Ceres
Rather than write about the specifics of this new moon in #virgo, I want to narrow my focus to the asteroid goddess Ceres, so I’m offering up some thoughts I’ve pondered. I am not here to provide all the specifics on transits, nor am I here to provide daily content (though I try lol) I am here to channel the poetics of astrology. This is my gift. This is why I write. I am choosing to write on Ceres now because it was my Ceres-like motherhood experiences that brought me to the doorstep of my Vesta journey. If you haven’t watched the video of Maya and I discussing Vesta on Instagram, please do! It’s full of wonderful topics many people tend to shy away from exploring.
Ceres is based up on the well-known Greek myth of mommy Demeter, goddess of agriculture, losing her daughter Persephone to the Underworld for half of the year, which explains why we have different seasons. What if we rewrite this myth from a more positive perspective? I don’t want to fear the underworld- western culture loves to use fear in its cautionary tales.
Instead of focusing on the intense loss and grief of Demeter, the Earth seemingly dead and barren, we could see Persephone’s extended stay in the underworld as the representation of the life that flourishes underground (think mycelium) during the winter.
Things on the surface (external beauty, fragrance) wilt and die… then they come back to show face again, perennially. But they are never really dead because their roots reach far down and wide across, in all directions, filling the earth with stored seeds, nutrients and stories of decomposition.
If this cycle didn’t happen, if we didn’t experience some loss and grief in life (psyche), our happiness would have no meaning- “the sweet ain’t as sweet without the sour”-and things have to rest before they can regenerate.
Persephone didn’t die- she returned like a perennial flower. Seeds that stay dormant underground rise again through the soil, reaching for the warmth of the sun. And so the cycle of life keeps churning, never stopping, forevermore. Grief, as a component of the human experience/understanding, is necessary - think of watering the seeds of your progeny with your tears during winter. Know that your grief is full of love. You’ll never have to live in the shadows fearing loss, for you will have understood the cycle of love, the cycle of life.
So on this new moon in Virgo, ripe with pure intention, making several planetary aspects (trines are a beautiful boost!), I am honoring my journey to the Underworld, my hermitage, my health, for the past 4 years but really, post-partum and pregnancy. Mothers more than anyone have to be focused on health- their health gives life force and immunity to the children of this world.
(Image: The Fate of Persephone painting by Walter Crane, 1878).
Even as we are about to enter the most poignant season of all, honoring the fall- I feel an new opening in my life- a threshold to cross and a new space to inhabit… so I carefully tidy my things, cherish my people, serve my health and that of my children, make lists and tend to endless responsibilities, all in keeping on the slow and steady road of my own evolution.
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