“Kore – Her theme’s are luck, cycles and youthful energy. Her symbols are coins, corn, the Number Seven, flower buds and pomegranate. An aspect of Persephone before her marriage to Hades, this youthful Goddess motivates good fortune, zeal and a closer affinity to earth’s cycles during the coming months. Kore, whose name means ‘maiden’, is the youngest aspect of the triune Goddess. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, as beautiful as spring’s blossoms and as fragrant as its breezes. It was this beauty that inspired Hades to tempt her with a pomegranate, a symbol of eternal marriage. Because she ate the fruit, Persephone spends winter with Hades as his wife and returns to the earth in spring.
Traditionally, the Festival of Kore is celebrated on this day by the Greeks who carried an image of Kore around the temple seven times for victory, protection and good fortune. Since your home is your sacred space, consider walking clockwise around it seven times with any Goddess symbol you have (a round stone, vase or bowl will suffice). As you go, visualize every nook and cranny filled with the yellow-white light of dawn, neatly chasing away any lingering winter blues.
This is also Twelfth Night. Customarily, all holiday decorations should be down by now. This day marks winter’s passage and perpetuates Kore’s gusto and luck in your home year-round. Also consider carrying a little un-popped popcorn in your pocket to keep Kore’s zeal and vigour close by for when you need it.”
(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)
Patricia Monaghan wrote: “The most familiar ‘maiden’ goddess (for that is the meaning of her name) to bear this title in Greece was Persophone, but the term was also used of such nubile deities as Despoina, Athene, and Artemis. Kore was the youngest form of the threefold goddess, the others being matron and crone. As such, she represented the youthful earth, the fresh season of buds and flowers, and the fragrant breezes of springtime” (p. 183).
Thalia Took tells us that ”
Kore and Demeter are thought of as two faces of the same Goddess, and with Persephone, Kore’s name as Queen of the Underworld, they make up the classic Triple Goddess–Kore (whose name means simply “The Maiden”), Demeter (“Earth or Barley Mother”) and Persephone (“Destroyer of Light”), the Crone or death Goddess. Within Herself, the Goddess (and Woman) contains the whole cycle of life, from birth to death to rebirth.
An early form of Demeter or Kore as Underworld Goddess is the horse-headed black Goddess Melaina. Persephone is also sometimes called the daughter of the Underworld river Styx, and mother of Dionysos.
The journey of the Great Goddess through death and rebirth formed the basis of the famed cult of the Eleusinian Mysteries, initiatory rites to the Goddess held in the Greek city of Eleusis that were said to have been founded by the Goddess Herself. Over time the Mysteries became very popular and were considered a highly ethical ritual to take part in that promised eternal life after death. The mystery of Nature’s death and rebirth told through the tale of Demeter and Kore is a women’s mystery that was recognized as humanity’s mystery.
In a reading this card indicates that the situation is more complex than originally thought. Large patterns and cycles are at play here; it may help to keep in mind that things are cyclical and will come around. It can also represent finding your power in a bad situation–after Kore was carried off against Her will to the Underworld, She became its Queen.
Alternate names: Core, Cora, Persephone, Persephoneia, Persephassa”. [1]
Sources:
Monaghan, Patricia. The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines, “Kore”.
Took, Thalia. A-Muse-ing Grace Gallery, “Kore“.
Suggested Links:
Blueroebuck.com, “Kore“.
Journeying to the Goddess 