source of spirituality deep within herself that dispels her fears about
growing old and dying. If she matured, made commitments, de-
veloped other aspects of herself, and yet retained a connection to
Persephone the Kore, a part of her stays eternally young in spirit.
In her later years, it’s also possible that there may be hardly a trace
of Persephone left in a woman who started out in life following a
Persephone pattern and then in early or middle adulthood had Hera,
Demeter, or Aphrodite activated. Or, if the worst possible scenario
for Persephone is followed, she may have never recovered from a
depression, and remained from that point on, defeated by life or
withdrawn from reality, captive in her own underworld.
PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES
The goddess Persephone was a carefree daughter until she was
abducted and raped by Hades and was for a time, a powerless,
captive, unwilling bride. Although freed through her mother’s ef-
forts, she ate some pomegranate seeds, which meant that she would
spend part of the year above ground with Demeter and part of the
time in the underworld with Hades. Only later would she come into
her own as Queen and Guide of the Underworld. Each distinctly
different phase of the myth has a corresponding real-life parallel.
Like the goddess, Persephone women can evolve through these
phases and mature in response to what happens to them. But they
can also become stuck in one phase.
Unlike Hera and Demeter, who represent strong instincts that often
must be resisted in order for a woman to grow, Persephone influ-
ences a woman to be passive and compliant. Thus she is easily
dominated by others. The most formless and indistinct of the seven
goddesses, she is characterized by a lack of direction and lack of
drive. Of them all, however, she also has the most possible routes
for growth.
IDENTIFYING WITH PERSEPHONE THE KORE
To live as the Kore means being the eternal girl who doesn’t
commit herself to anything or anyone, because making a definite
choice eliminates other possibilities. Besides,
Persephone: The Maiden and Queen of the Underworld, Receptive