On a Goddess kick. We are going to talk about the pre-patriarchal story of Persephone and Demeter. In this tale Persephone goes by the name of Cora, which means maiden. Demeter is another way of saying Earth-Mother. In the most well known version of this myth. Cora is dragged down into the underworld against her will by Hades. Demeter practically dies of grief looking for her and that is why there are the Winter months. In the lesser known story, Cora willingly descends into the underworld to anoint and receive the newly deceased souls. “I am Cora, I have come to be your light. You have shed your earthly bodies and now live in the world of the dead. Come forth and I will issue you into the new land.” She squeezed a few pomegranate seeds and lets the red juice mark their foreheads. Cora stood on the rock in…

“From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below. From the Great Above the goddess opened her ear to the Great Below. From the Great Above Inanna opened her ear to the Great Below. My Lady abandoned heaven and earth to descend to the underworld. Inanna abandoned heaven and earth to descend to the underworld. She abandoned her office of holy priestess to descend into the underworld.” Translation by Wolkstein and Noah-Kramer. The powerful Sumerian myth of Inanna. The goddess that willing submits herself to seven gates of the underworld, to be reborn as queen of both heaven and earth. I think about this often, she went through seven difficult gates, each subjected her to more fear and humiliation. She did not think she was going to survive. But she did! She was helped by those that she did not think would help her and forgotten about…

I was thinking that I would like to represent the essence of this time of year with a symbol. The next thing I knew, was an open book on my lap and The Goddess Lilith looking at me. She made it pretty clear that she was up for the job. She is a Sumero-Babylonian Goddess. The divine lady, often represented with the lower half of her body encompassed in flames. She is a wild, winged seer, full of hutzpah. She governs the birth, death and re-birth cycles, the transformation of energy. An owl is her attendant, she brings us the message… cast off the parts of the self that suppress and stand up to reclaim your power. Men, Women and all who occupy the gender spectrum, can relate to her strength and forceful nature. Reference- Genia Pauli Haddon’s book, Uniting Sex Self and Spirit

Have you ever wondered why the main figure in most fairytales do exactly what they were told not to do? “Don’t stray from the path” Red riding hood’s mother cautions her, then she directly gets lured off the path by some delectable berries. I always thought that I would do as I was told if I were her, because it would cause a lot less trouble for everyone. But when I reflect on my life’s decisions, I did not do what I was told and I made a lot of trouble and a lot of mess for myself and plenty of others. It is not wise to do what we are told, it is wise to break out and make mistakes. That is where the growth and the transformation happens. That is how we get to know ourselves. We learn how to make repairs and know our own inner voices.…