Once upon a time…..
Long ago,
But also, right now….
Once upon a time…..
Long ago,
But also, right now….
Demeter has toiled long and hard all the warmer months. The grain is in, the fruit are ripe, the larder is full. The slaughter and hunt is not her territory – let the human’s play at god’s to fill their store with meat they so needlessly desire. She is tired, she is weary, she is spent.
The Goddess of grain and abundance is sleeping. We can feel her stirring in her sleep, each turn of her body pushing up shoots, each sigh creating the springtime winds and breezes, the palpable change in the energy all around us. Her dreaming creates the excitement in the animals and birds. They can hear her storytelling, sense her creativity, and wish to sing her visions into reality. She stirs, but it is not quite time.
The weight of grief is creeping over her. She knows the joy of her daughter’s presence will soon be lost to them. She tries not to be bitter, but sometimes she feels the lines around her mouth stiffen, as her teeth clench. It is the order of things, they tell her, but no one ever understands her pain.
The time draws close.
In the underworld a Goddess is getting restless. She has been here amongst the souls of the dead for a while now. It felt natural to come here as her mother, and the Earth, fell barren. But now her mother’s dreaming brings to her the songs of the living, and she is wishing to return to the light and the life of the Earthly plane.
Persephone’s skin itches. It’s like her bones are twitching, her muscles aching. She has enjoyed the time in the light, curating the progress of the plants and flowers, but now her eyes long for the more sombre atmosphere of the underworld. It has been this way for so long, and she can see that her mother needs her rest. It is time for her to join the King, time for her to join the dead.
In the Underworld a King sighs knowing that his Queen must leave soon. Hades understands that Persephone must return when her mother Demeter awakes. It is now the natural flow of things. It wasn’t always like this. Once Persephone had been here against her will, and he wished to keep her here always. He hadn’t bargained for Demeter’s distress, or Hekate helping her. He sighs as he remembers Hermes coming to warn him of his brother, Zeus’s, irritation. Demeter had stopped the food from growing in her grief. She had allowed the fruit trees to fall barren. In her rage at the loss of her daughter, she had sworn to starve the humans until the other gods helped her to secure Persephone’s return. “She knew what she was doing,” thinks Hades, “as Zeus is so vain, and in their plight the humans had stopped worshipping the gods. Why would they, when they were letting them starve?” So Zeus had sent Hermes, he slighter foot, faster flight, to come and see what could be done.
Hades had tried to make it look like he cared. He was naïve enough to think he could force her to be happy. But the rights of a woman, cannot, and must not, be taken against their will, and she did not stay willingly. She refused to share the food and drink of the underworld, wishing for the light above and her mother by her side. She pined. Finally, he coaxed her into just a little meal of just a few pomegranate seeds. He hoped it had been enough.
He waits. The dead are not good company to him. Summer has felt long. He does not yearn for the Earthly plain, but he does so miss his Queen. The throne next to his is cold and dark, and brings him no comfort, no conversation and no counsel. He can sense the season’s change, the energy slowing. What is keeping her?
Negotiations with Hermes had begun in vain. In the end it was agreed that although Persephone had eaten the food of the dead, it was only a few seeds of the sacred pomegranate, and so a bargain was made. Persephone would return to the land of the living for part of the earthly year and returned to the underworld for the same number of months as seeds she had consumed. This is how the seasons were born.
Persephone is now the willing queen of the underworld for the winter months. The coolness of the air, the soulful eyes of the dead, are pleasant to her now. She knows her mother is safe, sleeping her distress away. The trees, the crops, the animals all know the signs now, that the Goddess of abundance and growth is retiring. The gentle sadness whispering across the land as the time draws close, changing the leaves from green to golden and sending the insects deep into the soil for warmth. The toad and the bat retreat into sleep, and the songs of the birds become plaintive. When this happens, a shift for Persephone into the calm quiet of the darkness of the underworld feels quite natural.
Now, though, she can feel the energy change. Soon her mother will awake! She can feel the energy coursing through her veins. The birdsong is joyful again as they search for partners and territory. The Earth above her is warming, shoots sprouting, and the insects are stretching their wings. Hades is also ready to see the light of Hekate’s torches as she comes to lead Persephone back to her mother’s side. Formidable Hekate. Hades would never cross her, for he knows that should she wish, she can command the souls of the dead. Her presence already far older than his. She will be here soon to lead his Queen away. He’s used to it now. She’ll be back.
He watches for Hekate’s torches, but they never seem to come. He grows ever impatient, but deep down he knows it is not time. The sounds of the leaves falling has not been calling long, the winds are often still gentle breezes, and the Sun can still be warm. However, he smiles to himself when he thinks of the rain- the rain sings the story of the coming winter. She won’t be long.
Hekate is looking out of her cave, enjoying all around her. She smiles as the birds tumble past, sees that her snowdrops have spent the last of their beauty, and hears her friend Demeter sigh as she stirs. It is soon. She lights her torches and begins the decent…
Hekate is looking out of her cave. She sees her friend’s sadness, and the silent rage engulfing her. Demeter will not let the plants thrive while her daughter is below. She does not get to see Persephone and Hade’s reunion and know in her heart that her daughter is a sort of content. It is the natural order of things now, and it is time for her to sleep away the sorrow, and dream of the joy of the Spring ahead.
Hekate lights Her torches and waits for Persephone to join her…….