DEMETER: GODDESS OF AGRICULTURE AND FIERCE MOTHER Demeter, the Greek goddess of Grain, Abundance and Fertility, is a goddess of harvest and transformation. She was the mother of all on Earth, and of one, precious daughter, Persephone. When Persephone was raped, kidnapped and taken to the Underworld by Hades, Demeter refused to allow anything on Earth to grow until she got her back. The famine that followed nearly destroyed all life. Zeus, King of the Gods, was forced to intervene in the struggle between Hades, the King of the Underworld, and Demeter, Earth Goddess, for the life of Persephone. Ultimately, Zeus had to restore Persephone to Demeter for the spring, summer and fall months of every year. She was required to return to the Underworld, however, every winter. Demeter blessed the world again when Persephone was with her. She withheld her blessing when she was absent. This is why Earth turns cold and seems dead in winter. However, people learned that this seeming death was only illusion. Experience taught them that abundance and prosperity would return with Persephone in the spring. This belief gave them hope. The story of Demeter and Persephone gave rise to the great Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece. These secret, sacred rites explored the mystery of the cycle of birth, life, death and resurrection, as shown in the life of Demeter and Persephone. The central image of these rites was said to be an ear of corn, symbolizing that cycle. The seed, buried in the ground, grows into a flourishing plant, and yields much corn. The corn is harvested and consumed. The plant dies. But some seeds remain. These will be planted, and at the appointed time, will grow again. Stories of death and resurrection are found in the great myths of many cultures. They are found in the tales of Isis and Osiris, Tammuz and Ishtar, Venus and Adonis, and even of Jesus Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary. The god or goddess who must die to provide life, abundance and resurrection for the people, has been part of the unbroken psychic memory of the human race for thousands of years. |