Kore : The Maiden
Kore is not a name but a title, usually indicating Persephone, especially in her aspect as the eternally youthful Goddess of Spring. Kore was venerated amongst Mystery Traditions and thus little is really known or understood. It is possible that some paths of Kore do not refer to Persephone but to the primordial goddess, Car. (Or perhaps Persephone’s roots lie in the mysterious and ancient Car.)
Kore is a spirit of birth and resurrection. Veneration of Kore was integral to the Eleusinian Mysteries. She was venerated amongst Gnostic Mysteries too, sometimes independently of her mother, Demeter. In the early centuries of the Common Era, Kore was venerated in Alexandriaas the self-generating virginal mother. Her festival, the Koreion, celebrated by both Christian and non-Christian Gnostics, honored the annual birth of Aeon, the Divine Child. Images of virginal Kore with her Divine Child may survive amongst some Black Madonnas.
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Core
ORIGIN:
Greece
COLOUR:
Black
Feast:
The Koreion, 6 January, eventually assimilated to the Feast of the Epiphany
SEE ALSO:
- Black Madonna
- Car
- Demeter
- Persephone
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses – Written by : Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.
Kore: In the Mathers edition of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Kore is identified as one of the principal ruling spirits that oversees a number of lesser demons. In this text, Kore is most often paired with the demon Magoth, another one of the eight infernal sub-princes thought to serve directly beneath the fiends Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, and Belial. The joint hierarchy of Magoth and Kore is unique to the Mathers version of the Abramelin material. In all other versions, this collection of demons is said to be ruled over by Magoth alone.
Kore is another name for the Greek goddess Persephone, consort of Hades. Hades was the Greek lord of the Underworld, and Persephone was his unwilling bride. Because of their associations with the Underworld, these ancient deities were sometimes integrated into the demonology of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Notably, Charles Berbiguier identifies Persephone as a queen of Hell, and her status as an infernal ruler is repeated in Collin de Plancy‘s Dictionnaire Infernal. Of course, to the ancient Greeks there was nothing infernal about
this goddess. Connected with the rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries, she was a powerful and respected deity in the ancient world. The Roman version of this goddess was married to Pluto.
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
The Dictionary of Demons written by Michelle Belanger.
NOTE:
Edited and revised for the Web by Occult Media, the 22nd of April 2021. We use British English spelling.