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"There are a myriad of pains that provide the richness of a terrifying life, and should you not know how to yield to them, then you will bring them into yourself and suffer more".
- The Black Book
Ceres, the Greek Goddess of Plenty, the nourisher of the earth, richly resourceful, kind and merciful, had always protected the humans below her, help them thrive as she wanted to and had gifted them with the fruits of creation. Ceres was also the daughter of Saturn, the king of the gods and all the earth goddesses were known to have been born from the union of the leader of the gods and a female mortal.
Now old Saturn had fallen from grace and was sent into exile by the newly transformed gods and goddesses due to his totalitarian rule on the humans, and many of the gods had been transformed into new powerful entities, with new personalities, new powers and new manners. But those old notions still existed and one of them was abundance, still revered by many.
Ceres was young and kind, the earth was a source of happiness and joy and she had never questioned her powers and had always believed her life was pleasant. Her head turned red when she spoke, a symbol that she was blushing out of embarrassment, just like mortals do at times.
The humans she loved left her temples and gardens to do countless things, and did not respect and honor her earth in the right manner, so her realm was filled with unhappiness and discontent. She ruled only over the peasants, who were struggling to feed their families and suffered many misfortunes, but they also fought for their lives in many cases. Goddess Ceres was the one who made them angels of her realm, poor and in need of many things. The aristocrats and kings, on the other hand, had transformed their kingdoms into a world of excess, where they fought wars and ruled their underlings through their desires, lusts and greed.
Every time she looked to the rich and powerful, Goddess Ceres felt she was not fulfilling her duties and the humans had not been turned into the angels she wanted them to be. So as she sat on her throne, on Olympus, she pondered over the fate of mortals and the way she should govern them. She asked her friends to consult Zeus, their father who was now in his Olympian form.
As she lived with her family in the great chamber they all shared together, Ceres asked for their opinions, and her husband, the God of War, Mars suggested she should come down to earth and get on earth to bring happiness to all of the humans. He ordered her to be more aggressive and act as a stern ruler. Ceres was very contrary with her husband because whenever she used her powers to help her mortals, the aristocrats would mock her for being a weak entity who only wanted to please the humble. With this, she reminded Ares of her role as a goddess of peace and harmony and of her mother, who was now in exile, along with her father.
But Mars, her gentle husband, said that she was too lenient in her approach and that she had to do something, and the time had come for her to take action. As she gazed to her lover, the God of Love, Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, glamor and romance, whispered in her ear that perhaps she needed to ponder from a different approach. She was worried about the indifference of the humans towards her and said that it was not good if they did not love her.
Ceres knew her friend was right, and she was not being fair. Her father, Saturn, had done so much to help the mortals and to keep her happy, but she had been too lenient and had been too soft-hearted. She needed to be stronger, majestic and authoritative to govern them, which she was not now doing and she had been feeling poorer and poorer. There was still a way she could make things change, and she did not know how to begin.
At that time, she again asked her father to guide her. She asked for his advice and he answered, "My daughter, you must start by convincing the gods to stop waging war. I cannot control them, nor can you, so you should try to make a pact with them. If they agree to change their ways and stop fighting, then the poor and the sad will stop being unhappy."
"Are we expecting that to be easy?"
"So it will be, but as a goddess it is your duty to make this world get the things it deserves, by showing how love, harmony and generosity can change the course of things".
"And what about the humans?"
"They should have all the resources and ability to do well, so they will change as well.