 Persephone/
Kore Queen of Souls
Her name means "she who destroys the light." This
myth is a symbol of the cycle of death and rebirth
in nature and how a victim became the Queen of
Souls.
Persephone
is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology.
She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess
of the harvest. Persephone was a very beautiful
young woman.
Hades (Pluto) was the God of the
Underworld, so no one wanted to be with him. He was
very lonely and longed for a wife. So (with the agreement
of the other gods) he decided to seize Persephone.
One day, when she was collecting
flowers, the earth suddenly opened up and Hades burst
forth in his chariot and grabbed her. He took her
back to his underworld.
Broken-hearted, Demeter left her
temple and roamed the earth, desperately looking
for her daughter. Because she was the goddess of
the crops (known as Ceres in Roman mythology) the
earth began to dry up.
The gods realised they had to intervene
for without food the humans would die and there would
be no one left to worship them. Zeus sent Hermes
(Mercury the messenger god) down to Hades to bring
back Persephone.
Hades had to agree, but before she
went back he gave Persephone a pomegranate (or the
seeds of a pomegranate, according to some sources).
When she later ate it, it meant she had to return
to the underworld. So she descends for a third of
the year.
When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter
refused to let anything grow and so winter began. This
myth is a symbol of the cycle of death and rebirth
in nature.
It also demonstrates how the young
girl Persephone grows into the mature wife of the
god of the Underworld. The
myth resonates with the story of a girl leaving home
to marry and running home to mother when the marriage
goes wrong.
Once she understands herself and
the psychology of a man with hidden power (and strong
sexuality as seen in the myth) she
becomes the Queen of the Underworld, also known as
The High Priestess.
GODDESSES
IN YOUR BIRTH CHART
The first asteroids to
be discovered, Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta
were named after Goddesss. They form a self-contained
symbol system that casts new light on women's
issues, and gives both men and women new insights
into areas such as parenting and nurture, career,
partners, sexuality and spirituality.
Find
out about the 12 Goddesses in your birth chart see
NEW Goddess Report>
From 'Goddesses
and Heroines' by Patricia Monaghan (Used by permission.
This text is NOT included in the Goddess Oracle) www.patricia-monaghan.com |
