Persephone: Daughter of Spring and Queen of the Underworld

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of fertility and the earth, and Zeus, the king of the gods.

Originally, she was Kore — a young maiden, the embodiment of spring, blossoming, and innocence.

💀 The Abduction by Hades

One day, while picking flowers in a meadow, Kore noticed a narcissus — a symbol of both beauty and death. As she reached for it, the ground opened, and Hades, god of the underworld, emerged and took her away to the realm of the dead, making her his queen.

🌾 Demeter’s Grief and the Birth of Winter

Devastated, Demeter wandered the earth in search of her daughter. She refused to let the land bear fruit — and an endless winter fell upon the world. Crops failed, people began to starve, and Zeus, afraid of losing humanity, commanded Hades to release Persephone.

But Persephone had already eaten a few seeds of the pomegranate — the fruit of the dead. This bound her to the underworld forever.

🌓 Two Halves of One Fate

A compromise was made:

Half the year, Persephone would live with her mother — and that’s when spring and summer return to the earth.
The other half, she would reign in the underworld — and autumn and winter would follow.

🕯️ The Myth as Archetype: A Woman’s Journey

Persephone is the archetype of dark femininity, transformation, and the shift from girlhood to womanhood.

Face	Meaning
Kore	Innocence, blossoming, youthful energy
Persephone	Queen of shadows, keeper of the unseen, guide to the subconscious

This myth speaks of what happens when a person — woman or not — faces loss, crisis, the “death” of who they used to be. And emerges deeper, stronger, more whole.

Persephone is not just a victim. She becomes a ruler: she shares the throne of the underworld with Hades, receives souls, and knows how to walk between worlds.

🔮 Symbolism

Pomegranate — blood, initiation, the feminine cycle, hidden knowledge
Hades — the Shadow, the unconscious, the pull of the forbidden
Demeter — the Mother, protective yet controlling
Winter — a season of stillness, death, and rebirth

🌑 Persephone Within

She shows up in our lives when: You feel like your old self has “died,” and something new is just beginning to form. You go through a breakup, crisis, or darkness — and come out stronger. You feel the pull toward intuition, mystery, or hidden wisdom. You learn to be both spring and night, gentle and fierce, vulnerable and sovereign.