Demeter

Demeter is the goddess of harvest and agriculture and the staple foods of Greece which were

grain and bread.

Demeter’s titles include “Sito” or “she of the grain” because she is the goddess of harvest and

grants her worshipers food. Her second title includes Thesmophoros or “Law Bringer” because

Demeter would look over the sacred laws.

Demeter’s roman equivalent is Ceres

Demeter’s symbols include Wheat-ears and Cornucopia

Demeter is the goddess of cornfields, planting, harvesting and growing things. Her name

means “Barley-Mother.” Zeus was quite fond of Demeter so he would always grant her fields

with rain and he gave her two children a son and a daughter named Persephone. One day

Persephone went deeper into the fields across a stream and through a grove of trees with her

paint pot than saw a strange bush and decided to uproot the bush, then a hole formed and Hades

appeared from the hole with his golden chariot and black horses then snatched Persephone and

took her to the underworld. Demeter was frantic when her daughter didn’t come home so she set

out to find Persephone and only found her paint pot. Demeter called for the birds to tell her what

happened and was told everything, how a woman uprooted a bush, then a hole formed and black

riders snatched the woman away. This drove Demeter into sadness while weeping a young boy

laughed at Demeter, so she turned him into a lizard and then a hawk swooped and ate the lizard.

After her depression Demeter marched for Olympus in cries for, “Justice!” Zeus told her no,

“Please, go back to earth and give yourself a chance to be intelligent about this.” Demeter took

this information and blighted the earth, having no harvest basically killing the crops. After seeing

the destruction of agriculture, Zeus called for Demeter’s return for Olympus and tried to create a

compromise. Both agreed that Demeter will continue to blight the earth and will end when her

daughter, Persephone is returned to her. Zeus sent Hermes to carry the message to Hades about

Persephone’s release. While this is happening Hades is trying to coarse Persephone through

rubies and diamonds, but she made herself difficult to please and Hades was desperate to please

her. He gave her a little garden with rare seeds magical blooms that doesn’t require sunlight. She

even received a little assistance who was the boy that became the lizard and fed to a hawk.

Persephone didn’t realize but he was still mad about what went down with him. One afternoon

Persephone was quite hungry and the reason why she didn’t eat anything was because if you eat

in the underworld you are stuck there. She saw the boy eating that afternoon and he offered her

some pomegranate and promised her no one was watching so she ate it. While she was eating

Hermes came to the underworld lightning fast and took Persephone back to her mother. Before

Persephone ascended away she was the little boy showing Hades the proof of Persephone eating

the fruit. Hades presented his case to Zeus and the verdict was Persephone had to be with Hades

for 6 months out of the year and the rest of the months with her mother. “For the months that you

spend with that scoundrel, no grass will grow, no flowers blow, no trees will bear. So long as you

are below, there will be desolation everywhere.” This is why we have winter, the dreaded 6

months of “desolation” and then the rest of time for “planting.”