In Enna, Sicily’s historic center is a copy of Bernini’s Abduction of Persephone in bronze (modeled after the statue in the Galleria Borghese in Rome). Its presence illustrates how pervasive this story from ancient Greek times is still today. In fact, the legend which discusses this event that sparks fall’s arrival, was set in Sicily just 10 kilometers away at the Pergusa Lake.
Yes, as you may have learned in childhood, it is a story that explains seasonal changes (Demeter, Persephone’s mother and the goddess of fertility, the harvest, and grain, allows everything to die as a result of the dismay caused by her missing daughter.), but more profoundly, the Eleusinian Mysteries mark the transformation from innocence and purity to maturity and sensuality; from youth to experience; from childhood to adulthood; from obedient daughter and virgin to self-assured woman and queen.
We are at the edge, about to cross over. If we follow ancient wisdom, Persephone’s experience will show us the way.
