Goddess Archetypes are Within
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GODDESS ARCHETYPES ARE WITHIN– BEDROCK OF THE PSYCHE Learning how their stories live through us in phases of our lives.
Transcript of Goddess Archetypes are Within
GODDESS ARCHETYPES ARE WITHIN– BEDROCK OF THE PSYCHELearning how their stories live through us in phases of our lives.
“In the universe, there are things that are known, and
things that are unknown, and in between, there are
doors.”
William Blake
If that which you seek you find not
within you, you will never find it
without.
For behold, I have been with you since
the beginning, and I am that which is
attained at the end of desire.
‘The Charge of the
Goddess’ Quoted in
Curott, 1998: 277
In the world's mythologies and in the collective
unconscious, which are mirrors of each other,
wisdom is feminine. Wisdom is usually an attribute
of a goddess who is often not seen or personified,
and an attribute of a woman in whom wisdom has
become a conscious part of her psyche.
The Moon ( ) is associated with the mother and with feminine energy in general. The Moon is both our inner child and our inner mother. It is responsive, receptive, and reflective. The Moon is our spontaneous and instinctual reactions.
Just as the Moon circles the Sun, in a symbolically protective manner, and reflects the Sun’s light, the Moon in our chart shows how we protect ourselves, as well as make ourselves feel secure, comfortable, and safe.
We can also think of the Moon as that which gives us animation. It rules rhythmic ebb and flow of activity and energy. The Moon is a mediator between the inner world and the outer world. While the Sun is rational, the Moon is irrational. Habitual behaviors and prejudices are ruled by the Moon. Prejudices may not be acted out, as our Sun may censor them, but the Moon rules our spontaneous reactions and feelings.
For some of us, our Moons seem to drive our personalities more than the Sun does.
The archetype of the wise woman or wise crone is a
generic description for the inner development of soul
qualities most associated with the third phase of
women's lives. Because she is a human archetype, she
is not exclusively in the psyche of women, but her
development is stifled in men and, in general, in
patriarchy. Nor does this archetype develop only in
adults. In my practice, I hear how children who were
neglected or suffered abuse drew solace and wisdom
from an inner source. As a result, they did not identify
with their oppressors and so did not grow up to become
like the adults who neglected or abused them.
Drawing from wisdom beyond their years, they could
survive such childhoods without a loss of soul.
More commonly, we become wiser as we grow older, but as
we all have observed, a long life itself is no guarantee of
wisdom. There are different kinds of wisdom and therefore
different kinds of archetypal wise women. Isis wisdom
comes from our abilities to put our logos/Osiris masculine
connection back together again, giving the authority back to
the wisdom within. Artemis wisdom comes our ability to be
natural/nature oriented and learn how to nurture our cycles
and still stay focused on our goals. Demeter’s Wisdom
comes from our abilities as mother and nurturer and also the
ability to let our children grow up as independent beings.
Persephone’s Wisdom comes from our ability to go into the
unconscious and be sensitive to the unseen in self and
others, also letting go of our need to be mothered.
In Esoteric Astrology, the seven rays relate to our human ability to cultivate Soul-consciousness, self-actualize and individuate, and accept responsibility for our lives and our ability to co-create not only our own destiny, but our collective destiny. However, in order for us to develop this ability means that we need to move beyond our attachment to our ego and our Personality-focused consciousness. When we are more wrapped up inside the confines of the Personality we believe ourselves to be and perceive life through, we diminish our ability to take responsibility for our lives and make ourselves more likely to have a fatalistic feeling about the events of our lives.
She was described as the Goddess of Magic, Great Lady of Magic and
Lady of the Words of Power. This was in recognition of her
magical gifts and understanding of power of magical words.
Together with Osiris she ruled the Gods until he was killed by Set, her
jealous brother.
Unable to accept his death she used her magic and healing to bring
Osiris back to life and he fathered her child Horus.
Set found out and destroyed Osiris again, Isis used magic once again
and granted Osiris immortality.
The Goddess ran away and brought up Horus in secret. She is revered
as an excellent mother and there are several works of art that depict
her with her son on her lap. She also became a fertility and Earth
Goddess as shown by the following titles: Lady of Green Crops, Mother
of the Gods, Mother of the Universe, Queen of the Earth. In this role
she became the protector and patron of woman and children.
Isis associations: unity, love, loyalty, devotion, sustaining, synthesizing, reassembling, resurrection, alchemy, soul retrieval, healing of fragmentation, finding wholeness of Self through union with other, kundalini, sex magic, mother of inner divinity, wholeness, and mourning protector of the dead.
It is about standing firmly
inside your own power, and
creating changes in the
structure and environment
around you, in order to attract
all that you need and desire to
you. Here are a few ways to
bring her into being:Helena Blavatsky is an example of Isis aging. Isis Unveiled
Historically, Artemis was born quickly by her mother, Leto.
However, due to a curse from Hera, Artemis was the one who, immediately following her own birth, assisted her mother’s
delivery of her brother in a long and difficult labor. She became
known as the patroness of childbirth.
Artemis is one of the ‘virgin’ androgynous goddesses. Due to her well-integrated
masculine energy and independence, Artemis does not possess much need for a man to complete her. Her awareness is focused.A predominately Artemis type woman may
enjoy a companion who will work along side her sharing her practical pursuits--parallel
relatedness in shared activities, yet, each one retaining their strong and distinct
identities in their fairly separate lives. They may come together enjoying a deep,
intuitive connection with minimal ‘chatter’.
• Challenges facing Artemis
o She tends to avoid her vulnerability in relation to others--
hiding her emotional needs, even to herself.
o Artemis tends toward emotional distancing--difficulty
trusting relationship.
o Growth for Artemis type woman is in developing her less
conscious, human relationship side of herself.
o Artemis type needs rewarding and challenging goals
toward which to strive, if Artemis is unable to find fulfilling
self-expression in her life she will feel increasingly frustrated
and depressed.
Women Who Age Well with Artemis
…use natural products…flow with the essence of the Moon…befriend the male rather than engage in romantic notions
Demeter’s Story
Demeter - possessing an introverted temperament
(opposite to Aphrodite), a kind, gentle-soul, she re-paid people well for even the smallest favors. She is
concerned with bearing, raising and nurturing
children and family. Hers is a contained ‘mother
love’. Her awareness is diffuse. Demeter belongs to
the category of ‘vulnerable’ goddess--she was raped
and impregnated by Poseidon as well as by Zeus.
Her daughter, Persephone, was taken from her and,
and although she was returned for awhile, she was
forced to leave her mother, Demeter, for a portion of every year.
. Demeter is the mother archetype representing maternal
instinct finding fulfillment through pregnancy and motherhood - or a parallel avenue providing nourishment (psychologically,
spiritually), or caretaking. A predominantly Demeter type
woman whose mothering urges are thwarted may be disposed
to depression.
• Challenges facing Demeter
o Although Demeter played a key role in the survival of all things that live and grow; she was powerless to prevent her daughter’s abduction nor
was she able to affect her immediate return. Demeter had been
‘victimized’ and her pleas went ignored. She belongs to the category of
the ‘vulnerable’ goddess.
o Demeter type women face similar themes in their lives: they feel
victimized by people or circumstances of their lives, they experience a
lack of power to impact change in their distress, they either vent or
repress their anger, their feelings of powerlessness leads them to
depression
o Demeter type woman, feeling compelled to help or having difficulty
declining any request made of her, may over-commit and then feel
overwhelmed in her life--another aspect of feelings of powerlessness.
She may dismiss her own feelings, judging them as ungiving. She may
be subject to self-pity until she examines her own instinctive responses
to ‘giving’.
o Demeter type woman, feeling over-committed,
overwhelmed, ‘stuffing’ her anger and/or resentment may experience somatic symptoms such as back pain,
high blood pressure, head aches, chronic fatigue and
chronic depression due to her difficulty expressing her
own needs and feelings - or in setting boundaries
o Demeter woman struggling with these issues may
become increasingly apathetic, leading her to deeper
depression and meaninglessness. Anger may underlie
the depression--anger at the ‘meaning’ she feels had
been taken from her.
o The Demeter archetype may have several possible
expressions in a Demeter type woman:
▪ As in Demeter’s myth, she gave to humanity spiritual
knowledge which helped them live their lives more fully
and joyously - this Demeter type will have learned from
her own life experiences--discovered her own meaning
through her life disappointments and losses; and, as a
result, she is able to share her down-to-earth generosity
and wisdom with others
▪ Another aspect of Demeter, angry and mourning her
daughter’s abduction, this Demeter type, most often feels disappointed that her life did not meet with her
expectations of what she thought her life would be - she
identifies with the loss and mourning aspect of
Demeter, feeling a sense of betrayal and growing
bitterness--allowing nothing on earth to grow.
Demeter Ages Well When…She serves others selflessly…Acknowledges her feelings…Nurtures herself well before nurturing others.…Meditates regularly.
Persephone’s Story
Persephone - represents the feminine archetype of the mediumistic mystic, connected with the spirit-world. She is also the archetypal child--radiating optimism and good hope.
Mythological history: Kore, daughter of Demeter, was the maiden aspect of Persephone. Kore, the maiden, was abducted (at the suggestion of Zeus) and raped by Hades and forced to be his wife. In the myth of Persephone, young Kore was plucking flowers in a field when Hades, her uncle and god of the Underworld, abducted her to be his Queen in the dark world below. The goddess, Hecate, strongly associated with the dark side of the moon and with witchcraft - was the only one to witness Kore’s abduction. She hears Persephone’s cries but does nothing, herself, to help and, furthermore, does not seek help from others
Psychologically, Persephone is immersed in the collective unconscious--absorbed & molded by it. She acts out those “unacceptable” aspects in her environment, which others will not acknowledge--therefore, she activates that which others perceived as dangerous--and this becomes her personal problem. Persephone functions as seer, medicine woman. She belongs to the category of ‘vulnerable goddess’ -suffering pain in relationship--humiliation by abduction and rape. Her consciousness is diffuse, taking in all, rather than focused.
• She is a pleaser type whose tendency is not inclined toward assertive directness.
• Her nature--sympathetic, highly tuned into people’s feelings and needs
• She is responsiveness to the needs of others - has difficulty saying ‘no’ --difficulty recognizing and asserting her own boundaries.
• Musing and intuitive nature rather than intellectual mind - difficulty ‘explaining’ her reasoning as it is an intuitive perception.
• Less at ease with/in her body & sexuality than other goddess types
• Strong connection to spirit - deep ambivalence toward outer world & her sense of being misunderstood & alienated from conventional society
• A primarily Persephone type, keenly sensitive, typically possesses a fragile ego structure, therefore, easily overwhelmed by feelings and impressions from her unconscious
• Persephone type has difficulty discriminating and has difficulty putting her impressions into words.
• Keen ability to cross over into other realms of psychic consciousness - very at home in the world beyond the physical senses
• Attracted to metaphysics, healing, intuitive, service-oriented work
• By nature she is reclusive/retreating, secretive, possessing a sensitive system requiring time away from external stimulation.
• She experiences episodes of depression, and/or bouts of mysterious, difficult to diagnose illnesses.
• A primarily Persephone type is not promiscuous. She may be unwittingly drawn to partners that attempt to dominate/control her. As a protection she may shift to much younger lovers with whom she can mother and feel safe.
• Challenges facing Persephone
o Persephone (Kore) was forced to live in the Underworld for part of the year. Persephone woman is, likewise, required to acknowledge and visit her own inner
underworld--her Dark side - the consequence of this avoidance is exposure to
considerable suffering:
▪ prone to attracting people with severe problems or possibly abusive behaviors
▪ prone to mysterious illnesses difficult to diagnose or treat
▪ sense of deep alienation, isolation, depression
o Indicators that Persephone woman has not sufficiently completed her ‘Hades’
decent: (being comfortable to examine the unconscious)
▪ ever-youthful ‘facial mask’ that defies her actual age by mid life
▪ she may tend to wear her hair long and loose in young-girl fashion even into
mid life
▪ she tends toward flowery, or girlish clothing - having not yet matured her
sense of self into the Mother/Crone aspects of this goddess
• Persephone’s task is to return to the Mother--return to the mature goddess who
now knows separation, sexuality and death. In fact, the two goddesses are one - in fact, they are three: the maiden, the Mother and the wise Crone. The cycle of life
and death need to be embraced - dualities such as light and dark. When Persephone
woman attempts to blot out/deny the awareness of her dark side: anger, rage--she
remains the uncompleted maiden. The mature Persephone who has returned from
her underworld journey has seen all; she unites birth and death within herself. She
has become the wise woman, cheerful, however also having accessed her repressed
rage, still retaining her youthfulness as an elder, mature woman.
• Persephone’s task
o uniting the dark and the light sides of the goddess within herself - by increasingly embracing the long-
suffering victim/martyr into her conscious awareness.
Addressing her issue regarding power. Willingness to
look into the face of this suffering and understanding
her relation to it--not from a place of blame,
rather, empowerment. Recognizing that such a strong
attachment to the Light castes a very dark shadow.
o Persephone must renounce her maiden self (the lovely,
nice, gentle persona with it’s lofty ideals and
attachment to ‘innocence’, and to renounce her
helplessness)- allowing it’s death - as she descends to
meet with Hades - and, eventually, emerging as the
Woman-- in recognition of her power that she, now, accepts - no longer projecting this power onto others.
