Feast of Persephone's Return

The Feast of Persephone's Return is a religious festival celebrating the beginning of spring, as marked by Persephone's return to the Upper Planes after six months in Hades.

Execution

The Feast of Persephone's Return is ideally celebrated outdoors, in a garden or arboretum where spring flowers are blooming. Places like Fey-Arbor Park in the Cuarto Alto neighborhood of Cantonova, the Grand Park of Arborcítta, or East Park in Brightwater are locations of some of the major celebrations.
A variant of this holiday is celebrated in Dancamort: the Feast of Persephone's Farewell. This is a raucous sendoff of the goddess from her husband's land, complete with a parade of spectacularly decorated floats traveling down the River Styx. A beauty pageant is held among the young women of the city to choose a new "Queen of the Underworld." The woman who wins serves as the grand marshal of the parade, walks back through the town to meet and greet the crowds, and ends her journey in the Hadesian Catacombs, where she is inducted into the Company of Hades as a priestess. As her prize, she receives a fully paid education at the Hadesian Basilica as a Cleric or Warrior Monk pledged to the service of Hades.

Components and tools

Pomegranate-based foods and beverages are the most common components of the feast. Barbecue is a common food, particularly slow-roasted and pit-cooked goat or pig. Decorations besides the natural floral surroundings are usually simple and rustic. Celebrants are encouraged to bring picnic blankets and sit on the lawn.

Participants

The Feast of Persephone's Return is largely treated more as a secular celebration than a religious one in most places. Since dedicated clerics of Persephone are relatively rare, clergy of Demeter and Hestia often oversee the celebrations, or priests from the Company of Hades within Dancamort.

Observance

The Feast of Persephone's Return generally takes place on 7 March, though feast celebrations are sometimes pushed later in the event of inclement weather. In Dancamort, the Feast of Persephone's Farewell occurs on the evening of 6 March.

Important Locations

• Grand Park

Related Organizations

• Order of the Righteous Death