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Episode 132: Spooktober's Underworld Deities
458 Plays15 days ago
Welcome back, Witches, to part two of our journey through the Underworld, where we'll dive into the myth and magic surrounding Hades and Persephone, the powerful duo ruling the realm of the dead. We’ll explore their story, their significance in ancient worship, and how their dynamic influences modern witchcraft practices. So get in, loser; we’re venturing into the depths of the Underworld!
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Music by Darren Curtis- My Dark Passenger
References:
- Francisco Huanaco (2021). Persephone: Goddess Correspondences, Symbols and Myth. Spells8. https://spells8.com/lessons/persephone-goddess/
- Greek Mythology (n.d.). Persephone: Queen of the Underworld. Greek Mythology.Com. https://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Persephone/persephone.html
- Soulard, Daniel. 5 Key Myths About the Greek God Hades. (2024). https://www.thecollector.com/hades-greek-god-myth/
- Hades: Greek God of the Underworld. Greek Mythology. https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Hades/hades.html
- https://spellcloth.com/blogs/witchcraft-for-beginners/hades-deity?srsltid=AfmBOoq31ALGVw7bY0QGcfX65__qXq5TAuiyNH92CyAVYK_qQuX6gt-h
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Transcript
Introduction & Invitation
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft in the occult but feel lost somewhere to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about
Eclectic Music Discussion
00:00:15
Speaker
the craft. So get in witches as we journey deep into the underworld for another day of the episode, just in time for spooky season.
00:00:47
Speaker
So tiny disclaimer just in case it happens. Neighbors, crazy neighbors over here have been working on their yard for the last couple of days. And when he works on his yard, he plays really, really, loud I have like a full on concert in my friend home basically. Yesterday it was German techno and um German fest music mixed in with some um little sprinkling of like early 2000s pop.
00:01:14
Speaker
I love that. It sounds like my kind of guy. Ashley, because she's like on the other side, my friend, we were like joking about the whiplash of the concert we were having because it'd be like techno, fest music, Britney Spears, techno, fest music.
00:01:29
Speaker
Kid Cudi. Techno. They were like, what is happening? He has his whole Spotify playlist, which is completely random. There is no rhyme or reason. No, it was so funny. Because it started with fest music. And we have a festival happening down in Weilerbach, the little town next to us. And so I was like, man, Weilerbach is really turning up. And then I looked outside and I saw that it was him in his yard. I was like, oh.
00:01:59
Speaker
That's funny. That's like Alexis. That's exactly what that reminds me of when I was in her car um this summer whenever I was visiting. and we hung out and it was really awesome. um She had just like her whole like, she there was like, just the one playlist and it was just like, all of the music on her phone was just like, on like random. And I'm like, Oh my God, I love this. I love this. I love this. This doesn't even go with that song. But I love this. And she's like, Oh, yeah, she's on random. And I'm like, Oh, yeah, because I have like 5000 different playlists on my phone. um So
00:02:39
Speaker
I have different ones for different scenarios. Like if I'm at work, I have like a work site, I have a dental clinic safe playlist and then or I have like lo-fi playlist for work. Yeah, if they're safe. And then I have, ah when I need just a metal day, I have a metal playlist that's like just ah the hard music. And then for the rest of the time, it's just my my vibes and it's everything, nice all in one, because ADD brain needs to bounce around. So it'll go from like burn butcher burn from The Witcher to like Spirit Box and Ginger to Taylor Swift.
00:03:22
Speaker
like it's just all over the place. And I'm like, doo, doo, doo, as I'm like driving, listening to everything. Yeah. See, I mean, pros and cons with that. I love that. But but I'm also like the impatient person that's like, skip, no, skip, no, I don't want to listen to that. Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. And then I'll just search for the song I want. So what I tend to do is I will, I'm a, okay, here's this season of Sam. So I have like,
00:03:47
Speaker
summer 2023 Sam's mix or something like I constantly have like it by season what I'm interested in right then and then I'll forget about them and then like two years later I'll go back and be like oh my god summer 2021 I forgot about this and then I'll listen to the playlist and it brings me back to that time and I'm like, oh my god, I remember this. But yeah. No, my music taste is so random. And then there's days where I'm just like, I just want sleep token. So it's like I have that whole discography is saved in my playlist. So it's like sleep token day or plus a per day. That's why I'm with Taylor Swift. I'll just be like half the time I'm like, ah and let's just listen to the whole discography.
00:04:32
Speaker
and start now. I think I have the heiress tour like playlist on my phone. but Oh, me too. What a surprise. that's the I think that's the only like Taylor Swift like singular lit playlist that I have. Yeah. I have a lot of her music is just mixed in to my my vibes playlist. It'll go like Taylor Swift to Ginger or Lorna Shores that'll be like little like Poppy Taylor Swift and then like Screamy Death Metal.
00:05:06
Speaker
Oh man, but you know what? If no one's listened to Lorna Shore, you should at the very least listen to the trilogy because that trilogy wrecked me. It's so sad. I love watching people react to it and they're just like bawling as this like sweet golden retriever Will Ramos is just death metal screaming the saddest story you'll ever hear.
00:05:28
Speaker
Oh. It's so good. Okay. It's really good. I'll send it to you. Okay. I'll send it to me. I'll add it to my list and then cry at work because why not? He's a very attractive man. Okay. Well, you had me at attractive man. But he's also like, it's really funny because he's like, like straight up hardcore, screamy death metal. And then like you hear him talk and his voice doesn't match his singing. because Okay.
00:05:58
Speaker
This little like super happy and like just mellow like mellow like speaking voice, it cracks me up every time. yeah The first time I heard him talk, I was like, who is this man? but Right. And what did you do with the guy I thought you were? Yeah. Yeah. So everyone go listen to the trilogy. It's called The Pain the pain Remains. It's amazing. OK. Sweet. If you need a good cry. Why not? Why not?
Theme Introduction: Underworld Deities
00:06:29
Speaker
But we're not talking about crying to metal music. We're not. We're not talking about metal music. Or random playlists. No, unfortunately, although... If you have a recommendation for an awesome song, let us know because we are always down for music. Yes, we're very poly-jamorous, so we listen to everything. Yes. What are we talking about today? Ooh, we have a deity episode, and this one is awesome because it's underworld deities. I love the underworld and death deities. They're so fun to research.
Research Challenges on Underworld Deities
00:07:01
Speaker
They really, really are. um I didn't want to stop researching this one, um although I needed to because I was just like, okay, I have four pages. I need to stop. Yeah. But there's just so much that it's like hard not to keep going. I will say with mine, I thought there would be a lot more. Really? Yeah, I would too. No. He's featured in a lot. He doesn't have his own lore.
00:07:30
Speaker
was a very like reclusive like person. So he's featured in our deity. but Yeah, he's featured in a lot of stories and other lore. Obviously, like, you know, Persephone, that's the major one is like her story. But I love that for you. but Okay. And then he has like little snippets and everything else. But like, he doesn't have a lot of like, just mythology or more.
00:07:59
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. See, I thought it would be the opposite. I thought his would be... when Whenever I was researching Persephone, I literally was sitting there like, shit, I immediately jumped on. So spoiler alert, I'm doing Persephone and Persephone is covering Hades. But what if I was doing my research Yesterday I was like, oh my God, I jumped on Persephone and now I feel bad because what if Tiffany is like just encumbered in shit for babies and is just like, no how do I knock down thousands and thousands of pages of lore down to four pages? Like what am I gonna do? But well, now I don't feel so bad.
00:08:36
Speaker
ah Yeah, it was like the same story, like every um site or video or whatever that I went to, it was just the same like, basically like four or five stories. Okay. Is what he's in because like, for the most part, people feared him. So he was not included in a lot of things. And he was like kind of reclusive stuck to himself in the underworld. So there's not there's just not a lot of craziness around him.
Persephone's Mythology & Abduction
00:09:03
Speaker
like you know a lot of these other deities we cover there's like insane stories that we just like we love telling because they're hilarious or just like so out there i wish i was honestly just like shocked with them i thought there would be so much more yeah i honestly would too but i guess we'll get to that let me go ahead and kick things off with Persephone Yeah, let's get into our girl. So background, some of the names and epithets that she is associated with are the goddess of spring and nature, the queen of the underworld, bringer of fruit, Ariste, Thonia, Corae, and Hagny.
00:09:45
Speaker
She's also known as the maiden, the mistress, the pure one, the venerable one, the great goddess. And when she was depicted with her mother, they were often referred together as the two Demeters or the two goddesses, which I fucking hate. Like, yeah, I would hate to be known as that. ah we Also, know um her so her name, like ah for you said it was Corey. Mm hmm.
00:10:11
Speaker
i like I listened to, ah it's ah I don't know, I love Hades and Persephone's retellings and they kept saying core and I was like, that sounds so weird. I don't really like that. So it's interesting that it's like they weren't pronouncing it right. And I was just like, I don't like that.
00:10:26
Speaker
yes But I didn't know. right I thought that was like how it was said. But when you said that, I was like, Oh, that sounds so much better. Oh my gosh. I can't believe they were saying like, it literally yeah Google search. I think it was done. What is that one? Like promises and pomegranates or something? Okay. I haven't read that was one. I listened to it on audio and they come like anytime they referred to Persephone as they would say core, not core. So I was like, I don't really like that.
00:10:54
Speaker
No, I don't like that either. It is a choré, according to Google. It sounds much better. Much better. Speaking of choré, choré means both daughter and maiden in Greek. And choré is her name as the vegetation goddess pre-Hades. So a lot of her epithets and different names, according to scholars, come from pre-Greek origin are come from the pre Greek origin of her name and of the goddess herself. So that's why she has so many different names. um But
00:11:28
Speaker
In Greek mythology, her she's most famously known as the queen of the underworld. She is a daughter of Demeter, who is personified as Mother Earth, and then Zeus, who is king of Olympus. And Persephone keeps the secrets of the dead and was known as Prosperpina by ancient Romans. I also have seen it Prosperine. So Prosperine or Prosperpina was her Roman, um I guess,
00:11:56
Speaker
ah What do you call it? Like a Roman version. Like the equivalent. Yes, Roman is equivalent. I'm like, I don't know. Yeah, I had the same thing with Hades because I think his Roman equivalent was Pluton or Pluto. Yes. Yeah, I have remember reading that. Persephone is portrayed in Greek art as a robed queen carrying a scepter and a sheaf of wheat.
00:12:20
Speaker
and When she's portrayed with her mother Demeter, Demeter is usually the one carrying the scepter in chief of wheat, and Persephone is usually holding a four-tipped torch. and In some representations, she is seen holding a pomegranate as a symbol of her marriage to Hades.
00:12:37
Speaker
So going into some of the lore, there is quite a bit of lore associated with Persephone, but the most famous one is the myth of Persephone that is usually told around Samhain. So going back a little bit, um When I reference her mother and I'm referencing Demeter, Demeter represents nature and the fertility of the earth. And so the story goes that one day Persephone or Corae, as she was known at this point, was with a group consisting of her maidens picking flowers in the Nissian meadow.
00:13:10
Speaker
and She wandered away from the group and in some stories she came across the plant Narcissus which is a beautiful fragrant flower and as she reached down to pluck it the earth abruptly cracked open and a chariot pulled by black horses came out of it and this was Hades coming up from the underworld in This retelling he saw Persephone and decided that he wanted to take her to the underworld to live with him as his queen and so we brought her back with him and Changed her name to Persephone So during this time, Demeter spent really all of her time looking for Persephone. She was distraught and as such, she wasn't tending to the land um or using her magic to um tend to the land, I guess. So the land on earth became barren and people were dying of famine.
00:14:00
Speaker
Demeter ended up meeting with Helios and asked him about Cora slash Persephone to which Helios admitted that she was in the underworld with Hades the whole time. So she then went to Zeus to tell him what happened to their daughter and he sent Hermes and in some stories Hecate to get Persephone. But there was a caveat. She could be restored back to the earth only if she had not consumed any food in hell or the underworld.
00:14:28
Speaker
So Hermes or Hecate, um depending on which version you are reading, went to retrieve Persephone from Hades and Hades let Persephone return. But before he did, he offered her a pomegranate from which she ate six seeds. And because Persephone had eaten food from hell, this meant that she was confined there. However, after a while, a bargain was struck which allowed Persephone to remain in the underworld one month.
00:14:54
Speaker
for each seed that she ate, so six months in total. And she was allowed to live on the surface with her mother for six months out of the year. So this corresponded with spring and summer, and of course, she would return back to the underworld during the fall and remain there throughout winter. So as I mentioned before, Persephone's myth is told during Samhain, and that is why Persephone's lore gives an explanation for the changing of the seasons and accounts for Demeter's grief during the time when Persephone is with Hades.
Persephone, Aphrodite, and Adonis
00:15:24
Speaker
In ancient Greece, the Elessinian mysteries were a yearly festival that was held to symbolize the myth of Persephone's abduction from her mother's perspective, and it occurred in three phases. The first was the descent or the loss, the next was the search, and third was the ascent, which symbolized death, regeneration, and and mortaltity and the immortality of nature.
00:15:46
Speaker
So um that is the most famous lore surrounding Persephone, but there are a few other ones as well. So um there is lore related to Adonis. And it's so funny reading about this after reading some of the Hades and Persephone retellings that we've read like from book talk and stuff.
00:16:09
Speaker
because I'm just like, oh my God. Obviously I knew Adonis was like a character in Greek mythology, but I didn't know some of these other ones were as well. yeah um but So Adonis was a handsome mortal and he has lore that is similar to Persephone. So in Adonis's lore, both Persephone and Aphrodite were in love with him.
00:16:31
Speaker
and the two fought over Adonis. And because of this, Zeus divided Adonis' time between the underworld and the upper world. And when the time came for Adonis to go back to the underworld, he wouldn't go because he loved Aphrodite anymore. So, you know, Persephone was like, yeah, whatever, go ahead, go to Aphrodite, you love her so much. And he, so he went back to Aphrodite and she sent a fucking wild boar to kill Adonis in Aphrodite's arms. And whenever he died, he turned into the anemone flower.
Lore of Minthe
00:17:04
Speaker
I looked up online, it's actually a really cute little flower. so and because i was like I looked up because I was like, does is this is this said how I think it's said? and so I want to see what it looks like. It's actually a real flower. There is lore related to Minthe. If you have read, what is that book? The Hades and Persephone retelling that I have on my phone actually. and I can't remember what it's called.
00:17:29
Speaker
um But if you've read any of the Hades and Persephone's retelling, you probably have um came across this character named Menthe. And Menthe was rumored to have possibly been Hades' mistress before he abducted Persephone. That part isn't totally clear. However, what we do know is that once Persephone was his queen, supposedly Hades was like truly faithful to her.
00:17:56
Speaker
But Minthe bragged to people that she was more beautiful than Hades' new lover and that one day she would win Hades back. So Persephone turned her into the plant mint, and which I love. If you've read Laura Olympus, Minthe is so annoying. Yeah. She drives me insane. And in that one book that I can't remember the name of, like whatever that book is, she also drives me insane.
00:18:23
Speaker
Do you know what I'm
Persephone's Role in the Underworld
00:18:24
Speaker
talking about? The one where the audio book sounds like she's having an orgasm and I'm like, okay, you're, you're doing a little too much. Um, I can't remember what it's called, but I have the book on my phone, but I can't remember what it's called. Hold on. Let me see. i want my darkness Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the The girl, just FYI, little side note here. If you get, if you start listening to or reading Hades and Persephone's retellings, which I think you should because they're all, everyone I've read have been really good. and yeah Do not listen to the audiobook version of A Touch of Darkness, especially if it's the first audiobook you've ever listened to because you will be like,
00:19:05
Speaker
Why is she literally having an orgasm? It is very uncomfortable. But the book itself is really good. So just read the book. It is a really good book. You should read it. I listened to the audio and was just uncomfortable the whole time, but I loved the story, so I just stuck with it. Yeah, same.
00:19:24
Speaker
um so Persephone wasn't just Hades' consort, she also ruled over the underworld, which is different than a lot of other consorts that we read about in mythology. There are many myths surviving from the ancient Greeks that detail her being the sole maker of decisions related to mortals within the underworld. so An example of this was allowing Orpheus to leave with Eurydice, and Eurydice was his wife who was bitten by a snake and died. and There's more to it, but like the long story short, she was bitten by a snake and she died.
Working with Persephone
00:19:59
Speaker
um and Orpheus fucked the whole thing up, but Persephone did let her leave with him. But the the reason why Orpheus kind of fucked it up was he was given like seriously one job. He was told to walk in front of Eurydice and never look back until both of them reached the daylight and left the underworld.
00:20:23
Speaker
But because he thought that he was being tricked, he glanced back as they were stepping into the sunlight. And of course, he broke the rules and you were to see how to go fucking back to the underworld. So his own fucking fault. um And then another example of this is in the lore of Sisyphus. She allowed him to go back to his wife. So there are many instances of that um where she um had a lot of power and she made a lot of decisions. And we love that. We absolutely love that. Yeah. So Working with Persephone. Persephone is a great goddess to work with um because she understands trauma and loss, shadow, mental illness, anguish and pain. She sees beyond the veil and working with her can help you uncover the darkest aspects of yourself and to help empower you. So if you're somebody who
00:21:13
Speaker
feels like that you've been trapped or that you haven't stepped into your own power or you don't feel confident, this would be a great goddess to work with. um Some of her correspondences and include, so for signs and symbols, we have obviously the pomegranate. This is the symbol for life and abundance and also death. um Pomegranates have many seeds that represent the abundance and potential for new life, but they appear to bleed when they're cut.
00:21:40
Speaker
which also gives that death symbolism and also pomegranates represent fidelity in marriage and you know maybe this means that this was like a whole mutual thing between her and Hades like it wasn't just like a one-sided thing like she actually loved Hades as well which is what I'm choosing to believe because I love my Hades and Persephone retellings. I was gonna say all the retellings he's so great and they're like the perfect little couple Yes, so I'm going to choose to believe that. um Another sign and symbol for Persephone is the torch, and this represents Demeter searching for Persephone. Seeds and grain, which is the embodiment of spring and vegetation. When crops disappear into the earth, so does Persephone to the underworld, and they both come back to be reborn in the spring. um Flowers, obviously Persephone was picking flowers when she was abducted, so that's why, you know, and also being the goddess of spring and everything.
00:22:34
Speaker
Spring, again, obvious one here, she is known as the goddess of spring. Skulls and bones, she is the queen of the underworld. A cornucopia, like with seeds and grains, this represents her role as the goddess of fertility. And then animals that she corresponds with are bats, rams, birds, serpents, butterflies, and horses. And some other associations include waterfalls, rivers,
00:22:59
Speaker
lavender, lily of the valley, and willow trees, asphodel, and narcissus. I'm not sure what the red, I'm sure I spelled something wrong there on reds, but I don't know what that's supposed to be, so I'm just gonna leave that out. I would like the colors red. No, I don't know what I was trying to say there, but. Maybe reeds. Oh, maybe reeds, yeah. I don't know. Since that correspond with Persephone are florals, po ah the smell of pomegranates, bergamot, almond, and vanilla, the colors would be indigo, yellow, purple, black,
00:23:33
Speaker
white, green, deep red, and light blue. Crystals would be jasper, onyx, quartz, agate, sapphire, pink tourmaline, obsidian, garnet, amethyst, and coral. The seasons that she is associated with are of course spring and autumn. The element that she is corresponded with is earth and water. Earth, of course, being the goddess of spring, and water because it represents the fluid nature of her passage between worlds. And I think this is also why she's associated with like rivers and waterfalls and things like that. Astrologically, she is associated with Libra as her myth reflects balance and harmony, as well as Scorpio due to her connection to transformation and death. And as far as offerings, um this would include pomegranates,
00:24:21
Speaker
bread, wine, water, cakes, fruits, flowers, crowns, bones, dark chocolate, seeds, incense to include myrrh and sandalwood, candles and any of the colors that I mentioned that correspond with her and your own artwork. um So how can you worship Persephone? As we say all the time in these daily episodes, if you feel called to work with Persephone, the first thing you need to do is start to research.
00:24:51
Speaker
start reading the mythology and learning her history, this will be the best way to worship her. Once you have done the work, you can sit with an image of Persephone and meditate with the intention of connecting with her. Be patient and let her voice and thoughts come to you. um Another way that you can worship her is to tend a garden or plant, practice herbalism, go on nature walks, pick up litter and take care of natural spaces near where you live. Honor the dead, so this could be visiting a graveyard, picking up litter and cleaning up spaces around the graves. Make an ancestral altar and put images of Persephone on your altar. and
00:25:30
Speaker
And as far as sacred days and holidays, Persephone is associated with Samhain and Mabon. Mabon specifically signifying her descent to the underworld and Ostara, which is signifies her return from the underworld. so if you are wanting to work with Persephone, one really easy thing to do is on Mabon, celebrator, Onostara, celebrator. That would be a really easy thing to do. And then Thesmorphia, which is a Greek religious festival that
00:26:01
Speaker
they used to hold to honor Demeter and her daughter. It was usually celebrated in autumn and was a women only festival that promoted fertility both agriculturally and as it pertains to humans
Introduction to Hades
00:26:14
Speaker
as well. So that is another sacred holiday. And so if you are interested in learning a little bit more about Persephone, I highly suggest that you go to any of the resources that we have listed below and get to know her because she's a really cool goddess. And Now we're going to talk about Hades. There's a lot of crossover. A lot of their correspondences are very similar to. Really? Yeah. I was like, what is interesting? All of them.
Hades' Mythology & Reputations
00:26:41
Speaker
There weren't as many, like I was not able to find as many as you found like it in terms of like the Zodiac or you know, any of that, but that a lot of the, like the food, the plants, there was a lot of crossover. I was like, huh? Yeah. So.
00:26:57
Speaker
Haiti's name means the unseen one and he's known as the ruler of the invisible realm where souls reside after death. He's the god of the dead, wealth, darkness, and fertility. He's one of the primary Olympians and he was known as a god of the earth with special power over the dead.
00:27:16
Speaker
He oversaw the judgment of souls after death, though he was not usually a judge himself. The judges of the dead were Radimanthes, Minos, and Eacos. His epithets and other names were Pluton, as I mentioned earlier, the wealth giver, the wealthy one, ruler of the invisible realm, Ados, or sometimes Adis, depending on the spelling.
00:27:41
Speaker
um Pluto, Despater, Orcus, Zeus, below the Earth, host of many, he who leads away, Cleiminus, the renowned, Eubolius, good counselor, and Thonios.
00:27:58
Speaker
And then, like I said earlier, his Roman equivalent was Pluto or Pluton. And there was a lot of references to like the Romans because he was an underworld deity. They called him Pluto or Pluton because Pluton is under the earth, which I thought was just kind of a funny, like, yeah that's why we call him that. And I was like, all right. Okay.
00:28:22
Speaker
Yeah, basically all of that is just to say that he was the god of the underworld. He is the fourth child and the first son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea of their six children. His siblings are Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus. You might recall the story of Zeus avoiding being swallowed by his father Cronus, like with the help of his mother Rhea. And I think, Sam, I'm pretty sure you're the one that covered that story.
00:28:50
Speaker
I think we both covered like bits and pieces, but I'm pretty sure you covered the majority of this. Oh, I don't even remember. I just remember this story. Yeah, I would was like, I don't think I covered this whole story. I think Sam covered it. But either way, one of us covered it in a previous deity episode.
Hades' Consorts and Children
00:29:05
Speaker
Hades was swallowed, and he was you know later rescued by Zeus. The two teamed up in a war against Cronus, known as the Titanomachy.
00:29:16
Speaker
And then there's also some lore that states that Sharon, the centaur, was his half-brother. His consorts, as Sam already mentioned, were Menthe, who was the daughter of the river Cocytus that flowed through the underworld. And there's two very different stories surrounding Menthe's ending. So the first is that Persephone transforms Menthe into a mint plant out of jealousy or sometimes out of retaliation to a slight.
00:29:43
Speaker
um The second is that Demeter, Persephone's mother and ah like one of the goddess of the harvest, overheard Menthe complaining about how she was more beautiful than Persephone, and that Hades wouldn't end up like going back to her because he would tire of Persephone. So Demeter flew into a fit of rage, trampling Menthe, and from her death it's said that the mint plant sprouted. His ah other consort prior to Persephone was a nymph named Lucy.
00:30:12
Speaker
And she was the daughter of Oceanus, who Hades basically just carried off one day. And not much is really known about Lucy other than Hades really loved her. And she lived out her entire days with him. And when she died, he sprouted a Lucian tree in Elysium, that which is like the fields of the dead, that was like basically sprouted in memory of her, which I thought was really cute.
00:30:39
Speaker
Yeah. That is so sweet. I know. I was like, this is so precious. And then, of course, his wife, Persephone, who Sam just covered. So I'm not going to go into details there and because we've already done that. Are you sure? His children but really depend on which version of the lore you're reading. So one that is like kind of constant is Makaria.
00:31:04
Speaker
And Makaria is the goddess of a blessed death, and she's pretty much a constant like child of his in all lore. She was considered to be one of the more merciful of the death deities and the daughter of Hades and Persephone.
00:31:18
Speaker
Some lore suggests Zegrus as Hades' son, but more often it's noted that he's actually the son of Zeus and Persephone, which is nice. Yeah, but the story basically goes that Zeus turned himself into a serpent and he seduces Persephone And in turn, she gives birth to Zagreus. So my like in the lore where Hades is considered the father, I wonder if it's more because it's Persephone's child, like a stepdad situation, like if he just raised him as his own because Zeus is trash. Yeah. So I don't know. But there was it was like a 50-50 split on who was his father.
00:32:04
Speaker
Um, Melano, who is the bringer of nightmares and madness. I couldn't find a whole lot of information on this one. I'm not sure if this was a daughter or a son. Basically there's very little that was on the Googles about Melano. And then also because I would like to know more, right? I mean, there's a lot about like,
00:32:30
Speaker
the like nightmares and madness portion, but there's not, like I don't know, maybe they were like a gender fluid deity because you know we've come across that a few times. I'm not really sure. There was no like debt like nothing defined who they were, so who knows? yeah I didn't dig too deep because i it was late and I was trying to get my notes done, but like from everything I found, there was very little about anything like their descriptions or anything like
Artistic Portrayals of Hades
00:32:58
Speaker
that. so And then the Arrhenes were a group, a trio, of Persephone and Hades' daughters, and they were made up of Electo, Mageara, and Persephone. He's rarely depicted in art, which I thought was also really odd. um I know that, and I think this is just like my like
00:33:24
Speaker
childhood. I loved him the Hercules movie, but when I i think of like the Blue Flames. Literally, I couldn't get into like at first I was like 100% not going to read any sort of Persephone Hades retelling because I'm like all I could imagine is that Blue Flame motherfucker from Hercules. Like so oh my gosh but yeah so he's like rarely depicted in art which i think is weird but um he was basically known to be a grim and ghastly figure who inspired both awe and terror in everyone though when he was depicted he was most commonly portrayed as having a beard and always having a solemn or mournful look
00:34:07
Speaker
In the art that he is depicted in, he is often shown wearing a helmet that has come to be known as the Helm of Darkness or the Cap of Invisibility. Less frequently, he's shown holding a scepter or a key to his kingdom. Later depictions associated him with a Biden, which is a two-pronged fork, and it was modeled after Poseidon's Trident. And as Pluton, he's also depicted with a cornucopia.
00:34:34
Speaker
He has been shown with Cerberus often when he is in any art, and for those that don't know, Cerberus is the three-headed dog who guards the entrance to the underworld.
00:34:46
Speaker
And while many stories involving Hades tended to depict him as cold-hearted and a ruthless ruler, he was actually known to be a strict but fair ruler who ensured that the souls who entered his domain were treated according to their deeds in life. So if you were a good person, he treated you well because that's what you deserved. If you were a bad person, you were likely to like be dealt some punishment. So diving more into the mythology, which again, there's not a whole lot. Hades was considered a fearsome deity who rarely left his kingdom, which means that there's just very few myths about him within the mythology. So, womp womp there, a little sad.
00:35:30
Speaker
But instead, Hades was often featured in many stories and greek of Greek heroes like Heracles, Theseus, and Orpheus, where he was considered an antagonistic force that each of the heroes had to overcome.
Worship and Devotion to Hades
00:35:45
Speaker
So the obvious story is the one that surrounds Hades and Persephone, which was you know we've said multiple times, his wife, um which Sam i'm already covered. So we're not covering it here. But what I'll add here is that the lower that and their lore involves themes of love, despair, and the cycles of life and death. And it serves as a powerful reminder to how nature is just full of contrast and complexities. In early Greek mythology,
00:36:13
Speaker
Hades was not actually associated with the underworld, but rather he was considered a god of wealth and abundance, reflecting in riches found within the earth's depths. And we still see this connection today with the epithet of Pluton and the Wealthgiver.
00:36:29
Speaker
Hades dealt out punishments to mortals who like offended him. And one of those unlucky mortals was Sisyphus. Sisyphus was a king of Corinth who betrayed one of Zeus's secrets. And basically Zeus sends Hades to take Sisyphus to the underworld, but he manages to trick Hades. And one of the like stories, he chains him up to say save his own life. And apparently like while Hades is chained up, it prevented anyone from dying.
00:36:59
Speaker
So Aries intervenes and frees Hades to like kind of you know put the balance back in place. In another attempt to escape death, Sisyphus told his wife not to perform a customary funerary rite, but rather to throw his body into the city square. So once he gets to the underworld, he convinces Hades to allow him to return to punish his wife for disrespecting his death in that manner.
00:37:23
Speaker
Hades agrees, um but he's supposed to come back. He's supposed to go punish her and then come back, and he doesn't. and So when he doesn't return, um he ends up living a life to like old age. He dies of old age, and Hades punishes him by sentencing him to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down again. Hades is also mentioned in the Bible a ton of times, which I find hilarious.
00:37:52
Speaker
As much as christianity Christianity likes to tout that the Christian God is the only God in existence, he's mentioned a total of 10 times in the New Testament in the original Greek text. Other versions of the Bible swapped Hades' name for hell in order to like translate the original text, like in their own attempt to do that. For those interested, a couple of the places that you can find Hades in the Bible are in Acts 2.27,
00:38:21
Speaker
and Revelations 2014, and I believe most of the mentions are in Revelations. He's sometimes confused with Thanatos, the great god of death, but they have very like distinctly different roles. Hades is the overseer and ruler of the underworld, um while Thanatos is responsible for the actual act of dying and guiding souls into the afterlife. So I'm not really sure like why they're confused as often as they are within mythology,
00:38:50
Speaker
but it was noted in several sources like, Oh, they are confused all the time. And I've never like, I don't know about you. I know they're two very different deities. So I don't know what the confusion is there, but yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:07
Speaker
It's also worth noting that Hades had very few dedicated temples and he was not a deity that was commonly worshipped in light by the general public within the Greek pantheon. And this is partly because many ancient Greeks were cautious about invoking his name because they feared that it would draw his attention and bring them misfortune.
00:39:27
Speaker
Despite all of this, though, there were apparently like mystery cults, like the Illicinian mysteries, and they had rituals associated with Hades and the underworld. So while Hades was not necessarily the protagonist in any of his own myths, he was heavily featured in many of the most well-known stories from antiquity. Stories of heroes often brought them in contact with the land of the dead, and Hades was often a force to either overcome or bargain with.
00:39:57
Speaker
He also was known to torment those that cheated him. And while some were able to escape Hades for a time, as we all know, like death comes for everyone in the end, meaning that their souls would eventually meet Hades' punishment.
Recommended Readings on Hades & Persephone
00:40:13
Speaker
So if you feel called to work with Hades, his correspondences are, um his symbols would be Cerberus, the three-headed dog, keys, the cornucopia, scepters,
00:40:26
Speaker
cypress trees, chariots, the horn of plenty, and drinking horns. For animals, it would be dogs, sheep, cattle, horses, screech owls, serpents, and black rams. For plants and herbs, it would be the asphodel, mint, white poplar, cypress, narcissus, basil, cinnamon, and pomegranates. Crystals would be obsidian, jet, garnet, and sapphire. For offerings, you could do bones because You know, he's an underworld deity. um Coins, because he has a lot of ties to fertility. Wine or other alcoholic beverages, which I feel is pretty common for an offering for any deity. um Olive oil, imagery or symbols of Persephone, his wife, and any of the correspondences already listed. um Acts of devotion for Hades would include um spending time researching both Hades and Persephone.
00:41:24
Speaker
spending time in a cemetery showing reverence and respect, and you can do this by cleaning up the cemetery itself or by cleaning up individual graves. Study funerary rites of the past as well as those practiced today. Ancestry work is also mentioned since he rules the underworld and the souls of the dead.
00:41:44
Speaker
You can create an altar dedicated to Hades using any of the correspondences I mentioned. Hades is also said to be like a gentle patient and respectful of boundaries, like when working with him, which I thought was just, that I know, I feel like he's like the most misunderstood or like just like misrepresented deity in mythology. yeah And then um if you do wish to work with him,
00:42:12
Speaker
He's said to be also great to include in your ancestry work, in finances, and is thought to be a great ally to include in shadow work. especially when it pertains to trauma and abandonment. And some of the resources even said if you suffer from depression, um a lot of the stories about Hades pre-Persephone depict him as like mournful and depressed. And so he's also supposed to be really good to help in instances of depression, which I thought was very precious. That is precious. Right. I loved researching him. I wish there was more that I could find, but
00:42:52
Speaker
when I found I felt was pretty good. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. And if you want a really good graphic novel retelling, we talk about it all the time, or at least I do Laura Olympus. It's so good. It's so cute. And it's so pretty.
Conclusion & Further Content
00:43:13
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft.
00:43:36
Speaker
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