-with-amantha-murphy

For more Sacred Feminine goodness and to stay up to date on all episodes, please follow me on Instagram: @hometoher.

To dive into conversation about the Sacred Feminine, join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hometoher 

To go deeper in your Sacred Feminine explorations, check out the course offerings via Home to Her Academy: www.hometoheracademy.com 

And to read about the Sacred Feminine, check out my award-winning book Home to Her: Walking the Transformative Path of the Sacred Feminine (Womancraft Publishing), available wherever you buy your books!. If you've read it, your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are greatly appreciated! 

Mentioned in this episode:

We Are Sovereign: A 9-Month Transformational Leadership Program for Women

We Are Sovereign is a 9 month transformational leadership program designed specifically for women who are ready to claim full authority and power over their own lives. The program includes a deep dive with: • Powerful Sacred Feminine figures, drawn from history and mythology, who will serve as our sovereignty guides along the way • Transformational practices rooted in creativity, play, energy work, ritual, ceremony and even magic • Embodiment practices, including dance, yoga, and other intuitive movement exercises to tap into the wisdom of the body • The Enneagram as a tool for understanding the human psyche and our individual personality types • Yogic philosophy, creative writing and journaling exercises, and much more • The power of the group field that we cultivate to dive deep and be witnessed fully for who we are, allowing the property of emergence to support our becoming The journey kicks off with an opening retreat on the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii, September 12-15, 2024. From there, we’ll gather twice a month over the next 9 months via Zoom, and we’ll wrap up in June 2025 with a closing retreat at Hestia Magic Retreat Center, located in the shadow of majestic Mount Shasta, California. To learn more, apply, and/or book a discovery call, visit: https://www.hometoheracademy.com/course/we-are-sovereign