Postscript to Halloween: 

The Return of the Child

In Greek myth Kore the maid (aka the Virgin; Persephone; Inanna;) journeys to the Netherworld. It is an allegorical representation of the sowing of the cereals; corn and barley. In the earlier myth from Mesopotamia from where it originates, Sumerian Kore is made to stay in the underworld as surety, so her brother Dumuzi is released to fertilise the Earth. Dumuzi (later Thracian Dionysos; Egytian Osiris;) represents the virility of Nature, and particularly the Corn(wheat) plant. The return of Kore to the netherworld brings the release of Dumuzi/Dionysos. Meaning that the sowing of the grain results in the sprouting of the corn/wheat or barley.

In myth, the return of Dionysos is represented by the young Dionysos as a child emerging from underground with his mother Semele (see Wiki: Thracian Zemele, "mother earth").

In metaphor Kore is the grain seed, represented as 'ears of corn' in a winnowing basket. The return of Dionysos is represented as a Child in same winnowing basket. Dionysos the Child represents the sprouted grain. The child represents the renewed virility of nature. Time: late November to early December.

Jane Ellen Harrison says "In discussing the worship of Dionysos Liknites at Delphi, ---- we have seen the liknon( a winnowing basket) in use as a cradle for the infant god. It will further be noted that Dionysos Liknites is, like the infant Ploutos in the cornucopia, only an anthropomorphic presentation of the new-born fruits of the earth, of the fruits whether of spring or autumn; he is a male form of Kore the earth-daughter. The ceremony of 'waking' him was primarily but a mimetic summons to the earth to bring forth her fruits in due season."


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
HALLOWEEN 1:: Ancient agrarian folklore, with equally ancient pagan roots. Related to the dead and the Underworld of ancient legends. A Return to the Underworld. In what is said to be the most ancient myth from Mesopotamia, Inanna (later aka Phoenician Asht'rt; Greek Demeter; Apuleius 'the natural mother of all things') descends into the Netherworld. A later form of the myth from ancient Greece, Demeter's daughter Persephone (Kore; Proserpina) returns to the Netherworld, when the pomegranate splits open as it ripens. Time: October - November. The myth is a metaphoric representation of the sowing of the cereals.
Read more
Image
  Preparation for a Journey. The Prerequisites. Proerosia: Pre Ploughing Rites. Late August to early September bring the first anticipation of rain. In central Mediterranean it is these first rains that quench the parched earth that herald the new season's harvests. It is these first rains that renew the vegetation that feeds both animals and man himself. But for that to happen the gods demand supplication. The oldest known sources of the journey in myth, appear in Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets. The story takes the name of "Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld". It is a metaphorical representation of the sowing of the cereals. It represents the first phase of the biological cycle in cereal cultivation, and starts with the sowing of the seed grain behind a plough. But there were certain prerequisites before the journey starts. In the Sumerian farmer's Almanak the cycle starts with the flooding of the fields. In Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers
Read more