Demeter

Culture: Ancient Greek   Domain: Grain, harvest, the fertility of the earth, motherhood

Demeter governs the grain harvest and the earth's fruitfulness. When her daughter Persephone was taken to the underworld by Hades, Demeter's grief and search left the earth barren until a bargain was struck: Persephone would spend part of each year below and part above, giving the myth its role as an explanation for the seasons. Demeter's mysteries at Eleusis were among the most important religious rites of the ancient Greek world.

Associations

Grain, the harvest, motherhood, the cycle of the seasons, poppies, the earth's fertility.

Ways people honor her (modern)

• Mark the turning of the harvest season with baked bread or grain offerings
• Sit with grief as a natural, honored part of the year's cycle
• Plant something and tend it through a full season
• Read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the fullest surviving telling of her story

Approach any deity with respect and do your own research. Practices vary widely between traditions, and modern devotional practice often goes beyond what survives in ancient sources.