Koreturn

MOONSPELL

KORETURN

SPRING EQUINOX

All golden now She springs to the earth
And alights to turn the brown grasses green
Her Mother's tears mix with Her own
And fall to make the green more green...

From the song "Quest of Demeter"
copyright 1963
by Shekhinah Mountainwater

Background Painting "Return of
Persephone" by Frederick Leighton

Hi darlings, it's me, Wella, again. Welcome to the Thealagie Cavelet Koreturn in which we celebrate the coming of Spring and the return of Persephone/Kore. I love the Spring when our Great Mother Earth shapeshifts once again and comes to us as Her young and laughing Daughter-Self. My faery kin come out of their underground caves and trees and hidden
wells and watery grottoes,
ready to play and help Her
festoon the world with flowers
and sweet green grasses...and with the
birthings of all the beautiful baby animals.

Since She has gifted me with the ability

to sing up flowers,

I am especially busy

this time of year. :0)

(Silvery laughter!)

See Below: Musings by
Shekhinah on this
Sacred Season of Spring

KORETURN or Spring Equinox is one of the first of the old Pagan holidays that I awakened to in my Goddess quest. I had always been mysteriously drawn to the myth of Demeter and Persephone/Kore, and was moved to write and sing "The Quest of Demeter," based on the patriarchal version of the myth. Pictured here in the PreRaphaelite painting by Frederick Leighton "Return of Persephone," this ancient tale tells of the separation and reunion of the Earth Mother and Spring Maiden Goddesses. Their story represents women's mysteries and the seasonal turns, beginning and ending with Spring Equinox. Birth is the primary mystery of this time, when new life springs forth after winter's dark.

We can see the parallels between this myth and the Christ cycle of birth, death, and resurrection, but it is far older, and much more focused on things female. True, the most well known version involves Kore's abduction by Hades, and subsequent forced sojourn with him in the Underworld... a phallocentric explanation for the coming of winter. Yet I have become convinced that there must be even older versions of the tale that are not about rape, but honoring of women's life cycles and mysteries. I rewrote the myth during the late 1970s, taking out the rape and all the male gods, making it a story of woman's individuation and wholeness.

And so it feels appropriate to tell the entire year story at this sacred time. I have enacted my Myth of the Kore with sisters at many Spring ceremonies. You can read a descriptive rhapsody about one of them in Ariadne's Thread, Cycle 10. and discussion of the myth in Cycle 7, The Muse. We now have a perennial theme or spiritual doctrine all in female. I hope women will adopt this myth and make it their own.

Praise to the Goddess-Sun, Our Lady
For She has been Born
From out of the Womb of Self
Her Mother
And She has danced and played
Amongst the flowers

And She has Grown to Bleed
And Fertilize the Earth
And become once again Woman

And She has Met with Her Other Self
Her True Lover
And together they have Swooned in Ecstasy

And She has Swelled with Life
To Nourish us all
With Her Milk and Honey
And She has Given to us Her Love
And Received of Ours

And She has Descended into the Dark
And met with the Old One
Who leadeth Her unto Death
And the Lessons of Mystery

And now
She begins Her Return Journey
And She Shines
O my sisters
She shines golden upon us
Once more...

Myth of the Kore opens with the time of Spring and Birth. A dancer convulses in the center of the circle, to the beat of rhythmic drumming and poetic utterance. She is Demeter, giving birth to Spring. Her daughter Kore rolls out from between her legs as the circle sisters chant Her name. Mother and Daughter melt into one another and sing rapturous poetry of mutual adoration. Kore grows like a flower, and She and Demeter dance and play joyfully together. (May we all have such birthings and childhoods!)

The drums speak again, a rapid crescendo, as Kore wraps Herself in swirling red chiffon and spins the dance of Her First Bloods. Demeter celebrates, but worries too, as she senses a foreshadowing of the separation to come.

The scene changes and we see Kore dancing in the wild wood, discovering beauty there and hugging trees. Diana appears, powerful Amazon of the Forest. They are mesmerized by the sight of one another, speaking poems of wonder and passion. We chant their names together; Kore-Diana, as they merge...

Now the drums are steady and insistent as the Muse sings of Kore's transformation and descent into the Underworld. She cries out in the dark, feeling lost and alone. Hecate, the Crone awaits Her there, kindling a light in the darkness, speaking words of comfort and reassurance. She lays Kore out upon a beir that She may rest and prepare Herself for the coming initiations.

In the upper world Demeter sits beside the sacred well, mourning the loss of Her Daughter. Winter descends upon the earth. She too cries out, and Hecate comes to remind Her of how they once underwent this same rite of separation. Demeter knows She must let go as all mothers must when their children grow away to become themselves... but she is anxious about "the demons that we all possess," and "Can one so young as She withstand all these?" Together Mother and Grandmother review seven primary demons: Jealousy, Passivity, Competition, Deception, Domination, Condemnation, and Manipulation. Masked dancers portray them, and then unmask to reveal their positive roots: The Need For Love, Receptivity, Self Discipline, Protection,Inner Strength, Temperance, and Self Nurturance respectively...

Hecate then gives Demeter her blessing, as Her daughter wraps herself in swirling black chiffon and dances the dance of her Menopause... Hecate says:

"Now you come into your own
"The world is yours"
"And you are free..."

Back in the underworld Persephone awakens and Hecate reappears to bring Her through the three Initiations of Immortality, Manifestation, and Healing. Persephone discovers she is out-of-body and an eternal spirit; then creates a flower, a gemstone, and a child in her womb; finally helping to relieve suffering in the world. The Crone pronounces Her accomplishments and invokes the Triple Goddess by many names for blessing. Persephone is gifted with a magical feather for Immortality, A power stone for Manifestation, and a belt of herbs for Healing. The drums begin again as Persephone ascends , reborn to a new Spring, now the self-actualized Kore, and equal with Her Mother. All the Goddesses unite in joy, and the birthing drum sounds strong. It's Kore's turn to give birth now, and Hecate becomes the next infant Goddess, born from between Her legs, with Demeter as midwife...and so the Great Mystery begins again.

See below for some ritual ideas for spring...

RITUAL SUGGESTIONS FOR KORETURN

Hold your ritual in a woodland glade or beautiful meadow. Make sure the ground is suitable for dancing and the center of the circle is clear. Decorate the altar with flowers, greens, sprouts, buds, painted eggs, umbilical cords, and other emblems of birth and spring. Place a bowl of flower wine. Create baskets of flower petals and young leaves. Wear spring colors; pale greens, rose pinks, yellows, lavenders...Make garlands of flowers for all circle members to wear. Prepare spring foods for feasting after the ceremony...salads with edible flowers, crisp greens, sprouts... egg dishes... crescent cakes, grains and corn ("corn" comes from Kore's name, and she is called "the fate of the grain".:0) )
Make a "birth canal" with everyone's bodies, so that each member enters the circle space by being symbolically reborn through this passageway. Invoke Maiden Goddesses as you light the altar candles. Cast the circle and raise the cone. (See Ariadne's Thread, Cycle 2 for info on this.) Have a healing rite, in which each member lies down in the center on the soft grass and all gather round her to chant, lay on hands, visualize, etc. Feed each other sprouts and flower wine. Have members take roles in the Myth and dance/sing/enact the magic story. All chant the sacred Names as each Goddess is portrayed. As the tale completes, throw flower petals up to shower down upon everyone present, as all join in the final dance of celebration. Crown all with the garlands, declaring each to be a Goddess. Ground, open the circle, feast and be merry.

May your spring season be blessed with new beginnings, beauty, playfulness and joy... Maiden Goddesses dancing around and within you. Blessed Be!

BACK TO TOP
(You are in Koreturn, Thealagie Cavelet #5)

THEALAGIE CAVE ENTRANCE

THE GODDESS YEAR
Reframing the Holy Days in Female

HALLOWE'EN

WINTER SOLSTICE

MUSEA
(Candlemas)

DIANA
(Beltane)