(no subject)
Dear Diary,
Today marks the beginning of the harvest festival of the goddess Demeter. For the next nine days myself and a few select others will engage in various different activities thanking Demeter for another successful harvest. Many of us are also participating in this festival because it presents us with rewards in the after life. We can get these rewards because Demeter’s daughter Persephone is the significant other of Hades, ruler of the underworld.
The nine days are broken up into three stages, meusis (the initiation), teleth (the perfection, and epoptia (the beholding). This is my very first time participating in this festival so I’m not a hundred percent sure what happens during each of these stages. Also, no one is ever supposed to talk of what goes on so, very little is known to anyone who hasn’t participated before.
All this past week I have been preparing my costume for the big parade that is going to happen later to day. You are supposed to dress in a costume that will be found amusing by Demeter. The costume parade is supposed to signify the time that Demeter disguised herself on earth so that no one would know she was god.
This parade will be followed up by a great feast. During this feast everyone eats as much corn and wheat as they possibly can to show how truly thankful they are for the plentiful harvest Demeter has produced. Before this feast however, everyone has to have been fasting for the previous week to be able to experience the pain Demeter felt after she had lost her daughter.
Over the next couple days various other things will be going on. One of these activities is a sort of “scavenger hunt.” This “scavenger hunt” is both a game, to rejoice the successful harvest, and a time to remember the time when Demeter desperately searched for her lost daughter, Persephone. There will also be wooden carvings made of both, the snake and the pig, two animals that Demeter holds sacred. Big campfires will be made as well and around it will be sung songs of thanks and songs of joy. Both for the good harvest and for the well being of Demeter. Just to name a few of the activities.
Finally, we will all journey inside the temple. I have not been fully informed of what goes on in the temple for this part of the festival is the most sacred. Some have told me that within the temple human sacrifices have been made to Demeter, if the harvest was unsuccessful. These sacrifices are supposedly made to please Demeter in hopes of a better harvest next season. On the other hand, others have told me that it is another time period of fasting, at which time large amounts of corn and wheat are burned in honor of what Demeter has done for us. I’m not quite sure who I believe but, I sure hope to have a lot of fun.
Today marks the beginning of the harvest festival of the goddess Demeter. For the next nine days myself and a few select others will engage in various different activities thanking Demeter for another successful harvest. Many of us are also participating in this festival because it presents us with rewards in the after life. We can get these rewards because Demeter’s daughter Persephone is the significant other of Hades, ruler of the underworld.
The nine days are broken up into three stages, meusis (the initiation), teleth (the perfection, and epoptia (the beholding). This is my very first time participating in this festival so I’m not a hundred percent sure what happens during each of these stages. Also, no one is ever supposed to talk of what goes on so, very little is known to anyone who hasn’t participated before.
All this past week I have been preparing my costume for the big parade that is going to happen later to day. You are supposed to dress in a costume that will be found amusing by Demeter. The costume parade is supposed to signify the time that Demeter disguised herself on earth so that no one would know she was god.
This parade will be followed up by a great feast. During this feast everyone eats as much corn and wheat as they possibly can to show how truly thankful they are for the plentiful harvest Demeter has produced. Before this feast however, everyone has to have been fasting for the previous week to be able to experience the pain Demeter felt after she had lost her daughter.
Over the next couple days various other things will be going on. One of these activities is a sort of “scavenger hunt.” This “scavenger hunt” is both a game, to rejoice the successful harvest, and a time to remember the time when Demeter desperately searched for her lost daughter, Persephone. There will also be wooden carvings made of both, the snake and the pig, two animals that Demeter holds sacred. Big campfires will be made as well and around it will be sung songs of thanks and songs of joy. Both for the good harvest and for the well being of Demeter. Just to name a few of the activities.
Finally, we will all journey inside the temple. I have not been fully informed of what goes on in the temple for this part of the festival is the most sacred. Some have told me that within the temple human sacrifices have been made to Demeter, if the harvest was unsuccessful. These sacrifices are supposedly made to please Demeter in hopes of a better harvest next season. On the other hand, others have told me that it is another time period of fasting, at which time large amounts of corn and wheat are burned in honor of what Demeter has done for us. I’m not quite sure who I believe but, I sure hope to have a lot of fun.