Persephone

MYSTICAL. SUBLIME. RADIANT

PERSEPHONE

Persephone - Goddess of fertility and the underworld

Even as a young girl, Persephone was very beautiful. She, the daughter of the fertility goddess Demeter, was soon seen as the ever-returning spring itself. Persephone was the young blossoming girl, the beautiful maiden par excellence.

She is the daughter of Zeus and his sister Demeter and is often called Kore or Kora.

In the case of the seasons, it was Persephone, the goddess of fertility. She loved nature. Everything she touched bloomed instantly. Hades, the god of the underworld, was impressed by her beauty and wanted to take her as his wife.

Rape of Persephone

As Kore was picking flowers, Hades rose from the underworld and kidnapped Kore on his team. Kore, now referred to as Persephone, resigned herself to her fate. Her mother Demeter was now wandering around in despair and in her grief prevented all plants from growing, which forced Zeus to intervene because there was a danger that the entire world would perish from hunger. Eventually an agreement was reached that stipulated that Persephone would only stay in the underworld for part of the year, four months of the year. Accordingly, winter occurs when Kore reigns as Persephone in the underworld, and summer, the remaining 8 months, when Kore lives with her mother.

The pomegranate

Demeter initially convinced Zeus to bring Persephone back from the underworld, but on the condition that Persephone must not have eaten a single morsel in the underworld by then. But even gods get hungry at some point, and so Persephone sneaked into the garden of the underworld and ate a piece of pomegranate.

Askalaphos, the gardener of Hades, watched them. He quickly reported to Hades what he had seen. There were twelve seeds in the pomegranate, four of which Persephone had eaten. That's exactly the four months she has to stay in the underworld. And then it's winter on earth.

The myth

Persephone symbolized a divine child who brought light and hope.

After the child was kidnapped into the underworld, he was resurrected.

Persephone, who has to climb into the darkness of the underworld from time to time, is a symbol of the human soul. This soul comes from heavenly regions and is destined for immortality. She is a daughter of the immortal earth soul, which is symbolically represented by Demeter.