Ever since I wrote my blog about the Skywalker Women I have been bothered by a nagging lose end. All of the seven goddesses I spoke about found an amazingly well-aligned expression of their archetypal selves in a particular female character in the saga except for one - Persephone. While Leia is given that role in terms of the plotline our princess in the GFFA never reacts to her situation like a vicitm. She is a battle ready Athena more than a naive Persephone. It seemed that Persephone was no where to be found, until, finally, it came to me. I'd been looking for her in the wrong place. The goddess of spring was not to be found among the women, because the closest ties to this particular goddess were among the men, and more specifically with none other than Anakin Skywalker.

Now to refresh your memory Persephone is one goddess with two distinct phases to her life. She is at first a naive, young maiden wandering through meadows picking flowers. One day as she bends to pick a narcissus the ground literally rips open. Hades rises up from the underworld and drags the maiden down into the darkness where he rapes her, and makes her his unwilling bride. Demeter, meanwhile, Persephone's devoted mother, falls into a deep depression during which time nothing on earth will grow (winter). Zeus finally sends Hermes, the messenger god, to bring Persephone back to her mother and the world above. Before leaving Hades, however, Persephone has already eaten a few pomegranate seeds, the food of the underworld. Such an act requires her to spend half the year in Hades and the other half above with Demeter. It is through her abduction and the eating of the fruit that Persephone begins her second phase - Queen of the Underworld - as such she becomes the guide of many who must pass through Hades.

The similarities are astonishing. First, in SW, the Chosen One's character also has two distinct phases. First there is Anakin Skywalker the young, impressionable boy who is very attached to his mother (and then to his wife who also mothers him). Most people when watching ROTS find themselves aware of the fact that Anakin becomes Darth Vader not out of purely evil motives but out of confusion, and even naivety. Anakin does not walk into the underworld with his eyes wide open (as Palpatine does), but is manipulated into it by a being with much greater self control and understanding. As GL said we find in Ep. 3 that "the villain is really the victim." Just like Persephone Anakin is "abducted into Hades." He is dragged down to the darkside and overpowered not physically, but mentally and emotionally. However, once there both Persephone and Anakin act in such a way to seal their own fates. Persephone willingly eats the pomegranate seeds, and Anakin willingly commits horrendous acts of murder. Once these lines have been crossed even a messenger as fast as Hermes or as concerned as Padme couldn't get there in time - it's just too late - darkness will be a part of their lives forever.

The symbolism in mythology, as in the GFFA, is rarely wasted. I find it interesting that Persephone is dragged into the underworld as she reaches for a narcissus - a flower named for a being so caught up in himself that the results are devastating - for that is Anakin's contribution to his downfall as well. Self absorption, a near complete dependence on another person for emotional well being, and naivety (a dangerous combination) are all present in both Anakin and Persephone at the time of their fall.

With Persphone gone the world whithers - with the birth of Vader the Republice dies. It is only with the return of Persephone and the Re-emergence of Anakin that the "dark times" end. However, even though spring and sunlight return to our world and the GFFA, both Persephone and Anakin are forever changed by their encounters with the dark side. Altered, and also deepened, Persephone becomes a guide through the underworld. Having mined its depths herself Hades is no longer so much darkness as depth. It even gives her a new sort of beauty that others begin to desire. But what of Anakin? He dies so quickly after saving his son that there is hardly time to see what guidance he might give to his children (even as a shadowy, blue force ghost) after such a journey. I have to admit I was stumped by this question for a while. Then I began to realize that if Vader is a guide through the underworld it is not so much for other characters in the GFFA, but for those who watch it. I can't tell you how many times I have looked to Vader's story to help me understand the depths of my own darkness. How many times I have thought if Vader can make his way back to his soul then I can too. I soak up every detail from the fall to the redemption in the hopes of spotting a missing piece that will bring some part of myself out of the shadows and into the light. Thanks to the blogs I know I am not the only one who does this! I am grateful for my guide and the guidance his story brings.

It has also been good for me to see how a masculine character can contain such a feminine archetype. I have always wondered why I identify with Anakin more than any other male character I've ever encountered. I think part of that reason is we share an archetypal link - through Persephone. I too have been "abducted into Hades," and during those dark times, in a stunning instance of synchronicity, found myself developing a taste for pomegranates! The symbolism was lost on me then, but now I am amazed at how thoroughly I played the role of the naive, young person unknowingly sealing her fate. I have been through the darkness, I am willing to be the guide, but before that day comes I still have much to learn.....

Thanks for reading everyone! I really appreciate your presence and your comments. I don't know how I survived all of those lonely months before the blogs with so many SW thoughts and no one to share them with!

May the Force be with you all.....