Demeter ( Short Version )

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Of all the Greek goddesses on Mount Olympus, Demeter was the one who was truly able to empathize with the human experience of suffering and grief. . . for she had fully experienced it herself.

As the most nurturing of all the goddesses, the Greek goddess Demeter was responsible for the fertility and the successful cultivation of the soil and the resulting abundance of the harvest. She is also known as the Roman goddess Ceres, whose name is that from which the English word 'cereal' was derived.

Generally recognized as one of the "faces" of the "triple goddess", Demeter represents the aspect of the middle age woman in the life cycle (the maid in the mother/maid/mature configuration). Persephone and Hecate feature as the young maiden and the wise old crone, respectively.

The goddess Demeter is best known for her ferocity and endurance in the defense of her daughter, Persephone, following her abduction by Hades, the god of the Underworld.

She reminds us to be firm and unswaying when we are taking a stand for what is right or what we need and deserve.

Consumed with grief following the disappearance of her daughter, the goddess Demeter wandered endlessly through the world in search for her, creating many legends along the way. Demeter made a stand and withheld the harvest, and refused to "produce" until Persephone was freed.

So valuable were her gifts that the gods had to concede, and the goddesses Demeter and Persephone were eventually reunited.

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