Goddess of Agriculture

 

Distinguishing Features: The goddess prefers simple dresses of green or gold, though you can often find her in gardening clothes.

 

Now: Demeter divides her time between the upper world, where she oversees the growing season and produces commercials encouraging people to eat more cereal products (part of a balanced breakfast!), and the Underworld, where she visits her daughter Persephone and plays the wicked mother-in-law to Hades, who kidnapped her poor little daughter eons ago. He’s still not good enough for Persephone. She should’ve married the god of doctors!

 

Then: Demeter was one of the quieter goddess. As long as the crops were growing and the farmers were happy, Demeter was content. But don’t underestimate her importance. If you wanted to eat, you had to make sure you kept on Demeter’s good side. When Hades stole her daughter Persephone, Demeter stopped all plants from growing, and people started starving. Hard to make a cheeseburger with no grain for bread and no grass for the cows.

 

Symbol: Torch, Corn plant (though popcorn works, too)

 

Roman name: Ceres