Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Rebecca Buchanan

Melitta Benu

Demeter. Ancient and modern devotees alike know Demeter to be a complex Goddess. As demonstrated by the poetry, essays, short fiction, and artwork collected in this anthology, she is a Goddess of many guises. Some devotees see her as an aspect of the Great Goddess, the source of all creation. For others, She is part of a fluid trinity, encompassing the phases of a woman's life and the cycles of the year. Some experience Demeter as identical to the Roman Ceres, while still others consider them distinct entities. Some honor her as the Mistress of Good Green Growing Things, Lady of Herbs and Fruit, Queen of Flowers and Bees, She Who Bears the Golden Scythe, The Great Sow who taught us the use and preservation of seeds and who continues to bless our farms and gardens. Others experience her as the Law-Giver, whose gifts not only allowed humans to gather and thrive, but also necessitated the creation of customs and laws to ensure right behavior and the survival of civilization. For still other devotees, She is The Great Mother, The Destroyer, The Black Mare, Dark with Rage, Bringer of the Fallow Season, Mother of the Maiden who holds the world hostage until her daughter is returned. And for still others She is the Giver of the Mysteries, Overseer of Initiations, The Purifying One whose rites reveal secret truths and promise a blessed afterlife. She is all of these, and so much more. She is Demeter, Goddess most worthy of our devotion.

Melitta Benu

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