Sunday, September 22, 2013

Mabon Blog Hop 2013 - Persephone, the High Priestess

Welcome to the Mabon Blog Hop 2013!  You may be moving on from Jordan Hoggard's blog, or backward from Christiana Gaudet's Tarot Trends blog.  If at any point you want to see the Master List of participating blogs/people, click here.

One of my favorite myths is that of Demeter and Persephone, and the birth of Autumn and Winter.  As we celebrate the coming of Fall, it's a beautiful myth to consider.  My earliest memories of hearing this myth were as a kid, perhaps 12 years old, as my mother would bring Greek myth to life while doing Tarot readings.  I would sit, mesmerized, as her words brought me into another world. She used - and still uses - the Mythic Tarot (Juliet Sharman-Burke, Liz Greene, and Tricia Newell), which winds Greek stories throughout the Major and Minor Arcana.

There are a lot of aspects of the Persephone myth that attract me.  One is how it highlights the relationship between mother and daughter.  My mother was always one of my favorite people.  I have always loved and respected her, and she was in many ways my first spiritual teacher.  Now I'm an adult with children of my own (two of them daughters) and I have the gift of experiencing this relationship from the other pole, for which I'm grateful.

Golden Tarot - Liz Dean
Cisco Books 2012
Part of this relationship involves the aspect of separation - the child grows up, becomes a young woman, perhaps gets married (or moves away).  The myth touches on the pain of letting go.  I remember going through this stage when I was engaged and married many years ago.  There is some degree of renegotiation of roles in the relationship that takes place.  It's an adjustment, but the relationship is not entirely supplanted.  Mom will always be mom, will always love her kids, and will always be involved in her children's lives, in some way.  Similarly, Demeter was in grief when her daughter Persephone ended up married to Hades, and was taken to live in the Underworld.  Because Persephone had eaten several pomegranate seeds she was bound to split her time between the Under and Upper Worlds.  In Demeter's sadness the plants began to die, the nights became longer, the cold set in, life became more difficult.  But when Persephone was able to rise again to spend time in the Upper World with her mother, Spring came, the days became warm, food became abundant, and all was well with the world.  Demeter's gift to humankind was the knowledge of how to grow and store wheat so that there would be sustenance during the cold days of Winter.  So to me it speaks of the grief inherent in love, and the life that still flows despite working through difficult times.

Persephone has a place in Tarot, as the High Priestess of the Major Arcana.  This also happens to be
one of my favorite cards in the deck, and one with which I identify in many ways.  She represents hidden things, secret knowledge, femininity, intuition, the balance of dark and light, the realm of the unconscious.

As Persephone descends into the Underworld, and Demeter's grief escorts us into the dark of Fall and Winter, I thought I would create a little spread that focuses on our inner sun - the light we carry within us.  Fall and Winter is our time for reflection and renewal, and at times we need to remember our strengths, and the gifts we have to offer.  This is the Inner-Sun Spread:


1: Me, now: King of Pentacles reversed - I'm working on balancing out my inner King. I feel I embody many of his traits (supporting those around me, being even-keeled, etc.), but especially in terms of economic equilibrium, it's something on-going.

2: The gifts I have to share: King of Wands - I have a deep inner energy to make things happen in my life; I'm comfortable in my own skin; when I set myself to a task I know I can accomplish it; I'm not afraid of transformation - shedding my skin, moving on to a new phase of life.

3: The gifts I'm still developing: 3 of Wands - I'm still in the process of building on what I've begun - working toward my soul purpose; that's me out on the hill looking out toward the horizon. I am determining where I want to go and how best to get there, taking stock of the situation.

4: My deepest desires: 7 of Cups reversed - More than anything else, I want to make my dreams and deepest goals come to life, be realized.  The King of Wands suggests I'll be able to get there, but I'll have to be sure to ground my dreams through the King of Pentacles.

5: Advice for manifesting my desires: 4 of Swords - I can best achieve my desires through quiet contemplation, reviewing where I've come from and where I want to go, careful planning, and taking time to gather my energies before leaping forward.

The summary card for my reading is Temperance: balance; moving forward; patience and surety; the path ahead is clear; quiet contemplation.

Over all it feels good, and reflects where I feel that I'm at, and where I'm going.  It's a nice confirmation that I have what it takes to achieve my goals, and the 4 of Swords is the perfect card for Mabon, as we move into the time of rest and quiet thought and review.

If you decide to try out this spread, please let me know how it goes! :)

With that I will end my post for the Mabon Blog Hop 2013, feeling very happy to have just participated in my first of hopefully many more to come!

You may now be moving down the list to Christiana Gaudet's Tarot Trend blog or backward to Jordan Hoggard's blog.  Don't forget that you can access the Master list here.  Happy Hopping, and Feliz Mabon!

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27 comments:

  1. I do love the story of Demeter... That's an interesting spread, I look forward to taking it for a whirl. Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you enjoy the spread :)

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  2. Yummy! A new spread. Always happy to see these and one that delves into one of the stories I really love--bonus!

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  3. Your post touched me in many ways. The whole concept of letting go..when I touched on the topic in my post, it was as if I was going through this journey alone. Reading your post was like you holding my hand.

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    1. Oh Joanna! What to say, I'm so glad I was able to keep you company. <3 many hugs :-) Your comment is very moving!

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  4. What a lovely post, and a great-looking spread :) As you say, I loved the Four of Swords at the end, very appropriate to this time of year! Interesting, too, to have two Kings in the mix - a lot of 'take charge' energy :D

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    1. Thanks, Chloe! Yes, the two Kings were interesting to see, food for thought! I suppose in some way I am feeling "take chargey" though usually I think if myself as more Queenly or Page-y. :)

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  5. Thank you for this post.I can relate to the story of Demeter and Persephone because my eldest daughter will move in with her boyfriend in a few months. Now I know how my mother did feel when I moved out
    The Mythic Tarot is a beautiful deck. I've managed to get the older edition second hand. You've done a great job with this spread which I am going to try out for sure

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    1. Oh, I'm so happy you like the spread! I'm glad my post had some relevance for you, too, and I wish you a smooth transition with your daughter leaving home. The Mythic Tarot has a special place in my heart as it was/is my mom's deck, and I have the New Mythic Tarot on my wish list simply to have that connection. I do love the concept a lot :)

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    2. I would like to tell you that I've done a reading for myself with your spread and I really liked it. I will add it to my collection of spreads. I've linked this page on my blog. I hope you don't mind :De

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    3. Oh, that is lovely and sweet, and I'm honored, thank you! I am so glad you liked the spread :)

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  6. Lovely post! I know a sacred dance called Kore which follows this myth, so it's always lovely to read about it again. Great new spread to try too, thank you.

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    1. Thanks, Margo! I have not heard of Kore, I will have to look it up! :)

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    2. Ah, I did not realize that Kore is another name for Persephone - just learned something!!!

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  7. A lovely spread - I'll be trying this out! Thank you.

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    1. Thanks, Alison! I'm glad you stopped through, and have fun with the spread!

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  8. I really enjoyed the story of your process, rites of passage where you are now on the other pole, the other side of the parenthood bridge. The spread you created feels to allude to the 4 seasons personally around the center "Me, Now" card. Really makes for a personal connection to the myth of Persephone and Demeter. Thanks!

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    1. Thanks, Jordan! I love how you picked the 4 seasons out of the spread, which I hadn't thought of, and yet definitely see it now!

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  9. Nice little spread - I'll happily add this to my list to try!

    AX

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    1. Hehe cool, thanks, I hope you like it! I love all the spreads people have created for this hop (and the many others in the past) - it's fun to work through them all :)

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  10. A lovely entry Olivia. And I really like the spread. I used to use the Mythic Tarot myself my first edition copy actually fell apart from use.

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  11. Hey Andy, thanks for stopping through, and I'm so glad you liked the spread! :)

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  12. Nice spread. And thanks for the story of you, your mother, and the cards.

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    1. Thanks for your words, Cassandra :) I'm glad you made it here!

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  13. Great take on the Demeter/Persephone story. The focus is often on Persephone's kidnapping and the relationship to the seasons, but it's definitely about the letting go that is parenting also. Demeter and Persephone were bestest buddies, too, so the separation is even more acute. Having a daughter on student exchange in China for six months certainly makes me sympathize with Demeter!

    Tried the lovely spread last night (Gilded Tarot Royale). Got your 3 of Wands, but in the Gifts I have to Share position. :) My sequence was 3 Swords--3 Wands--Devil--Judgement--6 Cups. Summary = Fool. The present may be painful, but my creative gifts will help me overcome the stifling flames of that pain and form the ground for a rebirth of Self. Reclaiming my innocence and reuniting with the good things/people from the past will be useful, and will allow me to be free, open, and ready to take off.

    Thanks! Great stuff!

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    1. I'm glad you connected with the post! And thanks for sharing your spread!!! Very interesting, good stuff! I love the flow of your cards, and the connection between Judgement and the 6 of Cups :)

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