Persephone's Role

THE NATURE OF LOVE: Facing Life/ Death/ Life

"To love pleasure takes little. To love truly takes a hero who can manage his own fears."

Clarissa Pinkola Estes

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Persephone was a beautiful, young, carefree goddess, until Hades (ruler of the underworld) came along in his chariot and abducted her into the underworld. Trapped amongst the souls of the dead, Persephone finds herself lonely, isolated, and away from the safety net of her parents. But it is deep within those labyrinths that Persephone discovers "who she is." As she learns how to navigate through the corridors of the underworld (symbolic of the repressed layers of the human psyche), Persephone is eventually able to let go of her role as victim, and become the formidable Queen of the Underworld. As a result of her growth, she is well equipped to guide others through the unconscious realms.

Love is a harsh environment. It is a matrix in which people hunt and are hunted. Only the brave move past the ego pleasures of their pursuits and their captives. The flirtations and the fantasies that arouse the ego are much more pleasing than the hard task of unearthing the love interest and themselves. But in order to enter into the psychic sinew of love and an enduring love union, death must be invited into the union, often in the form of a third party.

In world mythologies, that third party is sometimes personified as a female deity, an oracle, a transformer, a minister to love, the guide of the underworld or the unconscious. In Greek mythology that female deity is known as Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, or The Death Queen.

Persephone knows when relationships should begin and end. Lovers can feel her presence creep into their relationships. They can sense her tapping on their shoulders, like some lurking ghost. Terrified, their instinct is to run from what they fear: the deeper issues and commitments involved in the relationships. But rather than vilifying her, and condemning her to the shadows, Persephone should be allowed full access. She should be brought up from the underworld and from the unconscious attics that she inhabits, and be given full light. When fears are faced, their powers weaken, and new strengths can be embraced.

If Persephone is not openly received and allowed access, she will force her way into the relationship by whatever means possible, bringing with her all our hidden fears, all our ugliness, every illusion and contrition we've ever had. She will unearth and put on display for our lovers the dismembered parts of ourselves. This can be shocking to underdeveloped love, but it is at this point that the work must be done. Persephone is the embodiment of sympathy and empathy. Anyone who enters into a relationship with Persephone will in time be given the skills necessary to find enduring love. She is the good teacher, and therefore, demands patience, courage, discipline, and that you learn your lessons. If you allow her access, she can help to recreate life from that which has died or outlived its purpose, completing the cycle of life/death/life.

Once this cycle is complete, we are free to love the other with more than just the ego, and therefore, enter into the true nature of love.