Explanation of the Myth of Persephone

How the Dead Rule the Living

Here, we will take a look at the Lesser Mysteries of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Greater will be saved for a different post since it goes in tandem with explaining some other factor of how the ancients view human existence. For those unfamiliar with this myth, here's a crash course:

"...the abduction of the goddess Persephone, the daughter of Ceres, by Pluto, the lord of the underworld, or Hades. While Persephone is picking flowers in a beautiful meadow, the earth suddenly opens and the gloomy lord of death, riding in a magnificent chariot, emerges from its somber depths and, grasping her in his arms, carries the screaming and struggling goddess to his subterranean palace, where he forces her to become his queen." Manly P. Hall

For any person who is somewhat acquainted with how to read esoterically, the huge aspect of the showing of the seasons starts to become apparent, especially if you know the rest of the myth. For those that don't know how to read esoterically, I'll do my best to explain how this is done using this myth.

First, you must identify the players and how this may give ideas as to what they represent. In this myth, we have a goddess picking flowers. Let's take this part first. What does the female aspect of nature most often represent? Usually it has to do with nature and fertility, females being considered to give birth to all that is here, also why the planet has been referred to as female, but that's something else entirely. Here it can be seen as to why that surface level interpretation would be made, and how this would be the bringing of Autumn and Winter, since the goddess who gave life to nature has been taken away by darkness, ie the months where the Sun is father away and the Earth stops producing. This is a way that seasons were taught to people in ancient times, but that is not the only purpose of these myths as they knew back then, and as theosophy shows in our current era. 

For those that are more acquainted with how to decipher further, you may already know where this is going. If not, it's best to give a little information first, something that most don't know unless they study history, specifically the history of the Eleusinian Mystery Schools. In these schools, the soul (or spirit) of man was called Psyche and it was symbolized by the goddess Persephone. That little bit of information should be sufficient to start to see what this myth is telling the initiates. 

When the soul of man descended from its spiritual home, it was covered and immersed in matter, hence the soul being taken to a subterranean palace. This is proof that the ancients of this culture did not view the body or the physical plane of existence as the true form of existence, something very much an eastern idea, which some of the dramas of these mysteries were signed at the end with Sanskrit sayings such as "Knox Om Pax". The physical body was often referred to as a tomb and the source of all  suffering, again in line with many other ancient religions as well.

For the initiates of these schools, the un-awakened soul was dead in the death that surrounded it, ie the body, and it was imperative to awaken this soul to attain any form of real existence. We see here a strong inclination towards the spiritual advancement of mankind rather than purely the material advancement we see dominating our existence today, which is about to explain the meaning of the heading of this post.

"An ancient initiate once said that the living are ruled by the dead. Only those conversant with the Eleusinian concept of life could understand that statement. It means that the majority of people are not ruled by their living spirits but by their senseless (hence dead) animal personalities." Manly P. Hall

This is our existence that should become painfully clear for those who have taken a look at how our world is advancing. Most progress is being made in the areas of industrialization and materialism which is being fed by the consumerism being pushed on us all. For those who are spiritually minded, I'm sure many have already noticed that a long time ago. 

By taking this allegory and seeing how it refers to awakening the spiritual essence that is your Self, you can also see the areas where it is telling you to look at and improve through the use of meditative introspection, which is why these mysteries were portrayed as dramas and plays to cause those feelings to awaken inside of the Self. This is still done in the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry to this day, the degrees being allegorical plays like these, albeit not this exact myth in this exact way.

It should also be noted that they taught the doctrine of reincarnation in these schools as well. They were also open to both women and children, which normally wasn't allowed in Mystery Schools. This would have a huge influence on the building of Alexandria, pre-Theodosius. These societies believed that elevating mankind as a whole both spiritually and academically was essential to our progress as a collective whole. Sadly, many of the successors of these ancient schools have forgotten that part and no longer even know the secrets they are supposed to be the keepers of.

I want to leave you with a question: What are you doing to awaken the Self existing in the tomb you call your body?