Persephone is a beloved maiden goddess, who eventually became the Goddess of the Underworld. The Underworld represents our unconscious, thoughts or feelings that we may have suppressed or are unaware of. As a Queen to Hades, the King of the Underworld, she assists souls who have just passed over and needed guidance to orientate to find their way. 

Now, of course when we read mythology, we don’t read it like historical or scientific accounts, they are all about the metaphors. Persephone being the Queen of the Underworld means she is very capable of navigating between her conscious and unconscious mind, or between the ego mind or her higher self. This is an incredible gift. As a goddess archetype, she is considered to be the Mystic and the Intuitive.

A goddess archetype is an inner pattern that we can find in a woman’s psyche. It presents her personality, interest, inclination, aspiration and often her behavioral patterns as well. We may have more than one archetype active in us at all times, but more often than not, we can see there is a particular one that is most active naturally or results from the current circumstances. 

If a woman has Persephone active in her an archetype, she tends to be someone who is highly intuitive, sensitive and often introverted. She is often perceived to be eternally youthful and feminine. A young Persephone may come across as passive, compliant, a easy-going child, never makes any trouble or causes confrontation, often indecisive and unsure what it is that she wants to do when she grows up. But all that can change when a Persephone comes to mature. 

In Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped when she was a young maiden. One day she was was gathering flowers in a meadow with her companions. She was attracted to an astonishingly beautiful narcissus. As she reached out to pick it, the ground split open before her. From deep within the earth, Hades (God of the Underworld) emerged in his gold chariot and took her. Persephone struggled and screamed for help, but no help came. 

Demeter, mother of Persephone persisted in seeking Persephone’s return and finally forced Zeus to help. Zeus then dispatched Hermes, the Messenger God, to fetch Persephone. Hades agreed to let Persephone go, but before she left Hades, he gave her some pomegranate seeds, which she ate. And because of that she would need to spend one-third of the year in the underworld with Hades, and two-thirds of the year in the upper world, with Demeter. Had Persephone not eaten anything, she would have been fully restored to Demeter and the Upper world.  

So often what happens to a Persephone is a sudden change of circumstance, it can be a tragedy, depression, illness in herself or in the family, loss of financial support, parental divorce or anything that feels like the rug has just been pulled under her feet. She may experience deep despair and that forced her to grow or mature, if she is going to walk through that dark tunnel. At the end of her Mythology, she became a mature powerful queen and goddess in her own right. She knows her purpose and she claims what she wants.

Many women who have Persephone in them often experience a big transformation when they are young and then grow to be become even more intuitive and with depth with her own life experience. 

She is a very a special goddess, and if we embrace that archetype within us, we tend to become more honest with our feeling and sensitivity, and more in tune with our conscious and unconscious mind as well. 

If you are interested to learn more about Goddess Archetypes, you may like to look into my new online course “Embrace Your Feminine Power and Goddess Archetypes”. You can find all the details here.

Sze Wing is an intuitive coach, speaker and writer. She has a diverse background in the corporate world as well as the creative and spiritual realm. She is the co-founder of the Lighten Up Summit and part of the editorial team of GratitudeOnline.com.au

Sze Wing holds a master degree in European Studies and a bachelor degree in Economics. She graduated from the prestigious London School of Economics & Political Sciences, and University College of London.

She teaches self-care and life coaching workshops, goddess retreats in Sydney. You can contact her via her email: szewingyip@mac.com or www.GoddessArchetypes.com and her Facebook page