Persephone Vintage Altar Box

This vintage altar box honors Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. It contains handmade offerings to Persephone inside a vintage ceramic box with a pomegranate on the lid and folk art patterns around the rest of the surface. The bottom of the box reads, “Dipinto a mano” or “painted by hand” in Italian. Alongside this is text saying the box was made in Deruta, Italy and is painted in the ceramic style of the region, where Persephone was historically honored.

This altar box contains the following items:

• Kore’s bouquet: This necklace features a rose gold chain with a pendant containing wildflowers inside a rose-gold heart. The following wildflowers were sustainably foraged, dried, and preserved by the Trickster’s Apothecary in this pendant: Mediterranean mustard, viola primrose, Menzie’s baby blue eyes, baby’s breath, buckwheat flowers.

• Mediterranean mustard which is native to the Mediterranean basin which includes all countries with a coastline along the Mediterranean Sea like Italy and Greece.

• Viola primrose - violas and lilacs were said to be picked by Kore in Sicily when she was abducted 

• Menzie’s baby blue eyes - A mountainous delicate blue flower that grows in the shape of a bowl to accept rainwater and blessings. 

• Baby’s breath - a symbol of innocence and eternal love 

• Buckwheat flowers - These small grain flowers call in Persephone’s mother, Demeter. 

• Prayer beads - flower beads capped with hematite, which was used in mourning jewelry. On one end is a brass queen representing Persephone’s descent  to becoming the queen of the Underworld. On the other end is a sickle and wheat representing the end of the growing cycle when Persephone returns to the Underworld. 

• Pomegranate brooch- The pomegranate that led to Persephone’s crowning as queen of the Underworld is honored here with a brooch, depicting three enamel pomegranates with golden metal.

• Ancient Greek coins (x2) - Included for the Ancient Greek burial tradition of covering the eyes with coins in order to pay the boatman, Charon, to cross the River Styx. 

• Black River Stone (x3) - Included to represent the River Styx 

• Torch altar tile- The torch represents the search for Persephone which was lit in Mt. Etna, with the search spearheaded by Hekate who helps Demeter 

• Cerberus Tile- This altar tile depicts Cerberus with three dog skulls on a black background. One skull is larger, with an additional skull on either side. Cerberus is the dog that guards the Underworld Persephone rules. Here, Cerberus is represented with skulls to call in the Underworld itself. 

• Dionysos Tile - Zagreus is Persephone’s son who, in some versions, Hera has killed. He’s later born again through Semele, before he’s born a third time from Zeus’s thigh after Semele’s death. Dionysos is represented here to honor him as Persephone’s son.

• Poppy Flower - In the myths, Demeter was able to only find peace from her sorrow of Persephone’s disappearance through the aid of the poppy flower. 

• Pomegranate seeds x 6 - This represents the six pomegranate seeds that Persephone ingests after she is kidnapped by Hades and presented with the food of the Underworld that ends up trapping her in Hades for six months of the year. 

• Wheat Coin - This represents Persephone’s mother, Demeter, and a calling to the time of harvest in which Persephone returns to Hades as Queen of the Underworld. 

• Medusa Coin - Medusa is often used in Ancient Greek art as a sign of the chthonic or the apotropaic. The Erinyes, or Furies, are described as children of Persephone. The Furies are also described as having snake-hair, much like other Gorgons.

• Natural dried pomegranate crown- To honor the pomegranate that crowned Persephone as Queen of the Underworld, we have included the crown of a pomegranate. This part of the pomegranate peel has been dried and preserved from a real pomegranate by your local tricksters. 

• Wheat sheaths: Wheat is closely associated with Demeter; the abundance of the land is closely liked with both Demeter and Persephone. These are genuine stalks of wheat, sustainably foraged by your local tricksters, and dried. 

• Rose Quartz Heart- A rose quartz heart is included for the gentle healing of a wounded heart; Persephone has been wronged in many ways, but refuses to surrender her joy and the things she loves. Though she was abducted from Sicily, where she was gathering wildflowers, she demanded the island as her wedding gift from Zeus. She heals her heart of its wounds and teaches us to do the same.

• Rabbit Coin- A coin depicting a rabbit is included here for animal abundance. Rabbits reproduce rapidly and are a form of abundance from the land that goes to Persephone’s embrace in the Underworld.

This box measures 5x3.5x2.5 inches.