Persephone screen print on handmade paper, multiple colors

Persephone is a complex goddess that exemplifies life’s most central dualities as well as the importance of balance. Persephone’s tale saw her abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld as his bride. During her time there as Queen of the Underworld, Persephone consumed a handful of pomegranate seeds which sealed her fate— to always return to the underworld for half the year. Her abduction and journey is at the heart of the Elysian mysteries, woven together with the story of her mother Demeter, who’s grief over losing her daughter brought on the fading of nature, creating Autumn and Winter. With Persephone’s return to the earthly realm every spring, her mother’s despair retreated, allowing the lush regeneration of nature and gaining Persephone associations with rebirth. Persephone’s cycle of descending to the shadows and re-emerging with life can be seen as a journey of self balance. As she takes the throne in the underworld, so must we embrace the shadows within us, finding balance