How to Work With Persephone

So, you’re here because you want to work with or worship Persephone? Well, you’ve come to the right place! I’m a devotee to Persephone, and I’ve worked with her for a while now, so I have a lot to teach you!

First of all, I want to make sure you know the basics of deity work. This is generally seen as not for beginners, as basics like warding, cleansing, and banishing need to be known before you start. Trickster spirits are also fairly common, so you need to know how to spot them. If you don’t know how to do these things, it can be dangerous as you’re creating a space where negative energies can thrive, especially if you don’t know they’re negative. (Worshipping is beginner friendly, as you aren’t working with the deity specifically, but honoring them.)

Warding and Banishing:

So, how do you ward and banish? There are many ways to ward. Spell jars, sachets you hang up on your altar, even specific crystals can be powerful aides in warding. My personal favorite ingredients for creating a ward are:

• Tiger’s eye- a powerful protective crystal that also helps you release fear and anxiety, and realize personal strength (I also keep tiger’s eye chips with me at all times)
• Copper- a wonderful metal that conducts energy (this helps amplify your intention), balances energy, clears negative energies, and helps you to connect to the spirit world (this can be incredibly useful for altars to have, but keep in mind that negative entities can come into your space too- this is why wards are so important)
• Carnelian- this is a great one to include as this is a motivational stone that can help you with meditation and grounding, and brings great energy to your altar.
• Bay leaves with written intentions- These help you focus your intentions and make sure they are clear (these can be burned or crushed if you’re trying to fit them into a smaller jar). When doing a warding jar or sachet, you can write “warding”, “protection”, etc. on them. (If you don’t have these, paper works just as well!)
• Whole cloves- these are a protecting and healing plant
• Sea salt- this is used for cleansing and protection (I wouldn’t recommend doing this if you’re making a sachet with an organza bag as this can spill out)
• Chamomile- this is a wonderful calming and protective flower that adds good energy to your space
• Rosemary- I include rosemary in all of my spells, it’s that good. I could write for hours about how much I love rosemary. For the sake of time, I’ll just say it’s very protective and wonderful (if you want to do more research on it, go ahead!)
• Lavender- this is very protective and promotes peace and calm, it smells amazing too so it’s a great addition to sachets.

(All of these ingredients are optional and can be substituted- remember, it’s the intention that counts! Combining all the ingredients won’t be as strong as putting your intentions into your ward as you add each ingredient.)

Banishing is a bit more difficult to summarize because it varies so much from practice to practice. Smudging is a closed practice, and plants like white sage should not be burned unless you are a part of that closed practice or you have bought from someone who is a part of the closed practice. Rosemary is a good cleansing tool, so I use it to banish. I light it and go counter-clockwise around my home, stating that no negative energies or entities are welcome in my home and they can get out through the open doors and windows. If you have asthma or sensitivity to smoke, I would recommend using rosewater. It can be spritzed in any room and it smells amazing, it’s not an overwhelming scent and my mom (who frequently has migraines and is very smell-sensitive) has never had a problem with it. Also, if you’re a closeted witch, you can just say that you want the house to smell good or something similar. And again, remember that intentions are key!

Trickster Spirits and How to Tell if They’re Presenting as Persephone

Trickster Spirits just want to cause trouble. They find it enjoyable, and while some of them are less harmful, many of them want to suck up your energy and use it for themselves.

Here’s a list of things Persephone should/will never make you feel:

• Drained of energy. From my experience with working with Persephone, she gives me energy, she doesn’t take it away from me. Keep in mind also that being drained of energy because you did an intense spell is different than sitting down to communicate with her and honor her and then feeling like a blob afterwards. This one is also very hard to tell because it depends on the practitioner, for my mom, she has chronic pain issues, so she feels a bit of energy drain from sitting at her altar because of that. The best thing I can say from this is you have to know yourself. If you are someone who has a huge energy battery and doesn’t get drained very easily and simply sitting at your altar or sacred space is draining to you, chances are there’s a problem.
• She will never restrict you from looking into other deities. If she is, there’s a problem. Especially if you’re just trying to gain knowledge on other deities, and not looking into working with them. On the flip side, before working with another deity, make sure it’s okay with her. She wants what’s best for you and wants you to expand your knowledge.
• Not respecting boundaries. From my experience, Persephone is all about boundaries!! She has always respected mine, and she has taught me a lot about being able to set boundaries.
• If you have had prior interactions with her and she doesn’t recognize you, something’s up.
• Inconsistent personality. This will never happen with her. She has both spring and fall aspects, and every deity from the Greek pantheon has epithets. If you’re working with a specific epithet of hers and then you start working with another epithet, that’s different. But she’s all about combining the darkness and light and having dualities.
• If she doesn’t answer your questions about her or her myths, that’s not her.

How to make sure you aren’t communicating with a trickster spirit:

• Ask her specific questions about her myths. What is her favorite flower? (this varies from source to source) What types of scents does she like? What are the names of the deities who may or may not be her children? Things like that.
• Set boundaries and ask her to follow them. If it’s really her, she will! She won’t push you on your boundaries unless you’re ready and it is extremely necessary for your spiritual growth.
• Get confirmation tarot readings and do some with her by yourself as well if you’re confident enough in tarot. Experienced readers will be able to tell if it isn’t her, and will be able to tap into Persephone’s energy to understand whether or not it is her.

Those are just the very basics on trickster spirits, and I would recommend you research them more, because I don’t have enough time or space to dive into them as much as I would like.

What It’s Like Working With Persephone

I’ve told you the ways to know if it isn’t her, so now, I’m sure you’re wondering what it is like working with Persephone. She has a very nice and calming energy, and she is very motherly and caring. She is one of my patrons, and she helped guide me through my journey of becoming a witch. She’s always there for me on hard days, and I feel her presence when I’m going through something rough.

She has helped me set boundaries, taught me how to safely do shadow work, and been a safe space for me to go to when I need to vent or have a spiritual hug. She helps me move on from past trauma and make the best of every situation I’m going through. And she helps me be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Sometimes stepping out of our comfort zones is essential for growth. In fact, it is extremely essential most of the time.

She helps me see that while growth may not be pretty or pleasant, it is very important. And she supports me when growth gets uncomfortable. She is also very understanding of my current situations, and on days where I can’t sit at my altar, she is waiting for me with open arms the next day.

I’ve also astral projected with her help and met her in the astral plane.

Devotionals And Offerings

Offerings and devotionals are important when working with deities. I’ve used this list from Spells and Incantations since I first started working with her, and it definitely helps me get ideas for devotional activities or offerings when I feel like I want to do something but don’t know what to do: https://twelfthremedy.tumblr.com/post/627193475659644928/persephone-offerings

Here are some things I’ve given her in the past that have been enjoyed:

• Parts of each meal and drink I have
• Plant material
• Dried flowers
• Alive flowers
• A plant
• Honey
• Rocks
• Crystals (she loves these because of the connection to the earth and the Underworld)
• Pomegranate imagery (on the day I started working with her I painted her a little pomegranate wood cookie and she loved it, it’s still hanging on my altar)
• Fake daffodils and a flower crown made out of them
• A flower crown made out of spring plants
• Coins
• Chocolate (especially dark)
• Chips and crackers
• Her candle- a red pillar with a pomegranate candle holder
• Art of her
• Art of Hades
• Things that connect to Hades
• A Cerberus plush that I sewed

Since I’ve been working with her for a while, I’ve given her many things. And what she will like from you is going to be different than what she might like from another person. Working with deities is really personal, and everyone does it differently.

Devotional Activities I’ve Done for Her:

• Nurture a plant
• Take care of moss
• Spend time at my altar
• Do divination to communicate with her
• Honor the dead and do spirit work
• Shadow work
• Making art
• Prayer
• Writing prayers specifically for her
• Writing poetry for her
• Water my garden while keeping her in mind
• Take care of my garden while keeping her in mind
• Get a tarot deck I knew she would connect with (I’m also looking at buying another one)
• Wearing a devotional ring and pomegranate seed earrings
• Setting boundaries with family and friends
• Making a perfume for her with scents she likes

For devotional activities, I’ve done significantly less, because those take more time and energy that I don’t have all the time. A weekly devotional activity is spending time at my altar, which I do at least 4 times a week. I also try to do shadow work every day, but admittedly sometimes I get a bit behind. I also really want to go to the graveyard and do some spirit communication there, and I’m planning to do that soon. (I do not recommend doing this to beginners, I’ve had a ton of experiences with spirits from when I was a very young child and I have done extensive research to keep myself safe. I also have very developed clair senses naturally, so I usually know when a spirit does not have my best interests in mind.)

Overall, devotional activities are also very personal, and differ widely based on where you live, what materials you have access to, wether or not you are a closeted witch, and what you’re personally comfortable with doing. She also may ask you to do certain devotional activities, and based on who you are, the boundaries you’ve set with her, and what you’re used to doing in your practice, these requests can also vary widely.

For me, devotional activities and offerings are a big part of my practice and I enjoy doing them very much, but again, it varies from person to person.

Prayer:

((CW: mentions of Christianity and some problems I’ve had with prayer because of Christianity.))

When I first started working with Persephone, prayer was not something I was interested in. As someone who has grown up with several Christian family members who very much pushed their religion onto my sister and I and made us go to church, I’m uncomfortable with prayer. For me, it was something I was forced to do in church. And even then, I never did it, I just pretended I was. It was something that we had to listen to over dinner and close our eyes to participate in it, even when my immediate family is not Christian.

((CW over))

But, the more I got into working with Persephone, the more comfortable I got with Pagan and Hellenic prayer. I began seeing it as a part of my practice, and I now do it on a daily basis. For me, prayer is as simple as waking up in the morning and thanking Persephone and Hades for protecting me overnight. At night, I pray to them in thanks for the day and ask them to watch over me while I sleep.

It’s not a big ritual for me, just something I do when laying in bed before going to sleep and after waking up. It’s very comforting to feel their presence before starting the day/falling asleep.

Here are the prayer formats that I wrote for general deity prayer:

“Lord/Lady__,

The sun has fallen

The moon has risen

And now it is time to rest.

I lay my head down

And ask that you protect me tonight,

Surrounding me with love

Until a new day dawns”

“Lord/Lady__,

A new day has dawned

I thank you for protecting me

For keeping me safe and alive

And I know that rain or shine

You will be with me today

Helping me weather each storm

And showing me that the little things

Are what makes each day count.”

If I were to modify that to pray to Persephone specifically, I would say something like this:

“Queen/Mother Persephone” (whichever feels right that day) “honorable ruler

and bringer of spring, I pray to you.

The sun has fallen

The moon has risen

And now it is time to rest.

I lay my head down

And ask that you protect me tonight,

Surrounding me with love

Until a new day dawns”

“Queen/Mother Persephone,

A new day has dawned

I thank you for protecting me

For keeping me safe and alive

And I know that rain or shine

You will be with me today

Helping me weather each storm

And showing me that the little things

Are what makes each day count.

Please grant me the strength to do shadow work today.”

This is just a base format that I use for mornings and nights, but I also wanted to link this source which I have loved using to craft prayers: https://powderandclay.tumblr.com/post/629344047519105024/how-to-write-a-prayer-to-whatever-entity-your

I also want to give a CW for mentions of Christianity and the use of it as an example to write prayers. It is used in that way because most people are familiar with the Christian prayer format, even if they aren’t of that religion.

(Persephone has asked me not to share the prayer I wrote with that format because it is very personal, so I won’t be sharing my results from that out of respect to our relationship.)

You can also pray to other deities that you may not worship or work with. As a Hellenic Pagan, I thank Helios with a short prayer when the sun comes out, and I thank Selene for the beautiful moon when it comes out from behind the clouds and I can see it. I thank Nyx for the stars on nights when I stargaze. You also don’t have to do that, it’s 100% up to you.

Signs:

When I first started wondering if Persephone was reaching out to me, her signs were everywhere. Originally, I was going to have Artemis as the first deity I started working with. I do work with Artemis now, but as I was looking on Etsy for Artemis statues, it didn’t seem right. It was like something was missing. And then, in the sea of Artemis statues, a Persephone statue popped up. Keep in mind that I saw no other statues of deities other than Artemis until the very bottom of the page.

So I cataloged that mentally to keep in mind, and continued looking for things to put on my altar. Soon, my mom was showing me tons of bat pictures. Lilies of the valley were everywhere I looked, and I started seeing pomegranate imagery. I wasn’t seeing any signs from Artemis at the time, so I wanted to know if Persephone was wanting to work with me.

I lit a candle, sat down to research her more, and ended up watching Shadow Harvest’s video on YouTube about dedicating to Persephone and what she did for that, and so I decided to do something similar. (Here’s the link to the video if you want to watch it: https://youtu.be/kIaN7g72fb4)

I filled up my bathtub with warm water and an herb/flower bath mix I had made earlier in the day (I still have the mix and it smells sooo good), epsom salts, and birch bath oil. I then dunked my body fully in the bathtub as a temporary dedication to her. It was meant to be just a “we’ll see how it goes and re-evaluate” kind of thing, but I ended up dedicating myself to her again later on.

All of that to say that signs from her was the confirmation I needed that she wanted to work with me. (I also want to mention that Artemis knew I wasn’t ready to work with her, and I think Artemis wanted me to begin working with Persephone first because she knew that Persephone was one of my patrons.)

Here are some of the signs commonly attributed to Persephone:

• Daffodils
• Lily Of The Valley
• Other poisonous plants
• Pomegranates and pomegranate seeds
• Grain (although this is also a sign from Demeter, and I’m not 100% sure on this one.)
• Bats
• Flowers
• Butterflies (this one is a upg shared by many Persephone devotees)

I also want to say that signs are usually repeated. It’s something you wouldn’t normally see. I saw so many bats in a couple days and I didn’t even know that was one of her signs until I looked it up. The only bats I see a lot are from an Instagram account that makes stuffed ones, and these were pictures of live bats, paintings of bats, and drawings of bats. And this wasn’t just on Instagram. It was everywhere.

If you don’t know if Persephone wants to work with you or not, I would ask for a sign. That actually goes for any deity. They’ll send them to you if they’re meant to work with you. If not, don’t be too disappointed. There’s always a reason if a deity doesn’t want to work with you. And sometimes, like my experience with Artemis, they don’t want to work with you in that moment, but they do in the future.

The Myths Of Persephone And Her Side Of The Story

My main problem when looking up information about Persephone was the fact that her story was never told from her side. It was always from Demeter or Zeus, but not her. I had been searching for that for forever when I found the more modern version of her myth. (I actually found a few of them, so this is combining them and what I think happened based on Persephone’s energy.) This modern version is not the same as the Ancient Greek version, but it is very similar.

The modern version summarized:

Persephone was picking flowers in a field, accompanied by nymphs. She spotted a narcissus and was drawn to its beauty, so she walked over to pick it. When she got to the flower, Hades emerged from the Underworld to talk to her. He had seen her picking flowers and thought she was beautiful, so he decided to have a conversation with her. He talked to her about taking her to the Underworld to be his Queen, and I see them as talking for a long time, with Persephone asking many questions about what that would look like. Eventually, she agreed, and went with him. (Another way I could see it happening is that the day they talked first wasn’t in the field, but before that, and they ended up falling in love, which resulted in Persephone going with him.)

Demeter didn’t know where her daughter was, and from my point of view, she was somewhat of an overprotective mother. Persephone had run away with Hades because she knew that her mother would never approve of the two being married, and she wanted to be happy with him. Another version says that she became depressed because her daughter had run away. Whatever happened, Demeter didn’t help the mortals grow any crops. She basically starved the earth because she had gone to Zeus to ask for help and he had said no. She gave him no other choice but to help her, and so he spoke to Hades, learning that Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds. Eating food in the Underworld results in you having to stay there, and because she had eaten six pomegranate seeds, she could stay in the Underworld for six months, and return with the spring to spend six months with her mother.

Now, the pomegranate seeds are what led to the modern versions of the myth. Persephone is a goddess of vegetation, and her mother, Demeter, is a goddess of the harvest, grain, and fertility. So, being so closely tied with plants, wouldn’t she know that eating the seeds would make it so she had to stay in the Underworld?

In the end, the myths are sometimes seen within the Pagan community as metaphors, and not literal versions of what happened. Sometimes, they are seen as what factually happened in the life of the gods. But we don’t fully know, and that’s okay. And each practitioner has a different view on what really happened. Personally, I believe the “kidnapping” of Persephone was actually Hades and Persephone eloping because they knew Demeter would never approve. But whatever way you see it happening is valid. All I know is that Persephone definitely loves Hades, and she is what led me to working with Hades in the first place because of her love for him.

Closing

So, in summary, deity work is not for beginners unless you have the basics down. Trickster spirits can be hard to spot, but keep an eye out and always ask questions when working with new deities. Working with Persephone is both wonderful and hard because of the energy it takes. And that’s true for every deity. And devotionals and offerings are deeply personal to each practitioner. Prayer is not something you have to do, but it has helped me personally and in my experience, I find it fulfilling. Signs are hard to differentiate from everyday life, but once you know how to do it, you’ll be able to continue doing it. The myths are unknown widely, and that’s okay. Everyone who works with Persephone has a different version that they resonate with.

I hope you learned something from reading this and stay safe out there, it’s a big world.