Auxesia (mythology)

Auxesia (Ancient Greek: Αυξησία) was in Greek mythology the goddess who grants growth and prosperity to the fields, sometimes distinct and sometimes an epithet of the goddess Persephone. Her name is the Greek word for "increase". She is often associated with the similar goddess Damia, as the pair together -- similar to the pair of Demeter and Persephone -- were worshipped in several communities across the Saronic Gulf, though in some communities they may have been worshipped more as heroes than genuinely divine goddesses. Auxesia was possibly simply a variant name of Azesia.

Their cults and rituals involved choruses of women exchanging verbal abuse or speaking indecently to one another, similar to various Demeter cults. In some places these choruses were secret and no men were permitted, while in others they were public, and trained by men, as at Aegina, where each chorus was trained and overseen by a group of ten male choregoi. Modern scholars generally take this to indicate that the cult had magical formulae consisting of sexual language intended to arouse or awaken the fertility of the earth.