Explorations in Edited by Human Spirituality Akbar Husain Publish by Global Vision Publishing House
The Persephone Paradigm Today Madeline Nold
Prototype of the Myth The myth of the Greek Goddess, Persephone, can be seen as a paradigm for healing and regeneration. One has to symbolically die to be reborn. The Persephone paradigm can be likened to the two sides of a coin: you cannot have one side without the other: life without death, death without life. The Persephone paradigm pertains to the tale of this goddess. According to legend, she was ravished by the god Hades and abducted into his mythological underworld, where she was thought to be dead. Her mother, Demeter, mourned the loss, and in so doing, suffered as though she were in the netherworld as well. Mourning as an Archetypal Tool for Healing Now, let us look into the paradigm of Demeter”s mourning period and her subsequent release from its grasp: Legend holds that long ago in ancient Greece, there was a mother Demeter, who mourned so strongly for her daughter, Persephone, that she sat on a rock and would not move. Some say that the rock covered a deep well, closing off the waters of the well from daylight. Deep inside the earth, Persephone lay with her husband, Hades, Lord of the underworld.
Madeline Nold has taught her own personal transformation workshops at the Esalen Institute, Interface, New York Open Center, and other Human Potential institutes. At present, she is Director, Creative Action Associates 172 Explorations in Human Spirituality
Persephone was an unwilling bride, having been suddenly abducted while playing in her beautiful garden, and taken away from the light of day for a portion of every year. The grieving mother was so solemn, so unrelenting in her lamentations, that nothing could move her from her despair. Nothing, until eventually, another woman, a comely figure who was almost crone-like in appearance, arrived at the rock upon which this grieving mother goddess resided. The older woman irreverently told ribald stories and randy jokes to the inconsolable goddess. The crone even performed an obscene dance and the daughterless mother laughed. Psychologically, Demeter was jolted from her depression by these antics. According to the fanciful account given above, Demeter had forgotten the joy of living. An older goddess, known as Iambe, or Baubo, resurrected Demeter’s sense of humor. As a cosmic dancer, or comic crone, Baubo also can be seen as having revived the Demeter’s memory of her own sexuality. It is as if the mourner, Demeter, had also given up part of her life force, as a result of the demise of her daughter, Persephone. according to this mythological account of goddesses, just as in our world, the pain of protracted grief exacerbates the loss. For Demeter, remaining in such a severe continuous state of grief over the loss of Persephone, the mother is depicted as being seated on the rock of her sorrow, which was known as “the laughterless rock.” The mockery of the dance of Baubo, eventually drew the mother out of her protracted state of grief and reversed Demeter’s sinking feelings of hopelessness, leading to amusement which distracted her from her suffering. This was an ancient Greek version of what we today call a paradigm shift. It also provided a source of healing and recovery for the mother. In the myth, Persephone dies, but is eventually reborn, again and again, in cycles. The “Persephone paradigm refers to death and rebirth in this context, a theme that is well-known to the world of mythology. Death/ Rebirth also has many symbolic meanings, and it suggests a promise of hope. The Persephone Paradigm Today 173
As mentioned earlier, the site of Demeter’s protracted mourningfor her daughter, Persephone, came to be known as the laughterless rock, her altar to sorrow. However, once having witnessed the obscene antics of Baubo/Iambe, the laughterless rock was no longer a source of consolation to the mother. The rock had closed off the well water from sunlight. It is as if the well, a passage to the underworld, had been sealed by her grieving. One might surmise that once she arose, the rock could be removed and the light of day might aid in restoring the abducted daughter to life. Once the laughterless rock no longer served its purpose, the daughter could then have the possibility of being revived. Sunlight filtered through darkness, the life force through deathlike unconsciousness, humor through fear. Eventually, due to an inventive form of healing, accomplished by the gifted comedian Baubo, Demeter was freed from her grief. She retrieved her daughter from the realm of death where Hades reigned as Persephone’s husband in the misty abyss beneath the earth. The myth was powerful and had its symbolic and ritual counterparts. According to ancient lore, Demeter’s intimate encounter with death empowered her to reign as the goddess of the Eleusinian mystery cult, through which she was thought to conduct symbolic death-rebirth experiences for those who chose to participate in that ritual. It was an initiation that mirrored the descent and return of Persephone. Although, the myth serves as an explanation for the seasonal cycles, especially winter and spring, mirroring Persephone’s journey, it also serves another vital purpose. It reminds those who feel trapped in an endless underworld of sorrow or unhappiness, that new life eventually soars forth with the promising breath of renewal. Persephone had been plucked from her garden and seemingly died, but sought to return to the land of the living where she once presided over her lush garden domain, lavishly bestowing abundance. In the myth, Persephone must periodically return to the world of Hades, but she is always born again and the life stream continues. 174 Explorations in Human Spirituality
The Persephone paradigm provides us with hope, and a heavy dose of reality. It celebrates life’s inevitable rhythms and the continual promise of its reproductive genius. Without life, there cannot be death and without the demise of valued aspects of life, conception of new life would have no polarity upon which to balance. Polarities exist within the embryonic beginnings of all that exists. Underneath the seemingly sterile soil below dwell the seeds of the garden of Persephone. The allure of the mythic descent has fascinated the mystic from time immemorial, from inscriptions recorded on cave walls to the abundance of literary history which we have inherited with great sacred and profane. The Persephone paradigm furnishes us with a simple structure for a journey to the fathomless depths of consciousness. Although, her own story was fairly simple, Persephone’s relationship to her mother, Demeter, was of a more humanlike and complex nature. Together, they were known as the “twin goddesses,” or the “dual goddess.” Whereas Demeter was prominent in earlier times and was most exalted during the time of the Eleusinian mysteries, her daughter Persephone became prominent in later times. Relevance of the Goddess’ Descent Motif Now, let us explore the descent of the goddess and the meanings that can be gleaned from examining excerpts from ancient texts, which are intermittently elucidated by modem theory. We shall begin our mythic journey into the conundrum of the Persephone Paradigm. Expounded in mythic fashion, the tale of the two goddesses which follows, invites us to share in their myth in a lyrical fashion. Stressing the motif of regeneration associated with the death of the goddess, we can see her as an alter-ego, or her story as a symbolic representation or allegory of restoration. Goddess myths often represent a symbolic descent into our unconscious world of impulses, desires, and repressed memories. Seen from this perspective, if gods and goddesses can die and be reborn, we, too, can reemerge from our sorrows in newer and unexpected ways. The Persephone Paradigm Today 175
Background to the KoreMotif and the Goddess’ role of the Reluctant Bride Persephone was a Kore, which in Greek means maiden, but not necessarily virgin. Persephone was an innocent Kore, pure of heart, half-child, half-woman. Persephone is an aspect of the primordial maiden, the archetypal Kore. She was the daughter of her mother’s unwilling liason with Poseidon. Both were associated with the reluctant bride theme, but Persephone’s abduction was known as a rape, whereas the other goddesses who carried this archetype were not always described with such a violent connotation. Persephone’s association with rape can be likened to the rape of the harvest, and with an enforced subjugation to an underground chamber of death, the realm of Hades. Persephone is completely passive. She was picking flowers when she was raped by the Lord of the Dead, notes an interpreter of the myth. It was determined from relics of the Persephone cult, that she was worshipped in the most serious manner as the Queen of the Dead, and that the rape of the bride was an allegory of death (Jung & Kerényi, 1963, pp. 108B109). It has been said that the rape and abduction of Persephone by Hades was a convenient mythological contrivance to serve as an explanation for the occurrence of the seasons. Attentive to the symbolic importance of Persephone as an archetypal figure, Jung and Kerényi comment, “Here, then is our Persephone: a creature standing unsubdued on a pinnacle of life and there meeting her fate, a fate that means death in fulfillment and dominion in death” (p. 109). She belongs to her husband, Hades, to whom she was given by Zeus. This symbolism is further elucidated by the analogy of the strange equation of marriage and death, the bridal chamber and the grave, where the brutal ravisher is the god of death himself (p. 129). Some versions of the story of the bridal rape offer similarities between Erinys/Demeter/Nemesis and Persephone, and describe them alternately as interchangeable, as one and the same entity, and 176 Explorations in Human Spirituality portray them as shape changers. In Arcadia Demeter”s cognomen, Erinys is the same as Nemesis. She, too, was pursued by a god Poseidon, whose name simply means that he became Demeter’s spouse (Jung & Kerényi, 1963, p. 122). The theme of the reluctant goddess, had its variation in Cipria. Here the bride, the original Kore, was called Nemesis; the bridegroom and seducer, Zeus (p. 122). The mother goddess is wroth because of the rape of her daughter and at the same time because of the marriage by rape which she herself had to undergo for the goddess experienced the rape in herself, as Kore, and not in a separate girl. The goddess becomes a mother, rages and grieves over the Kore who was ravished in her own being, the Kore whom she immediately recovers, and in whom she gives birth to herself again. The idea of the original Mother- Daughter goddess, at root a single entity, is at the same time the idea of rebirth (p. 123). Nemesis wreaks havoc with her rage, and remains vengeful as does her daughter, in contrast to the Demeter/Persephone figure. As distraught mother, Nemesis is filled with rage, as opposed to Demeter’s demeanor, which was characterized by her legendary deep well of grief. Yet, Nemesis was also associated with Demeter as an interchangeable figure. Shape Changing Device of Goddesses Ultimately, according to any manner in which she is portrayed, and under the guise of any name, the goddess as Persephone, can be seen as an agent of transformation. She even magically changes the shape. The healing principle with which she is associated, which assures the continuance of rebirths from descent into the darkness of the underworld, suggests shape changing of a metaphorical nature. We shall encounter her in her mythical mode, manifesting her transformative power. The legendary shape-changing capacity of goddesses such as Demeter, Artemis, and others, introduce theoretical ramifications that transcend the seemingly simple stories which the myths provide. It has been noted that, regeneration and renewal is the most The Persephone Paradigm Today 177 outstanding theme, for, the goddesses were mainly life creators and noted for their Atransformative character. Life on earth is in eternal transformation, in constant and rhythmic change between creation and destruction, birth and death triple functional deities that recall these moon phases (new, waxing, and old): maiden, nymph, and crone (Gimbutas, 1989, p. 316). Characteristic of goddesses as “shape changers,” is that their stories of personal revival mirror the resuscitation of the harvest. The fertility theme extends from goddesses, to crops, to humans, so that the earth’s procreation appears to imitate the goddess’s phases of rebirth. Functions of the Great Goddess as life-giving, death-wielding, agent of regeneration and renewal are important (p. 316). Shape-changing goddesses can change humans into animals. They also have powers over human and animal sexuality and fertility (p. 210). Demeter as “shape changer, fleeing from Poseidon, changed herself into a mare, [then] splitting it up (the laughterless rock) into Nectar and Ambrosia” (de Santillana & von Dechend, 1969, pp. 189, 426). Demeter separated the food of the gods, splitting it up into a liquid and a solid part, into Ambrosia and Nectar (p. 259). One can say that shape changing, apart from providing entertaining imagery and having its roots in early shamanistic traditions, serves a broader metaphorical purpose. One can say that Baubo was a “shape changer” when she awakened Demeter from the somber darkness of her protracted grief. We can even suppose that the existence of a double goddess, a unified dual goddess, and a goddess portrayed as two separate entities, is a kaleidoscopic example of her “shape changing” capacities. The Two Goddesses as One and as Separate There is a proverbial saying, roughly translated from the ancient Hindu texts of the Upanishads, that says, “We seem to be two but we are really one”. The same can be said of Persephone and Demeter. Such mother/daughter fused identities seemed to have been acceptable, to some extent, in these early myths. However, such psychological enmeshment can hinder the healthy operation of 178 Explorations in Human Spirituality two individuated psyches, when the mythical metaphor is translated into the mundane human realm. The myth represents a symbolic venture into the psyche, not a literal picture of reality. According to the mythic form of daughter juxtaposed with mother, symbolically, it appears as if Persephone with mother represents life, and that Persephone with her husband is portrayed as death. “The seeds of the one are planted in the other. Mother and daughter form a living unity in a borderline situation a natural unit which, equally naturally, carries within it the seeds of its own destruction” (Jung & Kerényi, 1963, p. 107). Although, Demeter usually receives the credit for her regenerative powers through her fame as the goddess of the Eleusinian mysteries, it was when wearing the mask of her alter-ego, Persephone, that she rejuvenated the earth. It was in the persona of Persephone that the real mysteries of death and rebirth took place. Demeter was associated with Persephone, as the double goddess beyond the perimeters of Eleusis. “In Syracuse, at the shrine of Demeter and Persephone, men took the great oath clad in the purple robe of the goddess with her burning torch in their hands. This was the garb of the mystagogos, master of the initiation” (Jung & Kerényi, 1963, p. 138, citing Plutarch). In Agrai, the initiation was held in honor of Persephone, the underworldly Persephone, Queen of the Dead, to whom the road of this initiation led (p. 139, citing Hippolytus). As tree goddess and represented by the double axe, a symbol for the twin goddesses, Demeter was worshipped both as herself and as a Kore. She was also identified with poppies, a plant like those which emerged with the seasonal rebirth of Persephone, and whose significance will be given some attention when we consider the rites at Eleusis with greater detail. The Exit Taboo Intrinsic to mythic symbolism concerning mythic identification of mother and daughter, are the circumstances in which the daughter is extricated from the underworld. This we shall term alternately as The Persephone Paradigm Today 179 exit phenomena, exit laws and taboos. Often, these myths present a taboo which is broken when the subject, the god or goddess, is about to be released from the underworld. Unforeseen consequences that portend a future return to the neither regions for hero or heroine abound in these myths. The prisoner escapes but only on conditional terms. The theme of following the boundaries set by forces in the underworld (the personal unconscious and abiding by the exit taboo from the mythological underworld), pervades mythology. As a prime example, Orpheus was told not to look back over his shoulder as he was leaving Hades, when he was on the brink of rescuing Euridice. Consequently, he lost her forever. Cajoled and tricked by her husband, Hades, who wanted to keep Persephone away from her mother, Demeter, Persephone ate a honey sweet pomegranate. The consequence that Hades devised for her, was that she had to spend a portion of every year with him. This result also produced the origin myth for the existence of the seasonal cycles of growth, decay, and refertilization of the crops. Demeter eventually succeeded in retrieving her daughter from the grip of Hades. However, when mother and daughter were reunited, there remained some bitterness, for the mother never quite succeeded in getting her daughter back again, for she continued to lose her on a seasonal basis. Abrogating the taboo to refrain from eating while in Hades’ lair, becomes the mythic explanation for Persephone’s punitive sentence to return periodically to the world of the dead. The taboo, itself, might have been related to the dearth of food on the land above, so that with sacred mimicry, the goddess could not eat if the populace starved in her absence. There are many references at Eleusis to the grain, the pig, and the ear of corn, signals that Persephone has returned. When Persephone periodically descends to her underground abode, winter ensues and the crops are barren. When she returns once more to the land of the living, the crops are resurrected and new life flourishes. 180 Explorations in Human Spirituality
Another version of the tale describes Demeter, who lost in her grief for the death of Persephone, absently ate a shoulder blade believing it to be mutton. The gods brought the child back to life. But a shoulder blade was missing and it was replaced by ivory, for the mother was faced with the penalty of having to return with an artificial shoulder (de Santillana & von Dechend, 1969, p. 280). Perhaps, they have their roots in the human unconscious and a primal fear of bodily loss, as well as the issues of fusion with and separation from another’s body. Because goddess myths can sometimes provide mirror images of human tragedies, Demeter’s loss of a part of herself and her eventual retrieval of that Kore aspect of herself in the persona of Persephone, can offer hints at human loss and regeneration. Near fatal exit motifs appear in these myths, which represent the symbolic departures from the realm of the unconscious to the awakening of the conscious mind. They are pregnant with symbolism of loss and of rebirth, of unwitting errors and basic fears. In most instances, a regenerative mother goddess figure rescues her lost counterpart. The Mourning Goddess A major archetypal theme in this myth is the grief of Demeter, when Persephone is first buried underground. Demeter is characterized in the Homeric hymn and in Greek art as mourning the loss of her daughter (Jung & Kerényi, p. 113, citing seated statue at Cnidos, Collignon), and in Homer’s hymn, describing [the] divine mother’s pain and grief. At the same time, it has been said that “she heard Persephone’s cries, and that psychologically, her daughter was crying out to be claimed, allowed to grow and ultimately to be expressed” (Woodman, 1985, p. 185). Grieving and mourning a loss are attributes of undergoing the deathlike experience. One descends into the depths of sorrow, rage, helplessness. One can experience feelings of doom and even depression. Grieving the loss can connect the mourner with a sense of his or her own mortality and resurrect the person’s balance and harmony with oneself in life. Allowing the grieving process to flow The Persephone Paradigm Today 181 naturally, can hasten the resolution of suffering derived from the effects of having descended into the underworld of emotions and despair. One modern author observes: Mourning is a way of consciously integrating the fact that circumstances have changed; what was, is no longer, and it is not possible to have things as they once were. As a ritual, mourning assists necessary changes for development throughout life. The death and mourning have a purpose of allowing regeneration in the relationship. The strength of the goddess lies in the capacity to give up that which is most precious, in order to ensure growth and regeneration; transformation can only take place when old attitudes and values give way to new ones, she feels the deepest emotions and does not restrict her mourning. (Qualls-Corbett, 1988, pp. 64-65) When someone, even an anthropomorphized goddess figure, loses someone to death, and there was a close relationship with that person, that mourner faces her or his own mortality, as part of the grieving process. When Persephone appeared to have died and gone underground, we may imagine that Demeter faced confrontation with death as a reality. She also needed to face another side of life, that of joy and laughter, rather than remaining in her profound state of mourning without respite. Demeter and the laughterless rock, as well as the act of shape changing, can be seen as a metaphor for the transformative power of laughter. In the context of goddess symbolism, the paradigm shift from sadness to joy, the transformation itself, can be seen in the context of shape changing. The goddess need not change herself from a woman to a deer to a lion, as some have done according to myth, but the psychological shift can be seen as a form of internal shape changing, a metamorphosis of awareness. When people are sad, hurt, angry, or paralyzed by emotional pain, they are often metaphorically seated upon their own laughterless rock. Whether drowning in the cave of one”s own underworld of sorrows, or perhaps blaming others for a real or supposed abduction into the netherworld of grief, there may seem to be no exit from this static state of woe. It is tempting to paraphrase and 182 Explorations in Human Spirituality recontextualize an often repeated adage, transposing it into, “Hades hath no mirth,” with relation to our dual goddess. The Demeter-Kore Figure and the Rites at Eleusis Because goddess myths can sometimes provide mirror images of human tragedies, Demeter’s loss of a part of herself and her eventual retrieval of that Kore aspect of herself in the persona of Persephone, can offer hints at human loss and regeneration. Prepared by her own ordeal, Demeter, as the chief goddess at Eleusis in whose name the ceremonies of death/rebirth were conducted, was thought to guide the initiates through the labyrinth of their own fears and their personal confrontations with mortality. She was represented there, in the guise of her temporal priestesses, who prepared the initiates for the secret ritual mimicry of descent into the underworld. They were to confront the demons of their own unconscious, perhaps deeply buried fears. If they descended into the metaphorical underworld of the unconscious, assisted by Demeter’s priestesses, they also experienced the boon of revival due to the rituals conducted by these priestesses. They emerged from the mystery rites with the guidance of the divine Mother”s earthly female clergy, who represented the goddess in her Kore aspect, as the life affirming Persephone of their rebirth. As a key to the mysteries at Eleusis it is important to note that Eleusis means Advent, pointing to the circumstance that Demeter arrived there (de Santillana & von Dechend, 1969, p. 425). It marked the arrival of the goddess and her twin, as well as the advent of transformation for the initiate, admitted into a new life, a new form of awareness, through the circumstances he underwent while the temple priestesses guided him in their secret ceremonies. Perhaps there was a sacred dance performed by the female ecclesiastics at Eleusis, a performance, both provocative and jovial, at the same time. Like Baubo’s obscene dance, the theme of a sacred dance performed with a wild abandon is not unfamiliar in sacred literature. The Biblical Salome’s dance of the seven veils exists in Western religious tradition, probably a vestige of its forebearers in the goddess The Persephone Paradigm Today 183 cultures. Near Eastern belly dancing might also echo earlier mystery rites where temple priestesses presided. Implications of the Eleusinian Mysteries The underworldly aspects of the Eleusinian mysteries have been termed an Eleusinian riddle (Jung & Kerényi, 1963, p. 182), There are many hints which have been left, however, and certain facets of the shrouded ceremonies were known. The rites at Eleusis were kept secret, although theories have been reconstructed from the study of visual relics, such as pictures on vases and other museum art, fragments from writers of that time, and deductive reasoning based on knowledge of similar cults. According to a theory there was a hallucinogenic ritual libation offered for the initiates to drink. Ergot, derived from a grain mold, and associated with hallucinogenic properties has been used in these rites. By inference, plants that would induce psychedelic experiences may have been part of the infusions that were imbibed with relation to the double goddess. If a consciousness altering substance was used, it probably would have been administered to the initiates, so as to create an open sensitivity or receptiveness to the death/rebirth process. In certain cultures, a botanical hallucinogenic libation can be an integral part of the shamanistic journey. It is a ubiquitous spiritual practice, and may have contributed to the secrecy surrounding the mystery rites of the dual goddess. The Mystique of the Grieving Goddess The archetype of a female in mourning is a powerful image. Aside from Demeter’s mourning for Persephone, the theme of the grieving goddess is a familiar mythological construct. Some mythophyles may be attracted to the idea of a languishing female figure. Depending upon the audience for these tales, the image may elicit sympathy, empathy, or admiration for the goddess’s loyalty to the object of her grief. The goddess who pines for her lost loved one, may be appealing to some who find themselves wanting to rescue her, much like the mythological figures who usually arrive at 184 Explorations in Human Spirituality the side of these goddesses to save them. It may remind some of their own losses, and thereby provide vicarious entertainment, a reaction of recognition and even a degree of solace. The potency of the message and its healing value are never ignored. Persephone, faced her nemesis, Hades, with considerable reluctance. After mourning the loss of Persephone, Demeter assisted in her daughter’s retrieval from Hades’ realm. Also noteworthy is the appearance of crops, as signified by the garden motif, when the goddess descends and ascends from beneath the earth. Persephone was abducted from her garden and then returned. Fertility goddesses restore life from the stagnation of the netherworlds, and the Persephone paradigm applies especially to these powerful female images. These goddess images can assist their audiences in finding their own truths, in resurrecting a core knowledge of their own personal mythologies. It has been said that, as the completing element, it is the feminine nature which leads one to the Self (Qualls-Corbett, 1988, p. 151). The theme of regeneration and sex are often linked. Light Bearers in the Dark: Japanese and Greek The therapeutic message of the goddesses’s tales for our own modern personal mythology is to find a way to lighten up, even when enveloped in the depths of sorrow. The myth of the divine dancer releasing the mourning goddess from her self-imposed lair was echoed in the Japanese myth of Uzumue the comic dancer, and Amaterasu, the sun-goddess. Demeter sat on a rock, and Amaterasu, her Japanese counterpart, retreated into a cave. Both goddesses were emotionally withdrawn, contracted, rather than expansively open to resolving their tragic situations. The notoriously obscene and jovial dance released each one of these female divinities. Their cultures were far apart; however, their refertilizing, revivifying motifs of the sacred dance were alike. The Persephone paradigm of release from suffering and renewed vitality prevailed in these sister myths. The Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu, “was harmed by her brother, Susanowo, which caused the Sun-lady to withdraw in anger into a cave (and) the world was plunged into darkness (de Santillana & von Dechend” 1969, p. 169). The Persephone Paradigm Today 185
Another theme which appears here as elsewhere is that of the goddess as light-bearer, represented by torches which are carried in ritual processions. It has been noted that light-bringing is no doubt an essential part of the goddess’s nature and [the torch] also plays an important part in the Demeter and Persephone cult. One torch, two torches held by the same goddess, three torches in a row, or the crossed torch with four lights, all these occur as attributes of both Demeter and Persephone (Gimbutas, 1982, p. 159; Jung & Kerényi, 1963, p. 111). Healing Effects of Crones, Shapeshifters and Mythical Witches Sacred comedians, in various myths, represented by female deities such as Uzumue and Baubo/Iambe, restore laughter to the woeful ambiance of certain goddesses, such as Demeter. Ironically, are generally described as old or ugly, while at the same time they revive youthful joy to their audience. These mythical mischievous dancing females serve the function of healer to the goddess. Yet, the point about the restorative power of humor was lost to the interpretations of later, more sober, if not lugubrious critics of this crone like goddess figure. Such crone like figures, rather than retaining their original healing characteristics, were perverted into the image of a witch, which was deemed negative by the medieval Church. Their shape-changing capacities were talents that were sorely misunderstood and deemed pernicious by later Christians who associated mythical witches with human women, whom they both feared and then persecuted. Ancient regenerative goddesses, those like Nemesis, who symbolized the polar aspect of destroying the old so as to be reborn anew, were twisted into a fearful image in subsequent folk and church traditions. According to one source, “the images and activities of witches described in inquisition times, are still full of reminiscences of actual characteristics of the Goddess. The ancient Killer-Regeneratrix [is known] not as a formidable goddess but as a witch; her original is but a loathsome caricature thanks to the enormous energies spent by missionaries and inquisitors to fight this powerful goddess “ 186 Explorations in Human Spirituality
(Gimbutas, 1982, p. 210). Missionary zeal directed at defaming the goddess figure occurred extensively. In Mexico, for instance, Tlacolteutl, like earth and fertility goddesses everywhere, has many aspects of a witch. In essence, witches represented the transformative and resuscitative powers of nature in their original capacities, but their later images, sadly, brought a form of deep fear out of hiding. The proverbial witch can be seen as a projection of fears of the psyche, perhaps akin to the classic mother-ogress image, which Carl Jung often cited. This image refers to the mother, who potentially could swallow up the child, as might be a primal terror of baby at the breast of a mother. Furthermore, goddess turned witch may be a projected fear of the temple priestess as ogress devouring the frightened male during an initiation ceremony. Either way, we are touching the depths of the unconscious with both its attraction and repulsion, exemplified by the goddess’ familiarity with the regions of the underworld, from which she bears her offspring. In terms of personal mythology, the child may sometimes fear the seemingly all-powerful mother, and in our society, often powerful women are feared and demeaned, or simply misunderstood. The mother-ogress archetype of earlier goddesses, and/or a primal fear of assertive women may engender a reaction of fear and retaliation. Role Reversal: The Enmeshment of the Sacred Son and Divine Mother The twin goddess theme of Demeter/Persephone has its male counterparts in mythology, where the theme of the symbolic symbiosis manifests in the form of mother/son fusion. The theme of mother/son entanglements is often represented by relationships between mature goddesses and their sons and/or youthful male lovers. The goddess herself is eternal, yet the son-lover is slain or sacrificed to be resurrected. In ancient Mesopotamia, Inanna’s young love was the shepherd Dumuzi, who was sacrificed to the netherworld for six months every year, as was Ishtar’s son-lover, Tammuz. “In Egypt, there were Isis and Osiris, in Lydia, Cybele and Attis. The theme is repeated as each young man meets an The Persephone Paradigm Today 187 untimely, cruel death, and eventually is brought to earth or life once again” (Qualls-Corbett, 1988, p. 59). In each instance, the goddess mourns and resurrects the male, who is seen as a fertility symbol, associated with the cycles of plant growth, decline and the arisen stalks of plants with the new season. The goddess is the grain, her lover and/or her son or brother, represents an aspect of the underworld. With her help, he is arisen anew. There is a possibility that the male initiate at Eleusis was instructed to view himself as son/lover to the divine goddess, either as Persephone’s husband or Demeter’s lover, and to ritually enact that aspect of the sacred union of god and goddess with the temple priestesses. He also may have been instructed to identify with Persephone as the personification of the grain harvest which was about to be fertilized. Because the descent of Persephone eventually became a cyclical occurrence, perhaps the male participant was enjoined to enroll new members to reenact these sacred rites for future performances of this mystery religion. The union of male and female was rendered sacred, and hopefully, the males did not fear the goddess as an ogress-figure, although in some rites that image might have been incorporated into the descent phase of the transformative process. The link between the sowing of grain and vanishing in the underworld, preparing for seasonal renewal is a vital mythological reminder of many of the messages we can cull from the Persephone paradigm. The Persephone myth can be used a tool for understanding the notion of falling back into the unconsciousness in one’s own personal mythology.Thus, the Persephone paradigm represents the female version of the mythical son-lover resurrection motif, reminiscent of the Egyptian Osiris, or the Sumerian Dumuzi. Those male figures die, only to be reborn again, through the ministrations of the Goddess figure. Inanna The Inanna myth is significant because whenever the descent/ rebirth theme is noted with regard to goddess myths and their 188 Explorations in Human Spirituality relevance to personal healing paradigms, Inanna is the archetype which is mentioned most often, along with the story of Demeter at Eleusis. The purpose of emphasizing the Persephone paradigm, which includes the story of the longing of her mother Demeter to be re-united with her daughter, highlights their relationship which fits into the mythical theme of the twin goddesses. The twin goddesses. are symbolized by the “double axe.” This symbol was used to highlight the phase of the return or ascent of the goddess, representing the healing and revivifying aspect of these myths as guidelines, in the mundane world, for personal mythology and therapeutic healing. After her marriage to the young shepherd, Dumuzi, who is sometimes described as a son/lover type of character in mythology, Inanna willingly chooses to descend into the underworld: Erishkigal, who is Inanna’s sister, loses her husband to death and is overcome with grief and anger as a response to mourning the loss. Inanna decides to face the dangers of the underworld, so as to support her sister, who rules that realm. Interpreters of this tale observe that “Inanna is Queen of Heaven and Earth, but she does not know the underworld. Until her ear opens to the Great Below, her understanding is necessarily limited. In Sumerian, the word for ear and wisdom is the same. The moment Inanna opens her ear to the Great Below, her journey begins” (Wolkstein & Kramer, 1983, p. 156). The metaphor for a personal mythological journey suggests that when we are open to listening to our own needs or to the needs of another with ear, or to our innate wisdom, healing or restoration can eventually occur. To do so, often feels as if it is fraught with danger, for fear of delving into feelings of sorrow can present as threatening, particularly for those who are unaccustomed to looking within the dark recesses of their own hidden feelings, much as Inanna’s descent into the underworld was a treacherous experience for her. Mythologically, the ear symbolizes the ear of corn, especially in the Persephone paradigm, for it represents the rebirth of the crops. In modern terms, metaphorically facing the unknown in the context of personal growth can foster renewal and a symbolic rebirth. The Persephone Paradigm Today 189
In the Inanna myth, Erishkigal, who rules the underworld, in a fit of rage kills Inanna, but later resurrects her, after a healing transformation has taken place. Inanna’s helper, who has also descended to the underworld, pleads with Erishkigal and listens to her underlying grief, after which Inanna is permitted to exit the lower realm. However, Erishkigal demands a substitute for Inanna to periodically replace the presence of Inanna, and she sends demons, called galla, to chase Inanna until she replaces herself with another. As a psychological metaphor, the tale can be interpreted that the emotionally disturbed sister wanted company, so as not to remain alone in her underground realm. She was healed by the ear that heard her sorrow. The healing can be said to have engendered a fresh need on her part, in the form of a demand for a companion to share her loneliness. Dimuzi, Inanna’s errant husband, is eventually sentenced to replace Inanna in the underworld, but his sister offers to spend half a year below, annually giving each of them a six month cycle, and offering the ancients an explanation for the cycles of alternatively abundant crops and a periodic dearth. These mythical characters can be seen as the symbolic aspects of each other, Dimuzi’s sister can represent his nurturing feminine side, his anima in Jungian terms. Inanna’s helper can represent the part of Inanna that was able to hear the pain of her sister, and her sister can also be seen as another aspect of herself. In symbolic terms, Dimuzi can represent Inanna’s alter-ego, or her animus in Jungian terms. He first appears as a young lover and companion but fails her by enjoying his freedom while Inanna is away facing the dark side of her unconscious, symbolized by the underworld. Inanna expresses her anger at him and preserves herself by sending him to face his metaphorical unconscious. In modern terms, she does not enable his misbehaviour by accepting it, instead saving herself and caring for her own needs. In mythological terms, she preserves the rhythm of the seasons with her substitution of her husband and then his sister for herself. When compared with the Persephone myth and that protagonist’s metaphorical sister tale of her mother Demeter’s underworld 190 Explorations in Human Spirituality ministrations at Eleusis, most of the leitmotifs are similar. Both stories contain themes of abduction, the appearance of the dark aspect of the male figure, and the cyclical birth and death of the crops which symbolically mirrors the descent and rebirth of the goddess. The goddess, in turn, can be seen as that aspect of ourselves when we face formidable challenges and then overcome them. In modern terms, she does not enable his misbehaviour by accepting it, instead saving herself and caring for her own needs. In mythological terms, she preserves the rhythm of the seasons with her substitution of her husband and then his sister for herself. The Buddhist Perspective: KwanYin and Tara Kwan Yin was supposedly born from the tear of the Buddha (according to some legends) as he wept for the suffering of humanity. She is often seen as the compassionate aspect of the Buddha. Tara is the Tibetan counterpart or cultural sister of Kwan Yin, whose attributes include restoring balance to disharmonious events. She is the more active image of the two. Combined, both goddesses suggest the assertive and sedate aspects of the feminine principle. Their archetype embodies the Buddhist principle of compassion and the pervasive goal of alleviating suffering, which is, not surprisingly, also a goal of modern psychotherapy, personal journeys and the quest for self-understanding. In that sense only, the Persephone Paradigm prevails as a distant cousin of the earlier Greek myth. It is as if the end result of the healing message of the Persephone Paradigm, as transmitted in these pages, is exemplified by the extended analogy of this Chinese goddess. One author suggests, If the Chinese goddess seems just a trifle too sedate, we could opt for her Tibetan counterpart and twin, the compassionate and slyly playful Tara (Blofeld, 1988, p. 13).1 There are some folk traditions in which both are worshipped side by side, for Tara is also seen as a bearer of good fortune and as a protectress from fear and harm. In either case, whether portrayed as Kwan Yin or Tara, this goddess figure is a powerful and venerated reminder that healing is possible. The Persephone Paradigm Today 191
Much as Demeter wept for Persephone, and Inanna initially showed compassion for Erishkigal, Kwan Yin’s compassion is global. If the Greek and Sumerian goddesses, who each had mythical counterparts in other locales as well, displayed empathy and sought to alleviate the sorrow of their relatives in their respective family psychodramas, the Buddhist perspective enlarges that theme. The message for all of us can be interpreted metaphorically. It suggests that Kwan Yin and Tara provide archetypes which can be interpreted to put our ears to the suffering of others, not only within a limited, localized family structure, as portrayed by the Persephone and Inanna prototypes. Family is everywhere. The Persephone Paradigm: A Mythic Context for Healing and Rejuvenation Myths are one means towards accessing revelatory principles from which we may want to draw in our own times of need. Retelling the story of Persephone and its applications to sacred ritual can draw us more deeply into the living plasma of the myth. The persephone paradigm is, in part, a tale of family entanglements. It is unique, partly due to the mother/daughter, twin goddess motif, and partly due to the clarity with which the lost woman motif is elucidated. Both mother and daughter were each lost, to each other, to the world, and their respective losses affected more than just their own lives. From a psychological point of view, they were enmeshed in an unhealthy way, the mother, over identifying with the daughter. Goddess myths serve their audience as reminders of the message of regeneration and rebirth exemplified through their storylines and symbolic value. Discovering similarities between one’s personal history and some of the divine dilemmas of goddesses and gods can release one from dwelling too long in the narrow prison cell of self-absorption. The story of persephone, and her mother, is not unlike family mysteries, the rituals of familiar patterns in our age. Mothers and daughters sometimes are too fused and need a healthy separation. 192 Explorations in Human Spirituality
Once individuated from each other, they can rejoice in a more symmetrical and balanced reunion. Before such a healthy separation of fused identities can take place, it can be said that each sometimes wears the mask or persona of the other, identifying with the same qualities as the other. Too often in families in which such an enmeshment still exists, the daughter takes on the mother’s pain by over identifying with the mother’s conflicts or traumas. She may act out the same myth or storyline of events that have plagued the mother. Neither of them heals, and this act of unwitting compassion on the part of the daughter only increases the suffering, because the suffering of neither is relieved. It is only multiplied from one, the mother, to two, the mother and daughter. In the persephone paradigm, the order was reversed, as it often is in modern families. The mother assumed the pain of the daughter. For some, this fused identity pattern can hamper a healthy relationship between the two, as well as hindering the individuation process. The drama of Persephone’s rape was an unwitting repetition of the earlier experience of Demeter, the unwilling bride syndrome. The mother had been penetrated by Poseidon, violated when she was impregnated with her daughter. In modern psychological terms, it could be said that the unhealthy family pattern reiterated itself, from mother to daughter, with the daughter acting out the mother’s pain. In the myth, the pattern itself was duplicated, apparently without the emotional entanglements of human families. Sometimes in modern families, an incestual triangle exists, in families in which the father, himself, or someone close to the family, has seduced or raped the daughter. The death of innocence can be likened to Persephone=s demise at the hands of Hades. The triad in the myth, is provided by the tension between Hades and Demeter, each competing for the presence of Persephone, is not unlike many incestual family triangles. These conflicts can resemble a sojourn in the metaphorical world of the descent imagery of the young goddess in her garden The Persephone Paradigm Today 193 or the mysterious mystical journey undergone by Eleusinian participants. Human suffering can be likened to undergoing a labyrinthine struggle in the mythological netherworld, which can then be brought to light for the purpose of resolution. The good news in the myth is that Persephone is revived. Sometimes, one must descend to the realms of the shadow land, so as to be reborn to the miracle of shifting perspectives and options for regeneration. However, at times, euphemistically, we first, let go over a cliff, die completely, and then come back to life (Zen saying). The rebirth is the gift of the goddess. The persephone paradigm, as represented yesterday and today, furnishes us with the invaluable reminder that we must learn to live with paradoxes and with faith in the inevitability of life’s cycles, constantly hinting at the promise of forever after, over and over again. And, after undergoing our own personal descents time after time, if we heed the inspiration of the mythological comic cosmic dancers, such as that of the goddess Baubo, we may find joy in self-expression and comedy, we may even learn to laugh.
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Wolkstein, D., & Kramer, S. N. (1983). Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her stories and hymns from Sumer. New York: Harper & Row. Woodman, M. (1985). The pregnant virgin: A process of psychological Transformation. Toronto: Inner City Books. ©Madeline Nold,Ph.D., Persephone Paradigm, Revised in 2009, Boston, MA. All Rights Reserved. First Appeared as chapter in Healing Tales, ed. Stanly Krippner, et al., 2008.