The Grove
Guy meets girl. He’s charmed by this innocent-seeming cutey, & as a result turns into a total caveman. He thumps her over the head with his club & drags her off to the cave, expecting her to be thrilled about a life of domestic servitude.
Everybody is at least roughly familiar with the story of Persephone.
Her father’s Zeus, the all-powerful king of the Olympian Gods. Her mother’s Demeter, the grain Goddess. To make a long story short, Hades, lord of the Underworld, fell in love with Persephone & abducted Her. Eventually she came to terms with her new living arrangements. Demeter, being the ultimate overprotective mother, was consumed by grief & decided to spread it around. No plant would grow & the earth suffered biter cold. Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to reason with his brother. However, before Persephone left the Underworld she ate 3 pomegranate seeds & by doing so bound herself to her husband’s realm. With Zeus arbitrating a compromise was reached. Nothing could be done to free her forever, so she would remain part of the year with Hades & part above ground with her mother. In the time she’s away, the earth would know the cold that comes from a mother’s sorrow. When Persephone returns in the spring, life would return once again & green things would flourish.
Most sources tend to agree that She was quite unhappy about Her forced marriage, but what if this wasn’t the case? What if She actively chose Her fate & ate of the pomegranate of Her own free will? Persophone is typically depicted as a young maiden poised on the brink of adulthood. The Wheel of the Year turns as it does, & at some point a girl will seek to cut herself free from her mother’s proverbial apron strings. This, too, is part of the Cycle.
It’s less about Hades abducting Her & more about Persephone finding Her own voice in the Darkness. What if She had begun longing for a way out? Hades provides Her with an opportunity, a means to get what She craved. Sure, it came in a form She might not have chosen for Herself, or at the least in an unexpected manner. Her apparent unhappiness w/ Her new life Underground might’ve just as easily come from being frightened of change at 1st. Her choice would’ve been quite confronting, as it is for anyone who actively seeks to take responsibility for himself.
Ultimately Persephone’s story is one of letting go. The New Year has begun at Samhain, so the time is right to embrace her lessons. Old ties that no longer serve, old habits that have become destructive. Let them fall away as the Wheel turns. As the world prepares to rest in November’s embrace, follow her down into the Underworld & learn to find your own voice Below as she did. Hers is also a lesson in balance. She’s kept the best aspects of her past & melded them with her present. In a place of the dead she learned about life & how to define her own identity. She is both Kore the Maiden & the mighty Queen of the Underworld. Half the year she spends with her husband in his kingdom & the other half is spent with her mother in hers. She manages to retain a sense of self & share what knowledge She’s gained. Each of us will face his or her own personal Underworld, a time of darkness & uncertainty. However, Persephone shows us a way through. She teaches us that it’s possible to go through the dark & come out the other side a little stronger than before.