PERSPHONE DESCENDS - THE TIME Of ROSE AND BONE

Sanctum of the Rose
7 days ago
5 min read

Image is the property of Sanctum of the Rose

True Autumn has arrived with Equinox exact last weekend - Saturday 21st March 1.46am AEDT, this pivotal point in the year offering equilibrium as day and night flow in equal length and we mark the transition from Summer to Autumn. It is the time of the harvest of Pomona, wood nymph and goddess of fruiting tress, gardens and orchards and an invitation to sit with gratitude for the abundance of Nature and all that we have received and created over the warmer fertile months. And now as the energies of Equinox past and the world shifts towards the cooler darker months it is also a chthonic threshold, as the Earth opens to receive Persephone who prepares to descent into the realm of Hades and claim her Bone Crown as Queen of the Underworld. (I wrote about Equinox, Persephone and Pomona, in a recent blog post, you can read it here:

https://www.sanctumoftherose.com/post/autumn-equinox-harvest-harmony

Early autumn is ripe with late blossoming roses, their wide open blooms beginning to wilt and release their petals upon the cooling Earth, the rose-hips are forming full or richness and soon I will be pruning my beauties back so that their energy may be focused through the shortened thorny stems into their roots deeply anchored into the moist earth. As the roses retreat for Winter, so does Persephone slowly descending, from her fertile meadow of Asphodel, Hyacinth, Crocus, Narcissus and Rose into the great below, the lands of death and bones. But the realm of Hades is not just a barren land of death, it also contains the riches of the Earth, crystals, minerals, cattle and horses and plants such as; Asphodel, White Poplar, Cypress and mint, you can read more here:

https://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/HaidesTreasures.html

There are many variations and interpretations of the mythos of Hades and Persephone, many seeing the God of Death as her abductor and Imprisoner, others seeing Demeter as an overprotective parent from which Kore (maiden Persephone) was looking to gain her freedom from and some that Persephone and Hades were lovers and she goes willingly to him each Autumn. Whatever your interpretation there are so many relational layers to explore with this story of transitions, not forgetting Demeter's grief and Hekate's role as guide, guardian and protectress, illuminating the way with her torches.

There is much written about the Eleusinian Mysteries, if you are unfamilar with them you can read more on this link: https://www.hellenic.org.au/post/the-eleusinian-mysteries or in more depth here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35087/35087-h/35087-h.htm

Many focus on the Narcissus as Persephone's flower and others the Asphodel, yet to me she holds the cyclic energy of the Rose, and I see it as so sacred to her.

As already mentioned one of the flowers Kore was picking in her meadow is the Rose;

"For them [in Elysion (Elysium)] the sun shineth in his strength, in the world below, while here 'tis night; and, in meadows red with roses, the space before their city is shaded by the incense-tree, and is laden with golden fruits. Some of them delight themselves with horses and with wrestling; others with draughts, and with lures; while beside them bloometh the fair flower of perfect bliss. And o'er that lovely land fragrance is ever shed, while they mingle all manner of incense with the far-shining fire on the altar of the gods. From the other side sluggish streams of darksome night belch forth a boundless gloom."

Pindar, Dirges Fragment 129

So many associate roses with love and beauty, however they have also long been associated with mourning, death, liminal spaces and hidden mysteries and to me they are so aligned with transitionary cycles, reminding us that nothing is permanent and so they are such a powerful floral connection to Persephone in all her forms and seasons:

Anchored Roots - Thorny Stem - Unfurling Leaves - Tight Buds - Blooming - Wilt

Rose-hip - Return to Roots

As so like Persephone, the Journey of a Rose perfectly mirrors our journey through all the seasonal transitions of life.

Physical - Age Transitions

Archetypal Transitions

Birth - Death Transitions

Emotional Transitions

Spiritual Transitions

From bud, to bloom, to wilt and fruit. From anchored roots to protective thorns. She is grounded in the moist dark earth, just as we are embodied in our humaness if we allow ourselves to be present in every moment possible. This is the platform that holds us as we unfurl into each experience that leads us through growth and all the blooming as well as the wilts - the little deaths that occur along the way until we surrender eventually in finality.

Like Persephone, Rose is the essence of transformation and an invitation to explore our own many cycles and phases. Rose is a beautiful magickal and medicinal ally, and to me, a guide throughout my life.

Much of my work with aligned to the mysteries of the Rose and the deities, energies, guides and ancestors associated with her energies. As we prepare to go within and embrace our own autumnal season and winter beyond may the gift of Rose support us to embrace the courage and hope of Persephone as she descend, embraces her Shadow Role and then prepares again to return. May we find solace in the void of unlimited potential just as she does, and pour our energy into our roots in regeneration, honouring our own shadow stories as part of the complexity of our wholeness in all our darkness and light.

This year the season of Autumn will be a briefer interlude for me as I prepare to travel to the Northern Hemisphere in early May and embrace Spring, before returning home again to Australia in June into early Winter and preparing the way for big changes and a potential move. I am feeling so fortunate to be travelling to Istanbul and Troy and then onto Greece, following the calling to make pilgrimage to so many sacred places and I have no doubt that my rose guides and goddesses with support my journey. My the energies of the Rose and the journey of Persephone and the support of Hekate bless the journeys that you too are making over the next few months.

In the meantime if you are in the Northern Rivers or Gold Coast region or surrounds and you would like to join me for a full day of deep surrender on 19th April with the energies of the Liminal Rose you can find our more information here and secure your space:

https://events.humanitix.com/liminal-rose-journeys-of-descent-full-day-immersion

When I return from abroad I will be offering several immersions both online and in-person and also creating a new community away from general social media, I will also when resettled be opening my sanctuary again for rose healing sessions (you can read about them on my website.

My work is:

The Rose Room - Healing Sessions

The Liminal Rose - Journeying Sessions

The Rose Guide - Mentoring Sessions

The Rose Wheel - New Community coming soon

If you would like a Rose Journey, you can find one here on my YouTube channel and check back for more to come over the next few weeks. Most of my channel is private and unlisted currently used more for teaching resources for my regular students and circles, however I will be re-oranising updates and uploading more very soon.

For my Full Moon Rose Meditation, Rose Cavern of Sophia and Rose Garden of the Heart Journeys click here:

https://www.youtube.com/@SanctumoftheRose

Rosy Blessings to you all.