![]() Get to know Persephone through by reading her myths and poetry. The archetype has many possible interpretations but it generally references three stages of human life, in connection with never-ending cycles of transformation. Wiccan views of the Goddess usually include a similar archetype of Maiden, Mother, and Crone. In Plato’s Symposium, the Goddess Demeter is a triad made of Kore, Persephone, and Hecate. Flowers are a main symbol of the return of spring after winter.Īncient Greek poets left us the concept of “ancient triad” in which a deity is worshiped as three. ![]() ![]() Likewise, Persephone dies as she stays in the Underworld and is reborn when she comes back to earth in the spring.įlowers: Not only was Persephone picking flowers when she was abducted, but also flowers were associated with birth and life after death. Seeds of grain: Persephone is the embodiment of spring and a personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring, and are harvested when fully grown. The torch symbolizes her eternal vigilance and her tirelessness illuminating the way back from the Underworld, or the regeneration of life in spring. Torch: In Persephone’s myth, Demeter spent days wandering the earth with a flaming torch in each hand searching everywhere for her missing daughter. The pomegranate is a symbol of fidelity in marriage and, in the myth of Persephone, it chained her to her life with Hades, representing her captivity too. However, pomegranates appear to bleed when cut, and this symbolizes the link of Persephone with the world of the dead. The many seeds in the fruit represent the capacity for new life and new growth. ![]() Pomegranate: The pomegranate is a symbol for life and abundance, but also for death. Before she let her go, Hades gave her a pomegranate, of which Persephone ate six seeds. Hermes went and ordered Hades to return Demeter’s daughter. Zeus had promised that Persephone would be restored, provided she had not yet tasted anything in hell. She then turned to Zeus, who sent Hermes (in some versions, Hecate) down to the Underworld and retrieve his daughter. He confessed that she had been kidnapped by Hades. Demeter began long and sad journeys in search of her beloved daughter, during which the land became barren.ĭemeter went to see Helios and asked if he knew what happened to his daughter. Her name changed to Persephone and she became Queen of the Underworld. ![]() Hades appeared and forcefully decided to take Kore to live with him in the Underworld. Suddenly, the earth beneath her cracked open and a chariot pulled by black horses surfaced. The young Kore (Persephone), daughter of vegetation Goddess Demeter, was picking flowers by the lakeside. For the initiated, the rebirth of Persephone symbolized the eternity of life which flows from generation to generation, and they believed that they would have a reward in the afterlife. Followers of the cult of Demeter and Persephone celebrated in a religious festival which led its initiates through a symbolic life, death, and rebirth. The Eleusinian Mysteries were the secret re-enactment of this myth which occured once a year in Eleusis, Greece. According to the Eleusinian Mysteries, Persephone divided her time between Earth and Hades, acting as Goddess of grain and Queen of the Underworld for each half of the year. Kore is her name as a vegetation goddess. Persephone is also called ‘Kore,’ which means both ‘daughter’ and ‘maiden’ in Greek. ![]()
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