I don’t usually interject myself into these summaries, but I had such a powerful experience making these candles that I think it’s worth sharing. Persephone has always been a little off my radar. I’m not big into “Love and Light” revisions of mythology and it has always seemed to me that even the myths written in antiquity lacked depth, condensing her into a flower-picking maiden who was kidnapped and forced to wed an Underworld rapist.

I was compelled (and I do mean ‘compelled’) to dig deeper, to try to find a strand to pull on that would give Persephone a richer, fuller character. My research yielded a surprising picture of a goddess much older than the Olympians (Neolithic according to some scholars) with a dualistic nature and who plumbs the depths of the Underworld while remaining a representation of new life. Again and again while I tried understand Her, I kept hearing a message - “I am more than that which can be known.”

The commonly repeated aspects of Persephone’s story are this: Hades asks his brother for a bride to rule the Underworld with him and Zeus says that he may take Persephone, but that he will have to be sly, since Demeter, Persephone’s mother, will never permit this willingly. She and a coterie of friends (Artemis and Athena in one version and her Nymph companions in another) are gathering spring flowers in a meadow. Hades has recruited the help of Gaia to carry out the abduction and a Narcissus flower is planted to tempt her away from her friends. She spies the flower and wanders away to get a better look. When she bends to pluck it, Gaia opens a great chasm in the Earth, Hades snatches Persephone and drags her down to the Underworld.

Demeter discovers that Persephone has disappeared and after Hekate or Hermes (depending on the retelling) takes pity on her and tells that Hades has abducted her. She demands that Zeus return her or she will destroy the Earth by killing all flora. Zeus relents and Demeter goes to retrieve her daughter, only to find out that Persephone has eaten a small amount of pomegranate seeds, therefore condemning herself to the Underworld. But Demeter is no shrinking violet and she again promises to scorch the Earth if Persephone is not returned to her and Zeus decides that she must stay with Hades one month of the year for each seed eaten, and may return to her mother for the remainder of the year. The number of seeds represents the months of winter when nothing grows, and thereby neatly explains the changing of the season, and making Persephone’s return to Demeter each year the explanation for the return of spring.

The remainder of the year is spent with Hades and for me, this is where Persephone begins to get interesting. Hades rules with Persephone, in one of the very few instances of equality in Greek mythology. There, she reigns as Queen of the Dead, representing immortality and reigning over spectres and ghosts of the dead. Hades defers to her when Orpheus comes to ask for the return Eurydice to the world of the living. In another example, she intervenes on behalf of Herakles with Hades deferring to her judgment. It would seem that her time in the Underworld with Hades is a more complex story than “maiden abducted, must spend part of year with awful dude in Hell.” She’s ruling with her husband and she is feared and respected. After all, the name Persephone translates to variants of “Bringer of Death,” and Core (Kore), another common name for her, may not be a name after all, but a title, “The Maiden,” because she was so feared that people dare not speak her name. This girl has substance. Not only is she emblematic of new life, growth, and fertility, but also of death, immortality, and the Underworld. There’s so much more here to uncover and I’ll share more about her over on the blog when I’ve finished.

Rituals - Fertility, growth, relationships between mothers and daughters, death, adapting in difficult situations, appealing to and/or honoring the dead, rites of passage from youth to adulthood, the turn of the Wheel, marriage, transitions.

I chose pomegranate, parsley, red bud flowers, mint, and other herbs, flowers, and botanicals for these candles.

This purchase is for one pair of Persephone handmade beeswax candles. Each candle is 8 inches long and 1 inch wide at the base.

Do not leave candles burning unattended. Do not burn near children, pets, or flammable materials. I recommend burning on a plate style candle holder to catch wax drips or any bits of herbs that may burn. Keep wicks trimmed to 1/4 inch to promote even, efficient burning.

Our candles are crafted for ritual use. We do not add any artificial or synthetic scents and feel that the natural smell of beeswax, herbs, and resins are best suited for magickal purposes.