Deity of the Month: Demeter

Demeter (Ceres in Roman) was one of the original six Olympian Deities. Her parents were Cronus and Rhea, the rulers of the Titan deities. Cronus believed that if he had any children, they would rise up against him. So he consumed every child his wife gave birth to.

She was the Goddess of the harvest. As such, she presided over grains, the fertility of the soil, and the seasons. She also presided over the sanctity of marriage, the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death.

Demeter is known to be responsible for autumn and winter because her beloved daughter is separated from her. I told this story in a previous post. She is also the main persona we now refer to as "Mother Nature", even though several other deities are combined with her to become this new deity.