Persephone is also known as Prosperine and Kore or Core which can mean the center of the Earth or where our word "corn" comes from. Persephone is an agricultural godess, as is her mother Demeter or Ceres, but she also has the distinction of being the queen of the underworld. She is always pictured as holding an ear of grain in her hand. Like Pluto, she shares a dark coloring to her hair and eyes, and is not afraid of hard work, or getting her hands dirty, or facing grim truths. In many way, Pluto and Persephone, or Scorpio and Virgo are two sides of the same coin. They even share similar glyphs or sign symbols. While Scorpio's glyph shows an M with an erect tail or arrow symbolic of sexual energy(like the Mars glyph), Virgo's glyph is an M with an extra segment overlapping the tail end(symbolic of purity and sexual restraint). The planetary glyphs are similar as well. Isis, or the Egyptian equivalent of Virgo, is another favorite. Isis(the Moon or Sirius) is the daughter of Geb(the Earth) and Nut(the Sky) and is Married to Osiris(the Sun). She gives birth to Horus(another Sun god). This picture of her holding her child is adopted by Christianity as the Virgin Mary holding Jesus. Isis is the grain godess who mingles amongst humans teaching them to grow corn and make bread. While she is basically a godess of agriculture, her tutorship under Hermes(Mercury) has made her skilled in medicine and reading as well. Her diverse skills make her widely known and she is truly the godess with a thousand names. At one point she tricks Osiris into gving her his powers of life and death in exchange for healing him, and becomes the most powerfull of the gods and godesses. She uses her powers wisely, however, to help her beloved humans. She is also acquainted with the underworld and seven scorpions accompany her in her search for her dismembered husband, Osiris. Isis is also Sophia, the primordial godess of wisdom and motherhood who became exiled and repressed by Constantine's Christianity. Sophia/Isis/Virgo is also Lilith/Hectate/Eve/and Mary Magdalene. Sophia is the woman of Proverbs 8, The Holy Ghost or Spirit, the female half of God, the woman in the Creation of Adam painting, the Black Godess, Egyptian Nut, and the creator and sustainer of Mu or Lemuria. She is also the Master Craftsman or Worker through which the Creation was effected(later replaced by the Christian Jesus). Virgo is also known as Ceres and Demeter, both grain godesses, and the Sumerian Inanna, whose adventures in the underworld reflect those of Persephone. Virgo is also of course, the Christian Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene.
...Persephone/Prosperine/Kore
...Ceres/Demeter/Inanna
...also known as Eve, Lilith, Pomona, Rhea, Cybele, Maia,
Corn Maiden, the Great Mother, the Virgin Mary, Nut, Themis,
Astraea, Vesta, Aphrodite, Ishtar, Erigone, Queen of Heaven,
etc.
Virgo's Planetary Ruler
Virgo has as many planetary candidates as she has godess names.
While the planet Mercury is presently her official ruler, she shares
it with Gemini, a situation that does not allow either sign to be their
true selves. It's like two people living in the same house; they must
make compromises in order for them to be able to live peacefully under
the same roof. Both Geminis and Virgos must be tiring of this situation,
and eventually there will have to be a split up. Every sign wants their
own planet(house, apartment, etc.) so they can express their true natures
without hindrance. The problem is deciding who will stay(who is the real owner?)
and who will move out.
Most astrologers and even non-astrologers feel that Mercury is the true ruler
of Gemini and this appears to be so athough we will never be fully certain
until the split up occurs. Let's say that Mercury does rule Gemeni first
and foremost, and that Virgo has been shacking up with him all this time
-what is the reason for it? People don't move into someone else's home unless there
is nowhere else to go, or unless they cannot afford it. Cosmically speaking,
it is very possible that the Virgoan race has lost its true home an ruler(Maldek?)
and has had to be moved elsewhere(under the tutelage of Mercury or Hermes).
This, by the way, is actually how planetary rulership works; originally, every sign had
its own lot or ruler, but some lost it and had to share or double up with another sign.
This is a temporary situation that will be corrected or restored, and then we will see
another body in the heavens to commemorate the occasion.
One of the many candidates for a home for Virgoans is etheric Vulcan, said to be situated
between Mercury and the Sun. Why do we have a tendency to assign masculine gods to
feminine signs? Virgo is a feminine sign and should have a feminine sounding ruler.
Vulcania would be more appropriate. There are six masculine planet/signs in astrology
and six feminine ones, and there should be six masculine gods and six feminine gods
to represent them. Minerva or Medusa would be a more apt name for Pluto for example.
This goes to show the extent of patriarchal rule in our society.
Vulcan was presumably sighted in the late 1800's, by Leverrier and others, but it may have
been a giant ship passing through, for it has not been sighted since. Then there are those
who say that Vulcan is in an etheric(non-materialized) state and can only be seen in
ultraviolet light, or is hiding behind the Sun. Still others say Vulcan is somewhere out
beyond Pluto. The Theosophists make a big deal about Vulcan and include it with the Earth
as one of their twelve planets. They also link Virgo esoterically to the Moon(which supposedly
"veils" Vulcan). It is true though that the Moon has some kind of Virgoan influence. In fact, I
have observed that the Moon often has more to do with Virgo(or Capricorn) than with Cancer.
This is a real mystery for me.
Other popular candidates for Virgo are the asteroids Ceres and Vesta discovered in the
late 1800's, Chiron discovered in 1977(not to be confused with Charon -Pluto's moon, which
by the way was discovered a year later), and the more recently discovered Quaoar. None of
these, however, have so far shown any fully convincing or conclusive link to Virgo. Could
it be that the Virgoan ruler, just like the Jews, is scattered in pieces across the Earth plane,
just like the asteroids across the sky? The Jews, however, eventually re-acquired a homeland,
and so will the Virgoans.
Another possibility is the Earth's inner sun, which exercises its influence via the Midheaven
in astrology, and which reflects the Persephone/Kore myth. The Earth itself may well yet be recognized
as the true ruler of Libra working via the Ascendant or Rising sign. Earth's inner center contains a
hidden sun which we measure via the Midheaven. Could this core or sun somehow be connected to the
rulership of Virgo?
Unfortunately, there are more questions than answers, and it looks like we will have to wait for the answers.
I do, however, feel that we are reaching critical mass and that at some point soon we will have those
answers. Then the great Virgo Mystery will be solved and we shall all rejoice and "live long and prosper"
as Spock would say.
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