The Pagan Heart
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August-September 2005 Issue
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Greek Harvest Time
By Anne S.
This issue I wanted to share with you some of the festivals my family observe. We follow a predominantly Greek tradition, but with some Roman observations thrown in as well. This portion of the year is my favorite - the harvest festivals are filled with celebration, cheer, and family. I am not certain why it resonates so strongly for me. Maybe it's the fall leaves. Or the end of sweaty weather. Maybe it's the colors, the crisp weather that's chilly enough to dress up in layers yet not cold enough to freeze my nose, the comfort food that oozes out of everywhere (I love comfort foods), and the smell of hot chocolate with cinnamon. Whatever it is, this is the time of the year I feel most connected to the earth, to nature, to the gods. And subsequently the festivals we celebrate have multiplied over the years. Initially it was the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries. Then I added the Stenia and Thesmophoria. This year I included the Roman festival of Ceres. Not sure what will happen next year...maybe the Artemis Agrotera or the Meditrinalia. What this means is that September and October are morphing into one two-month long festival! Now before you get the idea this is all about feasting and making merry - of which I admit there is a reasonable portion - it is also a very spiritual time for me. The festivals I celebrate are primarily about the earth and her bounty. I venerate Demeter during this time beyond the other deities for this reason. Demeter in her role as Earth God encouraging the soil to be rich, the grain to grow fat, the fruit sweet. The focus is strongly upon the relationship of God to earth, and mortal to God. The synchonyous flow of energy, veneration, respect, duty, and family. So what does this mean? Aside from eating lots of food and offering a prayer or two to the gods, what do I do? The 18th to the 24th of September will be devoted to observing the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries. According to the Greek calendar, this is the 15th to the 21st of Boedromion. The Mysteries are rites held in honor of Demeter and Persephone. Since we have a submission for next issue looking at this festival, I won't go into great detail. We celebrate the Goddess of cereal and grain - Demeter - and retell the story of the abduction of Persephone. This festival in my family focuses more upon Demeter's loss, the encroaching winter in which she allows her despair and fear to overcome the warm earth. We view the Lesser Mysteries of Anthesterion (January/February) as being more focused towards celebrating rebirth and life. In many ways this festival is similar to the ones of Mabon, Alban Elfed, and such. Rituals about the turning season that focus upon death and slumber, storing up the bounty of the earth as we prepare to winter over. On the 4th of October (otherwise known as the fourth Nones of October) I shall begin my newest observance - another festival honoring Ceres-Dememeter. We'll purify and prepare ourselves and the home for a ritual honoring Ceres as the Great Mother and provider. I anticipate a lot of cooking with foods sacred to her. The following day (third Nones of October) is one of the three Mundus Cereris days and on that day we will celebrate in style. Since that festival was discussed last issue so well by Anne, I won't go into it again. It was actually reading that article that interested me in exploring the festival itself. Mind you a pig is a little beyond me this year - so some nice pork tenderloin I think. And a pumpkin. Then comes Stenia on the 12th of October. I love the Stenia - it's a women's festival occuring at night where we reenact the role of Iambe. She took on the role of Demeter's comforter, teasing the grieving deity to try and help her overcome her sorrow. Beforehand we craft thesmoi (things laid down) to represent the fertility that Dememter has turned aside from. These are buried in offering to her in the hopes she will remember her responsibilities, she will become fertile once more and bring forth new life in the spring. I usually bake some snake-bread for this. The Stenia is preparation for the Thesmophoria which runs from the 14th to the 16th of October (or 11th to 13th Puanepsion). Like the Stenia, it is women only - and my girls say it's like a three day slumber party at times. The first day we clean the house and set up a camping ground in the living room (my husband leaves for a stay at a nearby hotel - he gets room service and pizza to compensate...). This camp is symbolic of that the Greek women made after climbing the hill to Dememter's sanctuary. The next day we spend in purification and giving our strength to Demeter. The only food we eat is pomegranate seed - in memory of Persephone. We've been practicing iambic verse this year - a part of the ritual involves further taunting...in iambic poetry. Not that easy. Because the festival is about sharing strength with Demeter, we also do a lot of mother-daughter bonding. Facials and pedicures, deep conversations and sharing of confidences, gift giving, that type of thing. We want to share the love, strength, and respect we have in and for each other with the Goddess in her time of greatest trial. Because Demeter refused a chair during her mourning we sit upon the ground. This also brings us closer to her. Especially if the weather is fine enough to spend the day outside. The records reveal that the old worshippers probably whipped each other, raising a blood anger to mimic the rage Demeter felt at the theft of her child. The next morning we get up before dawn and light candles for a procession through the house as we seek Persephone followed by a huge celebratory breakfast. Although we know Persephone will not leave the Underworld for another three months, we know she will leave. She will return to us, and this is what we celebrate. It is important to remember the power that is Demeter - she stopped the sun. She is an awful goddess to be feared as well as loved. A part of this day is celebrating the power and wildness that is Demeter. She reminds us that being female is an awe-inspiring thing. We are strong and fierce as well as loving and kind. We do not give up ourselves in marriage or motherhood but add to who we are. The bonds of mother and daughter should never be forgotten or dishonored. The trend to "give" away daughters in marriage, for daughters to relinquish family and adopt the husband's is an unnatural one as Demeter shows us. Hers is the rage of a mother whose blood connection to her child has been severed by a man. A man who had no right or need to do so. The healthy relationship of mother and daughter is not a threat to a healthy marriage - rather it supports the relationship. Mothers have walked the path their daughters walk. This should never be forgotten. May this harvest season be bountiful for you and yours. Demeter I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter,
Hail, goddess!
To Demeter To Demeter Eleusinia.
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Secondary Article - Alban Elfed - the Druidic Autumnal Equinox
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