Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Charged by the Goddess

Home
Pagan
Celebrating the Dead, Decay and Letting Go: The Journey of Persephone

Celebrating the Dead, Decay and Letting Go: The Journey of Persephone

Last updated on: October 26, 2018 at 3:57 pm by Irisanya Moon

Celebrating the Dead, Decay and Letting Go: The Journey of Persephone 2018-10-26T15:57:50-07:00 Irisanya Moon

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I feel the movement of Persephone to her throne in the Underworld, to follow the voices of the dead.

When I look around, I can see the seasons shifting to slumber. When I stop looking at computer screens and notifications, I see the leaves falling and the light changing.

Each step is moving from green grass to crunchy leaves that give way to damp. Each step is moving from vibrancy to decay.

Letting go. Letting go.

I let go of the anxieties of the past year. I let go of the things I thought to be permanent. I let go of the way things have been. I let go of my expectations. I let go of future plans, future beliefs, and future decisions.

It’s a time for letting go.

It’s a time for celebrating the dead, for celebrating what might have been and all that could be next.

Nicolas Raymond — Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

The Veins of Possibility

I used to fight against change, even as I invited it. I used to believe I could change everything if I just tried hard enough. If I just talked enough, I could prevent the decay and the hurt that went along with it.

It’s funny how humans are hardwired to avoid pain. We will do everything we can to avoid the feeling of discomfort. And while we know, deep down, that the pain will come anyway, we turn away or ignore or put it off as long as possible.

In this time of the dead, we face the reality that things die, promises fade, and people leave us.

How the Dead Need Us

What if we could look to this Samhain time as an opportunity to celebrate all that has been? What if it were possible to believe and to know that everything that changes doesn’t really ever leave? Perhaps it’s just beside us in the wind, in the trees.

What if instead of mourning the loss, we can celebrate the new phase of experience — and of the experience of that which has gone before?

CC0 Creative Commons

This is not to say that grief does not have a place or a voice that seeks to be heard. Grief about lost projects, lost opportunties, lost connections, lost loved ones.

(And this is not to say that celebration comes first or soon.)

But I was reminded the other day in a class I co-taught that the advice you get when you want to avoid drowning is to move directly into the wave. When you try to avoid it, it sucks you in and takes you under.

The way I hold the story of Persephone is not that she was tricked or taken. She went to the underworld because she heard the cries of the dead and sought them out, to hold them in their confusion, to initiate them into the greatest mystery.

Perhaps we too can be initiators on this side of the veil and travel the veins of decaying leaves and words and expectations, the underside of stretching up to the sky.

Previous Post

October 17, 2018

Calling out to the Dead

Next Post

October 26, 2018 Remembering the Beloved Dead at Samhain-time

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Activism ADHD Allies Altars Ancestors Aphrodite Artemis Beloved Dead Beltane Book Reviews Books Brigid Classes Community Daily Magick Daily Practice Deathwork Deity Desire Devotion Divination Dreams Eclipse Everyday Magick Fall Equinox Feri Full Moon Gaia Godds grief Grounding Heart Magick Hope Integration Iris Joy Love Spell Magick Mercury Retrograde Mighty Dead Moon Myth New Moon Norns Pandemic Poetry Practical Magick Priestess Reclaiming Relationships Resilience Resistance Resourcing review Rite of Passage ritual Samhain Self Care Self Devotion Service Shadow Spell Spiral Dance Spring Equinox Summer Solstice Teaching Trance Uncategorized Water Winter Solstice Witchcamp Witchcraft Writing

Select a Month April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz