A MYTHIC JOURNEY FOR MODERN LIFE
THE DESCENT OF
INANNA
THE SACRED RETURN
&
A transformative online workshop exploring the timeless wisdom of descent, loss, and renewal.
OCT 29, 2026 – FEB 25, 2027 | 18 WEEKS | LIVE ONLINE
A STORY OLDER THAN MEMORY
There comes a time when
your old life can no longer hold you.
Not because anything is wrong. Because something deeper has begun to call.
Inanna’s journey through the seven gates is one of the oldest recorded myths in human history—and it is also a map for our own lives.
Her descent is not a story of defeat, but a powerful initiation. Through relinquishment, she meets the depths, discovers what endures, and returns with renewed power, wisdom, and a deeper relationship to life.
This workshop invites you to walk with Inanna, exploring what you are ready to release, what is calling to be reclaimed, and how to return with greater wholeness.
“From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below.”
— THE DESCENT OF INANNA
WHAT YOU'LL EXPERIENCE
MYTHIC TEACHING
Explore the ancient teachings of Inanna and explore its relevance for modern times.
DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY
Illuminate the archetypal patterns of descent, shadow, and return.
PRACTICES & RITUAL
Engage in guided practices, journaling, and simple rituals to deepen your experience.
COMMUNITY
Journey with a circle of like-minded seekers in a supportive space.
What we surrender opens the way to what is real.
WORKSHOP DETAILS
DATES
OCTOBER 29TH, 2026 - FEB 25, 2027
DURATION
18 WEEKS (Weekly Live Sessions)
TIMES
Sundays 2:00-4:00pm ET/ 11:00am-1:00 PT
FORMAT
Live Online via Zoom & Mighty Networks (recordings available)
INCLUDED
Live Teachings, guided practices, private community and classroom, workbook, recordings
TUITION
$497 - payment plans available
Frequently Asked Questions
01
Do I need to know the myth of Inanna before joining? Not at all. We will enter the story together, and you’ll receive the context you need as the journey unfolds. You do not need a background in mythology, psychology, or the mystery traditions.
02
Is this a religious or spiritual program? The Descent & The Return draws from an ancient sacred story and includes ritual, imagination, symbolism, and contemplative practice, but it does not require adherence to any particular religious or spiritual belief. You are invited to meet the material through your own worldview and experience.
03
Do I need to be going through a major life transition to participate? No. Inanna does not descend because her life has fallen apart; she descends while she is Queen. This journey is equally relevant to the quieter thresholds—the sense that something is changing, something has become too small, or some deeper part of your life is asking for your attention.
04
What happens during the journey? We begin at the threshold and then move slowly through Inanna’s seven gates of descent, one gate each week. During the Christmas and New Year period, we enter two weeks of Holy Nights and the Great Below. In January, we begin the return, moving through seven gates home before our final integration. The rhythm is intentional: this is not a story we are trying to get through quickly.
05
What is included with my registration? Your registration includes the live facilitated journey, the complete companion book Inanna’s Descent & Sacred Return: Seven Gates Down. Seven Gates Home., weekly teachings and practices, ritual and embodied inquiry, and Mighty Networks private community, recorded calls, and curriculum
06
Is this therapy? No. This is an educational and experiential program using mythology, embodied inquiry, reflection, ritual, and facilitated conversation. It is not psychotherapy, medical treatment, diagnosis, or a substitute for professional mental-health or medical care.
07
What happens at each gate? Each gate gives us a particular dimension of identity and experience to explore—voice, protection, belonging, worth, judgment, and the other things we acquire and carry as we make a life. Through teaching, reflection, embodied inquiry, ritual, and conversation, you’ll explore what that gate means in the myth and what it may illuminate in your own life.
08
What are the Holy Nights? The Holy Nights are a two-week chamber within the journey, spanning Christmas and New Year. Rather than rushing immediately from descent into ascent, we allow time for the Great Below: for stillness, witnessing, tending, and the mystery of restoration. The ancient story gives Inanna three days in the underworld; our seasonal journey gives us the Holy Nights.
09
What if I can’t attend every gathering live? Recordings will be available 24 hours after our call. Because the journey develops one gate at a time, we encourage you to remain in relationship with the weekly rhythm even when you cannot attend a gathering live.
10
How much time should I expect to spend between gatherings? There is no requirement to turn this into another job. You’ll have the companion book and practices to deepen your experience between gatherings, but the invitation is to live with the gate rather than complete a large amount of homework. Some weeks may invite writing or ritual; others may simply ask you to notice.
11
What if deep material comes up for me? You are always encouraged to work at the depth that is appropriate for you. There is no expectation that you disclose personal material or push yourself beyond your own boundaries. If something arises that needs therapeutic or clinical support, we encourage you to seek that support outside the program.
12
Do I have to share personal experiences with the group? No. Community matters in this work, but disclosure is not the price of belonging. You may participate thoughtfully without sharing anything you would prefer to keep private.
The Three Movements of Our Journey
THE DESCENT
Seven gates down
We begin by following Inanna through the seven gates into the Great Below. Each gate asks for a relinquishment—not to diminish us, but to loosen our identification with the roles, protections, measures, and ways of knowing that have helped us become who we are. The descent asks: What am I carrying, and what might become possible if I no longer have to hold it so tightly?
This is not self-improvement. It is the slower, more exacting work of meeting the structures that have shaped us with honesty, intelligence, and care.
THE STILL POINT
The Great Below
At the bottom of the descent, we stop. The Stillpoint includes the Holy Nights, a spacious interval in which we resist the impulse to immediately fix, reclaim, or rise. This is the territory of witnessing, listening, tending, and allowing what has been stripped away to reveal what remains. Here the question changes from What must I release? to What can I hear when I am no longer trying to become anything?
Here, we practice not reaching for the next answer.
We let the old world end. We listen.
THE TURNING
Two Week Holy Night Interval
Between descent and return, we dwell in the fertile dark.
STILLPOINT NIGHT 01
WITNESSING
To be seen without being hurried toward resolution.
STILLPOINT NIGHT 02
REMEMBERING
To recover what the defended self could not carry.
STILLPOINT NIGHT 03
RESTORATION
To receive the first quiet movements of return.
THE ASCENT
Seven gates home
Then the movement turns. We travel through seven gates home, encountering again what was relinquished on the way down—but we do not simply take our old identities back. The ascent asks us to choose consciously what we will reclaim, how we will carry it differently, and what it will now serve. We return not as the women we were before the descent, but as women in a different relationship with our own lives.
Save your place
Choose Your Rhythm
This journey asks something of you — not just resources, but readiness.
Choose the rhythm that honors both your commitment and your circumstances.
Pay In Full
$497
A One Time Investment
3-Month Plan
$185
Per month for 3 months
12-Month Plan
$45
Per month for 12 months
MEET YOUR GUIDE
Dr. Stephanie Shelburne is a scholar-practitioner, writer, and Executive Director of the New England School of Bioenergetic Medicine. For more than twenty-five years, her work has explored the places where body, psyche, lineage, archetype, and the deeper questions of a human life meet.
Her teaching brings together embodied inquiry, transformational psychology, myth, ritual, and the wisdom traditions that have long helped human beings navigate change. She is especially interested in the thresholds that cannot be solved by simply trying harder—the seasons when an old way of knowing ourselves begins to loosen and something deeper asks to be encountered.
INANNA'S DESCENT has been part of Stephanie’s own seasonal practice for many years. In The Descent & The Return, she invites others into that practice: not as an expert standing above the gates with all the answers, but as an experienced guide who knows the story, respects the mystery, and understands the importance of having companions along the way.
The descent is not the end of the story, but the beginning of the return...