Goddess Demeter: unravel all the mysteries of her myth

The Goddess Demeter is the Greek goddess of cultivation, fertility and the harvest. Called the “Mother of the seasons”, she was the one who brought agriculture to the earthly world and taught men to cultivate wheat and corn. Hence, she is also known as the goddess of agriculture.

Worshiped as a good goddess by her followers, Demeter did not enact stories of revenge and punishment like other Greek goddesses. However, she is the main character of one of the most well-known myths about mother and daughter in Greek mythology.

Here you find out all about the history of the Goddess Demeter and her main characteristics.

But take the opportunity to learn more about the Goddess Hera – Valuing marriage, family and motherhood.

Who is the Goddess Demeter?

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To the Romans, the Goddess Demeter is known as Ceres, the goddess of plants and daughter of Saturn and Cybele. Both were celebrated at fertility festivals, where participation was exclusively for women.

It is not for nothing that, for Wiccan practitioners, Demeter symbolizes the “gateway to the mysterious feminine”. Holder of the cycle of life and death, she was also considered the goddess of sacred right.

The Goddess Demeter is one of the 12 deities of Olympus, who also have:

• Zeus
• Ivy
• Poseidon
• Athena
• ares
• Apollo
• Artemis
• hephaestus
• aphrodite
• Hermes
• Dionysus

Daughter of the time god Kronos and the earth goddess Rhea, Demeter was considered one of the most generous Greek goddesses in mythology. Because of this weakness (since generosity was not synonymous with strength in Ancient Greece), she was the protagonist of true mythological dramas.

Demeter’s Drama

It all starts when Demeter and the god of gods Zeus have a relationship and Persephone is born from her, for whom she felt a deep mother’s love. This relationship between them was so strong that the goddess of agriculture, Demeter, and the goddess of plants and fruits, Persephone, made the Earth fertile for the cultivation of all peoples. The sun shone all year round and everything that was planted was harvested.

However, the happiness of the Goddess Demeter would soon come to an end. First, when her brother Poseidon couldn’t resist her charms and decided to invest in the relationship, even rejecting any approach with him.

To escape Poseidon’s bonds, the Greek goddess turned into a mare. However, discovering his sister’s disguise, Poseidon made himself a horse to rape her. The fruit of this action are the twin sons Arion, the horse god, and Despina, the goddess of winter.

Hurt by the abuse she suffered at the hands of her brother, the Goddess Demeter fled Olympus and, because of this, the land became infertile. As a result, farmers could not plant crops and famine devastated the population.

Missing her family, especially Persephone, the goddess decided to bathe in the river Ladon, famous for carrying sorrows, and returned to her home in Olympus. As a result, the land became fertile and prosperous again.

But, once again, the peace of Demeter would be wrested to star in the most well-known myth about the goddess.

Myth of the Goddess Demeter

The best-known story of the Goddess Demeter also stars her daughter Persephone and the god of the underworld Hades, known as the lord of the dead. According to the myth, one day, the beautiful Persephones was picking flowers when she was spotted by Hades.

Influenced by Cupid’s arrow, Hades falls deeply in love with her and decides to kidnap her to take him to the underworld. There, he offers a pomegranate (legend has it that whoever eats a fruit from the depths cannot return to the world) and marries her.

Desperate with the disappearance of her daughter, Demeter was plunged into a sadness so intense that it made the land infertile again, the trees no longer bore fruit and the grasses of the field withered. In this way, the world was covered by endless winter, where cold and misery killed entire populations.

The suffering on earth only ended when the Goddess Demeter finally discovered the whereabouts of her beloved Persephone. However, Hades did not give up his great love easily. In fact, Demeter and the lord of the dead had to make a deal so that the goddess could have her daughter in her arms again.

Thus, the deal consisted of Persephone spending half the year with her mother, marking the seasons spring and summer. The other part of the year, she spent alongside her husband Hades in the underworld, symbolizing the autumn and winter months.

The Goddess Demeter in Wicca: Archetype

The myth of Demeter and Persephone symbolizes a true mother’s love, generous and unconditional. The two are known in Wicca as “The Goddesses” and their archetypes are present in every woman’s maternal instinct.

While at the beginning of life, the woman absorbs the mother’s projections, in the end, she projects her expectations on the daughter. Constantly, the Demeter archetype is present in this umbilical relationship.

In this way, the Demeter woman is the one who not only nurtures family ties, but also cherishes the growth of her children. Knowing that she can consider her friends as “daughters”, as well as loved ones.

However, the Goddess Demeter archetype also has a negative side which is the overprotective mother who does not allow her daughters independence. That’s why she always tries to keep them under her wing, away from the challenges the world can offer. As a result, any attempt to leave the house on the part of her cubs is soon rejected by the big mother.

In any case, the Demeter woman provides her wards with both physical and spiritual nourishment. In addition, she is extremely generous and selfless, so she spares no effort when helping others.

Do you identify with the Goddess Demeter archetype? To learn more about the symbology of the Goddesses, according to Wicca, watch the video below with expert Brendan Orin:

Characteristics of the Goddess Demeter

• Cult: for family protection and prosperity;
• Symbols: Scythe, apple, grain and cornucopia;
• Sign: Virgin;
• chakra: Umbilical;
• Food: Wheat, apple, grains, bread and corn;
• Drink: Water that irrigates the plantations;
• Flowers: Poppy (all the others remind her of when her daughter was kidnapped while picking flowers);
• Animals: Pig and mutton;
• Incense: Sandalwood, fist, frankincense and cassia;
• Colors: Green, yellow, orange and brown.

Now that you know all the characteristics of Demeter and her archetype, take the opportunity to carry out your own worship of the goddess.

Mother of the seasons and deity of agriculture, Demeter is the Greek goddess remembered for her kindness in mythology. If you are also interested in the fascinating lives of the Goddesses, check out the book “All the Goddesses of the World”, by author Claudney Prieto.