The descent into the underworld isn’t just a myth—it’s a powerful metaphor for our own journeys of transformation. In this episode, we dive into the rich symbolism of Persephone and Demeter, exploring what it truly means to surrender to the cycles of death and rebirth. It’s in these moments of letting go that we often find the deepest wisdom, the kind that can only emerge from the darkness.
Whether you’re navigating personal challenges or seeking alignment in your spiritual path, the myth of Persephone holds timeless insights on the power of release and renewal. Let us guide you through the layers of this ancient story and how it reflects our modern experiences of growth, transformation, and empowerment.
We invite you to watch to the full episode or read the transcript below to discover how embracing the underworld can lead to profound clarity and strength.
Transcript
Hello. Welcome to our 15th episode of the Kairos Wisdom Keepers, the descent into the underworld with Persephone and Demeter. I’m Janet Raftis and I’m Ina Lukas, and today we’re going to talk about the archetypal energies of the goddesses Persephone and Demeter, and how their journey support us in embracing the wisdom of the Fall Equinox cycle.
Yeah. So if you’re not familiar with the myth of Persephone and Demeter, we’re gonna start right there. So this is a mother daughter combination here. Persephone was a maiden and Demeter was her mother. She’s known as Ceres in Roman tradition, after the goddess in the Greek tradition was fractured from the one great mother goddess into a variety of different archetypal energies. Demeter was the one who remained as the primary mother goddess, the goddess of grain and agriculture and the abundance of food supply. So she was a very important Goddess, and her daughter, Persephone, was a maiden. The way that the story goes, the one that we’ve mostly been taught. The more recent mythology is that Persephone and Demeter are out in the field one day, and they’re walking and they’re just having some mother daughter time, and Persephone wanders around, and she comes across some flowers, and she stops to, you know, grab one of the flowers and smell it. And as she does that, the ground opens up and Hades comes up from the underworld and snatches her, abducts her, takes her into the underworld and forces her to become his bride.
There are many variations of this story, so what I’m giving you is sort of, I’m giving you a distilled version that encompasses the variety of what you might hear in the underworld. Persephone is kind of trapped there, and up above Demeter is wondering where the hell Persephone went, and she is wandering around. She is bawling, losing her mind. She is so distraught that her daughter has disappeared as a mother would be, and she just travels around the world looking for her. She cannot find her. Finally, she comes across Hecate. Hecate takes it upon herself to help Demeter. And in all of this, Hecate learns that Helios, the sun god, has witnessed everything and knows what’s going on. And he tells her also that Zeus is aware of what is going on. Now, Zeus is Persephone, his father, but Zeus is Hades brother, but he’s totally fine with this. He’s like, whatevs right. So finally, Demeter, though, is like, she finds out from Hecate that these guys know, and she goes to Zeus, and she’s like, Dude,
I am about to shut the world down, right? And Zeus is like, whatevs again, like, doesn’t really care, so she does, and the world is everything starts to die as an expression of her grief, right? So everything that, all the agriculture, everything starts to die. Now this hits Zeus where it really hurts. Not so much because the mortals don’t have anything to eat, but because the mortals pray to Him for the food. So Zeus is losing some adulation here. It’s just when he decides to step in, and he comes down, and he strikes a bargain with Demeter that he will talk to Hades and see about her release. Now Hades, when he learns of this, he tricks Persephone, so if you eat anything in the underworld, you have to stay down there. Persephone has not eaten this whole time. Hades tricks her, gives her some pomegranate seeds. She eats six of them. So at this point now, Zeus is like upset, and he needs Hades to get on board with him. So he, um, tells Hades that he’s gonna have to let Persephone come up. And you know this and that happen. And then eventually Hades is like, she ate six POM.
Granite seeds. We’ll just do one for each month. She’ll stay down here for six months, and then she’ll go back up. So this is what happens. And in the spring, Persephone comes out of the underworld, and the world comes back to life when demeters grief is assuaged, so to speak. So the thing is, though, is that while she’s down there in the underworld, Persephone really claims her position as queen. She really steps into her sovereignty. She becomes a queen of the underworld, really holding that dark Goddess energy. So she’s got this maiden energy of the spring, and she’s got the dark Goddess energy of the underworld, right? So what’s the underworld? Well, the underworld, back in the day, was a part of the natural cycle. So people were born, they lived their lives, and they died, and when they died, they went into the underworld. And it was a time of regeneration. It was a time of preparing to be reborn, because they absolutely believed in ancient times that the soul came back in a different form. And so this was a really regenerative place. It was a healing place, and it was a big deal to be the queen of the underworld, because that was a really, like coveted position.
I mean, of course, Queen of the underworld, right?
But what’s really interesting, and I’ll keep this part short, is that in the original mythology, like before the patriarchy became really entrenched. So after the patriarchy has come arising before it gets entrenched. The story goes that Persephone and her mom are walking in the fields, and Persephone asked Demeter Mom, what happens when people die? And Demeter is like, well, you know, they go into the underworld. And she says, Well, who’s helping them? And demeanor says there’s not any, nobody’s helping them. And Persephone is like, well, that’s terrible. They should have some support down there. So I think I’m gonna go down there and do that. Right? So in the original story, she opts to become a psychopomp, which is an entity that helps people transition between worlds, or a person who does that, so she takes it on herself to step into this position right as the patriarchy rose. A lot of the mythology in the Greek area, anyway, in other areas of the Near East, there’s a lot of raping and killing and slaying of the goddesses as the gods come into their power. So this is why we see in the later mythology that Hades rapes Persephone. He abducts her. He rapes her. She still comes into her power, which says more about Persephone than Hades. In both you know, versions of these stories, she really does end up in a place of reigning in the underworld, really owning her power. This is a lot and the importance of this, the descent into the underworld, is that this is really about the wisdom of letting go, right? This is about the fall season. Is this energy of the wisdom of letting go, right? And Persephone really embraces this cycle, this time of release. You know, she’s willing to go into the underworld and to take care of all these souls, and she knows what it is to release now up on you know, on earth, Demeter goes through this lesson over and over again every year now she mourns the loss of her daughter and as a story that holds these archetypal energies as a mythology as a part of the collective consciousness. It is stories like these that instruct us as humans, that show us as humans, what is right and natural. And we have lost these stories.
We’ve lost this energy of the underworld. We’ve lost this capacity to be really connected to the cycles. And this story taught people like, oh, there’s loss. There’s a time when the plants die, there’s a time when the food sources wither. There is a time when we go into a state of rest and regeneration, and that is also a time of grief. It’s so powerful to hear you share that story and to really bring it into context of her rising in the spring equinox and going back into the underworld at the Fall Equinox, and that journey of empowerment in the underworld. And I love how she made the choice, you know, in the original story, to like be there as a guide for people when they are in that place of transitioning between worlds. And one thing that we love working with in Kairos is bringing in Archetypal Goddess energies and animal archetypes to support us during these seasons. So as you’re moving into fall and you know and how demeters Grief aligns with this fall cycle. You can call on, you know, these goddesses, Persephone and Demeter, to support you in your own journey into the underworld. You can bring their energies forth if you are wanting that support as you go in and this Maven.
Cycle really is. Nature is showing us how to let go. The trees are showing us that we can produce and be green and be beautiful all summer long. And then there is this natural senescence that is okay. It is part of the cycle of life to let go of that which we have so beautifully produced, to let go without attachment, to go into that dormant place, into that inward place that allows us to fully regenerate, because that’s the beauty of going into the underworld. And as we go from Maben into Samhain and and then into Yule, we right now are in the descent. We are halfway between the summer solstice and the winter solstice, which is the dawning of the light. And so we are in the descent of the days, getting shorter day by day, of the temperatures dropping of our bodies, biological systems going naturally, going into slowing down, you know, like a bear going into hibernation, where our metabolism is slower, where we’re ready to go inward. And this process of ending is more about having the stillness and the downtime to really process all that you’ve just expanded, grown, harvested, because if you just keep moving forward without integrating and digesting and reaping all the benefits of that which you have grown and harvested, then you’re in this constant, go, go, adrenal burnout, you know, modern day energy. And so there’s this beauty, like, when you really get that every cycle, when it comes to an end, that means that there is a beginning in store. And when a cycle comes to an end, it’s important to grieve what you’re losing, because it means that you deeply loved right. Anytime we’re feeling grief, it means that that sadness that we’re feeling inside is the loss of something that we deeply, deeply loved. And so with the grief comes this immense gratitude and appreciation for this person, this life, this you know, this chapter of your life, this season you know of summer and and the beauty and the fun and the outward expression and all the great celebrations of summertime, I expanded so much, and in that expansion, I’m just gonna savor it. I’m gonna savor it as I go into winter. I’m gonna let it digest in my body, in my mind, and I’m gonna now turn that into fertile soil that becomes the Yule cycle, and then, once again, there’s rebirth in the spring. Yeah, and I love that you brought in that idea of digestion. And one of the things too about this cycle is like it really is. It’s that time of like, deep integration, because everything slows down, right? So there are less daylight hours, there is more darkness, there’s more Moon energy. And so we’re more apt to be able to slide into trance, states into channeling, states into connection, states, right? Because when you go into, you know, quote, unquote hibernation.
Certainly, our hibernation is very different than a bear’s hibernation, or even than it was, you know, not that long ago, during the winter months, in areas where there was winter, during those winter months, you didn’t really go outside a whole lot, right? I mean, there really was more of that contained being in the den energy, and which is kind of like underworld energy, right? So there’s a cave, like womb, like energy to that, and Persephone. So much of what I love about her in this archetypal energy that we can access is she goes into the underworld and she claims her powers as a queen. Some of her powers as a queen are the powers of the psychopomp. They’re the powers of the highly psychic, intuitive woman, right? And this is the time the veils are thinner, especially as we get into Samhain and Yule, but as we descend, we are leaving behind the hustle and bustle that kind of closes us off from receiving a lot of intuitive hits, right? That’s not to say like people are psychic, year round, psychic, a psychic, a psychic. And also, though, the more spaciousness you have in your life, the slower things are, the more you allow for the settling down and the stillness, the more you’re going to get from source. You’re just going to be more open. There’s going to be less crowding in in your body and in your mind, that really allows for that to come through. And the moon, we know, is associated with intuition, there is literally more Moon time, right? More night time that is allowing us to where the moon is.
Visible where the moon is more prominent, right? It that connection, that energy of like being in lunacy, which is in, you know, ecstatic communion with the moon. That’s where that word actually came from.
Lunatics. Here we are, full blown lunatics.
Yeah, it’s like, it’s such a beautiful experience like that is Akina was saying, like each cycle has its wisdom, and the wisdom of these fall and winter cycles, a part of it is the wisdom of being way more in touch with yourself if you allow it, if you take this opportunity, this invitation to slow down, to open up, and to really allow spirit to speak and flow through you. So much juiciness here, so many of you may be feeling sadness. You may be feeling grief at this time of year. You may be feeling the sadness of the loss of summer or that knowing that, oh gosh, now we’re going into the depth of winter, and the key to really working with the cycles is the full embrace of them. So allowing yourself to feel grief like this is a time where it’s okay to let the tears flow. It’s always okay to let the tears flow, and this time of year, nature really supports you in that, in in the grieving, we’re coming into an eclipse portal here too. Like there’s a lot, there’s a lot in the energy that we’re working through now. And so the more that you can surrender into it. And even Persephone in her journey. It’s like she went into the underworld and there was this surrendering into her power as queen. And that’s the beauty. You surrender into your power. You don’t like charge into it and grab it, right? It’s not like external to you. Your power is inside of you, and when you’re pushing against it.
That’s when life becomes very bumpy, but when you surrender into this beautiful knowing, and that’s part of the integration process, I’m going to get quiet, I’m going to slow down, and I’m going to feel this power that has built in me after another trip around the sun, you know, after another season of summer. Now I’m like, at a whole new level of power. And what does this power feel like? How is it wanting to rise in me? How is it wanting to rest in Me? How is it wanting to be brought forth in me? Yeah, and I’m just thinking, as you were saying, that archetypal energies are just so powerful, and we have so many of them that can really, you know, as you start to drop in, you can really tune into so here we are. We’re in Libra season. Libra is an archetypal energy as well. And Libra starts with the fall equinox, the day of balance. Libra is the scales. Libra is the balance. But with that day of total balance, we dip into the descent. Right then we get to, you know, scorpio’s energy when we get into salad, yeah, right. And it’s like, full on underworld energy, like you are in, right? In the best of ways, in the best of ways. And there’s a lot of variation to this, right? We get into Sagittarius when you’re into, like, exploration. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out traveling the world. It just means that you’re allowing your mind to go places like Sagittarius likes to travel the multiverse, you know? And so that’s and that’s a great thing to do during the winter or at any time, really.
But when we get into, when we get into the spring equinox, when when Persephone rises, that’s the energy of the maiden as well. And the maiden is, like, spontaneous and intuitive, and she’s out there, and she’s doing her stuff, and she’s, you know, conquering the world in this really authentic, intuitive way. It’s also the season of Aries, right? Like, Aries is what is initiated in that spring equinox. And there is, like, you know, just saying, like, now is not the time to conquer the world in the spring, okay, you’ve got the main and you’ve got Aries, you’ve got, like, bows and arrows, you’re good to go now. It’s like, it’s like, slow down, yeah. And it’s important to remember that we’re being impacted by multiple different cycles at once. So we are living in a seasonal cycle depending on where you are in the planet and where you are, how close you are to the equator and how deeply the days and temperatures shift. There’s lunar cycles that are impacting us every month and menstrual cycles, but there’s also you on your own internal cycles. So depending on when you’re born, too every year, you go through all the planets in your own cycle. So just also honoring that for some people, your uptime of ideas and inspiration may be winter and it’s all okay. It’s all okay.
Right? It’s like noticing when you really start embodying the understanding of spring, summer, winter, fall, you know all the the rebirth and the death, then you can notice where you are in your own personal cycle, so that you can embrace the descent into the underworld, so that you can surrender into it. And then you become more recharged year round, because you’re nourishing yourself as you’re going in. Yeah, and that’s such an important piece, right? Is that you know, as long as you recognize what your winter is, what your fallow time is, what your underworld time is, and we get it every month too. So even in the height of summer, we have the dark days of the moon right before the new moon, and that is the fallow time that corresponded, historically to women’s bleeding time. So that was the time that women really did have to slow down, which we don’t do anymore, right? But at the time, women would retreat at that moment, and I’ll say too when working with the astrological chart, the astrology we use was invented in the northern hemisphere. So it is archetypal energies that are more relevant in the northern hemisphere as far as alignment with being out conquering the world. So people that are out conquering the world right now are in the southern hemisphere.
So you go southern hemisphere, bring it.
It’s so it’s so magical. I think this whole conversation around cycles, you know, and these archetypal energies, and, you know, if it’s not Persephone and Demeter for you, you know, what are the energies that you love to work with? We adore archetypal energies. Because archetypal energies exist. They are in the collective unconscious. They have different names, right? Like you can find across cultures that you know similar ideas, but with maybe different names to them, but they’re universal. And not only are they universal, but they’re timeless. So these archetypal energies that come from Greek mythology or Egyptian mythology, or Native American mythology, or native South American mythology, like they all hold these fields of energy that have lessons for us, that have gifts for us, that have insights for us, that have shadow work for us, that have, you know, healing work for us. And so some people will really resonate with the story of Persephone. Like, I am definitely a Persephone girl, highly sensitive, mystical energy, also sexual trauma and some of the things that Persephone went through, you know? And it may be that you really, if you’ve got a lot of mothering energy, and you’re just, like, you just want to, like, curl up on my sofa with your kids all the time, like, you may be holding more Demeter energy right, or it may be that it’s a completely different archetypal energy. And so even as we share stories like this with you, if this particular version of archetypal energy doesn’t respond, if it doesn’t resonate with you, you know, but explore what might you know.
Look up other underworld goddesses. There are many of them, right from all over the world. I mean, it’s amazing. You can find underworld goddesses in Mesoamerican history. You can find them in Norse tradition. You can find them everywhere. So find the energy that will support you as you move through cycles. Find the energy that you’re like, Ah, I gotta really resonate with this one. And you can sit with it. You can create ritual with it. You can activate the field within you by spending time with that energy. We tend to in our societies run very strong in certain archetypal energies, and sometimes it can become too much, right? It’s nice to temper it with other energies, to explore other archetypal energies, and they’re all available for you and say, Well, if I have too much Athena over here, right, maybe I can bring in some Demeter over here. And what does that look like for me? It can be really healing, and it provides you with the gifts of these archetypes in a way that really allow you to evolve consciously by CO creating with with them. That’s reminding me that we do have a free Maven ritual PDF, if you would like to work with these fall equinox energies and create ritual and ceremony. There’s a very beautiful, powerful process in that ritual to work with these with the equinox energies and the energy of balance. And we also have a Fall Equinox activation that will link in the show notes, a recording of a very potent Fall Equinox activation that is harnessing the energy of the season to support you in bringing balance, especially in moving through this eclipse season. And it’s a very empowering, deep and beautiful activation. So these are great ways to to work with this energy, the fall equinox and the underworld.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Enjoy this FREE Fall Equinox/Mabon ritual to experience greater balance in your life.
Fall Equinox Activation Recording
Receive a powerful Fall Equinox activation recording to create calm in the cosmic storm. It’s a chance to harmonize and balance so that you can:
- Witness your projects blossom into their ripened fullness through focused and inspired energy.
- Create greater yield, more money, amplified overall abundance by balancing the
energies of your inner masculine and feminine powers to maximize your personal autumnal harvest.
- Release emotional chaos and create structured, harmonized balance as your pathway to success.
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