Technically it was yesterday the sun went into Aries, but we celebrate at Neskaya today.\u00a0 Mythologically, this is the day Persephone returns from the underworld.\u00a0 The story is that Hades, God of the Underworld, saw her and pulled her down into his kingdom, to be his wife.\u00a0 Persephone\u2019s mother, Demeter, the Earth Goddess, went into mourning and nothing would grow on the earth.\u00a0 Human beings became distressed because crops wouldn\u2019t grow.\u00a0 They called on Zeus, King of the Gods, and he made his brother, Hades, give her back.\u00a0 But Persephone had eaten six seeds of a pomegranate, so she must still spend six months every year in the Underworld.\u00a0 When she goes down, Demeter grieves, and plants stop growing.\u00a0 It is autumn.\u00a0 When she comes back, Demeter rejoices and we have spring.\u00a0 One version of the myth tells us that when Persephone goes down, she is Kore, the Maiden, but when she returns she is Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.\u00a0 A stay in the Underworld raises one to a new level of consciousness.\u00a0 An older version of the myth says that Persephone went down to the Underworld by conscious choice, somewhat like Inanna \u201ccasting her ear to the Great Below.\u201d When Inanna goes down, she must give up all her powers, symbolized by her crown, scepter, etc.\u00a0 Her return is engineered by her faithful assistant Ninshubur, who goes to the gods for help.\u00a0 Inanna returns, taking her power back and we assume that she also is wiser and more conscious after her stay in the Underworld.<\/p>\n
I know a lot about sojourns in the Underworld, courtesy of depression rooted in PTSD.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know that I\u2019m any wiser, but I\u2019m certainly more conscious and compassionate.\u00a0 I\u2019m more appreciative of little daily joys \u2014 like sitting here on this couch, companioned by fire and a beloved dog, looking out at a stony patio with the woods behind, watching the bluejays and the chickadees come & go \u2014 and being comfortable and relaxed, not feeling terrified or depressed.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t get upset about things that used to upset me, although I can still get triggered.\u00a0 Even when triggered, I\u2019m a lot more resilient.\u00a0 After spending time in hell, most things that people worry about look pretty trivial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Technically it was yesterday the sun went into Aries, but we celebrate at Neskaya today.\u00a0 Mythologically, this is the day Persephone returns from the underworld.\u00a0 The story is that Hades, God of the Underworld, saw her and pulled her down … Continue reading