This article originally appeared in Raven's Call Volume 1, Number 2

Exploring the Legend of the Descent of the Goddess

by Raven Grimassi

This article is a modified version of lengthier treatment of the subject appearing in my book The Wiccan Mysteries.  In modern Wicca the Myth of the Descent of the Goddess is still one of the primary texts of Wiccan theology.  Even the majority of the Celtic traditions employ this mythos despite the fact that it does not appear in Celtic mythology.  The essence of the myth is traceable to the ancient cultures of the Tigris-Euphrates region.  Its classical form appears in Greek mythology and was the cornerstone of the Eleusinian Mystery Cult.

The Legend of the Descent is on the exoteric level, a story about the Goddess entering the Underworld and meeting the Lord of the Underworld.  On the esoteric level the tale is one of the journey of our own souls as they enter into the physical dimension.  For we are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, instead we are spiritual beings having a human experience.

The popular version of the Legend of the Descent depicts the Goddess departing into the Underworld. The Goddess seeks the Harvest Lord, her lover who was sacrificed in the fields. In the Mystery Tradition she is joined in sexual union with the Lord of the Underworld and is impregnated with the Child of Promise. The Child of Promise is the newborn sun god who is given birth on the Winter Solstice. On the Spring Equinox the Goddess returns again to the earth from the Underworld.

The esoteric version of the Legend of the Descent differs from the popular version but contains the essence of its theme. The mythos behind the Legend is built upon the concept that the Goddess was originally incomplete or imbalanccd in the integration of her totality. In order to possess the knowledge of all things, or to assimilate her opposite polarity, she descended into matter and experienced decline and physical death. Her journey to the Underworld is symbolic of her passage through the currents flowing between the worlds; “And so she journeyed to the Underworld in her boat, upon the Sacred River of Descent.”

As the myth unfolds, the Goddess is stopped at a series of seven gates. At each she encounters the demand for payment by the Guardians of the gate. The seven gates are symbolic of the seven planes or dimensions of manifestation within occult cosmology. According to the tale, the Goddess surrenders an article of clothing as payment for passage. This symbolizes the casting off of self-identity. A surrendering of the self in order to obtain enlightenment is an ancient theme found not only in the mystery tradition but also in such public religions as Christianity and Buddhism.

At the first gate the Goddess relinquishes her scepter, which is a symbol of her personal power, her ability to extend influence outwardly over other things and situations around her. The loss of personal power or recognition isolates her and brings the focus of the Universe directly upon her own existence. The second gate requires her crown, symbolic of her authority. Here she loses the outward symbol of her power. With her personal power relinquished, so too dissolves her its symbol.

The Guardian of the third gate requires her necklace. This item is symbolic of her claim to personal value, her achievements and accomplishments. Wealth is often viewed as a sign of personal power as it states that the individual is successful and influential according to the standards of the society in which the person operates. At the fourth gate the Goddess removes her ring. The ring is symbolic of class level and personal labeling. The ring denotes relationships, and signifies membership in organizations, orders, lodges, and various religious systems. To remove the ring is stand alone without connection, association or definition.

The Guardian of the fifth gate requires the Goddess to relinquish her girdle.  In ancient cultures the girdle symbolized social status. On the subconscious level it is the symbol of the personal facade. To relinquish the girdle is to open the self to examination. In ancient Rome the girdle was worn by a woman as an outward symbol that she had now reached the stage of puberty. When the woman was to marry, her parents would tie a knot upon the girdle which was later untied by her husband on the wedding night. A married woman continued to wear the girdle which her husband had knotted again after the wedding night. The knot was untied once more when the woman gave birth to her first born child, then her girdle was dedicated to Artemis and was no longer worn. In ancient times the meaning of a virgin was a woman who had not yet given birth, and so she lost her virginity during labor. Therefore the girdle could no longer be worn in public. At the sixth gate the Goddess removes her sandals. In the ancient cult of Hecate, an Underworld Goddess among other aspects, the sandal was a symbol of the power to enter and exit from the Underworld at will. High level initiates of Hecate wore bronze sandals as a sign of their standing and of their power. To surrender her sandals, the Goddess surrenders her power to leave at will, and she must therefore experience the descent fully in all its elements.

At the seventh and last gate, the Goddess drops her gown as the final payment to the Guardians of the Portals. The gown is the covering of the fragile veneer of self. The self isolates the spirit from the whole of spiritual experience. Once the gown is removed then the spirit may join in union with the community of spirits. This is reflected in the Wiccan practice of celebrating skyclad (nude) in the ritual circle.

At this point in the myth, the Goddess is brought to the Lord of the Underworld. She stands naked before him, and he is so struck with her beauty that he kneels before her. This is the meeting of life and death, increase and decline. The Lord of the Underworld tempts her to remain with him and to embrace his realm of existence. This is the temptation to end all strife, but it calls for a union with her opposite upon his terms. This is not a state of balance and the Goddess recognizes it.

Accordingly, in the myth, the Goddess resists the Lord of the Underworld and protests against his role in the decline of life. Since she will not embrace him freely he compels her to accept his scourge. He teaches her that he is not responsible for decline and death; his is a role of comforting and transforming those who have crossed over. Thus the Goddess passes into an understanding of her opposite polarity and incorporates it her own consciousness. This is reflected in her proclamation of new found love for the Dark Lord.

Next the legend reveals that the Lord and Lady reveal their respective mysteries to each other. The Goddess receives the necklace of rebirth which is symbolic of the connective link between the worlds, the inner mechanism. The Dark Lord receives the cauldron of rebirth which is symbolic of the power manifest. In the myth we are told that they love and become one. Here we find the obtainment of balance between the life and death. No longer are they enemies but equal participants in a cycle of renewal. The three mysteries in the life of Humankind are revealed: birth, life, and death. Sex becomes the gateway to life from the Underworld, birth is the renewal and death is the transformation whereby old age becomes youth again. Just as a person must sleep in order for his or her body to be refreshed, so too must the soul rest and renew itself in the sleep of the Underworld.

The legend continues with the Mystery Teaching concerning reincarnation. Here we are told that we must meet, recognize, remember and love anew. The final passages in the legend address the issue of the enlightenment gained by the Goddess herself in the descent. Thus to be one of her hidden children is to descent into the shadows and unite with her mythos. In so doing the soul is aligned with her renewal and unites with her in spiritual union (the way of her communion.) In ancient reasoning, the sun (and moon) descended into the Underworld at night, returning home. For light was at home in the darkness, which is one of the Mystery Teachings. This is one of the reasons why all goddesses of the Underworld are depicted in art earning torches. They bear the light within the darkness.