Narrator: Thomas Jones 🇬🇧 Writer: Frankie Regalia ✍️ Sound effects: mythical flute, spring ambience 🪈🌺🐦⬛ Includes mentions of: Heights, Children, Nostalgia, Spring, Walking, Romance, Fantastical Creatures, Animals, Caves, Darkness, Science & Nature, Rabbits, Worries, Anxiety, Mythology, Parents, Wedding, Family, Fertility, Growth, Change, Underworld. Welcome back, sleepyheads. Tonight, when Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, goes missing one spring day, she visits the underworld in search of her. 😴 Watch, listen and comment on this episode on the Get Sleepy YouTube channel. And hit subscribe while you're there! Enjoy various playlists of our stories and meditations on our Slumber Studios Spotify profile. Support Us Get Sleepy’s Premium Feed: getsleepy.com/support/ Get Sleepy Merchandise: getsleepy.com/store Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-sleepy/id1487513861 Connect Stay up to date on all our news and even vote on upcoming episodes! Website: getsleepy.com/ Facebook: facebook.com/getsleepypod/ Instagram: instagram.com/getsleepypod/ Twitter: twitter.com/getsleepypod Our Apps Redeem exclusive unlimited access to Premium content for 1 month FREE in our mobile apps built by the Get Sleepy and Slumber Studios team: Deep Sleep Sounds: deepsleepsounds.com/getsleepy/ Slumber: slumber.fm/getsleepy/ FAQs Have a query for us or need help with something? You might find your answer here: Get Sleepy FAQs About Get Sleepy Get Sleepy is the #1 story-telling podcast designed to help you get a great night’s rest. By combining sleep meditations with a relaxing bedtime story, each episode will guide you gently towards sleep. Get Sleepy Premium Get instant access to ad-free episodes and Thursday night bonus episodes by subscribing to our premium feed. It's easy! Sign up in two taps! Get Sleepy Premium feed includes: Monday and Wednesday night episodes (with zero ads). An exclusive Thursday night bonus episode. Access to the entire back catalog (also ad-free). Extra-long episodes. Exclusive sleep meditation episodes. Discounts on merchandise. We’ll love you forever. Get your 7-day free trial: getsleepy.com/support. Thank you so much for listening! Feedback? Let us know your thoughts! getsleepy.com/contact-us/. Get Sleepy is a production of Slumber Studios. Check out our podcasts, apps, and more at slumberstudios.com. That’s all for now. Sweet dreams ❤️ 😴 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the purpose of the Get Sleepy podcast?
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Chapter 2: How can therapy help manage stress?
Thanks to BetterHelp for sponsoring tonight's episode. You know, traditional in-person therapy can cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per session, or the equivalent in other currencies. But with BetterHelp Online Therapy, you can save on average up to 50% per session. Therapy should feel accessible for any of us who need it, and not like a luxury that so many of us are excluded from.
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Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. My name's Thomas, and I'm your host. Continuing our series on the twelve Olympian gods of the ancient Greeks, tonight we turn to the goddess of the harvest, agriculture, and earthly fertility. Demeter can sometimes be seen to be apart from her divine family members in personality and temperament.
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Chapter 3: Who is Demeter in Greek mythology?
but she is as wise and powerful as any of them. Thank you to Frankie for writing this story, which I'll be reading for you. I really do hope you're enjoying the show and that it's helping you get the good rest you deserve. If so, we would be truly grateful to have your support as a Get Sleepy Premium member.
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To find out more about all the perks of being a premium member, just visit the link in the description for this episode. Thank you so much, my friends. Now, before we meet the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, first we must ground ourselves. As you lie in your comfortable bed, pay special attention to your body. This is the time to adjust and reset physically.
Once you've arranged yourself in the position that best supports your body, turn your mind inward. Take a few deep breaths and connect your mind to your body. Feel the air come in and go back out in an unforced natural rhythm. Return to this calming pattern whenever you feel your mind start to wander. Now, imagine that you are lying on the soft earth
Chapter 4: What happens when Persephone goes missing?
The ground beneath you is warm and comforting. The grass and moss on which you lie provide a bed that is more relaxing and peaceful than any you have ever experienced. Instead of blankets, you feel soft sunlight draped across your body. Its warmth seeps through your skin and muscles to your very bones. The sounds around you are those of complete calm.
A light breeze rustles trees and long grasses. The smell of wildflowers drifts over you. As you lie there, connected with the earth, you can hear a soft, slow beating. The constant and unending heartbeat of the earth. The primordial goddess Gaia reaches your ears through the very soil. She provides health, home, and life to everything on the planet, yourself included.
You become aware that your breath matches Gaia's steady heartbeat. Take a few more breaths, relishing that connection. In the distance, and growing louder, you hear the murmuring of voices as two women make their way across the land. Dimita and her daughter leave flowers blooming and seeds sprouting with every step they take. This is where our story begins.
A buried seed bursts forth with life, sprouting and pushing its way through the surface of the soil. As it hits the sunlight, it grows bright green leaves, and within seconds, a little yellow flower blooms from the stem. This feverish creation of life is repeated constantly in the footfalls of two women walking slowly through a meadow.
Demeter catches her daughter Persephone's eye and smiles at her. Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and fertility. She has a unique connection with her grandmother, Gaia. She is the living embodiment of all that grows and is nurtured. She helps the plants and animals of the world to live and reproduce, just as Gaia gives them all life. Persephone, too, contains a deep fertility power.
She is the goddess of spring, specializing in helping plants to flower and fruit. and so create more. Persephone briefly smiles back at her mother before turning her attention to their path. Demeter observes her daughter thoughtfully. The young woman has all the power of a nature and fertility goddess.
Yet Demeter perceives something else waiting just below the surface of her daughter's dark gaze. Demeter puts these thoughts from her mind and turns her attention back to the horizon. Mother and daughter are travelling to a particular patch of calendula flowers. They intend to pick the orange flowers for the centaur Chiron, who uses the blossoms to create a tincture for skin conditions.
Already, Demeter can see the carpet of fiery orange petals in the near distance. Close by is a small copse of trees. The sun is past midday, and the rays of light from Helios' sun chariot are already changing from golden to the same color as the flowers. They have a bit of time before sunset.
A soft breeze shakes the flowers in the meadow and the branches of the trees, sending them fluttering slightly. Demeter and Persephone reach the flowers and begin picking the calendula in comfortable silence. They gather the flowers into their woven baskets. As they work, Persephone softly hums to herself. Demeter's mind lingers on their baskets.
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Chapter 5: How does Demeter react to Persephone's disappearance?
She and Persephone wove them together many years ago when her daughter was still a child. They spent a beautiful afternoon picking long grasses, drying them in the sun, and then weaving them together. Even then, Demeter marveled at the way her daughter turned her dark eyes on her task with such intense focus.
Her little fingers had struggled at first with the finicky weaving, but she picked up the skill quite quickly. They laughed and talked in the free way that parent and child do when children are very small. Demeter takes her eyes off her task now and allows them to fall on her grown daughter.
She can still see the little girl in Persephone's features, particularly in the way her eyes focus on her task. Demeter's attention is drawn away from her daughter by a musical voice on the wind. She straightens up and looks around. From the copse of trees, Demeter sees a graceful, pale grey arm waving to her.
Demeter tells her daughter that she'll return in a moment, and makes her way to the hamadryad waving to her from her olive tree. Persephone gives a small smile to show her mother that she has heard her, and returns to the flowers. Demeter approaches the trees and greets the Dryad. Dryads like this are tied to their tree, tending to it and living in its branches.
The olive tree hamadryad has long strands of hair sprouting olive leaves. She is the living embodiment of the tree itself, and a devoted follower of Demeter. The two divine beings have a brief catch-up. The Dryad reports back to Demeter on the health of the area. Everything is going well, though they could use a little more water. Demeter promises to ensure more rainfall in the next few days.
There is no weather or season in this very young world. Demeter spends much of her time tending everything and making sure the entire world is in a constant state of growth. It can be tiring, but she takes great pride in her work. The dryad introduces Demeter to her daughter, a child dryad who lives in a young olive tree sapling.
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Chapter 6: What is the significance of Demeter's search for Persephone?
Demeter laughs and plays with the child for a few moments, who is very sweet and giggly. The sun is now dipping towards the horizon. The whole world is bathed in a light, much like the warm glow of a fire. The world seems to shine with warmth, just as the sky is splashed with vibrant pinks, purples, and oranges.
Demeter says farewell to the dryads and turns back towards Persephone in the flower patch. Just as she turns, a sound erupts unlike anything she has ever heard. A loud crunching and crackling sound, like the footfalls of a giant or the breaking of huge rocks, reaches her ears. Demeter looks around wildly, trying to find the source of the sound.
She hears a gasp of surprise and immediately sets off at a run towards where Persephone should be. Just as Demeter rounds the corner, she sees a huge hole in the earth, which is rapidly closing. Persephone is nowhere to be seen, and Demeter finds herself frozen in surprise as the hole, blacker than midnight, snaps shut.
Demeter stares at the patch of calendula flowers, now even more bright and orange in the light of the sunset. Where is Persephone? She was just here. Did she run off when the crackling sound happened? Where would she have gone? These thoughts race through Demeter's mind as she stares, still not quite comprehending what just happened.
Finally, the reality of the situation sinks in, and Demeter feels her heart quicken as her stomach sinks. Her daughter has disappeared into the hole, leaving no trace behind. At the same moment that this realization dawns, the sun finally dips below the horizon. Instead of the flowers blooming at her feet, the grasses and vegetation below Demeter wilt.
She turns back to the copse of trees and runs to her dryad friend. She questions her, hoping that the dryad will have seen something, a clue that will lead Demeter to her daughter. However, the Dryad didn't see anything more than Demeter, and can only offer her condolences. Undeterred, Demeter moves on, beginning her search for any living creature that may have seen what happened to Persephone.
With each footfall, she leaves a trail of brown grasses and fallen leaves behind her. Demeter spends weeks and weeks looking for Persephone. She questions every beast, man, and immortal she comes across for any information. She gets nothing in return, and it is as if Persephone vanished into thin air. As she searches, Demeter neglects her duties as a goddess.
She no longer puts all her time and energy into making sure that the vegetation and crops of the world grow with their usual constancy. Plants don't flower, seeds refuse to sprout, and harvests aren't fruitful. As her search drags on, Demeter decides to ask a close friend for help. She has been close with the goddess Hecate for centuries, though they may seem an odd pairing.
While Demeter is a goddess of the earth, Hecate is a goddess of the underworld. She is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, crossroads, and the night. With her help, Demeter begins to search all the shadowy places of the world. Though they continue to search for many more weeks with their combined efforts, they still find no clue of Persephone's whereabouts.
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Chapter 7: Who are the other gods involved in Persephone's story?
In as gentle a tone as he can manage for being the god of storms and thunder, Zeus questions Demeter about the current state of the natural world. He outlines the lack of growth and crops. Demeter listens to him calmly and responds simply. The search for her daughter's whereabouts has drained her of her powers.
She cannot keep up with the constant growth that the world demands, while also maintaining her search. Zeus listens to her intently, with his great eyebrows knitted together in thought. When she finishes her tales, Zeus fills his impressive lungs and makes an announcement to the immortals gathered on Olympus. Zeus begs any of them who may know something about Persephone to come forward.
There are a few moments of stunned silence before a voice from high above them all floats down. Helios, who at this very moment is driving the sun chariot over the world, has heard Zeus' call and bellows his response back down. He saw what happened to Persephone, because the eyes of the sun see everything that happens over the course of the day.
Helios witnessed Persephone's disappearance just before the sun chariot arrived at the Palace of the West and ended its journey. The gathered crowd of immortals clamor for more information, but Helios must finish the journey of the sun and promises to return that evening, once his job is done. No day has ever gone more slowly than this one for Demeter.
She paces with a nervous energy from one side of Olympus to the other. Caught up in the great mystery of it all, the other residents of Olympus also wait impatiently for the end of the day. Zeus taps his foot at the base of his throne Hecate bites her fingernails. Even the usually calm and poised Hera twirls her hair around her finger absentmindedly.
Demeter is not consumed with fear for her daughter, but rather the anxiety of a mother struggling with the unexpected independence of a child she holds dear. Demeter has always loved nothing more than spending time with Persephone. Yet, even before her daughter's disappearance, she could feel a distance growing between them.
It was not a bad distance, but Demeter wonders if it has to do with the undiscovered power she often sees behind her daughter's eyes. Night finally falls, and Helios arrives on Olympus. By this time, a decent crowd has gathered. Immortals have passed the story on from one to another and made their way to the home of the gods to bear witness to the reveal.
Helios, clearly enjoying all the attention, begins to recount the scene he witnessed. Persephone was picking flowers in the meadow, minding her own business. When the earth-shattering sound happened, a large, dark hole appeared in the earth just next to her. Persephone gasped in surprise. A chariot pulled by huge black horses erupted from the ground and stopped beside the goddess.
The rider, dressed in black robes, offered his hand to Persephone, who studied him for a moment, before accepting his hand and climbing on to the chariot. Horses, Ryder, Chariot, and Persephone disappeared back down the dark hole just as Demeter came around the corner and saw it close after them. There is a stunned silence following this story. No one is in confusion about who the Dark Rider is.
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