In the United States, we call this perennial herb Summer Asphodel. In Sicily, where during these months of February and March it grows seemingly on every hillside making many hungry sheep happy, it is called Asfodelo Mediterraneo. The snow-white flowers with a thin red-brown ribbon down their centers were associated with Persephone and the Underworld…
Tag: persephone
Celebrate Santa Lucia Online 2021
The Feast of Santa Lucia is on December 13, and that evening, I will host an online discussion and presentation about this highly venerated saint from Sicily. Join me to learn her story, traditions practiced for the feast, and why she carries eyes on a plate (?)! I will also be performing the beloved song…
The Ancient Wisdom Of Persephone In Sicily
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…
Persephone Leads Us To Winter
The maiden Persephone holds a dove in this 575-550 BCE votive statuette found in a tomb in Siracusa, Sicily. As we move toward winter in the northern hemisphere, we prepare to send our innocent, pure protagonist of spring and summer to the Underworld or Hades, where she will take on her adult role as the…
Signs Of Rituals For Rebirth In Ancient Sicily
Unless you are a plumber, this may not look so interesting at first. Earlier this month while in Sicily, I returned to the Sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros at Selinunte to understand its placement as related to the Modione River that it flanks and the Mediterranean Sea. I was curious about water placement near and on…
Sicily’s Head Of Hades
Until Sunday, August 8, this magnificent “Head of Hades,” also known as Barbablù will be in a special short exhibition at the Museo Archeologico Regionale “Antonino Salinas” – Palermo. The head, which is normally housed in the Museum at Aidone in Enna Province, was brought to Palermo briefly in order to promote the Barbablù Fest,…
Tonight! Presentation about the Divine and Sacred Feminine Sites of Eastern Sicily
Tonight! Join me at 7:30PM Eastern online for Myths and Mysteries of Sicily: Part I, Eastern Sicily. I’ll discuss the divine feminine and sacred feminine sites in Eastern Sicily. Details and registration at Myths and Mysteries of Sicily: Part I, Eastern Sicily Update: Enjoy! RECORDINGMyths and Mysteries of Sicily: Eastern Sicily, Part Ihttps://youtu.be/R5Lsbsa1q0E
52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #24. The Mother Goddess’ Presence is Everywhere
Demeter, the goddess of the grain, female fertilization, and the harvest, who is the mother of Persephone, represents the great matriarch in ancient Greek mythology. Her power to cultivate the bounties on the Earth’s surface for us are illustrated significantly during the myth of Demeter and Kore/Persephone. Before the Christian era, the Eleusinian Mysteries (as…
Piazza Della Vittoria Is A Victory For The Goddess
It’s not lost on me (or my friend, tour guide Rosa Rizza) that when they broke ground in 1973 at Piazza della Vittoria in Siracusa to build the Sanctuary for the Madonna of the Tears, that where they intended to place the church, they discovered the foundation of the late 5th/early 4th century BCE Sanctuary…
The Sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros, Selinunte (Part I)
The ancient Greek community of Selinunte was founded as a sub-colony of Megara Iblea in 651-650 BCE. One of the first sacred sites in the western Sicilian city, which is considered one of the world’s largest archaeological zones, is the Santuario della Malophoros or the Sanctuary of the Fruit Bearer. “Malophoros” implies pomegranates or apples,…