After drawing yesterday's card, The High Priestess ( Persephone), I felt compelled to learn more about this Greek Myth and it's meaning. I am heartened by the description of the despair, and grief that was shared between mother and daughter upon their separation, when Persephone had been abducted by Hades. In some interpretations of the Greek myth, Persephone was raped by Hades ( her uncle) and betrayed by her own father, who had set up the whole abduction, without Demeter's or Persephone's knowledge.
I found a really fascinating site that explores the connection between feminism and ancient Greece. There is a lot of discussion and reference to women helping women, and having as much heroism, and even more so in my opinion, as the male heroes in Greek Mythology.
In the development of my own spiritual journey I had been at first more or less comfortable with the idea of God as being male. Then years later my idea changed to seeing the Creator as being non-gendered. Presently, and increasingly, what is very prominent in my psyche, and what is beginning to define my interpretation and perception, is the belief in the Creator as Goddess. Some may feel dismissive of the concept of reclaiming the Goddess as being too 'New Age'. I am not one of these as it now feels very natural and comfortable to me.
I am always lead back to Dr. Clarissa Pinkola's book about myths and stories of the wild Woman Archetype. So I turned today to Women Who Run With The Wolves only to find out that Demeter, who is the Mother Earth Goddess, in her deep despair in searching for her beloved missing daughter Persephone, comes in contact with the dancing Baubo; The Belly Goddess, who makes Demeter smile just a little, which then turns into a big belly laugh. Baubo brought Demeter out of her depression, and helped to restore her energy, so she could continue searching for Persephone. Baubo is drawn from the Neolithic belly Goddesses. You know the ones, without heads, and sometimes no feet or arms? They are talisman of women-talk, the kind of talk that wouldn't happen in the company of men and they are much more than fertility goddesses, but symbols of Matriarchal culture.
Now as a group of united women, the old crone Hecate, the sun Helios, and Baubo all join Demeter in searching for Persephone, and they are ultimately successful in reuniting her with her mother.
" The World, the land, and the bellies of women thrived again " - Dr.Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With The Wolves
 |
| Baubo- The Belly Goddess - Catherine Meyers |
