18. From Captive to Queen: The Mythic Wisdom of Persephone

Season #2

In this episode, Marrissa journeys into the mythic and psychoanalytic terrain of Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, as guide and metaphor for our own personal and spiritual descents. This is not a tale of victimhood, but of initiation. We explore how descent is not a failure nor simply a regression, but a necessary rite of passage. Through myth, psychoanalysis, and psycho-spiritual reflection, Marrissa invites you to consider the parts of your life where you may be resisting the very darkness that’s trying to make you whole. This episode is an offering for anyone navigating uncertainty, identity dissolution, burnout, grief, or creative collapse. And especially for leaders, healers, and visionaries being called into deeper coherence.

Themes Explored

  • The myth of Persephone as a map of descent and initiation

  • Shadow work, the True Self, and unformulated experience

  • How grief, rage, and darkness become gateways to leadership

  • The underworld as a space of symbolic intelligence and reclamation

  • What it means to lead from a place of integration—not performance

  • Why descent is not the opposite of rising, but its sacred prerequisite

Reflection Prompts

  • Where in your life are you resisting descent that might actually be your initiation?

  • What part of you have you disowned or tried to bypass?

  • What fear, grief, or loss is asking to be honored—not solved?

  • How might you reframe collapse as sacred preparation?

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