An Ancient Goddess with a Timeless Message
Demeter, the ancient Greek Goddess of Agriculture, is perhaps best known for the abduction of her daughter Persephone, but she is much, much more.
She has a powerful message for modern times.
The ancient story of Demeter and her daughter Persephone has been used to explain the cycle of the seasons, but a closer examination reveals insights on living and dying, loss and reconciliation, and, importantly, on suffering and healing.
Myths can be read as symbols, and can be used as working templates for modern times. Indeed, this may have been just the way they were used in bygone days. The ancient tale of Demeter helped me recover from the loss of an adult child and gave me the strength to pick up my life again.
Abduction of Persephone
The most well known story of Demeter
The story of Demeter has come down to us more as the story of her daughter, Persephone. This was my first meeting with the tale and, as read in Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology: The Age of Fable, it could be used to explain the changing seasons of the year.The abduction of the beautiful Persephone is the reason behind the sweetness of Spring and the bitterness of Winter.
One day this little girl of life and laughter, Persephone, was collecting flowers on the plain of Enna when the earth opened beneath her feet. Up from the gap rose Hades, grim God of the Underworld, and abducted her.
And only Zeus, the All-Seeing, knew what had happened.
Broken hearted, Demeter wandered the earth, her hair unbound, wailing into the wind, searching for her little daughter until - at last - Zeus told her what had happened.
Now Demeter was angry as well as heart broken! She demonstrated her rage by punishing the earth's inhabitants with fierce cold, bitter winds and an end to all fertility. Unless Persephone was returned, the earth would surely perish.
Finally Herakles the Hero went down to the kingdom of Hades to negotiate the return of Persephone. But, before she was released, the God of the Underworld tricked Persephone into eating six pomegranate seeds - thus she would always be connected to his realm.
For part of the year Persephone must stay in the Underworld and for part of the year she returns to her mother.
When Demeter and her daughter are together, the earth flourishes with vegetation, but, for four months of the year, when Persephone goes back to Hades, the earth is a barren realm.
Demeter and Persephone : Dance Performance
The mythic story of the Earth Goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone tells of the beginning of Spring and the Seasons.
Lora Cain narrates and dances with Sukha the Goddess in a version of the tale that has Persephone leaving her Mother for the Underworld not by abduction, but out of the great compassion of her heart.
To Everything there is a Season
To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance
a time to lose and a time to seek
a time to rend and a time to sew
a time to keep silent and a time to speak
a time to love and a time to hate
a time for war and a time for peace.
Embracing Persephone
Possibly the best book ever written for mothers and daughters
Embracing Persephone: How to Be the Mother You Want for the Daughter You Cherish
In the story of Demeter losing Persephone to the Underworld, and then regaining her, we can see the cyclical nature of the relationship between mother and daughter in which separation and reunion are recurring themes.
"This myth directly invokes your relationship with your adolescent daughter as you brave her exciting but terribly risky passage to becoming a woman."
Many mothers feel they are losing their daughters during the adolescent years, and Rutter gives those mothers positive, solution-oriented strategies for minimising conflict and for coming to terms with their changing role.
An excellent and helpful guide to the depth and spirituality of the mother daughter relationship.
Message from Demeter - Letting go
A time to lose ......
One important lesson from Demeter is not to place all of our life into our children. It's a trap that any mother can fall into, putting her talents of spontaneity, creativity, playfulness, wonder, curiosity, love of story and all that we call imagination into her children - forgetting that these belong also to her own inner child.When her daughter is abducted, the loss causes Demeter to go into deep depression. A depression in which she ceases to bathe, ceases to eat, disguises her beauty, neglects her daily duties, denies her future and becomes self absorbed, angry, resentful and lost in torrents of incessant weeping.
If we hold on to our children too tightly, if we weave our lives totally around them, we are then at a loss when they mature and become independent. We can suffer very real and very deep pain. Like Demeter, our own inner child has been displaced onto our actual children.
If we place all of our eggs into one basket, if a friend grows away from us, if we place all of our love into one partner and that relationship ends, we can be shattered until we realise that what has passed, has passed.
We can't go back.
For everything there is a season.
And there is a time for letting go.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Empty Nesters: 101 Stories about Surviving and Thriving When the Kids Leave Home
Amazon Price: $10.76 (as of 12/19/2009) 
Beyond the Mommy Years: How to Live Happily Ever After...After the Kids Leave Home
Amazon Price: $32.70 (as of 12/19/2009)
After Divorce
Message from Demeter - Laughter
A time to laugh ...
Demeter shows us the value of laughter in our life. In the midst of her deep depression, she is approached by the minor Goddess, Baubo, who dances in front of her telling bawdy jokes. Then Baubo lifts her skirts, bares her belly and flashes her vulva to Demeter.
And Demeter laughs!
Mirth breaks through Demeter's despair, she shakes off the blackness of her depression and resolves to continue her search.
Demeter's laughter grounds her, and gives her the strength to seek, and to reclaim, her daughter. As she does this, abundant life returns to the earth. By lifting her skirts, Baubo demonstrates to Demeter the centre that they share, returning the Goddess to her own centre of being.
Demeter's relief from unbearable stress and depression comes via the fanciful realm of humour and theatrics. We can all benefit from cultivating a little light imagination, and from sharing a joke with friends.
The Art of Being a Woman
A Simple Guide to Everyday Love and Laughter
An alert mind is the most eye-catching feature of a face.
Smart compliments can improve the way you look as much as beauty products.
Fashion is a nonsurgical nip-and-tuck technique.
Female camaraderie keeps you healthy.
Men should be given the benefit of the doubt (because they truly need it).
The Art of Being a Woman: A Simple Guide to Everyday Love and Laughter
Amazon Price: $12.24 (as of 12/19/2009)
Practical and whimsical lessons in the art of womanhood and in the joy of loving life as only a woman can.
"You have to be willing to get rid of your self-doubts and acknowledge your innate gifts and talents."
A fabulous celebration of how to live and celebrate the life of being female.
Message from Demeter - Seasons of Life
To everything there is a season
Demeter shows us the March of the Seasons through our life. We can be in the icy grip of despair but we know that Spring will return, our sadness will ease, and we can smile in the warmth once more.Her message reminds us of these seasons of life, she tells us that though there are times of great sorrow there is also great joy to be found.
Like Demeter, we learn to live through the ups and downs, the sorrows, heartaches and bereavements knowing that it's possible to reach for the light again.
The story of Demeter illustrates the tremendous capacity of a woman to love and nurture within her own family - and in the world at large.
Demeter also reminds us to stand firm for what is good and right, even in the face of adversity when powerful forces are aligned against us.
Coping with impossible Grief
Every life contains difficulties we are not prepared for
Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations For Working Through Grief
Amazon Price: $8.00 (as of 12/19/2009)
I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One
Amazon Price: $10.87 (as of 12/19/2009)
Mothers Day began with Demeter
An Ancient Celebration
Mothers' Day is certainly not new. It's one of the oldest celebrations known to us.Celebrations in honour of Mothers were held in Ancient Greece during the Spring and were dedicated to the worship of Demeter. The Spring of course, that happy time when Demeter turns her attention to the outer world again, she smiles on the Earth .. and the new green life appears. (She is stronger now, from the pain).
Later, in Rome, the celebrations were enjoyed just as much. The honour was given to Demeter in the Roman version of her name; they called her Ceres.
So we could make Mothers' Day, with all of its commercialism, into a day for remembering the Goddess of Mothers as the source of all the nurturing strengths of all mothers. To all of the Mothers in All of the World in All Places and in All Times.
We could have a Demeter's Day instead!
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I love Greek Mythology : Lensography of Legends
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In the isles of the Aegean, and of the Ionian, there is no river, no mountain ridge, no rocky crag, that is untouched by the tales of the Ancients. Philosophically, artistically, scientifically and politically, the Greeks reached an astonishing leve...
Mysteries of Demeter : Rebirth of the Pagan Way
I read it as a mother, and use the story of Demeter to come to grips with the changing seasons of my life.
Mysteries of Demeter : Rebirth of the Pagan Way
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/19/2009)
A wonderful reconstruction of the rituals of Demeter and Persephone of Eleusis. Jennifer Reif integrates the agricultural and mystical aspects of this ancient religion with detailed ritual scripts, descriptions of each of the festivals, invocations, chants and poems.
A truly fascinating resource for exploring the Demeter/Persephone myth.
If you liked this lens, you're sure to enjoy the collection at the Goddess Group which brings together everything related to the Goddess, in all of her names, all of her faces and all of her aspects.
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Leave a message for Demeter
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- M_S_Beltran M_S_Beltran Mar 25, 2009 @ 12:46 am
- What an awesome page. Great info. 5* and lensrolled.
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- monarch13 monarch13 Feb 25, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
- I'm almost done with a new lens on the symbols and goddesses that represent motherhood. When finished, I will roll this to it and join your group too. 5 stars as always!
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- cryptid cryptid Dec 25, 2008 @ 11:28 am
- This is a great lense. I love Greek mythology but I have not really gotten into it to deeply beyond the generic, well known figures. This lense is actually making me more interested in it! Great job! 5*s
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10% of my income goes to continue the work of Fred Hollows in treating avoidable blindness and improving indigenous health.Photo : Khim Rath, who can now see after a successful cataract operation, Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia.
Blindness is a significant public health issue in Cambodia. Over 160,000 people are blind and an additional 20,000 become blind each year. The main cause of blindness is cataract, which can be treated by a simple 15 minute operation at an average cost of $25 (AUD$35).
Thanks for dropping by ...
Thanks very much for dropping by to read about Demeter and her message for modern day women. You're more than welcome to leave a note in the guest book above and, if you're a member of Squidoo, you can also rate this lens :)It's all much appreciated, Susanna
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Through a lens darkly
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Images : Free Foto : Creative Commons
Sources : Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology - The Age of Fable : : Apollodorus -The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
by susannaduffy
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