Potnia: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Demeter

Edited by Melitta Benu and Rebecca Buchanan
Price: $ 14.99
Publication Date: 3 November 2014
Place of Publication: Asheville, North Carolina
ISBN: 978-1500673895 / 1500673897
Pages: 334 pp
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 5″x8″

Demeter.

Ancient and modern devotees alike know Demeter to be a complex Goddess. As demonstrated by the poetry, essays, short fiction, and artwork collected in this anthology, she is a Goddess of many guises.

Some devotees see her as an aspect of the Great Goddess, the source of all creation. For others, She is part of a fluid trinity, encompassing the phases of a woman’s life and the cycles of the year. Some experience Demeter as identical to the Roman Ceres, while still others consider them distinct entities. Some honor her as the Mistress of Good Green Growing Things, Lady of Herbs and Fruit, Queen of Flowers and Bees, She Who Bears the Golden Scythe, The Great Sow who taught us the use and preservation of seeds and who continues to bless our farms and gardens. Others experience her as the Law-Giver, whose gifts not only allowed humans to gather and thrive, but also necessitated the creation of customs and laws to ensure right behavior and the survival of civilization. For still other devotees, She is The Great Mother, The Destroyer, The Black Mare, Dark with Rage, Bringer of the Fallow Season, Mother of the Maiden who holds the world hostage until her daughter is returned. And for still others She is the Giver of the Mysteries, Overseer of Initiations, The Purifying One whose rites reveal secret truths and promise a blessed afterlife.

She is all of these, and so much more.

She is Demeter, Goddess most worthy of our devotion.

Potnia can be purchased in paperback format through Amazon, and through Barnes and Noble. All of the proceeds from Potnia – as well as many of the other volumes in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina series – will be used to help promote the revival of the worship of the Greek and Egyptian Gods, with a portion of the proceeds given to a worthy charitable organization in their name.  So, not only will you be getting a wonderful book about the modern worship of the Queen of the Harvest – but your money will be going to do good work and help the revival of ancient polytheistic religions.

ATTENTION Librarians, Teachers and Retailers: Potnia is also available at reduced cost for academic institutions, lending libraries (public and private), and retailers. Check our online store, or email baeditor@gmail.com with any questions.

We are rebuilding the Library of Alexandria one book at a time!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Frontispiece: Demeter by KS Roy … 3
Dedication … 5
Invocation: Queen of the Universe by Janine Canan … 6
Introduction and A Note on the Appendices by Rebecca Buchanan … 13
Abandoned by Jen McConnel … 16
Demeter, Waiting by Maya Spector … 17
To Demeter Erinys by Jennifer Lawrence … 18
The Crack by Janine Canan … 22
Sonnet XV by Mike Alexander … 23
[DeeDee in the Void] by John J. Trause … 24
Aristi Chthonia by Michelle Auerbach … 27
Tribute by Chryss Yost … 29
Paleolithic Issues by Charles Stein … 30
Demeter by Marian Weaver … 35
Persephone’s Lesson: Managing Terrible Truths by Marie Kane … 37
Daughters of Demeter by Lauren C. Teffeau … 39
Becoming Queen by Brandi Auset … 47
Maiden in Love in the Underworld by Juli D. Revezzo … 49
The Unexpected Visitor: A Modern Hellenic Tale of Winter Solstice Eve by Melia Brokaw … 68
September by Dawn Corrigan … 76
Seasonal Affective Disorder by Kim King … 89
Let Winter Last for Aye! by Rosanna E. Tufts … 90
Homecoming by Jennifer Lawrence … 98
A Rose in Winter by Dana Wright … 100
Letting Go by Gerri Leen … 108
Pomegranate Cupcake by Erzabet Bishop … 115
Through the Pain by Jen McConnel … 124
Erysichthon by Kate Taylor … 125
Demeter Melaina by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus … 136
For Demeter by Jennifer Lawrence … 137
Dem & I by C.D. Coss … 139
Grain Mother by Jen McConnel … 145
The Thrice-Ploughed Field by Suz Thackston … 146
Harvest Prayer for Demeter by Melia Brokaw … 150
Hymn to Demeter II by Rebecca Buchanan … 151
Demeter’s Kiss by Jennifer Lawrence … 153
Demeter’s Daughters by C.J. Prince … 155
My Persephone by Jennifer Lawrence … 157
Solstice Plea to Demeter by Melia Brokaw … 159
Semolina Quinoa by Fern G.Z. Carr … 162
Seeds by Rebecca Buchanan … 164
Thalusia Hymn by Sannion … 184
First Fruits Festival Prayer by Melia Brokaw … 186
Song to My Mother by Janine Canan … 187
Demeter’s Lament for Demophoön by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus … 188
Demeter’s Other Children: Demophoön and the Eleusinian Mysteries by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus … 190
Potnia-Ge (Our Lady of the Earth) by Katie Anderson … 199
Hymn to Demeter Europa by Lykeia … 201
An Ecstatic Prayer to Ceres by Christa A. Bergerson … 203
Demeter Invocation by Romany Rivers … 205
Eleusis Bound by Diotima Sophia … 207
The Seed and the Fruit by John Opsopaus … 209
Eleusinia Goetia by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus … 257
Demeter and Goetia:  The Eleusinian Mysteries and the Strange Case of Hadrian and Antinous by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus … 261
Mystery by Janine Canan … 273
“The New Demeter”: The Syncretism of Diva Sabina Augusta to Demeter/Ceres by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus … 274
Prayer to Demeter by Hester Butler-Ehle … 282
Demeter by James Hall … 283
Appendix A: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter … 284
Appendix B: The Orphic Hymns to Demeter … 305
Appendix C: Hymn VI to Demeter by Callimachus … 307
Appendix D: Our Contributors … 310
About Bibliotheca Alexandrina — Current Titles — Forthcoming Titles … 329

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