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Demeter and Persephone
Jane Roccio Evans
Demeter (an Earth goddess) and Persephone (goddess of spring and Queen of the Underworld) are inseparable in their mythology and worship. As such, they interact in our psyches. Where one exists, so does the other.
Demeter is solid, dependable, and reliable. She rules over nature and the orderly cycles of the seasons. Demeter is the nurturer, giving a feeling of safety and comfort, as a mother. She is the most generous of the goddesses, having given Man agriculture. Demeter gives on three levels: physically, as provider of food and physical necessities; emotionally, as provider of empathy and understanding; and spiritually, as provider of spiritual nourishment and wisdom. Hers is the wisdom of nature, which includes patience. Demeter's patience is great. It comes from Her understanding that life moves in cycles and that we need to wait for the appropriate time for things to ripen.
In Her mythology, Demeter had a sacred oak that a king named Lycergus cut down. As soon as he did this, insatiable hunger struck Lycergus and his household. No matter how much he consumed, Lycergus could not satisfy himself. This is analogous to the insatiable hungers and addictions which plague modern society. Having dishonored Demeter, we cannot satisfy ourselves. We constantly try to satiate ourselves without success.
Our essential hungers are part of what defines our identities. To cultivate a relationship with Demeter, the nurturer, we need to look within. Through our inner voices (Persephone's intuition) we can learn what we truly want, what will fulfill us. Only when we truly nourish ourselves can we satisfy these hungers.
Persephone (the Underworld aspect of Demeter) comes as the Maiden, carrier of the inner life. She comes to us through dreams, intuitions, and inner voices. Persephone has two aspects: that of Kore or Maiden, and that of Queen of the Underworld. Persephone as the Maiden in unformed, undefined. She is unaware of who She is or what She wants. She is the springtime of life, with its limitless possibilities.
Persephone as Kore is akin to Mesta, Lycergus' daughter. Lycergus sells Mesta into slavery to buy food in his attempts to appease his unending hunger. A ship captain buys her. As his ship is about to set sail, Mesta prays to Poseidon (the Sea god) to deliver her. Poseidon transforms her into a fisherman. She must now return across the ocean in a small boat. Ironically, although Poseidon gives Mesta the form of a fisherman, He does not give her a fisherman's skills. During the long night, she falls asleep. A wind awakens her, reminding her that she must tend to her net—the task of a fisherman. This surprises her, for she thought she need do little, that the fishing would take care of itself. The wind tells her, It would seem Mesta, that you do not know your own net.
Persephone as Kore, or Mesta, does not know Her `net.' She is as yet unaware of Her own strengths and desires. She is like a many faceted crystal, turning to show that facet which will please another, providing the image that the other wants to see. Her psychic receptivity enables Her to subconsciously tune in to other's desires.
As Queen of the Underworld, Persephone becomes the High Priestess. She is that part of us familiar with ritual and symbolic language. She is now a guide through this inner realm. Her receptivity has become conscious, allowing Her to be outwardly directed rather than merely subconsciously, inwardly reactive.
Persephone thus embodies the Great Mother on a deeper level. She is the womb of the unconscious. In Her dwell all as yet unlived potentials, all that we are capable of doing and becoming. Her world is fertile, like the Great Mother's. But it is a world of rich inner images, the collective unconscious. The seeds of vast undeveloped creative potential lie dormant under Persephone's protection, waiting for the right moment to ripen. Persephone is the potentiality of what Demeter realizes.
To honor Demeter and Persephone we must heed and fulfill our inner hungers and desires. It is only when we set out to do what we truly want that we grow beyond Kore. We become, like Persephone, guides through the inner realms. Then can we claim and create for ourselves what we want in the outer world, which is Demeter. | 
