Singing In Union the Ancient Songs of Spring
By Steve Sayer
When the early signs of spring begin revealing its myriad faces, it seems that everything is magically restored and renewed with a relentless domino effect without end. Deciduous trees play catch-up to the evergreens; perennial flowers of every possible color start their blossoming, and baby fronds from a variety of ferns and palms begin their unraveling as they shoot up towards acres and acres of sky.
Spotted ladybugs can be seen stretching out their delicate wings while balancing on a four-leaf clover, as the hasty bluebird is in full song while gathering straw for her innate nest. Seemingly terrain cursed caterpillars begin spinning their cocoon’s, soon metamorphosing into colorful and autonomous butterflies. Rainbow hued hummingbirds rocket around, powered by the flowers sweet nectar. Even spiders, some with perfectly shaped red hourglasses, joins the burgeoning parade as they trampoline high in the sky on their translucent webs of silk.
What a miraculous time it is each spring when earth’s collective flora and fauna wake up and break away in union from the clutches of long and cold winters. A rather obscure Greek mythology tale holds the bragging rights to the first recorded account of the marvels of spring and summer including the genesis of fall and cold winters.
This very old anecdote is worth telling for the first time or revisiting once again because of its unique and personal appeal to each and every one of us.
A young and beautiful Goddess named Persephone lived in Greece. Her mother, Demeter, was the Earth Goddess who was responsible for making trees and plants grow and multiply. Among other things, Demeter taught mankind the secret of cultivating, sowing, and harvesting of grains and fruits for their sustenance.
This ancient tale begins with Persephone playing and singing songs of spring alone in a bountiful field of flowers when the earth suddenly opens up with a thunder. Out of the ground came a chariot led by a pair of dark and intimidating horses. In the chariot and holding the reins was Hades, the feared Lord of the Underworld. He kidnapped the striking Persephone and took her to the Underworld to be his wife.
However, before the earth closed up behind them, Persephone’s belt accidentally fell to the earth. When Persephone didn’t come home, her mother searched frantically for her. As the months slowly passed, Demeter grew so miserable and sad that she forgot to make the entire plant life on earth grow. The warm green and abundant earth turned colorless, bleak and cold. As legend has it earth’s first fall and winter then came to pass.
One day a shepherd boy brought to Demeter her daughter’s belt that he’d found on a field near an opening to the Underworld. Demeter accurately surmised what had happened. She went straight to Zeus, the King of the Gods, and told him that if he didn’t order Hades to free Persephone, the earth would remain lifeless without end.
Zeus agreed and told Hades he must free Persephone. Demeter went to the Underworld to retrieve her daughter but quickly discovered that something dreadful had happened. Persephone had eaten a few pomegranate seeds, (a common fertility symbol among the ancients), while in the Underworld. According to law, if one consumed pomegranate seeds, including a Goddess, they could never leave the Underworld.
With Persephone still locked in the Underworld, Demeter refused to make anything grow as her misery never subsided. In light of this, the Gods made a deal with the Devil; for every pomegranate seed Persephone had eaten, she would have to spend the equivalent of one month every year for eternity with Hades.
Demeter agreed to this and Persephone returned to earth with her mother as Demeter’s happiness returned once again. The earth then flourished with a cornucopia of grains and fruit bearing forth to the relief and joy of all mankind. But because of the overriding curse of eating pomegranate seeds, Persephone to this day leaves her mother 4 months of the year causing the chills and darkness of winter to return once again.
As the miracles of this spring are flying, singing and budding all around us, we can be certain that Demeter and Persephone are together once again, singing in union the ancient songs of spring.
Steve Sayer
ALNews Columnist
