"DEMETER" WAS THE GODDESS OF GRAIN AND THE HARVEST, AND AS SUCH ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DEITIES IN THE GREEK PANTHEON. HER NAME MEANS "BARLEY" OR "GRAIN MOTHER". IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY THE GODDESS SHE WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL OLYMPIANS AND A SISTER OF "ZEUS." ACCORDING TO THE TIMELESS MYTH OF CYCLICAL DEATH AND REBIRTH, IT IS BECAUSE "DEMETER" GRIEVES FOR THE LOSS OF HER DAUGHTER "PERSEPHONE" THAT WE HAVE tHE SEASONS OF "AUTUMN" AND "WINTER.
"PERSEPHONE WAS A BEAUTIFUL, HAPPY GIRL WHO "DEMETER" LOVED SO MUCH THAT SHE TOOK HER ALONG WHENEVER SHE TENDED HER GRAIN FIELDS. ONE DAY, WHILE "DEMETER" TENDS HER FIELDS, "PERSEPHONE" WHO HAS BEEN FROLICKING WITH HER FRIENDS, STRAYS FROM THE EVER WATCHFUL EYE OF HER MOTHER. AND, AS SHE STOPS TO PICK A PARTICULARLY LOVELY "NARCISSUS," SHE IS KIDNAPPED BY THE COLD RULER OF THE "UNDERWORLD, HADES."
"Demeter "searched in vain for Her lost daughter and feared that She would never see Her beloved "Persephone" again, and as She mourned, She WITHDREW HER TOUCH FROM THE LAND AND THE WORLD BECAME BARREN AS THE PLANTS WITHERED AND DIED. THEN, IN THE GUISE OF A "CRONE, DEMETER "ARRIVED IN THE CITY OF "ATTICA", IN "ELEUSIS" WHERE SHE WAS WELCOMED BY THE "KING" AND BECAME THE NURSE OF HIS TWO YOUNG SONS. IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ONE OF THEM IMMORTAL, "DEMETER" BEGAN TO HOLD THE CHILD OVER A SACRED FLAME EACH NIGHT. THE "QUEEN" DISCOVERED HER IN THE ACT, AND, NOT KNOWING THAT SHE WAS A GODDESS, BROKE THE SPELL WITH A CRY OF HORROR. IT WAS THEN THAT "DEMETER "REVEALED HERSELF AND COMMANDED THAT A TEMPLE BE BUILT IN HER HONOR. AND IT WAS IN THE TEMPLE OF "ELEUSIS" THAT "DEMETER" SECLUDED HERSELF FROM THE WORLD.
ON" EARTH", THE PEOPLE WERE DYING FROM LACK OF FOOD AND THE GODS BEGGED DEMETER TO RECONSIDER. FINALLY, "TRIPTOLEMOS", ONE OF THE SONS OF THE KING WENT TO "DEMETER" AND RELATED TO HER A STRANGE THING HE HAD HEARD. IT SEEMS THAT, ON THE DAY OF" PERSEPHONE'S" DISAPPEARANCE, HE HAD BEEN TENDING TO A FLOCK OF SHEEP AND HAD WITNESSED THE GROUND AS IT OPENED UP AND "HADES "HIMSELF HAD APPEARED. THEN HE HEARD A YOUNG GIRL SCREAM, AND "HADES" DISAPPEARED AGAIN, THE GROUND CLOSING UP BEHIND HIM. "DEMETER "IMMEDIATELY KNEW WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER DAUGHTER, AND ENRAGED, WENT TO" ZEUS" AND DEMANDED "PERSEPHONE'S "RETURN.
IT WAS THEN THAT "DEMETER "LEARNED THAT "PERSEPHONE" HAD TASTED THE FRUIT OF THE DEAD, THE POMEGRANATE SEED, AND WOULD BE REQUIRED TO REMAIN IN THE "UNDERWORLD. "BUT, RATHER THAN HAVE THE MORTALS SUFFER," ZEUS" CAME UP WITH A COMPROMISE TO THE SITUATION - "PERSEPHONE" WOULD RETURN TO HER DARK PLACE UNDER THE EARTH FOR ONE THIRD OF THE YEAR, AND THE REST OF THE TIME SHE WOULD SPEND WITH "DEMETER."
AND SO IT IS THAT EACH "AUTUMN, "WHEN "PERSEPHONE" RETURNED TO THE "UNDERWORLD", AND "DEMETER" MOURNS HER ABSENCE. BUT, JUST AS A SEED PLANTED IN THE EARTH, "PERSEPHONE "BURSTS FORTH IN THE "SPRING", AND THE WORLD THRIVES ONCE AGAIN.
THE LARGEST CELEBRATION TO HONOR "DEMETER" WAS "THESMOPHORIA," WHCIH WAS HELD EACH "AUTUMN "IN ATHENS AND A FEW OTHER CITIES, JUST BEFORE THE SOWING SEASON. ITS MYSTERIES WERE FORBIDDEN TO MEN AND WAS LARGELY RESTRICTED TO MARRIED CITIZEN WOMEN, AND FOR AS LONG AS THE CELEBRATION LASTED, THE WOMEN HAD TO MAINTAIN SEXUAL ABSTINENCE. FOR THE WOMEN, IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET AWAY FROM THEIR DOMESTIC DUTIES...EVEN IF ONLY FOR JUST A SHORT TIME.
"WISHING YOU AND YOURS BLESSINGS ON THIS SPECIAL DAY."
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See! I promised Persephone and here she is (better late than never).
PERSEPHONE (pronounced per-SEF-uh-nee) is the Greek Goddess of the Underworld and of the growth of plants in spring. She is the daughter of Demeter, Goddess of the Earth, and Zeus, King of the Gods. The name KORE is also used for Persephone, originating from the belief that it was taboo to utter the name of the Queen of the Underworld, but that it was acceptable to use the name of her maiden persona (Kore literally means "maiden"). The most famous myth involving Persephone is that of her abduction by and marriage to Hades, God of the Underworld. (Many retellings of the story refer to it as rape, but others see it as a true consensual marriage, and there are elements of the story that support both interpretations.) When Hades decided to take a wife, he wanted one who would be worthy of him, and he asked his brother Zeus for one of his daughters. Persephone was very beautiful and unmarried, so Zeus agreed that Hades should take her as his wife. However, Zeus knew that Demeter was very protective of her daughter and would likely not agree to the marriage, since it would take Persephone away from her and to the Underworld. Zeus told Hades that he would have to catch Persephone unaware and take her to his kingdom by force.
One fine spring day, Persephone was out picking flowers with a group of nymphs and the other virgin Goddesses, Artemis and Athena. (In the versions where the marriage was consensual, this outing was actually the preparation for the wedding-Persephone's bachelorette party, so to speak.) Persephone wandered away from her companions, and when she leaned down to pick a narcissus, the earth opened up at her feet and Hades took her to the Underworld. The only witness to the abduction was Helios, God of the Sun.
Back in the meadow, the nymphs realized that Persephone has disappeared and ran to tell Demeter. Demeter started searching for her daughter, but she couldn't find her. Finally, she asked Helios if he had seen her, for she knew that could see all from his place in the sky. Helios told her that he had indeed seen Persephone, and that he had been taken by Hades to be his bride. He also told Demeter that it was Zeus who had given Persephone to Hades and had told him to take her by force.
In grief and anger, Demeter hid herself away from the Gods and, after wandering the world as an old mortal woman, she took refuge in one of her temples. She had stopped doing her job as Goddess of the Earth-all across the world, plants withered and died. This caught the attention of the other Gods, because the mortals could no longer offer them gifts and sacrifices. Zeus sent Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, to persuade Demeter to return to Mount Olympus and her duties, but Demeter refused. One by one, the other Gods went to her, offering gifts and favors, but Demeter would listen to no one, saying that she would remain there until she saw her daughter.
Zeus sent Hermes, messenger of the Gods, to the Underworld to ask Hades to release Persephone. Persephone had been well-treated in the Underworld, acknowledged as its Queen, but she still wanted to go back to her mother. Before she left, Hades gave her the seeds of a pomegranate to eat (the "rape" versions say he tricked her into eating them, and the "consensual" versions say she ate them on purpose). The pomegranate seeds complicated matters, since anyone who had eaten the food of the Underworld would not be able to leave it. Hermes, who was not only a messenger but the God of cunning and contracts, negotiated a deal between Hades and Demeter where Persephone would spend a portion of the year with each of them. This explains the seasons of the year, with spring beginning when Persephone returns to the world above and everything begins to grow, and autumn beginning when she return to the Underworld and her mother grieves for her absence.
Persephone's name, which means "to bring death," is also seen as PERSEPHONEIA, PERSEPHASSA, PHERSEPHASSA, PHERSEPHATTA, and PHERREPHATTA. Epithets associated with her include:
PERSEPHONE AGAUE (noble)
PERSEPHONE AZESIA (one who is sought)
PERSEPHONE BRIMO (terrifying)
PERSEPHONE DAEIRA (knowing one)
PERSEPHONE DEOINE (daughter of Demeter)
PERSEPHONE DESPOINA (mistress)
PERSEPHONE ELEUSINIA (from Eleusis)
PERSEPHONE EPAINE (awesome)
PERSEPHONE HAGNE (pure)
PERSEPHONE HERKYNA (of the stone enclosure)
PERSEPHONE KALLISPHYROS (trim-ankled)
PERSEPHONE KARPOPHORUS (bringer of fruit)
PERSEPHONE KHTHONIA (of the earth)
PERSEPHONE LEPTYNIS (destroyer)
PERSEPHONE MEGALA THEA (great Goddess)
PERSEPHONE MELITODES (sweet as honey)
PERSEPHONE PRAXIDIKE (exacter of justice)
PERSEPHONE PROTOGONE (first-born)
PERSEPHONE SOTEIRA (savior)
PERSEPHONE THESMIA (of the laws)
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MANASA is the Hindu Goddess of snakes and poison. She is the sister of Vasuki, King of the snakes, and daughter of Shiva. Shiva accidentally fathered her when some of his semen landed on a statue of a girl that had been carved by Vasuki's mother. When Shiva found out that Manasa was his daughter, he took her home with him, but his wife Chandi took an instant dislike to her. They quarreled back and forth (Chandi even burnt out one of Manasa's eyes), until finally Shiva had to make her leave their home. She married the sage Jaratkaru, but even then Chandi was not finished with her. She advised Manasa to wear snakes on her wedding night, and then threw a frog into the room. The snakes went crazy, and Jaratkaru ran away in fright. He did eventually return, but the damage was done. Manasa was not a happy Goddess.
Despairing that she did not have enough worshippers, Manasa worked to increase her following. One man in particular, Chand Sadagar, refused to worship her. He was a devotee of Shiva and Chandi, and would not turn away from them to Manasa. Manasa vowed to make him pay for his disrespect, and sent her serpents to kill Chand's sons. She ruined his businesses and left him in despair. Finally, at the urging of his wife, Chand offered Manasa a flower, although he did not look at her as he did so. Manasa accepted this token, and restored Chand's sons and fortune to him.
Manasa is always depicted with snakes, usually cobras. Her name means "intention", and she is also known as VISHAHARA (remover of poison).
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THE MINOAN RELIGION FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON GODDESSES AND HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A "MATRIARCHAL" RELIGION. IN ANCIENT TIMES, THE ONLY PEOPLE ALLOWED TO DIVINE THE FUTURE OR TO ACT AS SEERS WERE WOMEN. FURTHERMORE, STATUES OF PRIESTESSES IN MINOAN CULTURE SHOW DEPICT MEN AND WOMEN PARTICIPATING IN THE SAME SPORTS SUCH AS BULL-LEAPING LEADING TO THE BELIEF THAT THAT MEN AND WOMEN HELD EQUAL SOCIAL STATUS. INHERITANCE WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN MATRILINEAL.
THE "MINOAN SNAKE GODDESS" DOMINATED CRETE, YET NONE OF US KNOW HER NAME. SHE WAS A MOTHER GODDESS, THAT MUCH WE KNOW. SOME SAY SHE WAS A FERTILITY DEITY WHILE OTHERS BELIEVE THAT SHE WAS A HIGH GODDESS AND PRIESTESS, A POWERFUL SORCERESS. SHE WEARS A LONG, FLOUNCED SKIRT AND BARES HER ROUND BREASTS PROUDLY. ON HER HEAD IS A SACRED CAT; IN HER HANDS WRITHE TWO SNAKES. HER AMPLE HIPS ACCENTUATE HER FERTILITY AND HER STARING EYES HINT THAT SHE MAY BE IN A TRANCE. HENCE, IT IS BELIEVED THAT SHE REPRESENTS A FEMALE ORACLE SINCE SNAKES ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE MAGIC POWERS. THUS, THE SNAKE GODDESS REPRESENTS THE FEMININE MYSTERIES AND HOLDS ALL THE MAGICAL POWERS OF THE SERPENT.
Her 3600 year old figure was discovered in the temple of Knossos on the island of Crete. It is dated to before the eruption of Thera, which destroyed the temple. She holds a snake in each uplifted hand, and from Her appearance, it is obvious that She is presiding over an important ceremony. She is truly magnificent.
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