Matching Myths a presentation by Mrs. Palacios Why the Leaves Fall Demeter and Persephone

The Lakota Tribe Part of Sioux tribe Agriculturalists The name means feeling friendly Believed in nature spirits Sought to learn lessons from animals

Why The Leaves Fall In the summer, all of the ground plants and grass were happy and warm. As winter approached, though, the plants realized that it was very cold. The grass and flowers were not feeling well at all - they had no protection from the cold. Just as it seemed that there would be no hope for surviving the winter, He who looks after the things of His Creation came to the rescue. He saw that the grass and flowers were dying from the cold. He decided that the tree's leaves should provide a blanket for them. He who looks after the things of his Creation felt sorry for the trees because they had to surrender their leaves, so in late fall, before the winter came, he made the leaves of all the trees beautiful red, orange, golden, and bronze colors to repay them for their services.

Ancient Greece mountainous land surrounded by sea mild winters- long hot summers Believed in goddess of harvest, Demeter People would dance before altars asking her for good crops

Demeter and Persephone (Origin of the Seasons) One day Persephone, daughter of Demeter was enjoying time in the fields and flowers when suddenly Hades comes from the Underworld and kidnaps her.

When her mother, Demeter, discovers that her daughter is gone, she begins to grieve. Unfortunately, she also stops doing her job, which is to assure that crops grow for the humans in Greece.

That means people begin to starve, and after a while Zeus realizes he must intervene. He works out a deal that Persephone will stay with Hades, her new husband, for part of the year because Persephone did eat some pomegranate seeds while she was there, and the rule is if you eat, you must stay.

.... And she will spend part of the year with her mom. That means Demeter is happy at that time, and things grow, so the people can plant, harvest, and eat.

So, this explains why there are seasons. When she is about to return to Hades, her mom gets sad, and it’s fall. When she’s gone, it’s winter.

When she first returns, it’s spring. And after a while, it’s summer.

What does this all mean? It seems that different cultures from opposite sides of the world were concerned about the reason for the seasons. They must have been perplexed when it would suddenly get colder or hotter, and they didn’t have science to help them understand.

Both of these cultures relied on agriculture to support their diets. They had to be worried, for the weather determined if they would be able to grow food. Worry is not good. They needed assurance, so they believed that something was in control. (a goddess, a spirit)

They probably felt good knowing something else was in control, and that there was a chance that things would be predictable to a point, and everything would be okay. The Lakota must have felt secure knowing that their “nature spirit” cared very much for the plants. That probably meant it would care for them too. The Greeks knew gods and goddesses were in charge, so they thought if they danced or sacrificed an animal once in a while, the weather might be good. It let them think that they had some way to influence the weather.

MY MODERN MYTH FOCUSES ON OUR CULTURE AND THE WEATHER What kind of myth does our culture need?

It was the year Mother Nature looked down from her perch up in the sky and grief filled her soul.

The humans below were littering, driving cars, and making products in plants that spit poisons into the atmosphere.

“I need a faster car,” said one rich man. “I want more plastic containers so that I can conveniently drink my water,” said a young woman. “I want to make money by making these cars and bottles,” said the owners of the companies.

She had finally heard enough. She couldn’t bear to see such disregard for the planet. She went into hiding, wishing she could forget what she had seen.

Jack Frost, her evil nephew, noticed his aunt was gone when the skies began to get hazy. Usually, she manipulated the ocean currents to set off rain storms that would clear the skies, but it seemed no rain had fallen for months.

Wanting to act quickly, he sent chilling winds that enveloped the earth on one side and caused a drought on the other.

Soon, the people below were in a bind. “My bottled water is totally frozen. How will I drink it now?” asked that same woman. “I want to drive my fast car, but the roads are all frozen,” said that man. The owners of the factories were about to go broke because nobody nearby wanted their products, and the folks on the other side of the earth were now too poor to buy them.

Little Lilly Lew saw these changes too, but she wasn’t complaining. She was worried. Hoping to make a difference, she ed her friends, started a blog, and eventually launched a website titled “Save our Planet”.

In no time, the younger kids, those from age 8-11, were sharing ideas, coming up with solutions, working on plans. They began educating others, cleaning things up, and making changes in their own lives. Mother Nature saw this, and she was pleased.

“I can’t punish all of them,” she admitted. The little ones aren’t to blame. If they are acting selfishly, it’s only because they have been taught to be that way. But look at them now, making a change, trying to make a difference.

And with those words, she summoned the currents and put the her weather pattern back in motion. Rains fell, ice melted, and the earth returned to normal. The selfish humans surprised her, for somehow they knew this was their second chance. And, they had seen some of the blogs and websites.

And just as the weather changed, so did they. “No more plastic bottles,” one woman declared. “Only smart cars from now on,” shouted that man. “We’ll make money, but we’ll do it by making eco friendly products,” said the companies.

And all was right with the world once again. Jack Frost had lost his powers. His aunt’s weather patterns were much stronger than his, yet every once in a while, he got a foothold, froze a few fields, and made things miserable.

Mother Nature let this happen, for she knew it would be an annual reminder that the humans should appreciate and care for their planet.