Demeter, the Goddess of Fertility:
http://www.geschiedenisvoorkinderen.nl/Griekengoden.htm
As the site says:
"Demeter is de godin van het graan (van de landbouw). Haar verdriet om het verlies van haar dochter bracht de winter. De terugkeer van haar dochter uit de onderwereld bracht het voorjaar. De oude Grieken vonden haar een goede godin die vriendelijk en goed voor de mensen was, die ervoor zorgde dat alles bloeide. Ook was Demeter de uitvindster van de landbouw en de plantenwereld."
Years Ago, I had a lovely housemate
at this the Enchanted Garden Intentional Community.
She lived here for eight years and her name
is Mindy Donner.
Mindy, before moving in was the director
of the local Waldorf School, or a teacher there.
When she arrived here, she was in a major life change.
By the time she left here,
she had an incredible thriving career as the director
of Spinning Wheel Puppets.
That happens to a lot of people who move into the
Enchanted Garden Intentional Community.
Mindy is quite the artist.
She would make incredible masks.
She put her whole body, mind, and soul
into her work. She pulled lots of spirit into what she did.
Once she made a mask of Demeter,
the Goddess of the Grain harvest
and the Goddess of Fertility.
This was a powerful mask in the shape
of a corn plant with the face of the Goddess.
One day, I was out in the backyard, taking
wanting to take a photo of the Mask for the first time.
I had not done my morning rituals in the garden.
The second I snapped the photo,
I heard a yell from the house.
"Someone is messing with the electricity again!"
All the electricity was off.
We later learned that all the electricity in the whole
neighborhood went down that very moment.
That day, I established a very personal relationship
with the Goddess Demeter, the Goddess of
Agriculture.
To read more about Demeter and how she
is attributed to the change of seasons, go here:
Demeter at a Glance
name | Demeter (Dhmhthr)
role | goddess of agriculture and fertility
symbols | sceptre, torch, corn (grain)
Demeter in Greek Mythology
As the goddess of grain and fertility, Demeter played an important - indeed essential - role in ancient Greek society. The Greeks, like most ancient cultures, relied upon agriculture for their sustenance. As the patron deity of agriculture, Demeter was accordingly worshipped with festivals (such as the Thesmophoria) and other honors. Likewise, her association with grain also translated into a close relationship with human fertility, as this was another crucial part in our continuing survival. There are, consequently, many myths dealing with Demeter in her capacity as a fertility goddess.
Perhaps the most poignant of these myths is the so-called Homeric Hymn to Demeter, in which the story of the goddess and the loss of her daughter Persephone is told. The Hymn to Demeter is thought by scholars to be not only a myth about the abduction of Persephone and the consequent anger of Demeter - it also alludes to aspects of the mystery cult referred to as the Eleusinian Mysteries. This cult falls more properly into the realm of Greek religion, rather than myth, so it will not be discussed it in any detail here. However, as it is an integral aspect of the worship of Demeter, it should at least be mentioned in this context.
In addition to the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, another intriguing tale that involves the goddess of fertility is her affair with the mortal Iasion. According to the version told by the poet Hesiod, Demeter and the hero "coupled with passion on a field plowed three times, in the rich soil of Crete." Apparently, this legendary liaison with Iasion was quite a fruitful one, for Demeter became pregnant and eventually bore her human lover a son named Plutus.
The goddess Demeter was known as Ceres in Roman mythology.
http://www.loggia.com/myth/demeter.html
Demeter, is also the name of the leading
certifier of Biodynamic Agriculture.
Here is a very interesting teaching
from their website:
Support Biodynamic Agriculture!
A Demeter Initiative In The United States
In a piece entitled New Directions In Agriculture Ehrenfried Pfeiffer recollects a conversation with Rudolf Steiner in which Dr. Pfeiffer wondered why peoples' will for action to carry out spiritual impulses was so weak. Rudolf Steiner's reply was, "This is a problem of nutirition. Nutrition as it is today does not supply the strength necessary for manifesting the spirit in physical life." One of the final impulses that Dr. Steiner left to humanity was Biodynamic Agriculture.
A Biodynamic farm is formed in the image of an organism in its widest expression. This is in fact the origin of the organized Organic Agriculture movement internationally. The US National Organic Program out of its own nature, has abandoned this foundation of Organic Agriculture. Biodynamic Agriculture has an important responsiblity to help carry this foundation forward.
The purpose of this initiative is to present the alternative of Biodynamic food to Americans and to nurture the farm and food systems that result. Because Biodynamic farms are integrated into the workings of nature, in her archetypal form, the food that results is deeply nutritiuos and has a profound sense of place. What you and your children eat matters.
As we move into the year 2005, the Demeter Association seeks input and support for the following programs:
Local Food Systems
In theory and practice the influence of a Biodynamic farm radiates beyond its fence line. In its ideal expression, the food produced is preserved and consumed within the local area of the farm. Within the Bidoynamic movement there are examples of this in the form of the CSA movement, Camphill Communities, and local processing to preserve the harvest from local farms. Many of these are Demeter certified even though they do not necessarily need certification for purposes of commerce. The Demeter Association wishes to extend its effect so that, through promotion and education, it can help amplify the need for and value of local food systems nationally so that others may arise."
http://www.demeter-usa.org/