Demeter is the goddess of fertility in ancient Greece. Demeter, Ceres, Cybele - goddess of fertility Demeter's husband

Demeter is the personification of the true mother. The goddess takes care of the harvest, grows trees and cannot imagine her own life without children. But a pliable, calm woman is ready to destroy everything that she herself created, when a stranger breaks into the peaceful life of her daughter. Perhaps boundless love made Demeter such a revered deity for the ancient Greek people.

History of occurrence

The exact time of the emergence of the cult of the mother goddess is unknown, but the first reliable mention of Demeter dates back to 1500 BC. Worship was especially widespread in the city of Eleusis, whose name is mentioned in the myth dedicated to the abduction.

Initially revered as the goddess of the barley field, over time, Demeter received the status of the patroness of agriculture. A simple mention in prayers has been replaced by five-day mysteries held every year.

Thesmophoria - the so-called holidays in honor of Demeter - were led by exceptionally wealthy women who took on all the expenses. In honor of the mother goddess, sacrifices were made, songs were sung and processions were organized.

In Roman mythology, Demeter is known as Ceres. Ceres is accompanied by the goddess of the harvest Annona, and in the hands of a mother woman holds a variety of fruits. Ancient Greek mythology assigned another attribute to the goddess - most often Demeter is depicted with a spikelet of wheat in her hands.

The Roman name Ceres is not the only pseudonym for Demeter. The goddess of agriculture is also known under the names of Anthea, Europe, Erinia and others. The researchers counted 18 pseudonyms of the patroness of agriculture.

Demeter in mythology

The birth of Demeter was accompanied by unpleasant events. The father of the goddess, the almighty Kronos, ate all the children that the wife of Rhea gave birth to a man. The same fate befell Demeter, who became the second child in the family of the rulers of Olympus.

Later, the brother of the goddess, freed the girl from her father's stomach. Demeter settled on Olympus surrounded by relatives. A beautiful cheerful girl attracted the attention of the Thunderer. Zeus often visited the goddess in the form of a snake. Over time, the relationship between brother and sister became closer, and Persephone was born from the divine union. However, the ruler of Olympus soon lost interest in his sister and became interested in another young beauty.

Considering herself free, Demeter responded to the courtship of another god (in other sources - a mere mortal). Iasion, the son of Zeus and Electra, sought the goddess of fertility for a long time. Conquered by the persistence of the young man, the woman came to Iasion three times for dates, which took place on a plowed field. After these meetings, Demeter gave birth to sons Plutos and Philomela. Zeus, having learned about the adventures of his sister, in a fit of jealousy, killed Iasion with lightning.

No less close relations connect Demeter and. The lord of the sea accidentally saw the goddess while bathing and desired a woman. But Demeter did not have reciprocal feelings for the man. To hide from persistent courtship, the goddess of fertility turned into a mare and hid in a herd grazing nearby.

The cunning move had no effect, Poseidon immediately understood the sister's intention. The lord of the seas and rivers turned into a stallion and overtook Demeter while she was resting in the shade of a tree. It seems that Zeus did not object to such a union. A new love affair brought Demeter two children: the talking horse Areyon and daughter Despina.

Demeter loved and took care of all the children, but still singled out Persephone. A special disposition to the daughter illuminates the myth that tells about the marriage of a girl.

Zeus, whose duties included arranging the marriages of the gods, decided to give Persephone in marriage to his own brother, who rules the realm of the dead. While the girl was walking with her friends on Earth, the newly-made fiance persuaded Gaia to grow an unusual flower near Persephone.

Drawn by the scent of the plant, Demeter's daughter moved away from her friends. At that moment, the earth split, and Hades dragged the beauty into the underworld. Hearing the girl's screams, Demeter rushed to the scene, but there were no traces of her daughter left. The inconsolable mother searched for Persephone around the world for nine days. No one knew what happened to the girl, and could not tell the goddess where to look for her daughter.

The purposeful woman nevertheless found out the truth. Realizing that Zeus separated her from Persephone, Demeter left Olympus. Having taken the form of a mere mortal, the woman began to roam the world until she reached the city of Eleusis. Here the goddess of fertility got a job as a nanny in the house of Queen Metanira.

The son of the royal person became the new object of worship for Demeter. The goddess transferred all her love for Persephone to the little boy. In order not to part with the baby, Demeter decided to make the prince immortal. But during the ceremony, Metanira entered the room and screamed when she saw that the nanny was holding the boy over the fire.

The goddess dropped the child into the fire, but they did not have time to save the son of Metanira. The angry goddess appeared before the queen in her true guise and ordered to build a temple in her own honor in the city. The lonely and unfortunate sister of Zeus settled there, ceasing to talk with the gods and mortals.

While Demeter was looking for her daughter and mourning the loss, the fields on the ground dried up, and the trees stopped bearing fruit. Worried, Zeus sent messengers to his sister asking her to change her mind. But Demeter did not listen to her relatives. The only way out was to return Persephone to her mother, only Hades did not want to part with his wife.

Then the lord of Olympus decided that the daughter would spend two-thirds of the year with her mother, and return to her husband for the remaining time. Since then, every autumn, Demeter falls into longing for her daughter and is reborn and rejoices again with the advent of spring.

• In the myths dedicated to Demeter, the beautiful hair of the goddess is mentioned, the color of which resembles a wheat field.

• The meaning of the name of the patroness of agriculture is not unambiguous. The first part of the name Demeter is translated as "mother". The second component is controversial. A possible translation is "mother earth" or "mother wheat".
• The ancient Greeks dedicated the constellation Virgo to Demeter.

Goddess of fertility and agriculture.

Powerful is the great goddess Demeter. She gives fertility to the earth, and without her beneficial power, nothing grows either in forests, or in meadows, or in arable land. She taught people about agriculture, and at her command, bread ripens. And if a woman wants to be fruitful, like the Earth itself, she makes sacrifices to the great Demeter.
In the month of sowing, the Greeks celebrated in honor of Demeter Thesmophoria.

Demeter and her children

Although the priestesses of the goddess of fertility Demeter dedicated the bride and groom to the secrets of the wedding night, the goddess herself did not have a husband. At the time of youth and fun, she gave birth out of wedlock from her brother Zeus to Persephone and the mighty Iacchus. She gave birth to Plutos from Iasion, with whom she fell in love at the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia.

Iasion- the son of Zeus and the Pleiades of Electra, the brother of Dardanus, the beloved of Demeter.

Excited by the drunk nectar that flowed like a river at the wedding, the lovers quietly slipped out of the house and indulged in love on a thrice-plowed field. When they returned, Zeus, by their behavior and soiled hands and feet, guessed what was between them, and outraged that Iasion dared to touch Demeter, incinerated him with lightning.

Plutus- the god of wealth and abundance, the son of Demeter and Iasion.

From Iasion, Demeter gave birth to a son, Plutos, who became the god of wealth. He first introduced the custom of taking care of the goods of life, as well as collecting and storing money, whereas earlier everyone treated the accumulation and careful saving of a lot of money with disdain.

Demeter and Triptolemus

Demeter's gaiety passed when she lost her only daughter, the young Persephone. Hades, the god of the underworld, fell in love with her and kidnapped her. Demeter searched for Persephone for nine days and nights without food or drink, calling in vain to her. On the tenth day, she, having changed her appearance, appeared in Eleusis, where she was hospitably greeted by the king Keley and his wife Metanira and offered to become the nurse of their newborn son Demophon. Demeter sat at the table, immersed in her mournful thoughts. At dinner served the youngest daughter of the forest god Pan - Yamba. She tried to cheer up the guest and entertained Demeter with funny obscene rhymes, for which the goddess gave her later. Demeter decided to thank Celeus and Metanira for their hospitality by making Demophon immortal. To do this, she rubbed him with ambrosia at night and put him in the fire to burn his mortal nature. But at that moment Metanira entered, the spell broke, and Demophon died. His parents wailed and began to mourn for their son. Then Demeter revealed herself to them and announced that she would bestow gifts on their son Triptolemus like no other mortal.

Triptolem- the son of the Eleusinian king Keley and Metanira, a favorite of Demeter, who taught people the art of agriculture and taught them to sow and grow wheat.

It so happened that Triptolemus, who was herding his father's cattle, recognized Demeter and told her where Persephone had disappeared. Two other shepherds saw how Hades kidnapped the young goddess and disappeared underground. Having such evidence, Demeter demanded that her daughter be returned to her. But it turned out that Hades kidnapped her with the secret consent of Zeus. Demeter was so outraged by this that she continued her wanderings on the earth, forbidding the trees to bear fruit and the herbs to grow. And so it continued until the tribe of people was not on the verge of extinction. Zeus, not daring to personally meet Demeter, sent the Olympian gods to her with conciliatory gifts. It was decided that Persephone would spend three months of the year with her husband in the realm of the dead, and the rest of the time could be with her mother. After that, Demeter finally agreed to return home.

But before leaving Eleusis, she taught Triptolemus the secrets of her cult and mysteries. The young Triptolemos became the favorite of the goddess. She gave him seed, a wooden plow, and a chariot drawn by snakes, and sent him to teach people all over the world the art of agriculture. Before that, none of the people knew wheat and did not know how to grow this cereal. Together with this knowledge, people have gained real wealth.

Demeter and Erysichthon

Demeter was very good-natured, but Triop's son Erysichthon was one of the few whom she treated harshly. At the head of twenty associates, Erysichthon dared to enter the grove planted by the Pelasgians in honor of Demeter in Dotia, and began to cut down sacred trees there in order to build a new room for feasts. In the form of the priestess of the grove, Nisippa, Demeter politely asked Erysichthon to leave. And only when, instead of answering, he swung an ax at her, the goddess revealed herself in all her majesty and doomed him to eternal torments of hunger, no matter how much he ate. Returning home for dinner, he began to greedily absorb everything that his parents put in front of him, and could not stop. But the more he ate, the hungrier he became and more and more thin. Finally, when not a crumb was left at home, he became a street beggar and even ate garbage.

Demeter (among the Romans, Ceres) is the goddess of fertility and agriculture, the daughter of Kronos and Rhea, one of the most revered Olympic deities. She was depicted as a beautiful woman with golden hair, dressed in blue robes, or (mostly in sculptures) as a venerable, imposing woman seated on a throne.
Part of Demeter's name meter, means "mother". She was worshiped as a mother goddess, especially as the mother of grain and the mother of the maiden Persephone.
Demeter's life began just as gloomy as that of Hera. She was the second child of Rhea and Kronos - and the second he swallowed. Demeter became the fourth royal wife of Zeus (Jupiter), who was also her brother. From the union of Zeus and Demeter, an only child was born, their daughter Persephone, with whom Demeter was associated in myth and cult.
The story of Demeter and Persephone, beautifully told in Homer's Hymn to Demeter, centers around Demeter's reaction to Persephone's abduction by Demeter's brother Hades, ruler of the underworld.

Persephone was picking flowers with her friends in the meadow. When she plucked a flower, the earth suddenly opened up in front of her, and Hades appeared from its depths on horses black as night in a golden chariot. He grabbed Persephone, lifted her onto a chariot, and in the blink of an eye disappeared into the bowels of the earth. Persephone struggled and screamed piercingly, calling for help from Zeus, but help did not come.
Demeter heard the cry of Persephone and rushed in search of her. In her frantic desire to find her child, she did not stop to eat, sleep, or bathe.
Finally, Demeter met Hekate, the goddess of the dark moon and crossroads, who invited her to go together to Helios, the god of the sun. Helios told them that Hades kidnapped Persephone and took her to the underworld, where she became his bride against her will. In addition, he said that the abduction of Persephone was carried out at the behest of Zeus. He advised Demeter to stop shedding tears and accept what had happened.
Demeter rejected this advice. Now she felt not only grief, she felt betrayed and insulted by Zeus. Leaving Olympus, she turned into an old woman and wandered, unrecognized, all over the world.
Demeter grieved for her kidnapped daughter, refusing to act. As a result, the growth and birth of all living things ceased. The famine threatened to destroy the human race and thereby deprive the Olympian gods of worship and sacrifice.

Each of the Olympians came to Demeter, bringing gifts and paying honors. And the angry Demeter let everyone know that she would not set foot on Olympus and would not allow plants to grow until Persephone was returned to her.
In the end, Zeus gave up. He sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to Hades, commanding them to bring Persephone back. Hermes rushed to the underworld and found Hades.
Hearing that she was free and could return, Persephone was delighted, about to go with Hermes. But first, Hades gave her some pomegranate seeds, which she ate.
Seeing Hermes and Persephone, Demeter rushed to her daughter and embraced her. Demeter then anxiously asked if her daughter had eaten anything in the underworld. If Persephone had not eaten, she would have been returned to her forever. But since she swallowed the pomegranate seeds, she will now spend two thirds of the year with Demeter and one third in the underworld with Hades.
After reuniting with her daughter, Demeter returned the earth to flowering and fertility. She then established the cult of the Eleusinian mysteries. These were awe-inspiring cult ceremonies, and initiates were forbidden to reveal their secret. During these mysteries, people received knowledge how to live in joy and die without fear.

Archetype

Motherhood
Demeter on Olympus was represented by the archetype of the mother. Her most important roles were those of a mother (daughter - Persephone), one who nourishes (the goddess of fertility), and a giver of spiritual food (the Eleusinian mysteries).
Demeter is, of course, a motherly image, principle and scenario. She personifies the maternal instinct, the desire to give birth to a child, the joy of becoming pregnant, the pleasure of feeding, caring for and raising children.
A woman with a strong Demeter archetype passionately desires to be a mother, and becoming her, she discovers this role for herself as self-realization, as implementation myself. When Demeter represents the strongest archetype in a woman's soul, being a mother is the most important role and function of her life. The image of mother and child, most often represented in Western art by the Madonna and Child, corresponds to the deep inner representation that drives a woman.[ 1 ]
The mother archetype encourages a woman to nurture and nurture others, to be generous and generous, and to find satisfaction as the breadwinner of the family, taking care of the family and home.
It is also the provision of physical, psychological or spiritual food to other people, not even necessarily relatives. If Demeter is the most powerful goddess in a woman's soul, then being a mother, "nanny" or "nurse" becomes the meaning of her life.

Feeding others gives the Demeter woman extraordinary satisfaction. She finds it very pleasurable to nurse her children, and she takes pleasure in serving large meals to her family or guests. If they enjoy her food, she, like a good mother (and not like Athena - a gourmet cook), is warmed by warm feelings. If she works in an office, she enjoys making coffee for others.

spiritual parenthood
Unlike Athena, who taught great strategists and commanders, Demeter taught agricultural kings and brought up cultural heroes. She also gave people the Eleusinian mysteries. All free people who had not shed human blood could participate in them.
Many famous women - religious teachers - had the properties of Demeter and were perceived by their followers as a maternal image. Such were, for example, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa and the spiritual teacher of the Aurobindo Ashram in India, who was referred to simply as "Mother."[ 1 ]

Generosity
Demeter was the most generous goddess of the ancient Greeks. This "joy of giving" can be found in many women. Some naturally feed, groom and nurture other people on a physical level, others provide emotional and psychological support, and still others provide people with some kind of spiritual nourishment. In this they share the ideal motherly scenario. First, the mother takes care of the physiological needs of the baby: feeds, waters, clothes and shoes him. She supports an adult child on an emotional and psychological level: she can give good advice, reassure and reassure, praise and guide. And adult children appreciate the spiritual wisdom of their mother, which you can always rely on in difficult times. This ideal is difficult to achieve in real life. But from time to time we meet on our way women who play the role of Demeter for us in this or that particular case. Or we ourselves carry out such a mission.

Family Priority
For a woman who is “ruled” by Demeter, family is more important than home. Home for her is, first of all, “a place where the family gathers”. In this she differs from women who follow the path of the goddess of the hearth - Hestia. The peaceful fire of Hestia can burn regardless of the number of family members and their immediate needs for care and guardianship. For Demeter, the family itself is more important, while space is not a hindrance. So mothers easily come to a city on the other side of the country (or even the Earth) and feel at home if their children are also there. Without a family, life does not make sense for her. However, grandchildren or wards can replace their own children.

mother force
Tradition assigns the mother the role of the guardian of the moral law that determines the unity of the family team: "The whole world in the family comes from the mother." The main responsibility for the moral qualities and destinies of children lay on the mother, which is even more evident today. Mother often appears as the personification of the Law, the violation of which leads to terrible, irreparable consequences. Sometimes mothers themselves feel as such, trying to instill this feeling in their children.
An important component of the "motherhood" complex is the blocking of aggression, violence, conflict behavior. The aggressiveness of the mother was traditionally considered in Rus' as dangerous for her children in the womb, as well as after birth. The duties of the mother of the family included, first of all, blocking violent forms of behavior.

However, the task of a mother is to protect and protect her children. When it comes to danger to them (even imaginary), then the mother herself becomes a threat to others and at the same time does not shy away from verbal or even physical aggression. The maternal role for such a woman will become an “archetypal shield”, with which she will hide herself both from the judgments of the people around her and from herself. And then any arguments against, doubts and reproaches of conscience will be discarded.
Women like Demeter are invincible when it comes to the welfare of their children. Many special education classes for children with disabilities exist only because of the desire of Demeter mothers to give their children everything they need. Perseverance, patience, perseverance are the properties of Demeter, which, in the end, can affect a powerful man or social institution.

Depression, anger and destructiveness
We remember part of the myth about the abduction of Cora, when Demeter's mother sat in her temple and refused to support life on earth. This led to starvation and the gradual death of all living things. Real women can fall into a similar state, sinking into severe depression and not even coming out of their melancholy for years. This is a terrible time for their family, and the children are going through it very hard. As a result, a child's childhood may be colored by the feeling that the mother does not accept him, and this turns into distrust of the world as a whole. Such a mother is called a "dead mother". Physically, she is present in the family, but in her soul she is too far from her and is not able to give her child a feeling of love and support.

Much more common than these extreme forms of rejection is the Demeter mother's refusal to acknowledge and approve of their growing children becoming less dependent from them. Although the mother's depression is not as obvious under these circumstances, the denial of approval (which the child needs for self-respect) is also associated with depression. She experiences her child's growing independence as an emotional loss. She feels less needed, rejected, and as a result may become depressed.
When the Demeter archetype is powerful and a woman cannot fulfill it, she risks falling into a chronic depression caused by "feeling empty nest and emptiness." A woman who longs for a child may be barren, the child may die or leave home. Her babysitting job may end, she may lose her clients or students. In this case, the Demeter woman tends to become depressed rather than angry or actively fighting for what matters to her (a common reaction of the Hera woman). She grieves, feeling that life is empty and meaningless.

Demeter woman

The Demeter woman is, first of all, a mother. In her intimate relationships, she feeds, nurtures and supports, helps and gives. She provides others with what she sees they need - chicken broth, a hug of approval, money, helps a friend overcome difficulties, constantly invites "to come home like a mother."
The aura of Mother Earth is often felt around the Demeter woman. She is solid and reliable. People describe her as "having ground under her feet"; she does what needs to be done with warmth and practicality. She is usually generous, outward-looking, altruistic, and devoted to people and principles, to the point that she may be perceived as stubborn and uncompromising. She has strong convictions and is difficult to budge when something important or someone important to her is affected.

Childhood and parents
Some little girls look like developing Demeters - "little mothers" lulling baby dolls. Little Demeter also loves holding real babies; at nine or ten years old, she may ardently aspire to babysit her siblings.
The goddess Demeter continues the lineage of fertility goddesses, like her mother and grandmother. She was the daughter of Rhea and the granddaughter of Gaia, the goddess of the earth. She also has other correspondences with her mother and grandmother. All three goddesses suffered from the harm caused by their husbands to their children. Gaia's husband imprisoned her children in her body when they were born. Rhea's husband swallowed her newborn children. And Demeter's husband allowed their daughter to be captured in the underworld. All three biological fathers showed a lack of parental feelings.

Real life corresponds to the myth of Demeter in cases where mothers marry men who are deprived of parental feelings. In this situation, the Demeter daughter grows up not related to her father, but most closely associated with her mother. The motherly qualities of a Demeter daughter may result in her switching roles with her immature or inept parents. When she is old enough, she can look after her parents or become a tutor for her younger siblings.
In contrast, if a young Demeter has a loving and encouraging father, she grows up feeling his support for her desire to be a good mother herself. She perceives men positively, and her expectations towards her husband will be positive. The archetype's proclivity for the victim position will not be reinforced by childhood experiences.

Adolescence and youth
At puberty, the archetypal maternal drive is hormonally bolstered and her own child becomes a biological possibility. At this time, some Demeter girls begin to have a strong desire to become pregnant. If other aspects of her life are not filled, then the young "Demeter", involved in sex and pregnant, can happily accept a child.
Many "Demeters" marry early. In working-class families, a girl is often encouraged to marry immediately after leaving school. This encouragement may be in keeping with the Demeter girl's own inclination to have a family rather than an education or a job.

If a young Demeter woman does not marry and start a family, she will go to work or go to college. In college, she is likely to take courses that will prepare her for a career in helping others. As a rule, a Demeter woman is not ambitious, not inclined to intellectual work, does not strive for excellent grades, although she can do well in her studies if she has the ability and interest in the disciplines taught. Status, so important for a Hera woman, is not essential for Demeter. She often chooses friends without caring at all about their role in society.

Job
The motherly essence of a Demeter woman predisposes her to choose activities related to education or help. She is drawn to "traditionally female" professions like a teacher, educator, medical worker. When the Demeter archetype is present, helping others to develop or become well becomes a prime motivation and fulfillment. Women who have become therapists, psychotherapists, pediatricians often reflect a certain Demeter inclination in their choice. Many women who work in kindergartens, nurseries, primary schools, orphanages also bring their inclinations to work.
Some Demeter women become key figures in organizations that feed on their maternal energy. Typically, in such a situation, a Demeter woman makes a big impression on others. She can create in her imagination and then start an organization and personally lead it to rapid success.

Relationships with women: friendship or rivalry
Demeter women do not compete with other women because of men or achievement. Envy or jealousy towards other women concerns children. A childless Demeter woman feels inferior to women of her own age who have become mothers. If she is barren, she may feel bitter and bitter at the ease with which others get pregnant, especially if they have abortions. In later life, if her grown children live far away or are emotionally distant, she will envy a mother who sees her children often. At this stage of life, envy can also surface because of grandchildren.

Demeter women have mixed feelings about the women's movement. Many Demeter women resent feminists for devaluing the role of motherhood. On the other hand, Demeter women strongly support many women's initiatives, such as protecting children from violence, providing shelters for injured women.
Usually, Demeter women develop strong friendships with other Demeter women. Many of these friendships came about when they were new moms together. Sometimes they rely more on their girlfriends than on their husbands, both for emotional support and real help.
Within families where all women are Demeters, mothers and daughters can remain close from generation to generation. Such families have a pronounced matriarchal structure.

Relationships with men:
The Demeter woman is attracted to men who are attracted to motherly women. Among them may be a typical "sissy", whom Demeter will appreciate for his individuality and misunderstanding by others, she will sincerely admire and care for him, and he will devotedly love her, as children love their mothers. Demeter's partner can also be a man who, as a child, dreamed of marrying his own mother, and now he has found in his wife Demeter one that will be caring, warm, responsive, monitor his nutrition, buy clothes for him and keep her in order, refer her to a doctor, when it is necessary for him, arrange his social life. But Demeter can also connect her life with a sociologist - a person incapable of loving, being faithful and remorseful, capable only of consuming and exhausting (both morally and materially) a loved one.

Of all the men who are attracted to the qualities of Demeter, only the mature and generous person is the "family type man". Such a man has a strong desire to have a family, and he sees the Demeter woman as a partner who shares his dream. This type of man is a "good daddy" for his children, but he also looks after her. If she finds it difficult to say no to people who seek to benefit from her beautiful Demeter nature, he will help her stay alert. A family-type man helps her fulfill herself through the birth of children. For the first three types of men, the idea of ​​having a child is threatening, and they may insist on an abortion if she becomes pregnant. This demand will lead her to a maternal crisis: she will either refuse the man for whom she played the role of mother, or she will refuse motherhood. This choice will make her feel like a mother who has to make the impossible choice by sacrificing one of her children.

There is an opinion that sex is of interest to a Demeter woman only as an opportunity, a way to have a child. And that many Demeter women have their own little secret - they do not get much more pleasure from breastfeeding a baby than from sex with a man.
Earlier I said that I do not consider sensuality to be the prerogative of the Aphrodite archetype. In my opinion, sensuality is a feature of woman's physics. It can certainly be awakened in oneself in the most obvious way - through the awakening of Aphrodite with the help of various female features - self-care, lace underwear, perfumes, behavior that awakens in men the desire to help, take care. At the same time, I believe that EVERY woman has her unique form of sensuality. In Demeter, it is earthy, unadorned, "animal" and deep.

In ancient cults, in order for the earth to bear fruit, a husband and wife at a certain time made love on freshly plowed land, conceiving a child at that moment and thereby performing a ritual of agricultural magic. This action seems to me the personification of the archetype of Demeter, while it is certainly sensual and charged with enormous sexual, life-creating energy.
Today it is customary to separate the process of conceiving a child and his birth, when the first is seen as deeply attractive, while the second, although joyful, is painful. Now I don’t want to raise a wave of discussion about whether the process of childbirth can bring pleasure, be something more than a trauma that you want to forget as soon as possible and why silicone breasts are an object of desire, and nursing is indecent. I'm only talking about the fact that since ancient times people have known that birth is a process no less sensual than the one that precedes it. And in each of us, regardless of the archetype, our own sensual energy seethes.

Children
The Demeter woman feels a deep need to be the biological mother. She wants to give birth and raise her own child. She is capable of being a loving foster mother, an attentive caregiver, but if she cannot have children, her deep longing is not fulfilled, and she may feel failed.
All Demeter women perceive themselves precisely as good mothers, who have the interests of children in the foreground. However, in terms of their impact on children, Demeter women are both flawless, loving, and terrible possessive, overwhelming mothers.

Some Demeter mothers are always afraid that something bad might happen to their child. Therefore, they limit the independence of their children and interfere with the formation of close relationships with others. Because of the intention to always protect her child, a Demeter mother can exercise excessive control over him.
Another negative model of maternal behavior of Demeter women is a mother who cannot say "no" to her children. She sees herself as selfless, generous, providing mother, giving and giving. This Demeter mother wants her children to have everything they want. If it is far beyond what she can give them, she will either make sacrifices to provide what she wants or feel guilty all the time.

Average age
Middle age is an important time for Demeter women. If such a woman does not have a child, she is constantly preoccupied with thoughts that the biological time is running out for the possibility of becoming pregnant. If there are problems with conception or bearing, they visit fertility specialists. They may be considering adoption. And unmarried women intend to become single mothers.

In middle age, a woman - the founding mother of an organization - may face a crisis situation when the organization becomes so strong and wealthy that someone wants to seize its position and power.
However, the Demeter woman is able to rethink her life, realizing that even a late child will not fill the void inside forever, in this case, she can take care of herself, continue her education or start a new business. But this requires strength and courage.

Old age
In old age, Demeter women often fall into one of two categories. Many find that this time is their reward. They are active, active women, as they have always been, who have learned life lessons and are valued by others for worldly wisdom and generosity. Children, grandchildren, clients, students, patients - all these people, including more than one generation, love and respect such a woman. She is like the goddess Demeter - who gave her gifts to the human race and is very revered.

The opposite fate befell the Demeter woman, who considers herself victim. Usually the source of her unhappiness is disappointments and unfulfilled expectations of middle age. Now, identified with the deceived, grieving, angry Demeter, sitting in her temple and not allowing anything to grow, such a woman in her declining years does nothing, but the older she gets, the more hardened.

Psychological problems s
The woman who identifies herself with Demeter acts like a generous mother goddess with limitless ability to give . She can't say no if someone needs her attention and help.
The Demeter woman's excessive, excessive ability to mother others may not be her best feature: she wants her child to need her, and worries when he is not under her control. She will be encourage addiction and keep the child "tied to his skirt". She does the same in other close relationships. For example, she can raise a "addicted child" when she nurtures the "poor little boy" in her lover or takes care of the "troubled child" in her friend.

Demeter woman unable to say "no" becomes overworked and then exhausted and lethargic or resentful, resentful and angry. If she feels that she is being exploited, she usually does not express it directly, showing the same lack of assertiveness in defending her interests that made her say yes when she should have said no. Instead of expressing her anger or insisting that something change, a Demeter woman is likely to ignore her feelings or sensations as ungenerous and work even harder.
When she tries to suppress her true feelings, and they somehow come to light, she begins to show passive-aggressive behavior.

When a Demeter woman loses the close relationship in which she played the role of a mother figure, not only the relationship and the loved one are lost, but also her role as a mother, which gave her a sense of strength, self-worth and meaning. She is left with an empty nest and a feeling of emptiness.

The reaction of women who have dedicated their lives to their children to their departure from their mother is described by the term "Empty Nest Depression" Demeter women can react in a similar way to the end of a love affair. The same reaction is possible in such a woman and in the case when she "nurtured" some project for years, but it failed or was brought to completion by other people. Such organizational difficulties leave her feeling "robbed" and rejected.

Photo materials are taken from the resource pinterest.com

Jean Shinoda Bolen "Goddesses in every woman: New psychology of woman. Archetypes of goddesses" publishing house "Sofia", 2007

Galina Borisovna Bednenko "Greek goddesses. Archetypes of Femininity. - Series: Library of psychology and psychotherapy of the independent company "Class", 2005
and also get acquainted with the new electronic edition of the book
Greek gods and goddesses as role-playing archetypes: A new electronic edition. - M.: Pryakhi, 2013
by the address http://halina.livejournal.com/1849206.html

* Reflections in italics are mine

czarstvo-diva.livejournal.com 2013

- (Δημήτηρ, Ceres). Goddess of agriculture, chiefly the patroness of cereals. She was the daughter of Kronos and Rhea, the sister of Zeus and Hades. From Zeus, she had a daughter, Persephone, whom Hades took to his underworld. Upon learning of the kidnapping of his daughter, ... ... Encyclopedia of mythology

Demeter->). Statue of the circle of Briaxis. Marble. 340 330 BC British museum. London. /> Demeter (). Statue of the circle of Briaxis. Marble. 340 330 BC British museum. London. Demeter (). Statue of the circle of Briaxis. Marble. 340 330 BC British museum.… … Encyclopedic Dictionary "World History"

- (Greek Demeter, from de instead, ge earth, and meter mother). Greek name for Ceres, goddess of agriculture. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. DEMETRA Greek goddess personifying productivity. the forces of the earth... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Demeter- (Demeter of Cnidus). Statue of the circle of Briaxis. Marble. 340 330 BC British museum. London. DEMETRA, in Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister and wife of Zeus, mother of Persephone. Demeter were dedicated to ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

In the myths of the ancient Greeks, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, the daughter of Kronos and Rhea, the sister and wife of Zeus, from whom she gave birth to Persephone. She was depicted by ancient authors as a goddess beneficent to people, beautiful in appearance, with hair the color of ripe wheat ... Historical dictionary

Ceres, goddess of agriculture Dictionary of Russian synonyms. demeter n., number of synonyms: 5 goddess (346) ... Synonym dictionary

DEMETRA, in Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister and wife of Zeus, mother of Persephone. The Eleusinian mysteries were dedicated to Demeter (in the city of Eleusis). She corresponds to the Roman Ceres ... Modern Encyclopedia

In Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility, the patroness of agriculture. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister of Zeus, mother of Persephone. She corresponds to the Roman Ceres ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Dhmhthr) daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister of Zeus, occupied, as the goddess of agriculture, civil order and marriage, a prominent place in Greek mythology. The myth about her and her daughter Persephone is detailed in one of the so-called. Homeric hymns. Hades, with ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Demeter- uh. In Greek mythology: the goddess of fertility, the patroness of agriculture, the nurse of people. Etymology: Greek name Dēmētēr ‘Demeter’. Encyclopedic commentary: Demeter and the Thunderer Zeus had a young daughter, Persephone. Gloomy Hades, God ... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language

Books

• Demetra (ed. 2008), Andrey Livadny. On approaching the mysterious planet Demeter, the goal of his twelve-year space journey, the spaceship Terra dies under mysterious circumstances. The only ones left alive are...
• Demeter, Andrey Livadny. On approaching the mysterious planet Demeter, the goal of his twelve-year space journey, the spaceship "Terra" dies under mysterious circumstances. The only ones left alive are...

Demeter, Ceres, Cybele - goddess of fertility and agriculture, teacher and mother
Roles and aspects of Demeter in a woman's life
Demeter (among the Romans, Ceres) is the goddess of fertility and agriculture, the daughter of Kronos and Rhea, one of the most revered Olympic deities.

She was described in Homer's "Hymn to Demeter" as "a benevolent goddess of beautiful appearance, with hair the color of ripe wheat ... and with a golden sword" (probably a poetic allusion to the sheaf of ripe wheat that was her main symbol).
Depicted as a beautiful woman with golden hair, dressed in blue clothes, or (mostly in sculptures) as a respectable, imposing woman sitting on a throne.
Cerere by Democrito Gandolfi at Porta Venezia (Milan)

The part of Demeter's name, meter, seems to mean "mother", but it is not entirely clear what the particle "de-" or, earlier, "yes-" refers to.* She was worshiped as a mother goddess, especially as the mother of grain and the mother of the girl Persephone (among the Romans - Proserpina).

Demeter's life began just as gloomy as that of Hera. She was the second child of Rhea and Kronos - and the second he swallowed. Demeter became the fourth royal wife of Zeus (Jupiter), who was also her brother. She preceded Hera, the seventh in a row and the last. The union of Zeus and Demeter produced an only child, their daughter Persephone, with whom Demeter was associated in myth and cult.

The story of Demeter and Persephone, beautifully told in Homer's lengthy Hymn to Demeter, centers around Demeter's reaction to Persephone's abduction by Demeter's brother Hades, ruler of the underworld.

The myth became the basis of the Eleusinian mysteries, the most sacred and important cult rituals of Ancient Greece for more than two millennia, until the 5th century AD, when the sanctuary in Eleusis was destroyed as a result of the invasion of the Goths.
Demeter in Neustrelitz

Demeter is the archetype of motherhood. She represents the maternal instinct, exercised through pregnancy, through the physical, psychological or spiritual nourishment and nurturing of others. This powerful archetype can indicate the future direction of a woman's life, has a significant impact on those close to her, and also determines a woman's tendency to depression if her need to grow and educate is rejected - or something prevents her from being fulfilled.

Demeter on Olympus was represented by the archetype of the mother. Her most important roles were those of mother (daughter - Persephone), she who nourishes (goddess of fertility), and giver of spiritual food (Eleusinian mysteries). Although other goddesses were mothers (Hera and Aphrodite), Demeter's connection with her daughter was the most significant. She also more than other goddesses was engaged in cultivation and education.