rcb30872
Princess of Pentacles ~ Spring ~
Persephone
Zeus was enamoured with Demeter, but the goddess repulsed his advances. He changed himself into a bull and violated her, and from the union was born Kore, also called Persephone. One day Kore was gathering flowers in the fields of Nysa with her companions when she suddenly noticed a narcissus of striking beauty. She ran to pick it up, but as she bent down to do so the earth gaped open and Hades appeared. He seized her and dragged her with hm down into the depths of the earth. Inconsolable at the loss of her daughter, Demeter retired to her temple at Eleusis. There 'she prepared for mankind a cruel terrible year: the earth refused to give forth any crop. Then would the entire human race have perished of cruel, biting hunger if Zeus had not been concerned.' She stated flatly tha she would not permit the earth to bear fruit unless she saw her daughter again. Zeus commanded Hermes to descend into the kingdom of Hades and obtain Hades' promise to return young Kore - who since her arrival in the underworld had taken the name Persephone - to her mother. Hades complied with the will of Zeus, but before sending his wife up to earth tempted her to eat a few pomegranate seeds. As a compromise Zeus decided that Persephone should live iwth her huband for one-third of the year and pass the other two-thirds with her mother. Demeter agreed with the proposal. She set aside her anger and bade the soil again be fertile. Hidden in the bowels of the ground the seeds slept their winter sleep. It was the moment when Persephone went to join her husband among the deep shadows. But when the sweet-scented spring came the earth put on its mantle a thousand flowers to greet the return of Kore, who rose in radiance, 'a wondrous sight for gods and men.'
Persephone
Zeus was enamoured with Demeter, but the goddess repulsed his advances. He changed himself into a bull and violated her, and from the union was born Kore, also called Persephone. One day Kore was gathering flowers in the fields of Nysa with her companions when she suddenly noticed a narcissus of striking beauty. She ran to pick it up, but as she bent down to do so the earth gaped open and Hades appeared. He seized her and dragged her with hm down into the depths of the earth. Inconsolable at the loss of her daughter, Demeter retired to her temple at Eleusis. There 'she prepared for mankind a cruel terrible year: the earth refused to give forth any crop. Then would the entire human race have perished of cruel, biting hunger if Zeus had not been concerned.' She stated flatly tha she would not permit the earth to bear fruit unless she saw her daughter again. Zeus commanded Hermes to descend into the kingdom of Hades and obtain Hades' promise to return young Kore - who since her arrival in the underworld had taken the name Persephone - to her mother. Hades complied with the will of Zeus, but before sending his wife up to earth tempted her to eat a few pomegranate seeds. As a compromise Zeus decided that Persephone should live iwth her huband for one-third of the year and pass the other two-thirds with her mother. Demeter agreed with the proposal. She set aside her anger and bade the soil again be fertile. Hidden in the bowels of the ground the seeds slept their winter sleep. It was the moment when Persephone went to join her husband among the deep shadows. But when the sweet-scented spring came the earth put on its mantle a thousand flowers to greet the return of Kore, who rose in radiance, 'a wondrous sight for gods and men.'
