A Little Zine Tells The Epic Story of Persephone

Recently I attended a presentation about the *story of Persephone and her journey of transformation. Did you know that before she was abducted, Persephone was a young woman of a different name?

She was called Kore.

Later in the month, I attended another presentation about the making and purpose of the 
Zine. 
(Pronounced “zeen”)
This is a great tool for developing storyline, uncensored writing, memoir, message development, note taking, a creative practice,,, anything.

I had 8 minutes to fold the paper, come up with a subject, and tell a story with word or image or both.
We were directed to work quickly. Just get the idea down on paper. As part of this exercise, misspelling and untrained mark making is overlooked in the interest of focus on the subject.

So here is the story from page 1 through 8. 

Page One 
Kore is a young woman living in a place of carefree abundance. Her mother is the Grain Goddess, Demeter.  

Kore’s life is innocent and plentiful.

Page Two
Hades is the son of Kronos. He wants more out of life. So he goes to father Kronos and says he wants to abduct Kore and marry her. Father agrees and sends the brothers of Hades, Zeus and Neptune to help set a trap.

Page Three

The abduction.

The one flower that Kore picks from a beautiful field is the trap set by Hades and his brothers. When picked, the earth cracks open allowing Hades to reach up and grab Kore. He pulls her down to the underworld.

Page Four 
Demeter, the Grain Goddess and Earth Mother grieves for her missing daughter. Her foot steps into fields that die, plants wither and the sky turns dark. Coldness arrives and Winter takes over. Her sadness destroys.

Page Five 
(Left side of face is Demeter and right side is Hades)
Demeter is led to the gates of Hades by her sister who witnessed the abduction by hearing Kore scream. Demeter and Hades make a deal. He will allow Kore to return from the underworld. 

Page Six 
Before parting, Hades offers Kore three pomegranate seeds to insure she doesn’t stay away forever. The seeds are sweet, juicy, luscious and enticing. Kore accepts and swallows the delicious fruit. As Demeter meets her daughter, she sees and knows there has been a change.
“Did you eat while in the underground? ” 

To eat food in the underground is dangerous.

Page Seven
(symbol of rose with thorns)

Kore has transformed and is now Persephone.

From this time forward, Persephone must return to the underworld for half the year while winter visits the outside world. The white of winter brings snow and the next cycle of seasons. 

Page Eight
(snowflakes falling)
The symbol of the snowflake is the last image. Every snowflake is individual
and symbolizes Persephone’s journey.

A journey that has given her unique wisdom.

The Zine became a container that holds ideas about Persephone’s transformation. Within that container, opposites kept showing themselves. 

The three pomegranate seeds left the biggest impact. 

Earth Mother vs. Mother complex

Hades of fire vs. Persephone of water (snow)

Underworld of Inner subconscious vs. Outer world of consciousness

The message here is that challenges, setbacks, and mental abductions like being unable to sleep, writers block, self sabotage, or overeating can be transformed into thresholds to new possibilities. 
In a word,

change

This may sound ridiculous. 
That’s because it takes an enormous amount of energy to lift out of old patterns and behaviors.
It takes a ridiculous amount. 

But the results are expansive because once identified, and new approaches are taken, enlightened possibilities arise.

I’m going to spend time creating a final version with color, more words, and a better folding job.
How to fold a zine is all over Google. Below is one source.

https://austinkleon.substack.com/p/a-gratitude-zine

*The Abduction of Kore: Transformation and Birth of a Queen
Sheila Langston, BFA
Diplomate Jungian Analyst

May the light of the Moon illuminate your life.
May the light of the Moon illuminate the wisdom within you.
And remember, if things don’t work out as expected, 
there is information on the side we don’t see tonight, that carries unknown information. ©cwg

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https://eyeoftheheartstudio.com/muse-messages/