Persephone Rising: Awakening the Heroine Within

by Carol S. Pearson

Overview

Now with an updated preface from the author celebrating this groundbreaking and increasingly relevant book.

 

Nautilus Award Winner

This revelatory manifesto speaks to the heroine in every woman and man, offering potent strategies drawn from ancient Greek wisdom that can help us find happiness even in today’s unfinished social revolution. Four archetypal plotlines—two feminine, two masculine—chart this path toward greater life satisfaction.

In this empowering work, Carol S. Pearson, the bestselling author of The Hero Within and Awakening the Heroes Within, reveals how the Demeter and Persephone story uncannily mirrors cultural and political dramas being played out today before our very eyes, and then shows how these conflicts could be resolved. In the myth, the earth mother wins a power struggle with a patriarchal god, thereby ending a famine (think climate change) that threatens human survival. As this is occurring, a youthful goddess gains her freedom, asserting gender partnership and equality, and as a result gives birth to joy and celebration.

The archetypal figures and narratives that galvanize attention in the public world also activate them within us as individuals. The challenge, then, is to live these stories wisely, shifting their expression within us for our own good and that of our society. The example of the four major mythic characters illustrates how readers can move from feeling powerless to purposeful, disrespected to esteemed, trapped to free, and anxious to joyful.

Drawing on her profound understanding of myth's enduring power to catalyze such transformations, Pearson guides readers of Persephone Rising on a journey of self-discovery, teaching us how to apply lessons from Demeter and Persephone, as well as Zeus and Dionysus, in our own lives—examples that reveal unexpected choices and opportunities available to us all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062884060
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/28/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	929,558
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Carol S. Pearson, Ph.D., is a world-renowned expert on depth psychology and transformational leadership and is the author of such classic works as The Hero Within, Awakening the Heroes Within, and The Hero and the Outlaw. She served most recently as president of Pacifica Graduate Institute and speaks and consults with many groups, universities, and businesses. She lives with her husband in the Washington, DC area.

Table of Contents

Preface for the Paperback Edition ix

Introduction The Power Of Story In The In-Between

The Story of Demeter and Persephone 3

The Eleusinian Mysteries and the Power of Collective Transformation 13

Why Me? How This Tradition Changed My Life 23

Why You? Awakening Your Capacities and Potential 33

Why Now? Thriving in an Unfinished Revolution 43

Part 1 Demeter

Demeter and the Way of the Heart 53

Demeter Lesson One: Living a Life of Connected Consciousness 65

Demeter Lesson Two; Demonstrating Brave-Hearted Resilience 77

Demeter Lesson Three: Valuing the Generous Heart 89

Demeter Lesson Four: Voting with Your Feet 101

Demeter Lessan Five: Standing Up for What You Care About 111

Capstone Exercise: Dialogue with Demeter 119

Part 2 Zeus

Zeus and the Way of Power 123

Zeus Lesson One: Overcoming the Feat That Fuels a Driven Life 133

Zeus Lesson Too: Declaring Your Independence 141

Zeus Lesson Three: Unleashing Your Passion, Focusing Your Actions 151

Zeus Lesson Four: Regrouping and Rethinking as You Know More 161

Zeus Lesson Five: Moving from Power Over to Power With 173

Capstone Exercise: Dialogue with Zeus 184

Part 3 Persephone

Persephone and the Way of Transformation 187

Persephone Lesson One: Responding to the Call of Eros 201

Persephone Lesson Two: Claiming Your Love Rights 211

Persephone Lesson Three: Doing Life a Simpler Way 225

Persephone Lesson Four: Making Choices to Realize Your Destiny 237

Persephone Lesson Five: Experiencing Radical Belonging 251

Capstone Exercise: Dialogue with Persephone 266

Part 4 Dionysus

Dionysus and the Gift of Joy 271

Dionysus Lesson One: Realizing the Eleusinian Promise 287

Dionysus Lesson Two: Celebrating Life's Great Beauty 301

Dionysus Lesson Three: Dancing Collective Joy 313

Dionynts Lesson Four: Directing Your Inner Theater Company 327

Capstone Exercise: Dialogue with Dionysus 338

Integrative Capstone Exercise: Your Personal Eleusinian Mandala 338

Conclusion The Power Of Story To Transform Your Life 339

Who's Who 359

Bibliography 361

About the Author 367

Acknowledgments 369

Notes 375

Reading Group Discussion Guide 389

Editorial Reviews

For many of us women the story of Demeter and Persephone is the most challenging and illuminating of all myths. Each of us retells it in her own way, a way that reflects what it means to her.” — Christine Downing, author of The Long Journey Home: Re-visioning the Myth of Demeter and Persephone for Our Time

“Persephone Rising leads readers down the processional path of the ancients into a modern initiation where the power to change reveals we can all awaken the heroine within.” — Rewire Me

Carol Pearson’s gentle reframing of the tale that served as the basis of the Eleusian Mysteries, brings these gods and goddesses to life... Pearson writes with an eye toward empowering women, not by disparaging men, but by pointing us in the direction of our lost history. — Retailing Insight

“Persephone Rising spoke to my bone marrow-its truths resonating with clarity and power. A beautiful retelling and updating of these ancient archetypes-so relevant today. ” — Christiane Northrup, M.D. and author of the New York Times bestsellers: Goddesses Never Age and The Wisdom of Menopause

“Through these classical archetypes of antiquity, Pearson guides us moderns in examining not only our fundamental, underlying beliefs but also those of our greater society.” — Spirituality and Health

From the Publisher

Persephone Rising leads readers down the processional path of the ancients into a modern initiation where the power to change reveals we can all awaken the heroine within.

Rewire Me

For many of us women the story of Demeter and Persephone is the most challenging and illuminating of all myths. Each of us retells it in her own way, a way that reflects what it means to her.

Christine Downing

Carol Pearson’s gentle reframing of the tale that served as the basis of the Eleusian Mysteries, brings these gods and goddesses to life... Pearson writes with an eye toward empowering women, not by disparaging men, but by pointing us in the direction of our lost history.

Retailing Insight

Through these classical archetypes of antiquity, Pearson guides us moderns in examining not only our fundamental, underlying beliefs but also those of our greater society.

Spirituality and Health

Persephone Rising spoke to my bone marrow-its truths resonating with clarity and power. A beautiful retelling and updating of these ancient archetypes-so relevant today.

Christiane Northrup