a journey with Demeter Anêsidôra
(or, how to worship the goddess of grain when you have celiac)
Breaking bread is as old as time,
But what of me, O Great Goddess Demeter?
Am I to be left behind for no fault of my own?
For your sacred grains tear me apart,
Leave me broken and in pain, excluded from the world.
I used to think this way, that you turned your back on me.
"I am cursed, what am I to do?
If I cannot offer you what you love the most,
How can I ask for your blessings?"
But Hestia, honey-sweet and warm as the hearth,
She took my hand and said to me,
"Dear one, little one. You are not broken, nor cursed!
Demeter is more than just her sacred grains,
She is the fruit you eat,
Her blessings are far-reaching, sweet one.
This is not divine punishment, yet merely the price of being mortal."
She who Sends Forth Gifts!
How could I have ever doubted your love for me?
You who feeds the hungry masses,
You who delights in the bounty from Gaia,
You who guides the hands that plough the dirt.
I count my blessings, Demeter Megala Thea!