Persephone

 Hey all!

Today, I would like to take the time to talk about Persephone and my relationship with her. I work with her in a very intuitive way, and I am not prone to a lot of traditional activities as I just generally do not have the organizational skills nor the energy for huge rituals.

I have been walking with Persephone on my path for almost a year. She came into my life, along with Artemis and Hekate, on August 6, 2021. They came as a trio. I work with them individually on different moon phases.

Who Is Persephone?

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld. The patriarchal story is that she was kidnapped by Hades and taken to The Underworld, tricked into eating the forbidden fruit (very Abrahamic religion... ew), and is now trapped to spend 6 months of the year (Autumn and Winter) in The Underworld.

I have this very deep feeling that this isn't the true story. I think Persephone went by choice. She is a Plutonic goddess. She has strong Scorpio energy. She exists within that space of creation and destruction. She is strong, capable, soft, loving, caring, and she will also fuck your shit up for you if you aren't listening close enough. Pair her with Hekate and Artemis? Wooo! You are in for a constant change of perspective and having your life path challenged.

Associations

I work with Persephone on the first and third quarter moons. This makes sense to me because she is both the light and the dark. She is the seasonal changes. Below is a photo of her altar, and since I am writing this on the Third Quarter Moon, her candle is lit.

The main association for Persephone is the pomegranate. She ate 6 arils in the patriarchal story, and it is why she is trapped for 6 months. Because I associate her with Scorpio, I have a Death tarot card on her altar. She is an amazing goddess to work with for transitions and changes.

Roses and peonies are associations that I have with her personally so there is wild rose simple syrup I made as an offering and a dried peony. She is also associated with daffodils, which are one of the first signs of spring, at least where I live. 

I bought a perfume for each of the goddesses I work with. I keep them on their altars so their energy is especially infused. I love Persephone's scent the most as it is by far the most feminine. It is soft, sweet, floral, with a touch of fruitiness. I got them from this shop. The other two are quite masculine, which is not my personal preference on my body. 

I associate bats, rabbits, and hedgehogs (I'm not sure on this one. Don't come for me. It's just... just a feeling) with Persephone. I have a rabbit amethyst piece on her altar, and in the back, which you can't see in the photo is this gorgeous brown lace bat. Let me know if I should post a photo. 

When I hike, I specifically dedicate the flowers I notice to her, and as the seasons turn, the changed leaves, and I dedicate the winter cold to her as well knowing that this is a time for deep reflection as we go into our own underworlds.

Finally, I have her prayer card that I made for her about a week after she came into my life. I probably need to update it to include more personalized aspects, but I also am proud of my work here. 

Associations List:

• Spring
• Underworld
• Pomegranates
• Dark Chocolate
• Strawberries
• Wildberries
• Honey
• (Wild) Roses
• Lavender
• Peonies
• Daffodils
• Bats
• Talking Birds (why? Idk. It's just tradition, I guess)
• Deer
• Rabbits
• Hedgehogs (personal to me)
• Skulls
• Empress Card
• Death Card
• Fertility
• Abundance
• Transition
• Justice
• Pastel purples
• Pastel Pinks
• Deep Reds

How I Work with Persephone

One thing that I adore about Persephone is that she is very forgiving. If you forget to honor her (like I did for months at a time because I was so distracted with life), she's not going to smite you. Come back to her. Be reverent. Adorn her. She is on the side of justice. She is known for being far more cruel with her punishments than her husband Hades, but that does not mean that she is not still the warmth and joy of Spring. 

I work with her by honoring her on hikes, lighting her candle on the first and third quarter moon, and by using my wand by Big Wand Energy in the morning and drawing a rabbit on myself with the intention that it represents Persephone, her abundance, her wisdom, and her strength. She is not this meek, weak child. She is a goddess in her own right, and she is older than the patriarchy. 

Lately, she has been pushing me to speak out about her, which is why I am doing this post. She has been wanting me to share the stories, the wisdom, the love, the guidance. I have helped connect two people in with Persephone over the last year. There was hesitation, but once they saw the signs they'd been missing, they realized that yes, Persephone had been in their energy for a while. It's ok! It took me, I think, 3 years to notice? And even then, it took Artemis acting as leader of the trio for me to notice. 

Persephone has not always been loud for me. She has often lurked in the background with small nudges. I say that, but this is also my first full year working with her. She may be more like me: Active in the warmer months, and inactive in the cold months. I think I shall circle back on this next year. 

Once final way that I work with Persephone is that I have a deck completely dedicated to her. It's the Work Your Light Oracle. When I saw this deck's cover, I had this overwhelming vision of the word Persephone over it.

I draw cards for her on the New Moon, and I keep them out for that lunar cycle. These are themes that she wants me to be aware of or focus on for that time.

This is the third month in the past few that I have gotten Soul Family, and she has NOT disappointed. I have connected with some amazing new friends or have deepened my connections with acquaintances. It has truly been wonderful as I have been very isolated lately. The words of encouragement are lovely as I try to launch a successful business over on IG. Inner Temple made me smile. It is not the first time she has given me this card this year. It came directly after the card "Prayer" from Artemis. Both are about seeking routine and ritual. In my last post, I showed the Four of Lasers: Ritual. That card is my card for this year, and to have my goddesses work so hard on reminding me over and over about the importance of ritual and routine has been very motivating. 

I also got the new Rose Oracle deck recently, and I also get some very big Persephone energy off of this deck. I pull from them both monthly. I asked if she wanted me to switch to this deck, but the answer was no. I love having these cards out, and I love the messages so I still pull them on the new moon. If there are matching energies to the other deck, I associate them with Persephone and say thanks for the extra/confirming message(s).

Do you work with Persephone? What are your noticings? How are they similar? How are they different? I love hearing about others' paths. Let me know!