Persephone: myth and primal truth

My late wife Gill wrote a play based on the myth of Persephone when she was about twelve years old.

I did not discover it until after her death.

In the summer of her death I decided to explore the myth of Persephone through art. I intended to make a poem to go with this work. I just have not been able to write it yet.

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring. In Pagan mythology she is the maiden aspect of the triple Goddess.

She was abducted by Hades, ruler of the underworld, the land of shades.

Her mother, Demeter, the Earth Mother, turned the earth barren in her grief and rage at her daughter's loss.

Finally Persephone was allowed to return to the world above with the return of Spring each year.

Each year at this time, when the skin separating the worlds of the dead and the living is at its thinnest, Persephone must return to be Queen of the Underworld again.

Here I am sharing a collage of images I took exploring the theme with Rebecca Tun, who was Gill's favourite model as well as mine.