Her name means Mother Vulva - the gateway where all things are born and reborn. She was honored with festivals during the seasonal changes of Autumn and Spring, times that signaled birth and death of the grain. Her mysteries at Eleusis were celebrated for almost two thousand years! The longest running 'thanksgiving' ever.

The Romans called Her 'Ceres', and from Her Roman name we get the word cereal - a most nourishing way to start the day. In Autumn and Winter, Demeter mourns the loss of Her daughter Persephone, often called Kore, meaning seed or sprout.

While she grieves, the Earth is barren. When Persephone returns as the new green shoots of Spring, Demeter rejoices. Grain and the human life are continuously reborn through the gateway of the Earth, perpetually joined at the root.

The myth of Demeter, Persephone-Kore, of fullness, loss and return is also a lunar myth and that of the Triple Goddess; Maiden, Mother, Crone, the most powerful rite of passage in a woman's life. However far we have strayed from the Eleusimian Mysteries, we are still completely dependent on the Earth for our sustenance.

Invite Demeter to feast with you - give thanks for Her many gracious blessings as you pass through the grocery store gates. She lives!

Affirmation: The food I eat is a gift of the Goddess. Every thing I eat nourishes and heals me. The healthy food I eat becomes a healthy me.