Among other of their attributes and purposes, myths offer us a larger context within which to lay our individual suffering. Archetypal figures convey the universal, ancient and impersonal, and within this container they bestow on us a map, which enables us to better navigate ourselves and make sense of the world. Our suffering finds a place, it has necessity. It belongs on our transformative inner journey. We know ourselves (‘Know Thyself’) by knowing the archetypal patterns, for we are patterned beings in a patterned universe.
Through the myth of Demeter and Persephone we’ll explore: How does the soul come to love that which lives in the underworld? How are we even acquainted with and initiated into this subterranean realm? Why is it necessary to be abducted from our intense identification with Demeter’s life lived on the surface to encounter Hades and all that lies below? And can, like Persephone, we belong to and partner with both the upper and underworld? A talk with Kristina Dryza starting at 7pm at Rudolf Steiner House.