Hi,
And thank you so much for joining me today for our story time and moment of reflection.
I wrote today's story based on inspiration from Greek mythology with the characters of Demeter and Persephone.
The goddess Demeter is known as the goddess of harvest,
Of bringing things to life,
And Persephone is her daughter.
In this story,
We see moments of love,
Of loss,
And then of renewal and rebirth.
After our story time,
Then we'll take time to reflect on some of the themes that come forward from not only this Greek mythology,
But also the story that I present to you now.
I hope you enjoy it.
Persephone walked along the trail of flowers near her home.
Her mother Demeter was always warning her not to go too far away.
Being a goddess,
Demeter was always trying to tell Persephone what to do.
Persephone was growing up and didn't particularly feel like listening to everything her mom told her.
It just so happened that Persephone was also the daughter of Zeus and was prone to stubbornness like her dad.
Zeus lived on the hill above them far off.
The hill being Mount Olympus,
Of course.
Her parents only got together a couple of times a year because they both had so much fire that their love often turned to anger when they were around each other for too long.
Over the years,
Persephone,
When her parents fought,
Had learned to turn herself into a flower in the garden so as to disappear.
Sometimes she turned into a sunflower,
Sometimes a poppy.
But most times,
Persephone chose to transform herself into a primrose,
Delicate yet strong.
Zeus had a younger brother,
Hades.
Because of Hades' inclination to be the bad boy of the family,
He was sent to rule the underworld.
Zeus was always in the limelight,
Always on his high horse of a throne,
And Hades was jealous of him.
No matter what Zeus had,
He wanted it too.
For years,
Hades watched from afar the movements of Persephone.
He watched how she grew up and how she radiated beauty wherever she went.
Hades had not been able to have any children of his own.
Hades imagined that the underworld,
Being so dim,
Dingy,
And dark,
Would become a lighter,
Brighter place to live in if Persephone were there.
That's when Hades devised a plan.
The farther Persephone roamed from home,
The less control Demeter exerted on her.
Because Hades could read the roots of all the trees and flowers in the underworld,
He always knew when Persephone changed forms.
Her roots as a flower glowed a silver-white light that Hades could see.
He kept this secret to himself.
Now on the day following Persephone's sixteenth birthday,
Hades followed her and waited.
Demeter had been moody that day and wasn't paying attention to her daughter.
Persephone,
Wanting to distance herself from her mother's mood,
Wandered farther from home than normal.
She knew she would feel better if she grounded herself,
And so she turned into her favorite primrose flower.
At that moment,
Hades plucked Persephone from the earth by her roots,
Dragging her underground.
As Hades passed through the doorway of the underworld with the primrose flower in his hand,
The flower turned back into Persephone.
She cried when she saw Hades.
Hades tried to calm Persephone.
The last thing he needed in the underworld was more sadness.
He assured Persephone that he would care for her,
But nothing calmed her.
The only thing Persephone could think of was her mother,
And the grief of missing her loomed all around Persephone.
Hades brought food to Persephone.
Food always made him feel better.
However,
Persephone recalled her mom's words,
Never let food from the underworld cross your lips,
Or there you will remain.
Now above ground,
Demeter was distraught.
She could find no sign of her daughter,
And for months she grieved.
Her grief was so deep that the crops began to die,
And all the trees began to lose their leaves,
Until a cold,
Dark winter set in.
One day,
In her grief,
There was a brief moment of respite.
A light glimmered in her mind,
An idea.
Demeter went immediately to Zeus and told him of Persephone's disappearance.
He said he would scour heaven and earth to find her.
All the while,
The longer Persephone remained in the shadow of Hades and his underworld,
The more her memory faded.
And with that,
So faded her mother's words of caution.
Until one day Hades brought her a pomegranate,
Sweet and juicy.
Having completely forgotten at this point,
Persephone ate not one,
Not two,
But six pomegranate seeds.
Upon eating the sixth seed,
She remembered her mother's words and began to weep.
At that same moment,
Zeus banged upon his brother's door.
Hades let him in and smiled.
You're too late,
Brother,
Hades said pleased with himself at finally having bested his older brother.
Zeus saw that Persephone was weeping and knew what had happened.
He held her,
Listened to her story,
And then Zeus decided he needed to make a bargain with Hades or there would be great trouble above ground.
Zeus warned Hades that if a bargain was not struck,
Everything above ground would die from sadness and starvation because of Demeter's grief.
They both agreed that each seed would represent one month,
Six seeds,
Six months.
Persephone would spend six months with Demeter above ground and six months with Hades in the underworld.
Persephone returned that day with Zeus and was grateful to be reunited with her mom.
With Persephone's return,
Demeter's heart sprung open in joy.
The snow and ice began to melt,
Spring came,
Flowers bloomed,
And crops grew again.
This is why,
Even to this day as fall approaches,
Demeter remembers that Persephone has to go back to Hades.
As her mood shifts,
The leaves of all the trees turn brown,
Fall off,
And cold returns reminding us of nature's cycles of love,
Loss,
And rebirth.
The End If we use this story from Greek mythology as a metaphor,
As a metaphor for life and the seasons that we experience throughout our entire lives,
Not only do we experience these seasons of love,
Loss,
And rebirth in our physical body,
But we also experience these same cycles throughout our lives in different areas of career,
Of love,
Friendship,
And relationships,
Of our spiritual growth.
Persephone and Demeter give us this metaphor of how to find balance between those moments of the growth of spring,
The joys of summer,
The loss of fall,
And the darkness of winter.
And as we reflect on these themes for our own lives,
Let's take this time now just to engage with the energy that comes forward for where you're at in your own life.
I'll move us into a couple of questions and then moments of silence to reflect on what comes up for you,
Honoring your life as it is in this moment now,
Not as something that's measured as good or bad.
In the moments of reflection of the questions that I'll ask,
You can either move into a quiet meditative space or,
If you find it more helpful,
You can also get pen and paper and journal your answers if that works better for you.
Either option is a wonderful choice.
Let's first reflect on the aspect of your life and what season you're in when it comes to either job,
Career,
Your field of work,
However you internalize this statement.
What season does it feel like you're in when it comes to this area of your life?
Does it feel like spring,
Where new things are blooming?
Summer,
Where you're putting into action those things that have sprung up?
Fall,
Where you're letting go of things that don't serve you?
Or winter,
Where you're completely going into the void so that you can discern a new path for yourself?
Take this moment of silence now to reflect and honor your path of where you're at now.
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale.
What does your heart share with you now?
And breathe in deeply,
And exhale fully.
Now I'll have you take this next moment of silence to reflect on the season of life that you're in when it comes to the theme around relationship,
Love,
Friendships,
Partnerships.
Reflecting on if it feels like spring,
Summer,
Fall,
Or winter.
And reminding ourselves again as we reflect in silence,
Either listening or through journaling,
No judgment,
Simply honoring where we're at when it comes to this area of our lives around love and relationships.
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale.
Allow yourself this time to hear what your heart shares with you.
Taking a deep breath in,
Inhaling from your feet all the way to the top of your head,
And exhaling.
Exhaling all the breath out of your lungs,
Fully and completely.
And now let's reflect on this aspect of your life.
Spiritual formation,
Or your soul's journey,
However you connect with your spiritual path.
What season of life is the cycle of your spiritual growth currently?
Remembering that it can be like spring,
Where new seeds of thought and connection with your soul have been planted and are beginning to grow.
Or does it feel like summer,
Where those seeds have already begun to grow and you're spending time delighting in the growing flowers of your soul growth?
Or does it feel like fall,
Where in your spiritual growth you're able to shed those things that you no longer connect with,
Only to allow space for new things to come?
Or does it feel like more the darkness of wintertime,
Where we can experience a void of loss of connection with our soul self,
And although this might not be true,
It feels that way to us at times?
Again,
Take this moment of silence to hear your heart and listen to what your body,
Mind,
And soul share with you about what season you're experiencing in your own personal and spiritual growth.
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale.
What does your heart share with you now?
And take a deep breath in,
And exhale.
Know that these moments of reflection help us see where we've come from,
Where we are now.
Honor the cycles in your life,
Know that they are normal.
Thank you so much for joining me,
Not only for our story of Persephone and Demeter,
But also taking the time to listen to your heart,
To your mind,
To your soul.
I wish you an amazing day.
Namaste.
