Embracing Persephone By Kathy Bowden Her Archetype Closely bound, celebrated in festivals and ritual with her mother Demeter, the archetype of Persephone has to be carefully regarded. On the one hand, she makes her own choices, while on the other her father and the man/god who wants her make her choices for her. This may not be such a dichotomy after all if we choose to examine it in its duality. The image of the pomegranate appears in both versions. Persephone is in the underworld in both versions. Perhaps those are the images we should consider. The pomegranate is the many seeded fruit that separated mother and daughter. It is an image of the ovum, seeds clustered in little sacs inside a woman’s body. "Opening the seedpod of the pomegranate, Persephone permitted herself to become a fertile woman. Thus the pomegranate reminds us that, to become a woman herself, Persephone has to separate from her mother, no matter how difficult that break may be on both sides". (1) In the original version of the story, it is Persephone who chooses to descend to the Underworld against the wishes of her mother. She is pro-active rather than passive. She is the one taking care of others rather than the one being taken of. She comes out from the influence of a strong mother figure and chooses her own path of descent to the shadows. In both myths, Persephone lives both in the upper physical exterior world and the deeper, darker world of the unconscious. Many authors represent Persephone as someone who is passive and unable to make her own choices, basing this upon the later Homeric version. There is an element of that in many of us dealing with circumstances beyond our control. In that version she is abducted and raped, and her eventual trauma and triumph is her acceptance of the events and willingness to spend time there as her ultimate healing. However I would argue that Hades still triumphs by managing to keep her bound to him. Many of us in those circumstances are bound to our captors or abusers in a similar way, and have to spend many dark years in our own minds dealing with the emotional and physical aftershocks and memories. With care we can become intimate with the world of shadows and forces of darkness in others and ourselves. We may be able to go to our mothers for comfort and care while we become eventual mistress of the events; rather than passive "victim", we become "survivors". Persephone was worshipped as the Goddess who helped the soul descend to the underworld and it’s ascent back to new life. Agrarian communities celebrated her in the winter months when the grain died, to be reborn again in the spring. Her Story One of the most well known myths, the story of Persephone that we hear is most likely the patriarchal Homeric version. The pre-Hellenic myth is significantly different. "In this version, Persephone the Maiden willingly enters the Underworld, neither abducted nor raped by Hades. She meets distressed spirits of the dead as she wanders over the hills collecting flowers. Concerned they might have no one to guide or watch over them, she speaks to her mother. The older goddess replies that it is her function to care for these spirits, but that she has had to neglect that duty in order to concentrate on tending the crops. Persephone then offers to take on that role herself, and despite Demeter’s attempts to persuade her, the maiden enters the lower domain, depicted on early pottery as an open vagina." (2) While in the Underworld, Persephone marks the spirits there with pomegranate juice as a sign of their rebirth on earth. Meanwhile, the mourning mother Demeter has neglected her duties from missing her daughter so much. They are reunited in spring, and Demeter has to accept that, for part of the year, her daughter will be gone from her while Persephone guides the spirits of the dead to enable them to achieve their next incarnation. The patriarchal version of the story tells that Hades, King of the Underworld actually asked Persephone’s father (Zeus again) for her "hand" in marriage. Knowing Demeter to be fiercely protective, Zeus suggested kidnap. The deed was done and Demeter wandered the earth for nine days and nights while she searched for her lost daughter. Abducted and raped, Persephone refuses to eat in the Underworld, and a bargain was struck. She would eat the seeds of the pomegranate, which would permit her to return to earth for 8 months of the year, but yet bind her to Hades for the remaining 4 months. She honestly confesses to eating these seeds. Initially depressed, Persephone realises she may embrace the shadow and find fulfilment; she becomes Queen of the Underworld. Embracing Persephone Persephone brings us a message of hope and triumph. She reminds us that when we are ready physically and emotionally it is safe to leave the safety of "home" or childhood and walk in the shadow side; doing so against her mother’s wishes who seems to want to keep her as an eternal child. The menstruation, the break with the mother figure while still loving and respecting her is what leads Persephone on her journey. She makes her own choices in one version, while in the other version she deals with events forced upon her violently by other’s choices. She does spend many years in despair and depression as a result of this, yet ultimately triumphs by understanding the shadow side. She represents that dark time in many people before a new direction or creative inspiration occurs to lead us forward. She is the part of us who can analyse dreams and develop intuition about people or events. The meditative side of us, the side that may guide others on their own journey through dark into light. In the Homeric version, she is the part of us that may be reluctant to grow up or break from the comfort of home and having our choices made for us. Persephone Affirmations - I am willing to spend time in meditation and thought, sometimes on painful or traumatic events - I seek support from people around me when I need it - I accept when I am ready physically and emotionally to set out on my own path - I understand that there will be dark times when I feel uninspired or depressed and know that light and inspiration is on its way to me even then - Whatever has happened to me, I will walk the path to the light, remembering Persephone’s journey (1) The Goddess Path. Patricia Monaghan. Llewellyn Publications. 1999 ISBN 1-56718-467-7 p.141 (2) Awaken your Goddess. Liz Simpson. Gaia Books 2000 ISBN 1-85675-152-x pp. 22-23

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