Abstract

In our patriarchal society an intense relationship between mother and daughter is often considered pathological, once the daughter has passed childhood. When a daughter marries, the mother is supposed to feel great joy, relief at the loss of a competitor, and perhaps some small sorrow. This paper explores the case of a client who, at the coming marriage of her daughter, experienced a depression which masked feelings of grief and rage. The therapist, believing these feelings to be as normal as joy in the situation, used a feminist interpretation of the myth of Demeter and Persephone to help the client acknowledge and resolve her feelings. In the myth, Persephone, Demeter's daughter, is abducted and married by the Kind of the Underworld. Demeter, in her grief and rage, makes the earth barren. Zeus forces Hades to return Persephone to her mothre for part of the year so Demeter will make the earth bloom again, as only she has the power to do. In the joy of reunion with her daughter, Demeter creates a major religion, the Eleusinian Mysteries. The paper illustrates the feminist use of myth in therapy to resolve feelings which are not acknowledged as normal by our patriarchal culture and to provide a female role model who is powerful and creative as well as nurturing.