Persephone: Myth, Ritual, and Modern Worship

Somehow every video is longer than the last…

In this video, I chat about the mythology of Persephone and the various ancient tellings of her descent to the underworld. I discuss her development and worship as a deity, some of the main themes and my takeaways from her tale, and how she is interpreted by modern pagans and magical practitioners.

Persephone is one of my favorite mythological figures. Her story is rich and each of the many versions includes details that substantively change our interpretations of it. Thanks for watching!

Ancient versions of Hades and Persephone:
Homeric Hymn to Demeter https://chs.harvard.edu/primary-sourc...
Ovid, Fasti, 4
Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 5
Claudian, De Raptu Proserpinae

For more on Orphism, check out the work of Radcliffe Edmonds III.

My curse tablet video: Greco-Roman Curse Tablets: A Crash Co...

My blog post on the Aietes family tree: https://www.hearthofhaemonia.com/blog...

Other primary sources mentioned:
Priestesses of Proserpina from Magna Graecia (Cicero, Pro Balbo 55)
Odysseus goes to the underworld (Homer, Odyssey 10)
Orpheus goes to the underworld (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 11; Vergil, Georgics 4)
Aeneas goes to the underworld (Vergil, Aeneid 6)

Modern Persephone Work:
Dark Winter Moon: What’s It Like Working with Persephone?
The Lunar Witch: HOW TO WORK WITH PERSEPHONE - DEITY WORK
Shadow Harvest: How I Dedicated To Persephone
Rachel UnderTheDancingTree: 🌷 How to Connect with Goddess Perseph...

Images:
Statue of Persephone, Magna Graecia (5th c.): Nemracc (via Wikimedia Commons)
"Queen of the Night" relief representing either Ereshkigal or Ishtar: Babelstone (via Wikimedia Commons)
Demeter, Persephone, and Triptolemos: Napoleon Vier (via Wikimedia Commons)
Linguistic map of Magna Graecia: public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Statue of Hades and Cerberus: Carole Reddato (via Wikimedia Commons)
The Fates (Moirai): Johann Gottfried Schadow, ca. 18th-19th c.: public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
The Rape of Proserpina, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1621-22: Architas (via Wikimedia Commons)
Relief of Pluto (Hades) abducting Proserpina, 2nd c. CE: public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Relief of Hades and Persephone: AlMare (via Wikimedia Commons)
Orpheus Mourning the Death of Eurydice, Ary Scheffer, 1814: public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
"Ninnion Tablet" depicting the Eleusinian Mysteries, from Eleusis (4th c. BCE): Marsyas (?) (via Wikimedia Commons)