The constellation Virgo is prominent in the June sky. Virgo honors Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain and the growing fields.
The Greeks believed that Demeter watched over the crops and made sure that the Earth produced bountiful fruits for humankind.
One summer the trees did not turn green and the fields withered. Demeter ignored the growing things of earth, because she was too busy searching for her lost daughter Persephone. After searching for 10 days, Demeter called on Helios, the sun god, for help.
“Helios, you drive your chariot across the sky every day,” said Demeter. “You see all that takes place on Earth. Have you seen what has become of my precious daughter Persephone?”
“Demeter, it saddens me that I must be the one to tell you this,” said Helios. “I saw the Earth open. Hades and his black chariot charged across the field to kidnap your daughter. He took her back to the underworld with him.”
Demeter grew furious and refused to allow anything to grow on Earth. Without food from the fields, the human race was in danger of dying out. Zeus knew he must bring an end to this curse.
“Demeter, you will have your daughter back,” said the almighty Zeus, “under one condition. She must not have eaten any food while captive in the underworld.”
Under orders from Zeus, Hades had to return Persephone, but he wouldn’t let on that it wasn’t his decision.
“Persephone, you seem so sad here. I will bring happiness to you once more. You will be allowed to return home to your mother, Demeter,” said Hades, lord of the underworld.
Just as Persephone was ready to leave the underworld, Hades’ gardener stepped in.
“My dark lord,” said the gardener to Hades. “I must tell you what I saw. Persephone picked a pomegranate from your trees and ate seven of its seeds.”
Because she had eaten the food of the dead, Persephone would have to remain in the underworld. Demeter continued her curse on the land until Zeus came up with a compromise.
“I, Zeus, king of the gods, declare that Persephone will spend three months every year with Hades as queen of the underworld. The other nine months she will return to her mother’s ’side.”
From that day on, the time Persephone spends with her mother is when Demeter allows the world to enjoy the warmth of spring and the fields are green and fertile. The time Persephone spends with Hades in the underworld is winter, when the Earth is cold and crops wither.
Spica, the brightest of Virgo’s stars, marks the wheat that Demeter carries. Spica rises in the east around April 1, marking the return of Persephone to Demeter and the return of spring to the world.
