Demeter

Siblings: The Olympians

**Demeter**, also known as **Ceres**, is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law.

It was believed that Demeter made the crops grow each year; thus the first loaf of bread made from the annual harvest was offered to her. She was the goddess of the Earth, of agriculture, and of fertility in general. Sacred to her are livestock and agricultural products, poppy, narcissus and the crane.

## History

### Persephone's Abduction

Demeter was intimately associated with the seasons. Her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades to be his wife in the underworld. In a fit of anger and sorrow at her daughter's loss, Demeter laid a curse on the world that caused plants to wither and die, and the land to become desolate. Zeus, alarmed for the barren Earth, sought for Persephone's return. However, because she had eaten the cursed pomegranate while in the underworld, Hades had a claim on her. Therefore, it was decreed that Persephone would spend four months each year in the underworld. During these months Demeter would grieve for her daughter's absence, withdrawing her gifts from the world, creating winter. Her return brought the spring.

### Eleusis and Mammon

Demeter's search for her daughter Persephone took her to the palace of Celeus, the King of Eleusis in Attica. She assumed the form of an old woman, and asked him for shelter. He took her in, to nurse Demophon and Triptolemus, his sons by Metanira. To reward his kindness, she planned to make Demophon immortal; she secretly anointed the boy with ambrosia and laid him in the flames of the hearth, to gradually burn away his mortal self. But Metanira walked in, saw her son in the fire and screamed in fright. Demeter abandoned the attempt. Instead, she taught Triptolemus the secrets of agriculture, and he in turn taught them to any who wished to learn them. Thus, humanity learned how to plant, grow and harvest grain.

Despite her contributions for humanity's advancement in the art of cultivating and agriculture, Demeter ended up being quite depressed as the search for her daughter only led her to dead ends. It was during this time that she was approached by who she described a "golden winged man" with scorches on his body that looked as though boiling liquid was poured on him. The 'man' in question was in actuality the fallen angel, Mammon. While the details of this tale is scarce, the few that know of it all say that Mammon seduced the goddess with the false promise of relieving her misery. Their sexual encounter led to the birth of Plutus. Hypnos regards it as more of a "sordid" tale where Demeter was at her lowest point and Mammon took advantage of it. Why Mammon wanted to lay with the goddess was unknown.

### Demeter and Iasion

At the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia, Iasion was lured by Demeter away from the other revelers. They had intercourse as Demeter lay on her back in a freshly plowed furrow. When they rejoined the celebration, Zeus guessed what had happened because of the mud on Demeter's backside, and out of envy killed Iasion with a thunderbolt. However, some say Demeter pled so eloquently that Zeus granted his son immortality, ranking him among the lesser deities. With Demeter, he was the father of twin sons named Ploutos and Philomelus, and another son named Corybas.

### Demeter and Erysichthon

Another myth involving Demeter's rage resulting in famine is that of Erysichthon, king of Thessaly. The myth tells of Erysichthon ordering all of the trees in one of Demeter's sacred groves to be cut down. One tree, a huge oak, was found to be covered with votive wreaths, symbols of the prayers Demeter had granted, and so Erysichthon's men refused to cut it down. The king used an axe to cut it down himself, killing a dryad nymph in the process. The nymph's dying words were a curse on Erysichthon.

Demeter punished the king by calling upon Limos, the spirit of unrelenting and insatiable hunger, to enter his stomach. The more the king ate, the hungrier he became. Erysichthon sold all his possessions to buy food, but was still hungry. Finally, he sold his own daughter, Mestra, into slavery. Mestra was freed from slavery by her former lover, Poseidon, who gave her the gift of shape-shifting into any creature at will to escape her bonds. Erysichthon used her shape-shifting ability to sell her numerous times to make more money to feed himself, but no amount of food was enough. Eventually, Erysichthon ate himself.

## Powers and Abilities

**Blessing Inducement:** Demeter can bless anything including people, places, objects etc. and produce positive effects and phenomenon. This can include bringing good luck to people, or something as little as Emotion Augmentation as long as it is the happy emotions.

**Divine Object:** Demeter has access to an object that grants them divine/holy powers. They can range from source materials to apparel to fully-designed weapons; whatever the form, they can impart divine powers to those who lack them entirely or augment the already existing holy capabilities.

**Autumn Deity:** Demeter is an autumn deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with the autumn, also known as Fall.

**Famine Deity:** Demeter with this ability either is or can transform into a Famine Deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with famine, hunger, starvation, scarcity and malnutrition. Famine Deities weren't common in mythology but were naturally greatly feared among the civilizations they resided near due to the damage they could cause to their people.

**Femininity Deity:** Demeter with this ability either is or can transform into a Femininity Deity, a goddess who represents or is associated with femininity, women and womanhood. Femininity deities weren't common in mythology but were very present among the civilizations they were worshiped in.

**Mother Goddess:** As an archetype, the mother goddess, a goddess entity/figure who represents, or is the personification of, nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction; or, who embodies the bounty of the Earth. Such figures are often times the literal mothers of the majority of younger generations of gods and goddesses in the pantheon they are from.

**Earth Deity:** Demeter is an earth deity. Earthian deities are gods and goddesses who represent or are associated with the planet Earth or earth-like planets, the lands, mountains, hills, valleys, caves and, in the case of chthonic deities, the underground. They can also cause natural disasters or bring great fertility to the lands. In general, an earth deity is a deity associated with Earth in mythology.

**Fertility Deity:** As an archetype of a Fertility Deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with fertility, virility, sex, sexual health, reproduction, procreation, pregnancy, birth, nature, vegetation and crops. Fertility deities are common in mythology and were important among ancient and current civilizations. In most cases these deities are directly associated with these experiences.

**Harvest Deity:** As an archetype the harvest deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with the harvest, agriculture, fertility, vegetation and crops, and often the season of autumn when the harvest comes in. Harvest deities are common in mythology and were important among ancient and current civilizations.

**Nature Deity:** As an archetype, a nature deity is a god/goddess who represents or is associated with or in charge of forces of nature such as a water deity, vegetation deity, sky deity, solar deity, fire deity or any other naturally occurring phenomena such as mountains, trees, or volcanoes. They are the supreme guardians of nature, they search along the outside world and spread and protect nature they described to be personifications of nature. They have the power to grow, nurture and rejuvenate plant life and even create flowers out of nothing.

**Season Deity:** Demeter with this ability either is or can transform into a season deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with the seasons, like spring, summer, autumn and winter. A Season Deity is a deity associated with Seasons in nature throughout mythology, either possessing power over one season, or all of them.

**Spring Deity:** Demeter with this ability either is or can transform into a spring deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with the spring season and any occurrences relating to that, such as seasonal growth with vegetation and the renewal of it.

**Summer Deity:** Demeter with this ability either is or can transform into a summer deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with summer, warm weather, vacation, and the warmth/brightness of the Sun.

**Triple Deity:** As the archetype of a triple deity; they are three gods/goddesses who together represent a three-fold concept. Sometimes referred to as "threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune or triadic, or as a trinity" are three separate deities or three “in one” acting together to gain higher powers and representing a divine trinity force.

**Vegetation Deity:** Demeter is a vegetation deity, a god or goddess of the plant kingdom or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. A vegetation deity is a nature deity whose disappearance and reappearance, or life, death and rebirth, embodies the growth cycle of plants. In nature worship, the deity can be a god or goddess with the ability to regenerate itself. A vegetation deity is often a fertility deity. The deity typically undergoes dismemberment (see *sparagmos*), scattering, and reintegration, as narrated in a myth or reenacted by a religious ritual. The cyclical pattern is given theological significance on themes such as immortality, resurrection, and reincarnation.

**Winter Deity:** Demeter is a winter deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with winter, cold weather, snow and ice.

**Law Manipulation:** Demeter can rewrite, redefine, delete, apply and generally manipulate any law which affects anyone and everyone as Demeter sees fit, allowing them to decide what happens under which conditions.

**World Connection:** Demeter has a deep physical, mental, emotional or spiritual connection with the world and everything in it including all its countless lifeforms, elements, aspects, etc., allowing them a deep understanding of the world, what it can do, and how it applies to them. This can allow them to easily communicate with the world that they have a deep connection with.

## Quotes

*"Demeter never really grew out of her... phase, as some might put it. Every time Persephone returns to the underworld with Hades for four months, it's like he kidnapped her daughter all over again. Though the rest of us gods and you mortal folk adapted to the cycle of summer and winter, Demeter never did. No preparation, no self-reflection, nothing. She never sought self-help for the pattern, so I guess it's fair to say that she's a bit of a man-child. It's a vicious cycle of warmth and cooling, and it's way too late to take it back now." - Apollo.*