Introducing Persephone
“Kore! Kore!”
Demeter’s voice rang out across the valley as she searched for her daughter, who at that precise moment was watching a smooth-skinned, green frog. Its lithe limbs moved balletically as it leapt from stepping stone to stepping stone across the small creek that trickled down towards the wide blue lake at the far end of the valley. A small delighted smile graced Kore’s face as she gazed, wrapt, at this small green marvel. Hop. Squat. Hop. Squat. Its occasional croak, Kore’s giggling response and her mother’s distant calls were the only sounds to be heard in that small corner of paradise.
It didn’t take much to elicit this level of wonder in Kore. A rainbow that broke through the charcoal grey storm clouds. A pure white feather caught up in a soft zephyr, dancing through the warm summer air. A small piece of quartz tumbled smooth by the constant movement of the water…
Kore’s world was one of perpetual magic. She only saw the beautiful, the light, the harmonious aspects of life. From all else she was protected by her mother, Demeter. Together they lived in this valley, and to Kore at least, it felt like they would always live there, just the two of them. That one day would follow the next and the next and the next, and that each day would be just as filled with music and love and laughter and sparkles as the ones preceding it.
While not a disobedient girl, she didn’t respond to her mother’s calls. In fact, she barely even registered that her name was echoing throughout the valley. The call was not urgent because Demeter knew that there was no harm that could come to her daughter here. Everything was safe in this quiet valley: the perfect place to preserve the innocence of the young and the peace of mind of the mother.
And perhaps it was this unspoken yet absolute trust that things would stay the same that left them so vulnerable to the hurt that was to follow. The implicit trust that change was something that happened to other people in other places, and that it did not belong in this soft green valley with its constant summer, was an intrinsic part of the darkness that befell those two beautiful goddesses.
Having lost the frog somewhere in amongst the reeds that lined the far-side of the creek, Kore skipped across the stepping stones herself, humming a little tune that had come to her across the breeze. The long reeds brushed her calves as she wove her way past them to the other side. And as she stepped from the dry warmth of the last stone to the lush grass that tickled her skin, she felt something stir deep within.
A tiny butterfly of doubt, a flutter of fear, and yet as Kore looked around she saw nothing that would cause such unknown new emotions. Nevertheless, tiny prickles of anxiety stole across her quickening heart as she moved, more tentatively now, further away from the bank of the creek, further away from the last echo of her mother’s call.
All this week, I’m going to be sharing excerpts from the goddess stories contained within the pages of Virgins & Lovers: Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Goddess. Today, I want you to meet Persephone, the first of our virgin goddesses.
Her story is one which is deeply embedded in feminine consciousness as it explores that necessary transition towards independence. She recalls the occasion of our sexual initiation, our own personal ‘fall from innocence’. And she speaks to us of the redemption that can be found in the dark, labyrinthine corridors of the Underworld.
If you are interested in reading the rest of Persephone’s Story, and exploring your own connection to her myth through journalling, visualisation and creative exercise, then you may wish to check out Virgins & Lovers. It is my deepest wish that my work supports you on your journey towards trusting your own inner wisdom – and I believe Virgins & Lovers will help you do just that.
