As the days slowly fill with light, the tale of Persephone leads us from the darkness of winter into Spring again.
Persephone was a beautiful maiden when she was taken by Hades into the Underworld.
Her mother Demeter, cut down by sorrow, cast a death over the Earth. Leaves fell from the trees, ice enveloped the fields, and a greyness descended.
Before Persephone was eventually rescued, she had tasted the food of the Underworld - three pomegranate seeds - so that even after she was freed, a part of her was bound to Hades forever.
Like Persephone, those of us who have known Grief, who have tasted her ashes in our mouths, are forever changed.
Even when we heal, the Underworld can no longer become unknown to us, for it had been our home for awhile, we had lived on what sustenance it had offered, and it had become a part of us, however little.
But this is not a story about sadness, but one of hope and renewal.
For to have lived in both sorrow and then again in joy, we are imbued with some magical qualities - a more open heart, a truer compassion, and a little more of that ability to soothe the suffering of another.
And like Persephone, who eventually embraces her role as Queen of Hades with gravity and mercy, meaning may be found from our time in darkness.
So that as the days fill with light again, may you lighten also your burdens, and let your spirits be lifted by the sun.
For to come into Spring again - that is the natural order of the world.
Dr. Sze