This is the first book dedicated solely to Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld first worshipped in ancient Sumer. While the introduction provides a general overview of the goddess and a quick orientation to the few surviving texts about her, the rest of the book is a collection of poems, prayers, and first-person experiences written modern Pagans who have worked with Ereshkigal and/or the figures of her court (including her consort Nergal and the gatekeepers of the underworld).

There are several well-known figures in the contribors list. Lee Harrington, Galina Krasskova, Inara de Luna, Clare Vaughn, Erynn Rowan Laurie, and H. Jeremiah Lewis are all respected authors in their own fields of spirituality.

According to the Introduction, Ereshkigal is best known as a rather scary, vengeful figure in an ancient myth called "The Descent of Inanna." The contributors' stories and poems reveal other facets of her personality that were experienced through ritual or even being possessed by her energy. While Ereshkigal is definitely a "dark" goddess, she is never presented as evil. The contributors describe sometimes painful events, but the end result is always healing and/or growth.

While I genuinely enjoyed the pieces, what was missing from the book was a more in-depth description of how people can work with Ereshkigal on their own. The editor refers to shadow work, the ordeal path, processing grief and anger, but the pieces don't provide as much information about that as I would like. There is only a short essay at the end called "Meeting Ereshkigal" which provides some tips on setting up a first encounter with her. Even without that, however, this is still a fascinating book.
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Queen of the Great Below is one of the few devotional anthologies for Sumerian deities and the only one I know of entirely devoted to Ereshkigal. It is comprised of poetry for the goddess, essays about working with her, and ritual.

In large part, I enjoyed the collection. There is a heavy emphasis on Ereshkigal as Ordeal Mistress. On one hand, I enjoyed seeing such a lengthy exploration of this role, since it is not one I see discussed much elsewhere. Ereshkigal is too often brushed aside as a minor character in a story about her sister, when I don’t think that is the case at all. She is definitely a Lady who has earned her attention.

On the other hand, I felt as if the devotional was a bit one-sided. While the descent of Inanna is the best known story of Ereshkigal, to focus so much on that single archetype seems to do Ereshkigal a disservice as well. In an entire book, I expect to find a slightly wider range of ideas and topics. The book is nonetheless excellent reading and definitely worth checking out if you’re interested in dark goddesses or Sumerian mythology.