Demeter has been on my mind a lot lately. You know, the goddess of the harvest? But Demeter was more than the goddess of the harvest. She also presided over marriage, life and death, fertility. A bit of research reveals that she was really seen as Mother Earth -- "De" possibly deriving from the word for "earth" and the "meter" in her name meaning "mother." So while being divine, she was first and foremost a mother.
The Demeter myth I always loved most is the myth concerning her daughter, Persephone. Hades, the king of the Underworld, falls in love with Persephone, so he kidnaps her and whisks her away to his kingdom of the dead. Meanwhile, Demeter is heartbroken. She doesn't know where Persephone is, so she traipses all over the world looking for her. Because of her grief, she neglects to take care of the things that are in her power such as the growing of grain, production of fruits, basically all vegetative life itself. A huge draught covers the world and nothing grows. Famine threatens all mankind, so Zeus finally has to intercede. He knows Hades has Persephone, and he demands that she be returned her to her mother. Hades agrees as long as Persephone did not eat anything while in his home. Unfortunately, Persephone did eat something. She ate six pomegranate seeds. So a bargain is struck. For six months, Persephone could be with her mother. But, for six months, she had to stay with Hades in the Underworld.
This was the myth that helped the ancients explain the seasons. Spring and Summer were the months Persephone spent with her mother, and the results of Demeter's immense joy was the rich vibrancy when the earth flourished. Autumn and Winter were the months Persephone spent with Hades, and Demeter's grief was so great that nothing would grow.
That's the myth in a nutshell. There are more components to the story that encompass Demeter's travels while looking for Persephone. But this was the part that keeps circulating in my head. And I never really grasped it... until now.
Rachel, my oldest daughter, left for France this week to study abroad in Paris. We have been planning this for years, actually. She went to Paris with her French class in high school, and ever since then, she knew she wanted to go back. One of her best friends is there with her, and we all know that this will be a life altering experience.
What I didn't expect is how my heart and soul would react to her absence.
She is a junior in college, so I have grown use to not having her here at home all the time. But her college is less than an hour away, so we still see her often enough. This last week has been full of little good byes to friends as they went back to college and co-workers at her shop where she worked. We have run errands for last minutes "must haves." And we have laughed and shivered with excitement and cried with separation anxiety. And then the reality hit us both as we had our last goodbye at JFK, and I watched her go through security. That was it... From that moment on, she is on her own.
And the grief that fills my deepest core mirrors the cold, hard, snowy landscape outside my window. I have no urge to do anything - to read, knit, play cello, cook... I just want to curl up in a fetal position and cry.
I finally understand Demeter.
But after I give in to my emotionally illogical side, I sit up, pull myself together, and remember that Paris is no where near Hades!
And not all separations are negative. And she is suppose to grow up and away. And this is all part of Rachel the girl becoming Rachel the woman. And we raised her for such a time as this. And she was never meant to stay home, with us, forever.
Rachel has a term of endearment for me. I am a bit of a tree-hugger, and she has always been surrounded by various environmental experiences. Such as the time I tried red worm composting under the kitchen sink. Or my current endeavor with bee keeping. We have flowers beds, herb and vegetable gardens everywhere. We have had pet hamsters, mice, rats, fish, birds, rabbits as well as our loving dogs. So in her studies of French, she has lovingly dubbed me Mere la Terre.
Mother Earth.
Now I feel I have finally earned that name.
But boy, am I glad my emotional state does not affect the weather...
Although, we have had record breaking cold temps all week. And it did snow last night for the first time this month...
Hmmmmm.......
The Demeter myth I always loved most is the myth concerning her daughter, Persephone. Hades, the king of the Underworld, falls in love with Persephone, so he kidnaps her and whisks her away to his kingdom of the dead. Meanwhile, Demeter is heartbroken. She doesn't know where Persephone is, so she traipses all over the world looking for her. Because of her grief, she neglects to take care of the things that are in her power such as the growing of grain, production of fruits, basically all vegetative life itself. A huge draught covers the world and nothing grows. Famine threatens all mankind, so Zeus finally has to intercede. He knows Hades has Persephone, and he demands that she be returned her to her mother. Hades agrees as long as Persephone did not eat anything while in his home. Unfortunately, Persephone did eat something. She ate six pomegranate seeds. So a bargain is struck. For six months, Persephone could be with her mother. But, for six months, she had to stay with Hades in the Underworld.
This was the myth that helped the ancients explain the seasons. Spring and Summer were the months Persephone spent with her mother, and the results of Demeter's immense joy was the rich vibrancy when the earth flourished. Autumn and Winter were the months Persephone spent with Hades, and Demeter's grief was so great that nothing would grow.
That's the myth in a nutshell. There are more components to the story that encompass Demeter's travels while looking for Persephone. But this was the part that keeps circulating in my head. And I never really grasped it... until now.
Rachel, my oldest daughter, left for France this week to study abroad in Paris. We have been planning this for years, actually. She went to Paris with her French class in high school, and ever since then, she knew she wanted to go back. One of her best friends is there with her, and we all know that this will be a life altering experience.
What I didn't expect is how my heart and soul would react to her absence.
She is a junior in college, so I have grown use to not having her here at home all the time. But her college is less than an hour away, so we still see her often enough. This last week has been full of little good byes to friends as they went back to college and co-workers at her shop where she worked. We have run errands for last minutes "must haves." And we have laughed and shivered with excitement and cried with separation anxiety. And then the reality hit us both as we had our last goodbye at JFK, and I watched her go through security. That was it... From that moment on, she is on her own.
And the grief that fills my deepest core mirrors the cold, hard, snowy landscape outside my window. I have no urge to do anything - to read, knit, play cello, cook... I just want to curl up in a fetal position and cry.
I finally understand Demeter.
But after I give in to my emotionally illogical side, I sit up, pull myself together, and remember that Paris is no where near Hades!
And not all separations are negative. And she is suppose to grow up and away. And this is all part of Rachel the girl becoming Rachel the woman. And we raised her for such a time as this. And she was never meant to stay home, with us, forever.
Rachel has a term of endearment for me. I am a bit of a tree-hugger, and she has always been surrounded by various environmental experiences. Such as the time I tried red worm composting under the kitchen sink. Or my current endeavor with bee keeping. We have flowers beds, herb and vegetable gardens everywhere. We have had pet hamsters, mice, rats, fish, birds, rabbits as well as our loving dogs. So in her studies of French, she has lovingly dubbed me Mere la Terre.
Mother Earth.
Now I feel I have finally earned that name.
But boy, am I glad my emotional state does not affect the weather...
Although, we have had record breaking cold temps all week. And it did snow last night for the first time this month...
Hmmmmm.......
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