Goddess in every woman. Goddess archetypes. Banishing death and the forces of destruction

Jin Shinoda Bolen

Goddesses in every woman

New psychology of woman. Goddess archetypes

Translation by G. Bakhtiyarova and O. Bakhtiyarov

M.: ID "Sofia", 2005

J. Bolen. Goddesses in Everywoman. S.F.: Harper & Row, 1984

Why for some women the most important thing in life is family and children, while for others it is independence and success? Why are some of them extroverted, career-focused, logical and precise in detail, while others willingly become introverted stay-at-homes? The more diverse a woman is in her manifestations, - notes Dr. Bohlen, - the more goddesses appear through her. The challenge is to decide how to either increase these manifestations or fight them if you don't like them.

The book "Goddesses in every woman. New psychology of women. Archetypes of goddesses" will help you with this. Every woman recognizes herself in one or more Greek goddesses ... and not one of them will condemn herself. The book will provide you with powerful images that you can use effectively to understand and change yourself. Although this book contains information useful to psychotherapists, it is written for every reader who wants to better understand those women who are closest to the reader, loved, but still remain a mystery. Finally, this book is intended for women themselves, to whom it will help them discover the hidden goddesses within themselves.

J. Bohlen. GODDESSES IN EVERY WOMAN

Introduction. THE GODDESS IS IN EVERYONE OF US!

Every woman plays a leading role in her own life story. As a psychiatrist, I have listened to hundreds of personal stories and realized that each of them has a mythological dimension. Some women turn to a psychiatrist when they feel completely demoralized and “broken”, others when they realize that they have become hostages of circumstances that need to be analyzed and changed.

In any case, it seems to me that women ask for help from a psychotherapist in order to learn to be the main characters, the leading characters in the story of your life. To do this, they need to make conscious decisions that will determine their lives. Previously, women were not even aware of the powerful influence that cultural stereotypes had on them; in a similar way, they are usually unaware now of what mighty powers lie within themselves, powers that can determine their actions and feelings. It is to these forces, represented in the guise of ancient Greek goddesses, that I dedicate my book.

These mighty inner circuits, or archetypes, explain the main differences between women. Some, for example, in order to feel like an accomplished person, need monogamy, the institution of marriage and children - such women suffer, but endure if they cannot achieve this goal. For them, traditional roles are of the greatest importance. They are very different from other types of women who value their independence above all because they focus on what is important to them personally. No less peculiar is the third type - women who are attracted by the intensity of feelings and new experiences, because of which they enter into ever new personal relationships or rush from one type of creativity to another. Finally, another type of woman prefers loneliness; Spirituality is of the utmost importance to them. The fact that for one woman an accomplishment, another may seem like complete nonsense - everything is determined by which archetype of which goddess prevails in her.

Moreover, several goddesses coexist in every woman. The more complex her character, the more likely it is that various goddesses are actively manifested in her - and what is significant for one of them is meaningless for the others ...

Knowledge of goddess archetypes helps women understand themselves and their relationships with men and other women, with parents, lovers and children. In addition, these divine archetypes allow women to sort out their own urges (especially with compelling addictions), frustrations, and sources of contentment.

The archetypes of the goddesses are also interesting to men. Those who want to better understand women can use the archetype system to classify women and gain a deeper understanding of what to expect from them. Moreover, men will be able to understand women with a complex and seemingly contradictory character.

Finally, such a system of archetypes can be extremely useful for psychotherapists working with women. It offers curious clinical tools for understanding interpersonal and internal conflicts. Goddess archetypes help explain differences in character and make it easier to identify potential psychological difficulties and psychiatric symptoms. In addition, they indicate the possible ways of development of a woman along the line of one or another "goddess".

This book describes a new approach to female psychology, based on the female images of ancient Greek goddesses that have existed in the human imagination for more than three millennia. This type of female psychology is different from all theories where the "normal woman" is defined as obeying a single "correct model", personality schema or psychological structure. Our theory is based on observations of a variety of normal differences in female psychology.

Much of what I know about women comes from professional experience—from what I learned as a psychiatrist and Jungian psychoanalyst, from teaching and consulting experience as a practicing teacher at the University of California and principal analyst at the Jung Institute in San Francisco. .

However, the description of female psychology, which is given on the pages of this book, is based not only on professional knowledge. Most of my ideas are based on the fact that I myself am a woman who has known different female roles - daughter, wife, mother of a son and daughter. My understanding increased through conversations with girlfriends and other women. In both cases, women become for each other a kind of "mirrors" - we see ourselves in the reflection of other people's experiences and realize the common thing that binds all women, as well as those aspects of our own psyche that we were not aware of before.

My understanding of female psychology was also determined by the fact that I am a woman living in the modern era. In 1963, I entered graduate school. That year, two events occurred that eventually sparked the women's rights movement in the 70s. First, Betty Friedan published her Womanish Mystery, where she highlighted the emptiness and dissatisfaction of an entire generation of women who lived exclusively for other people and someone else's life. Friedan has identified the source of this lack of happiness as a problem of self-determination, rooted in developmental arrest. She believed that this problem was caused by our very culture, which does not allow women to recognize and satisfy their basic needs for growth and development, to realize their human potential. Her book, which put an end to common cultural stereotypes, Freudian dogma and the manipulation of women by the media, offered principles whose time is long overdue. Her ideas gave vent to repressed violent feelings, and they later led to the birth of the women's liberation movement and, finally, to the creation of the National Organization of Women.

Also in 1963, under President John F. Kennedy, the Commission on the Status of Women released a report that described the inequality in the economic system of the United States. Women were paid less than men for the same work; they were denied vacancies and denied promotion opportunities. This flagrant injustice has become yet another confirmation of how undeservedly the role of women in modern society is underestimated.

So I entered the world of professional psychiatry at a time when the United States was on the cusp of a women's rights movement. In the 1970s my understanding of the problem increased. I began to realize the inequality and discrimination of women; I realized that the cultural standards set by men were themselves rewarding women for uncomplaining obedience or punishing women for rejecting stereotyped roles. I ended up joining a handful of female colleagues from the Northern California Psychiatric Association and the American Psychiatric Association.

A double look at female psychology

I became a Jungian psychoanalyst around the same time I switched to feminist positions. After graduating in 1966, I studied at the C. Jung Institute in San Francisco and in 1976 received a diploma in psychoanalysis. During this period, my understanding of female psychology steadily deepened, and feminist insights were combined with Jungian psychology of archetypes.

Working on the basis of either Jungian psychoanalysis or female-oriented psychiatry, I seemed to be building a bridge between two worlds. My Jungian colleagues didn't really care what was going on in political and social life. Most of them seemed only vaguely aware of the importance of women's struggle for their rights. As for my female psychiatric feminist friends, if they thought I was a Jungian psychoanalyst, they probably saw it either as my personal esoteric and mystical interest, or as just some additional specialty that, although deserving of respect, has no attitudes towards women's issues. I, torn between one and the other, over time comprehended what depths the merger of two approaches - Jungian and feminist - can reveal. They are combined into a kind of "binocular vision" of female psychology.

The Jungian approach allowed me to realize that women are subject to powerful internal forces - archetypes that can be personified by the images of the ancient Greek goddesses. In turn, the feminist approach helped me to understand that external forces or stereotypes - the roles that society expects from women - impose on them the templates of some goddesses and suppress others. As a result, I began to see that every woman is somewhere in between: her inner drives are determined by goddess archetypes, and her outer actions are cultural stereotypes.

As soon as a woman becomes aware of such influences, this knowledge becomes power. "Goddesses" are powerful invisible forces that determine behavior and feelings. The knowledge about the "goddesses" in each of us is the new territory of consciousness that opens up before a woman. When she comprehends which "goddesses" manifest in her as the dominant internal forces, there is an understanding of herself, the power of certain instincts, an awareness of her priorities and abilities, an opportunity to find personal meaning in those decisions that other people can remain indifferent to.

"Goddess" schemes also have an impact on relationships with men. They help to explain certain relationship difficulties and the mechanism of attraction that women of one type or another have for certain men. Do they prefer men who are powerful and successful? Nondescript and creative? Infantile? What kind of "goddess" invisibly pushes a woman to a certain type of men? Such schemes determine its choice and stability of relationships.

The schemes of the relationships themselves also bear the imprint of this or that goddess. "Father and daughter", "brother and sister", "sisters", "mother and son", "mother and daughter" or "lovers" - each such pair is a configuration characteristic of a particular goddess.

Every woman is endowed with divine gifts that should be studied and accepted with gratitude. In addition, each has superimposed boundaries that must be recognized and overcome in order to change. A woman is not able to resist the scheme set by the fundamental archetype of the goddess until she realizes the very existence of such an archetype in herself and does not try to embody her potential with its help.

Myths as insights

I first noticed the important connection between mythological schemes and female psychology through the book Cupid and Psyche by the Jungian psychoanalyst Erich Neumann. Neumann used mythology as a way to describe female psychology. This combination of myth and psychological commentary seemed to me an extremely powerful tool.

For example, in the ancient Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, the first test of Psyche was the task of sorting through a huge mountain of seeds and decomposing the grains of each type into separate piles. Her first reaction to this task (as, indeed, to the three subsequent ones) was despair. I have noticed that this myth fits well with a number of my patients who had a variety of problems to solve. One was a university graduate who was bogged down in her most complex thesis and did not know how to organize her work material. The other is a depressed young mother who needed to figure out where her precious time was going, prioritize and find a way to continue her painting. Every woman, like Psyche, had to do more than she thought she could, but these obstacles were created by her choice. For both patients, the myth, reflecting their own situation, became a source of courage, gave insights on how to respond to the new demands of life, and gave meaning to the struggle ahead.

When a woman feels that there is a mythological dimension in any of her occupations, the understanding of this touches the deepest centers of creativity in her. Myths evoke feelings and imagination because they are connected with stories that are part of the common heritage of mankind. The ancient Greek myths - as well as all other fairy tales and myths known to people for thousands of years - remain modern and individually significant, because they contain truths about experiences that are common to all.

Interpretations of myths can bring intellectual and intuitive understanding. Myths are like dreams that are remembered even if they are incomprehensible. This is explained by the fact that myths, like dreams, are full of symbols. In the words of mythologist Joseph Campbell, "A dream is a personal myth, and a myth is an impersonal dream." No wonder myths invariably seem vaguely familiar to us!

With the correct interpretation of a person’s dream, an instant insight dawns - the circumstances with which the dream is associated immediately become clear. A person intuitively comprehends their meaning and retains this understanding.

Illumination as a response to the interpretation of a myth means that the corresponding myth symbolically describes something that is significant for this particular person. Now a person comprehends something important and realizes that it is the truth. Such a deep level of understanding was felt more than once by the audience, before whom I spoke with a retelling of myths and an interpretation of their meaning. Such training touches the sensitive strings in the soul, and the theory of female psychology turns into either self-knowledge or an understanding of how important it is for a psychologist to communicate with real women.

I began using mythological comparisons in seminars on the psychology of women in the late 60s and early 70s, first at the University of California Medical Center, then at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and at the Carl Jung Institute in San Francisco. Over the next fifteen years, lecturing gave me additional opportunities to develop my own ideas and observe the reaction of listeners in Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Portland, Fort Wayne, Washington, Toronto, New York - not to mention San Francisco where I live. And in every lecture, the responses were the same: when I used myths in combination with clinical material, personal experiences and insights of specific women, the audience received a new, deeper understanding.

I usually started with the myth of Psyche, a woman for whom personal relationships were the main thing in life. Then I told the second myth with my own interpretation. It was a myth about women who did not lose their temper when faced with difficulties, but, on the contrary, experienced a surge of strength due to difficult tasks - as a result, they learned better and settled in life. The heroine of this myth was Atalanta, a swift-footed huntress who achieved great success both in running and in hunting, and defeated all men who tried to compete with her. This beautiful woman can be compared to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt and the moon.

Naturally, these lectures raised questions from my listeners about other goddesses. I began to read about them, trying to determine their type and the qualities they personified. This gave me my own insights. For example, once a jealous and vengeful woman entered my office - and I immediately recognized in her a furious, humiliated Hera, the wife of Zeus and the goddess of marriage. The dissolute behavior of her husband prompted this jealous goddess to tirelessly seek out and destroy "rivals".

As it turned out, one day this patient found out that her husband had an affair on the side. Since then, she has been obsessed with thoughts of a rival. She constantly saw pictures of revenge in her dreams, suspected that she was following her, and in the end she was so carried away by settling scores with this rival that she almost lost her mind. It was a typical Hera - her anger was not directed at all at her husband, but it was he who deceived her and cheated on her. This analogy helped my patient to understand that the true cause of this "Hera reaction" was her husband's infidelity. Now it became clear to her why she was overwhelmed with rage and how harmful these feelings were. She realized that she should not turn into a vengeful Hera, but openly discuss with her husband his behavior and face their problems in married life.

There was also such a case: one of my colleagues suddenly began to speak out against the Equal Rights Amendment, which I supported. I was filled with resentment and anger - and then suddenly I experienced another epiphany. It was a conflict of two different goddesses in one soul. At that moment, I felt and behaved like Artemis, the archetype of the Big Sister, protector of women. My opponent, on the contrary, was like Athena - the daughter of Zeus, born from his head, the patroness of heroes, the protector of patriarchal foundations, a kind of "daddy's daughter."

On another occasion, while reading about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst*, I suddenly realized that the myth of Persephone, the girl who was kidnapped, raped and held captive by Hades, the god of the underworld, was being played out before our very eyes. Hirst was a student at the University of California, the adopted daughter of two of the most influential "Olympic gods" of our time. She was kidnapped (taken to the underworld) by the leader of the Symbiotic Liberation Army, kept in a dark closet, and repeatedly raped.

[*] Patricia Hearst (born February 2, 1954) is the adopted daughter of the owner of a major newspaper publisher in San Francisco. At the age of 19, she was kidnapped by a social revolutionary group, who demanded a huge ransom for her, and then unexpectedly announced that she herself wanted to become a member of this group. Participated in an armed bank robbery. After her imprisonment, she married her bodyguard, mother of two children and an actress. -- Approx. ed.

Soon I saw goddesses in every woman. Knowing how "goddesses" manifest in the psyche deepened my understanding of both everyday and extraordinary situations.

Here's an example: which goddess's influence dominates when a woman is busy in the kitchen or cleaning the house? I realized that this is solved by a simple check - how a woman cooks, and whether she maintains cleanliness in the house if her husband leaves for a week. When "Hera" * or "Aphrodite" dine alone, this is most likely a sad and pathetic sight: something like a store-bought "home-made cottage cheese." When such a woman is alone, everything that is in the sideboard or refrigerator will do - what a contrast to those exquisite and complex dishes that she usually prepares for her husband! After all, she cooks only for him: what he loves, and not herself, because she is either a “glorious little wife who knows how to cook deliciously” (Hera), or a caring mother (Demeter), or an obsequious spouse (Persephone), or seductive beloved (Aphrodite).

However, if Hestia dominates her character, a woman, even alone, will set the table and arrange a chic dinner for herself - and the usual order will reign in the house. If the motivation for domestic work is determined by the archetype of other goddesses, the woman is likely to live in complete disarray until the return of her husband. But "Hestia" will certainly put fresh flowers in a vase, even if the husband does not see them. Her apartment or house will always be cozy because she lives here - and not because she wants to show off in front of someone.

Then I wondered if this approach to understanding female psychology through myths would be useful to others. The answer was my lectures on "Goddesses in every woman." The listeners were moved and intrigued, they whispered excitedly when it came to mythology as a source of insight. They began to better understand women, and this touched the most sensitive strings of the soul. When I talked about myths, people heard, felt and understood what I was talking about; when I interpreted them, the reaction clearly indicated insights. Both men and women comprehended the meaning of myths as a personal truth, received confirmation of what they had known for a long time, but only now they truly realized.

I also spoke at meetings of professional organizations and discussed my ideas with psychiatrists and psychologists. Many sections of this book were originally papers that I presented at the International Association for Analytical Psychology, the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, the American Psychiatric Association, the Institute for the Study of Women of the American Ortho-Psychiatric Association, and the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. My colleagues have found this approach useful in medical practice and have appreciated the deep insight into personality schemas and psychiatric symptoms that the concept of "goddesses" provides. For most of them, this was the first description of female psychology offered by a Jungian psychoanalyst.

Only my Jungian colleagues were aware that I developed - and continue to develop - new principles of female psychology, very different from some of Jung's concepts, and also combine a purely female point of view with the psychology of archetypes. Although this book is written for a general readership, those who know Jungianism will notice that female psychology based on goddess archetypes challenges Jung's conventional theory of the Anima and Animus (see Chapter 3).

Many Jungian specialists wrote about the archetypal images of the ancient Greek gods and goddesses. I am indebted to these authors for much of my knowledge and insights, and I often quote from them (see chapter notes). However, having selected seven Greek goddesses and distributed them into three special categories in accordance with psychological signs, I created both a new typology and new ways of understanding intrapsychic conflicts (see the entire book). In my typology, I added the concept of Aphrodite consciousness, which became the third model, complementing the focused consciousness and diffuse consciousness, long described in Jung's theory (see chapter 11).

In addition, I present two additional (new) psychological concepts, albeit somewhat superficially, since a detailed presentation of them would be a deviation from the main theme of the book.

First, the typology of "goddesses" explains the discrepancies between the behavior of women and Jung's theory of psychotypes. According to Jung, a person belongs to an extraverted or introverted category, relies in his assessments on feelings or on reason, and perceives intuitively or sensually (that is, through the five senses). Moreover, according to the classical Jungian theory, one of these four functions (thinking, emotions, intuition and sensory perception) is considered to develop consciously and predominate. Whatever the dominant function, the other function of this pair was considered to be less reliable or poorly conscious. Exceptions in this model "one or the other" or "more developed and least conscious", have already been described by psychologists June Singer and Mary Loomis. I am sure that the goddess archetypes will help to better explain the exceptions often found among women.

For example, when a woman "switches" - that is, moves from one facet of her psyche to another - she shifts to another goddess archetype. Let's say, in one situation she is an extroverted, logically thinking Athena, paying great attention to trifles, and in another situation - the introverted keeper of the hearth Hestia - the case when "there are devils in a still pool." Such shifts explain the difficulties that can be encountered in determining the Jungian type of a multifaceted woman.

Another example: a woman can be acutely aware of aesthetic subtleties (this is the influence of Aphrodite) and not notice that the fire is still burning on the stove or the gas tank is almost empty (little things that do not escape Athena's attention). The dominant "goddess" explains how the same function (in this case sensory) can, paradoxically, be both highly developed and unconscious at the same time (see Chapter 14).

Secondly, medical practice has helped me understand that the power of the goddess archetypes dominates the female ego and causes psychiatric symptoms comparable to those attributes of power that the goddesses were historically endowed with - as this power declines from the image of the ancient European Great Goddess to various levels of the ancient Greek goddesses who were daughters of gods or goddesses-maidens (see chapter 1).

Although this book develops theory and provides information useful to specialists, it is written for anyone who wants to better understand women - and especially women who are closest to readers, loved, but still remain a mystery. Finally, this book is intended for women themselves, to whom it will help them discover the hidden goddesses within themselves.

Chapter 1. GODDESSES AS INTERNAL IMAGES

One day my friend Ann saw a weak little girl in the hospital - a "bluish" child with a congenital heart defect. Taking the girl in her arms, Ann looked into her face and suddenly experienced such a strong emotional shock that a nagging pain echoed in her chest. At that moment, an invisible bond arose between her and the child. In an effort to maintain this connection, Ann began to visit the girl regularly. And although she lived only a few months afterwards - she did not undergo open-heart surgery - their meeting made a deep impression on Ann and awakened in her soul certain images that were deeply hidden and filled with innermost feelings.

In 1966, psychiatrist and writer Anthony Stevens explored the mutual affection that arose between nannies and orphaned infants. He discovered something similar to Ann's experience, a special connection between a child and one of the nurses - a sudden mutual attraction, an unexpected outburst of love.

Stevens's observations contradict the self-interested love theory, according to which the bond between mother and child develops gradually through feeding and care. Stevens found that in at least one in three cases, the child became attached to a nanny who had not taken care of him until that point. The nanny inevitably reciprocated and began to take care of the baby who "chosen" her. A child, if "his" nanny was nearby, often simply refused the cares of another nanny.

Some mothers become attached to their baby immediately after giving birth. When they hold in their hands their precious helpless child, whom they have just given life, love and deep tenderness literally pours out of them. We say that thanks to the child, the Mother Archetype awakens in such women. In other women mother's love awakens gradually and intensifies over several months, reaching its fullness by eight to nine months of a child's life.

If the birth of a child does not awaken the mother archetype in a woman, she realizes that she is deprived of the feelings inherent in other mothers. Her child feels the absence of a vital connection and does not stop craving it (sometimes, as happened in the Greek orphanage chosen by Stevens for research, the archetypal scheme of the mother-child relationship arises even if the woman is not the biological mother of the child). Longing for failed relationships can persist into adulthood. One 50-year-old woman in my women's group wept as she talked about the death of her mother. She wept because she felt that now that her mother was gone, this much-desired connection would never come into her life again.

The child does not just awaken the mother in the woman, the experience of motherhood becomes way of its existence.

In turn, each child is "programmed" to look for "mother". For both mother and child, "mother" manifests itself in maternal feelings and behavior. This inner image, which unconsciously determines behavior and emotional reactions, is archetypal. "Mother" is just one of many archetypes - in other words, deep internally determined roles that can awaken in a woman. By knowing the various archetypes, we can see more clearly what motivates us and others to act.

In this book, I will describe the archetypes that operate in women's souls. They are personified in the images of the Greek goddesses. For example, Demeter, the goddess of motherhood, is the incarnation mother archetype. Other goddesses: Persephone - daughter, Hera - wife, Aphrodite - beloved, Artemis - sister and rival, Athena - strategist, Hestia - homemaker. In reality, archetypes do not have names, and images of goddesses are useful only when they correspond to female sensations and feelings.

The concept of archetypes was developed by Carl Gustav Jung. He considered them as figurative schemes (samples, models) of instinctive behavior contained in the collective unconscious. These schemas are not individual, they more or less similarly condition the responses of many people.

All myths and fairy tales are archetypal. Many images and plots of dreams are also archetypal. It is the presence of universal archetypal patterns of behavior that explains the similarity of the mythologies of various cultures.

Goddesses as archetypes

Most of us have heard about the Olympian gods at least in school and seen their statues or images. The Romans worshiped the same deities as the Greeks, but called them by Latin names. According to the myths, the inhabitants of Olympus were very similar to people in their behavior, emotional reactions and appearance. The images of the Olympic gods embody archetypal patterns of behavior that are present in our common collective unconscious. That is why they are close to us.

The twelve Olympians are best known: six gods - Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, and six goddesses - Demeter, Hera, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite and Hestia. Subsequently, the place of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, in this hierarchy was taken by the god of wine, Dionysus. Thus the balance was broken - there were more gods than goddesses. The archetypes that I describe are the six Olympian goddesses - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite and, besides them, Persephone, the myth of which is inseparable from the myth of Demeter.

I have classified these goddesses as follows: virgin goddesses, vulnerable goddesses And alchemical goddess.

Virgin Goddesses stood out as a separate group in ancient Greece. The other two groups are defined by me. Each of the categories under consideration is characterized by a particular perception of the world, as well as preferred roles and motivations. Goddesses differ in their affections and how they treat others. In order for a woman to love deeply, work with joy, be sexual and live creatively, all of the above goddesses must be expressed in her life, each in its own time.

The first group described here includes virgin goddesses: Artemis, Athena and Hestia.

Artemis (among the Romans - Diana) - the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The realm of Artemis is a wilderness. She is an unmissable shooter and the patroness of wild animals.

Athena (among the Romans - Minerva) is the goddess of wisdom and crafts, the patroness of the city named after her. She also patronizes numerous heroes. Athena was usually depicted wearing armor, as she was also known as an excellent military strategist.

Hestia, the goddess of the hearth (among the Romans - Vesta), is the least known of all the Olympians. The symbol of this goddess was the fire that burned in the hearths of houses and in temples.

Virgin goddesses are the embodiment of female independence. Unlike other celestials, they are not prone to love. Emotional attachments do not distract them from what they consider important. They don't suffer from unrequited love. As archetypes, they are an expression of women's need for independence and focus on goals that are meaningful to them. Artemis and Athena personify purposefulness and logical thinking, and therefore their archetype is focused on achievement. Hestia is the archetype of introversion, attention directed to the inner depths, to the spiritual center of the female personality. These three archetypes expand our understanding of such feminine qualities as competence and self-sufficiency. They are inherent in women who actively strive for their own goals.

The second group consists of vulnerable goddesses - Hera, Demeter and Persephone. Hera (among the Romans - Juno) - the goddess of marriage. She is the wife of Zeus, the supreme god of Olympus. Demeter (among the Romans - Ceres) - the goddess of fertility and agriculture. In myths, Demeter is given special importance in the role of mother. Persephone (among the Romans - Proserpina) is the daughter of Demeter. The Greeks also called her Kore, "the girl."

These three goddesses represent the traditional roles of wife, mother and daughter. As archetypes, they are relationship oriented, providing experiences of wholeness and well-being, in other words, meaningful connection. They express women's need for strong bonds and affection. These goddesses are attuned to others and therefore vulnerable. They are suffering. They were raped, kidnapped, suppressed and humiliated by male gods. When their attachments were destroyed and they felt offended in their feelings, they developed symptoms similar to those mental disorders ordinary people. And each of them eventually overcomes their suffering. Their stories enable women to understand the nature of their own psycho-emotional reactions to losses and find the strength to cope with mental pain.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty (among the Romans - Venus) - the most beautiful and irresistible alchemical goddess. She is the only one who falls under the third category. She had many novels and, as a result, many offspring. Aphrodite is the embodiment of erotic attraction, voluptuousness, sexuality and the desire for a new life. She enters into love affairs of her own choosing and never finds herself in the role of a victim. Thus, she combines the independence of virgin goddesses and the intimacy in relationships inherent in vulnerable goddesses. Her mind is both focused and receptive. Aphrodite allows relationships that equally affect her and the subject of her hobbies. The Aphrodite archetype encourages women to look for intensity rather than permanence in relationships, to appreciate the creative process, and to be open to change and renewal.

Family tree

To better understand the essence of each of the goddesses and their relationship with other deities, we must first consider them in a mythological context. Hesiod gives us such an opportunity. "Theogony", his main work, contains information about the origin of the gods and their "family tree".

In the beginning, according to Hesiod, there was Chaos. Then came Gaia (Earth), gloomy Tartarus (immeasurable depths of the underworld) and Eros (Love).

Mighty, fruitful Gaia-Earth gave birth to the son of Uranus - blue boundless Sky. She then married Uranus and produced the twelve Titans, the primeval forces of nature worshiped in ancient Greece. According to the Hesiod genealogy of the gods, the Titans were the first supreme dynasty, the ancestors of the Olympian gods.

Uranus, the first patriarchal or paternal figure in Greek mythology, hated his children born of Gaia and did not allow them to leave her womb, thereby dooming Gaia to terrible torment. She called on the Titans to help her. But none of them, except for the youngest, Kronos (among the Romans - Saturn), did not dare to intervene. He responded to Gaia's plea for help and, armed with the sickle received from her, began to wait for Uranus in ambush.

When Uranus came to Gaia and lay down with her, Kronos took a sickle, cut off his father's genitals and threw them into the sea. After that, Kronos became the most powerful of the gods. Together with the Titans, he ruled the universe. They gave rise to many new gods. Some of them represented rivers, winds, rainbows. Others were monsters, personifying evil and danger.

Kronos married his sister Rhea, the titanide. From their union was born the first generation of Olympian gods - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.

And again the patriarchal progenitor - this time Kronos himself - tried to destroy his children. Gaia foretold that he was destined to be defeated by his own son. He decided not to let this happen and swallowed all his children immediately after their birth, without even finding out if it was a boy or a girl. So he devoured three daughters and two sons.

Having once again become pregnant, Rhea, mourning the fate of her own children, turned to Gaia and Uranus with a request to help her save her last child and punish Kronos. Her parents advised her to retire to the island of Crete and, when the time comes for childbirth, to deceive Kronos by giving him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. In his haste, Kronos swallowed the stone, thinking it was a baby.

The rescued child was named Zeus. Later, he overthrew his father and began to rule over all gods and mortals. Growing up secretly from Kronos, he subsequently tricked him into regurgitating his brothers and sisters back, and together with them began a long struggle for power over the world, ending with the defeat of the Titans and their imprisonment in the dark abysses of Tartarus.

After the victory over the titans, the three brother gods - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades - divided the universe among themselves. Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea, Hades the underworld. Although the earth and Olympus were supposed to be common, nevertheless Zeus extended his power to them. Three sisters - Hestia, Demeter and Hera - according to patriarchal Greek beliefs, did not have substantial rights.

Thanks to his love affairs, Zeus became the father of the next generation of gods: Artemis and Apollo (the sun god) are the children of Zeus and Leto, Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis, Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Hermes (the messenger of the gods) is the son of Zeus and Maia, Ares (the god of war) and Hephaestus (the god of fire) are the sons of the lawful wife of Zeus, Hera. There are two versions of the origin of Aphrodite: according to one of them, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, in the other case, it is argued that she preceded Zeus. Through a love affair with a mortal woman, Semele, Zeus also fathered Dionysus.

To remind the reader who is who in Greek mythology, the book ends with brief biographical notes on the gods and goddesses, arranged in alphabetical order.

History and mythology

The mythology dedicated to the Greek gods and goddesses we describe is a reflection of historical events. This is a patriarchal mythology that glorifies Zeus and heroes. It is based on the clash of people who professed faith in the maternal principle, with invaders who worshiped warlike gods and created religious cults based on the male principle.

Maria Jimbutas, professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and specialist in European mythology, writes about the so-called "Old Europe" - the first European civilization. Scientists estimate that the culture of Old Europe was formed at least five (and possibly twenty-five) thousand years before the patriarchal religions arose. This matriarchal, sedentary and peaceful culture was associated with land, sea and the cult of the Great Goddess. Information collected bit by bit during archaeological excavations shows that the society of Old Europe did not know property and social stratification, equality reigned in it. Old Europe was destroyed during the invasion of semi-nomadic hierarchically organized Indo-European tribes from the north and east.

The invaders were belligerent people of patriarchal morals, indifferent to art. They treated with contempt the more culturally advanced indigenous population that they enslaved, professing the cult of the Great Goddess, known by many names - for example, Astarte, Ishtar, Inanna, Nut, Isis.

She was worshiped as a life-giving feminine, deeply connected with nature and fertility, responsible for both creative and destructive manifestations of the power of life. The snake, the dove, the tree and the moon are the sacred symbols of the Great Goddess. According to mythological historian Robert Graves, before the advent of patriarchal religions, the Great Goddess was believed to be immortal, unchanging, and omnipotent. She took lovers, not so that her children would have a father, but solely for her own enjoyment. There were no male gods. In the context of a religious cult, there was no such thing as paternity.

The Great Goddess was dethroned in successive waves of Indo-European invasions. Authoritative researchers date the beginning of these waves between 4500 and 2400 BC. BC. The goddesses did not disappear completely, but entered the cults of the invaders in secondary roles.

The invaders imposed their patriarchal culture and their militant religious cult on the conquered population. The Great Goddess in her various incarnations began to play the subordinate role of the wife of the gods worshiped by the conquerors. The powers that originally belonged to the female deity were alienated and transferred to the male deity. For the first time, the theme of rape appeared in myths; myths arose in which male heroes killed snakes - a symbol of the Great Goddess. The attributes of the Great Goddess were divided among many goddesses. Mythologist Jane Harrison notes that the Great Goddess, as in a broken mirror, was reflected in many lesser goddesses: Hera received the rite of sacred marriage, Demeter - mysteries, Athena - a snake, Aphrodite - a dove, Artemis - the function of the mistress of the wild.

According to Merlin Stone, author of When God Was a Woman, the final overthrow of the Great Goddess occurred later, with the advent of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The male deity took the dominant position. The female goddesses gradually receded into the background; women in society followed suit. Stone notes: "We are surprised to discover to what extent the suppression of women's rituals was in fact the suppression of women's rights."

Historical goddesses and archetypes

The Great Goddess was worshiped as the Creator and Destroyer, responsible for fertility and cataclysms. The Great Goddess still exists as an archetype in the collective unconscious. I often felt the presence of the fearsome Great Goddess in my parents. One of my patients, after giving birth, identified herself with the Great Goddess in a terrifying aspect of her. The young mother experienced psychosis shortly after the birth of her child. This woman was depressed, had hallucinations, and blamed herself for taking over the world. She paced the hospital room, miserable and pitiful.

When I approached her, she told me that she "ate greedily and destroyed the world." During her pregnancy she identified with the Great Goddess in her positive Creator aspect, but after giving birth she felt she had the power to destroy everything she had created and did so. Her emotional conviction was so great that she ignored the evidence that the world still existed as if nothing had happened.

This archetype is also relevant in its positive aspect. For example, the image of the Great Goddess as a life-giving force takes possession of a person who is convinced that his life depends on maintaining a connection with a certain woman who is associated with the Great Goddess. This is a fairly common mania. Sometimes we see that the loss of such a connection is so devastating that it leads a person to suicide.

The Great Goddess archetype has the power that the Great Goddess herself had at the time when she was truly worshiped. And therefore, of all the archetypes, it is this one that is able to exert the strongest influence. This archetype is capable of causing irrational fears and distorting perceptions of reality. The Greek goddesses were not as powerful as the Great Goddess. They are more specialized. Each of them had their own sphere of influence, and their powers had certain limits. In women's souls, the Greek goddesses are also not as powerful as the Great Goddess; their ability to emotionally suppress and distort the perception of reality is much weaker.

Of the seven Greek goddesses, representing the main, most general archetypal models of female behavior, the most influential are Aphrodite, Demeter and Hera. They are much more closely related to the Great Goddess than the other four goddesses. Aphrodite is a weakened version of the Great Goddess in her incarnation as the goddess of fertility. Demeter is a reduced copy of the Great Goddess as Mother. Hera is but an echo of the Great Goddess as the Lady of Heaven. However, as we shall see in the following chapters, although each of them is "less" than the Great Goddess, together they represent those forces in the soul of a woman who become irresistible when they are required to do their due.

Women who are affected by any of these three goddesses must learn to resist, as blindly following the commands of Aphrodite, Demeter, or Hera may adversely affect their lives. Like the goddesses of ancient Greece themselves, their archetypes do not serve the interests and relationships of mortal women. Archetypes exist outside of time, they do not care about a woman's life or her needs.

Three of the remaining four archetypes, Artemis, Athena, and Persephone, are daughter goddesses. They are removed from the Great Goddess for another generation. Accordingly, as archetypes, they do not have the same absorbing power as Aphrodite, Demeter and Hera, and affect mainly character traits.

Hestia, the eldest, wisest, and most revered goddess of all, eschewed power entirely. She represents the spiritual component of life, which should be honored by every woman.

Greek goddesses and modern women

Greek goddesses are female images that have lived in the human imagination for more than three millennia. They embody female aspirations, they embody behavioral patterns that historically were not allowed to women.

Greek goddesses are beautiful and powerful. They follow exclusively their own motives, not knowing the dictates of external circumstances. I argue in this book that, as archetypes, they are able to determine both the quality and direction of a woman's life.

These goddesses are different from each other. Each of them has its positive and its potential negative properties. Mythology shows what is important for them, and in a metaphorical form tells us about the possibilities of women like them.

I also came to the conclusion that the Greek goddesses of Olympus, each of whom is unique, and some of them are even hostile to each other, are a metaphor for the internal diversity and internal conflicts of a woman, thereby manifesting her complexity and versatility. All goddesses are potentially present in every woman. When several goddesses fight for dominance over a woman, she needs to decide for herself which aspects of her essence and at what time will be dominant, otherwise she will rush from one extreme to another.

The Greek goddesses, like us, lived in a patriarchal society. The male gods ruled over the earth, sky, ocean, and underworld. Each goddess adapted to this state of affairs in her own way - some by separating from men, some by joining men, some by withdrawing into themselves. The goddesses who valued patriarchal relationships were vulnerable and relatively weak compared to the male gods who dominated the community and could deny them their desires. Thus, Greek goddesses embody the life patterns of women in a patriarchal culture.

Chapter 2

In ancient Greece, women knew well that their place in life and occupation are inextricably linked with the power of one or another goddess, which, accordingly, should be revered by each of them. Weavers needed the patronage of Athena, young girls were under the protection of Artemis, married women worshiped Hera. Women made sacrifices to those goddesses who helped them in case of need. Women in labor prayed to Artemis to save them from suffering. Hestia was invited to the hearths, so that the dwelling would become a home.

The goddesses were powerful. As evidence of fidelity, they demanded rituals, prayers and sacrifices. Women worshiped the goddesses, fearing that otherwise they would become victims of their angry retribution.

Goddesses live in the inner world of modern women as archetypes and, claiming complete dominance over their subjects, as in ancient Greece, they take what is due to them. A woman can remain in the power of a certain archetype for some time or even her whole life, not even knowing which of the goddesses she serves.

For example, a young immature girl pays attention to boys and, at the risk of becoming pregnant, begins a sexual life, not even suspecting that she is prompted to this by the goddess of love - Aphrodite. Under the patronage of the chaste and wildlife-loving Artemis, a teenage girl takes up horseback riding or joins a sports youth organization. A girl can become like a young Athena and immerse herself in books - the goddess of wisdom will encourage her to achieve good grades and recognition from teachers. And at some point, when she plays with dolls, Demeter will awaken in her, dreaming of an unborn child. Like the virgin Persephone picking meadow flowers, she can nonchalantly look forward to her future passions.

The images of goddess archetypes are possible behavioral patterns dormant in the souls of all women, however, in each particular woman, some of these schemes are awakened, and some are not. Speaking of archetypes, Jung uses the following comparison: the archetypal scheme is like an invisible pattern that determines the shape and structure of the future crystal, and the formed crystal is similar to the awakened archetype.

The archetype of a plant is its blueprint, dormant in the seed. The germination of seeds depends on their hardiness, soil composition and climatic conditions, the presence or absence of certain nutrients, and careful care or negligence on the part of the gardener. Similarly, the awakening of a particular goddess in a woman depends on the total action of many factors - innate predisposition, stage of life, family characteristics, culture, interaction with other people, missed opportunities, type of activity, hormone levels in the body, etc.

Congenital predisposition

Children from birth have characteristics that are to varying degrees inherent in various archetypes of the goddesses - they are energetic or calm, wayward or complaisant, curious and not very, prone to loneliness or sociable. By the age of two or three, the qualities inherent in this or that goddess are clearly manifested in the girl. The obedient little girl who is content to fulfill her mother's wishes is just as different from the baby who is able to leave home on her own to explore the surroundings properly, like Persephone from Artemis.

Family environment and goddesses

Having plans for the future of their child, parents support some goddesses and suppress others. If parents want their daughter to be "sweet, gentle and pretty" or "mother's little helper", they welcome the qualities of Persephone and Demeter in her. A girl who knows what she wants and strives to have the same privileges as her brother, can be called "willful", although she is just a persistent Artemis. When Athena is revealed in her, she may be advised to "behave like all girls." Often the model of behavior that manifests itself in a child does not find approval from the family. Then the girl is dissuaded from playing "mother" or "house" (which she may want) and in return for her own good (from the point of view of her parents) is involved in boyish games, such as football, or from early childhood she is seated at smart books.

The image of the goddess inherent in the child in one way or another interacts with family expectations. If parents condemn a certain goddess, this does not mean that her influence on the girl will stop. A girl can learn to suppress her natural impulses, but in doing so she loses her self-respect. However, the connivance of the "goddess" has its negative sides. For example, a girl like Persephone, and therefore prone to follow others, runs the risk of losing all idea of ​​what her own desires are, as she strived to please everyone around her for many years. The intellectual talent of the budding Athena, who passes from class to class with brilliance, is strengthened at the cost of losing friendship with her peers. The "collusion" of the family and the archetypal model of behavior inherent in the girl makes her development one-sided.

Parents who encourage and support the daughter's natural development give her the opportunity to do what is important to her; as a result, the girl feels good and confident. The opposite happens if the family condemns the child's archetypal image of the goddess. The suppression of natural inclinations only leads to the fact that the girl begins to feel her own falsehood.

The Impact of Culture on Goddess Archetypes

What kind of goddesses does our culture support through the roles allowed for women? The archetypes of goddesses, reflected in female behavioral stereotypes, can be represented by both positive and negative images.

In a patriarchal society, the only acceptable roles for a woman are girl (Persephone), wife (Hera), and mother (Demeter).

Aphrodite is condemned as a "prostitute" and "seductress", thereby the sensuality and sexuality of this archetype is distorted and devalued.

An assertive or angry Hera becomes a "grumpy woman."

In some cultures, both past and present, women's independence, intelligence, and sexuality are completely denied. As a consequence - any signs of Artemis, Athena and Aphrodite are subject to suppression.

In ancient China, there was a custom from childhood to tightly bandage the legs of girls, which led not only to physical, but also to psychological limitations. Thus, women were deprived of personal independence and were forced to be content with the roles assigned to them. In The Warrior* Maxine Hong Kingston spoke about the humiliation of women that has characterized Chinese society up to the present. For contrast, she told the myth of a Chinese warrior heroine, thereby proving a simple truth: even if the image of a particular goddess cannot be embodied in real life, her archetype finds expression in legends, myths and women's dreams.

[*] Maxine Hong Kingston, "The Woman Warrior".

The life of women is shaped according to the schemes of acceptable role models and idealized images of their time. At the same time, the images of some goddesses are almost always preferred over others. In the United States, over the past few decades, there have been great changes in ideas about what a woman "should be". For example, the boom in childbearing that followed the Second World War was due to the importance attached to marriage and motherhood then. The created situation contributed to the self-fulfillment of women with the need for matrimony (Hera) and a pronounced maternal instinct (Demeter). But for women like Athena and inquisitive intellectuals who aspired to excellence and achievement in areas not related to building a solid and happy family(Artemis), not the best times have come. Girls went to college, but when they got married, they often refused to continue their studies. The principle "always together" was proclaimed as an ideal. American women have had three, four, five or six children. By 1950, the birth rate in the United States for the first and only time in history was the same as in India.

Twenty years later, in the seventies, the women's movement flourished - Artemis and Athena broke out of a state of constant suppression. Social recognition and support finally received women focused on social achievements. The focus was on feminists. Never before have there been so many women with advanced degrees in education, economics, law and medicine.

Increasingly, marriage vows such as "only death will separate us" are breaking down, and the birth rate is falling. Women, driven by Hera's need to be a wife and Demeter's need to have children, found themselves in an unfavorable and increasingly deteriorating social climate for them.

When certain female archetypal models begin to dominate in culture, their carriers, while doing what is internally significant for them, at the same time receive support from society. In order to develop intellectually, women with the innate logical mind of Athena need access to higher education. Women with the spirit of Hestia do well in religious communities.

The action of hormones on the archetypes of the goddesses

When a woman's body undergoes a drastic hormonal shift - during puberty, during pregnancy, during menopause - some archetypes are reinforced at the expense of others.

Hormones that cause the development of the breasts and sexual organs can stimulate the sensuality and sexuality characteristic of Aphrodite. Some girls, as they develop physically, become young Aphrodites, while in others, breast development and the onset of menstruation are not accompanied by an awakening of interest in boys. Behavior is determined not by the hormones themselves, but by interplay of hormones and goddess archetypes.

During pregnancy, the level of the hormone progesterone rises in the blood. But again, women react differently to this. Some of them, as their belly grows, feel more and more emotionally satisfied, they feel like the embodiment of Demeter, the mother goddess. Others, apparently, hardly notice their pregnancy and, busy with their careers, work almost until the very last moment.

Another example of hormonal changes is menopause, that is, the cessation of menstruation caused by a decrease in the production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Again, the reactions of the woman depend on the activity of the dominant goddess. While Demeter suffers from "empty nest" depression, other women experience "post-menopausal fever." This tide signifies that it is time for another goddess to awaken.

The activity of the goddesses changes even during the female monthly cycle. Women who are sensitive to such changes notice that during the first half of the cycle, independent goddesses appear more in them, especially Artemis and Athena, aspiring to the outside world. Then, in the second half of the cycle, due to an increase in the content of progesterone - the hormone of pregnancy, the desire to "twist a nest" intensifies, and "home moods" and a sense of dependence are more and more pronounced. This means that the influence of Demeter, Hera, Persephone or Hestia prevails.

Hormonal and archetypal changes, when one or another goddess predominates in a woman’s soul, often provoke confusion in feelings and internal conflict. The classic example is the independent Artemis woman living with a man who does not want to marry or who is unsuitable for a husband. She is quite happy with the current situation ... as long as there is no hormonal shift. In the second half of the cycle, her need to be a spouse (Hera) gets hormonal support. Then an unmarried woman experiences a feeling of rejection and resentment, which leads to scandals and a mini-depression, which, however, soon passes.

Goddesses are awakened by people and events

Sometimes this or that archetype is awakened by an unexpected meeting or event, and then the goddess personifying it actively intervenes in the life of a woman. For example, the helplessness of another person can imperiously demand from a woman to give up all her affairs and turn her into a caring Demeter. With this turn of events, a woman, forgetting about her work, is able to listen for hours on the phone to someone else's complaints of trouble. Moved by compassion, she rushes to help, regardless of her own abilities. In another situation, being at a meeting of feminists, out of a sense of female solidarity, she is ready to take revenge on men for trampling on the dignity of women. Money can make a selfless woman who values ​​genuine human relationships become an Athena, busy looking for contracts that provide a decent income.

Love threatens a woman with a change in life priorities. Habitual schemes are not able to maintain their power at the archetypal level for a long time.

The awakening of Aphrodite can lead to a fall in the influence of Athena, and then love overshadows the significance of professional success.

Adultery devalues ​​Hera's marriage bond.

The activation of the negative aspects of the goddess under the influence of certain circumstances contributes to the development of psychiatric symptoms.

The loss of a child or a significant family connection sometimes turns a woman into a grieving mother Demeter, inaccessible to others, immersed in a deep depression.

A husband's flirtation with an attractive neighbor can awaken a jealous Hera, then the woman becomes paranoid incredulous and sees deceit and betrayal even where there are none.

Goddess activates action

The phrase "Action is becoming" in this case expresses the fact that a certain type of action helps to awaken the desired goddess. For example, through meditation practice, the influence of the introverted, immersed in the inner world of Hestia is enhanced. By meditating once or twice a day, a woman becomes more focused and peaceful, which is characteristic of Hestia. The effects of meditation are subjective, usually only the woman herself is aware of how much she is changing. However, others also note that she becomes calmer and ceases to torment herself and others.

In contrast to the gradual effects of meditation, psychedelics and drugs change perception in leaps and bounds. Although this is usually a temporary effect, nevertheless, even a single use of a psychedelic can lead to lasting personality changes. For example, if a woman dominated by the logical and pragmatic Athena uses a psychedelic, she finds that the experiences that occur in an altered state of consciousness bring her pleasure. What she sees is wonderful. She completely dissolves in the music of sensual sensations, realizing that she is something more than her mind. Aphrodite awakens in her.

Looking at the stars and feeling her unity with nature, a woman becomes Artemis - the goddess of the moon, a huntress whose kingdom is wild nature. Psychedelics are able to activate the incomprehensible, irrational content of a woman's subconscious. She may become depressed, hallucinate, or terrified if her experiences are similar to the myth of Persephone's abduction to the underworld.

A woman seeking an education prefers the further development of the qualities of Athena. Studying, passing exams, writing scientific articles - all this requires the logical mindset of Athena. A woman who has opted for the birth of a child asks for the protection of Demeter the mother. And a woman entering a travel-related job gives Artemis more room for expression. Invocation to the Goddesses

Many of Homer's hymns are invocations to Greek deities. First, the hymn creates the image of the goddess in the listener's imagination by describing her appearance, qualities and deeds. Then she is asked to appear, enter the house and bless the one who asks. The ancient Greeks knew one secret. Goddesses must first be visualized, and only then should they be invoked.

As you read the following chapters, you may find that you are not familiar enough with some goddesses, and that an archetype that you find very useful is not developed or seems to be absent from your experience. To "summon" the goddess, one should focus on her with the help of imagination, try to mentally see, feel, sense her presence. Only then can you turn to her with a request to bestow her power on you. The following are examples of such applications.

Athena, help me think clearly in this situation. Persephone, help me stay open and receptive. Hera, help me to be true to my obligations. Demeter, teach me to be patient and generous, help me become a good mother. Artemis, help me focus on my goal. Aphrodite, support me in love and help me enjoy my body. Hestia, honor me with your presence, grant me peace and serenity.

Goddesses and life stages

The life of a woman consists of many phases, each of which corresponds to one or more of the most influential goddesses. However, a woman can limit herself to one goddess, who will consistently guide her through all stages of her life. Looking back at the past, women can often quite realize which goddesses in which period of their lives influenced them more than others.

A young girl may be focused on her studies. When I was studying medicine in college, for example, I was helped by the Artemis archetype. In the meantime, I was essentially calling on Athena to memorize the clinical and laboratory data needed to make a diagnosis. On the other hand, my former classmates who got married immediately after graduation and had children awakened Hera and Demeter in themselves.

Middle age is a transitional period when the goddess archetype usually changes. Somewhere between the thirties and forty plus years, the most significant archetype that prevailed in previous years gradually fades away, allowing other goddesses to manifest. What a woman aspired to in previous years - marriage, career, creativity, a beloved man, certain hobbies - has been achieved. She has a lot of energy at her disposal. Will Athena encourage her to continue her education? Or will Demeter's desire to have a child prevail - now or never?

Then, on the eve of old age, the change of leading archetypes can occur again. The impetus for this is the onset of menopause, widowhood, retirement. Will the widow discover the hidden Athena in herself when, for the first time in her life, she can manage money herself, and will she realize that she is able to understand investments well? Will solitude satisfy a woman who previously avoided loneliness, because now she knows the space of Hestia? Or has there been a void in her life since Demeter has no one else to take care of? It all depends on which goddess dominates in the soul of a woman during this period of life and which archetype determines her choice in certain specific situations.

Chapter 3. VIRGIN GODDESSES: Artemis, Athena and Hestia

Three virgin goddesses Greek mythology - the goddess of hunting and the moon Artemis, the goddess of wisdom and crafts Athena, the goddess of the hearth and the temple of Hestia - represent in female psychology such personal aspects as independence, activity and freedom from family ties. Athena and Artemis are archetypes focused on the outside world and achievements, Hestia personifies immersion in the inner world. These three goddesses are the embodiment of the deep motives of a woman who develops her talents, pursues her own interests, solves problems on her own, strives for self-expression and success in society, or leads a contemplative life. Whether it's about the desire for "your own corner," about feeling "at home" in the midst of nature, about the pleasure of learning the principles of the operation of some device, or about the craving for solitude - in all such cases manifestations of one of the three above-named goddesses should be seen.

The virgin goddesses represent a part of the female nature that is incomprehensible to a man or completely isolated from him and exists according to its own laws, which does not care about the representatives of the male sex. When a woman is driven by the virginal archetype, some part of her personality is in a state of virginity, which, however, does not mean that she has retained her virginity in the literal sense.

The term "virgin" means pure, chaste, uncorrupted, incorruptible, untouched by a man. They say "virgin forest", "virgin land", "virgin pure wool". "Pure" oil is the oil obtained in the process of the first, without heat treatment of pomace of olives or nuts (a metaphor for the soul that does not know the heat of emotions and passion). "Pure" metal - native, without impurities, for example - "pure" gold.

In the patriarchal religious system, Artemis, Athena and Hestia are rather an exception. They never married, they were never suppressed, seduced, raped or kidnapped by male deities or mortal men. They remained "untouched", undefiled. Of all the gods, goddesses and mortals, only they were inaccessible to the irresistible power of Aphrodite - the goddess of love, capable of igniting passion, arousing erotic yearning and romantic feelings. They were not subject to blind sensual attraction.

Virgin goddess archetype

When the leading archetype of a woman is one of the virgin goddesses - Artemis, Athena or Hestia - a woman acquires self-sufficiency, she, as she wrote in. Esther Harding, in her book Secrets of Women, becomes "the only one for herself." A significant part of her soul does not belong to any man. Esther Harding writes: “A woman, virginal in her essence, does what she does, not because she wants to please or please anyone, and not because she wants to gain power over others and achieve her goals. She does so only because it feels right to her. Her actions are unconventional. She can say "no" when it would be easier to say "yes." She does not allow her wings to be clipped and forced into so-called expedient actions. Arguments that are significant for married or free, but deprived of spiritual virginity, women simply do not affect her.

If a woman is "the only one for herself," the need to follow her inner values ​​will motivate her to do what gives her satisfaction and is personally meaningful to her, regardless of the opinions of other people.

Psychologically, the virgin goddess is a part of the female nature, independent of male judgments and not subject to the influence of collective (male in nature) social and cultural ideas about what a woman should be. The archetype of the virgin goddess is the pure essence of what a woman is and what her significance is. This essence is untainted and undefiled, because it is preserved intact and expressed without any concessions to male norms.

The virgin archetype can motivate a woman to become a feminist. It may manifest itself as an aspiration from which a woman is usually discouraged - as an example, we can refer to the desire of the aviator Amelia Earhart to fly where no pilot has flown before. The same archetype finds its expression in poetic, musical creativity or in painting - when a woman creates works of art that embody her deep inner experience. And the same archetype can be present in meditative practice and midwifery.

Lots of women get together and create "women's" societies. Women's mind-expanding groups, mountain-top deity worship, women's self-help medical centers, and sewing circles are all expressions of virgin goddess archetypes that manifest themselves in women's groups.

Consciousness like a focused light

Each of the three categories of goddesses (to virgins, "vulnerable" And alchemical goddess) has its own characteristic feature of consciousness. Virgin goddesses are inherent focused consciousness. Women like Artemis, Athena, and Hestia have the ability to focus their attention on what matters to them at the moment. They are able to completely immerse themselves in their activities, ignoring everything that is extraneous in relation to the goal.

Focused I call consciousness by analogy with a clearly directed bright beam of light, illuminating only the object of attention and leaving everything else in darkness or twilight. It is like a spotlight. The most collected and concentrated analyzing consciousness can be compared with a piercing and cutting laser beam, incredibly accurate and, depending on its energy and the nature of the object it is directed at, sometimes destructive.

The concentration of consciousness, allowing a woman to focus on solving a problem or achieving a goal, without being distracted even by food or sleep, leads to deep discoveries. A woman feels that she has a "limiter" inside her that allows her to do only what she has set her mind on. When - as is typical of Artemis and Athena - she focuses her attention on distant or near goals, this effectively helps her achieve results.

An example of this concentration of consciousness is Daniela Stahl, who wrote seventeen novels that have been translated into eighteen languages ​​and have a total circulation of more than forty-five million copies. She herself describes herself as a "super productive" person: "Usually I work very hard - twenty hours a day, and sleep from two to four hours. This goes on seven days a week for six weeks until the novel is completed."

The focus on her own deep spiritual center, characteristic of Hestia, allows a woman with a corresponding strong archetype to meditate for a long time, not paying attention to either the external environment or the uncomfortable posture.

Behavior patterns

Women who, following their inclinations, become excellent athletes, active feminists, scientists, politicians, equestrians or nuns are driven by virgin goddesses. In order to develop their talents and focus on achieving their goals, they often avoid traditional female roles. For them, to live in the "man's world", without betraying themselves, is a worthy challenge.

According to mythology, each of the virgin goddesses faced a similar challenge and responded to it in her own way.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, after leaving Olympus, avoided contact with men, spent time in the wilderness surrounded by her nymphs. Her mode of adaptation is isolation from men and their influence. Modern feminists operate in a similar way. Women of the Artemis type are also pronounced individualists. They are lonely and do only what matters to them personally, without any support or approval from both men and other women.

In contrast, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, entered male society as an equal or superior to men in their pursuits. She was an excellent strategist and a cold-blooded leader in battle. Her mode of adaptation is to identify with men and thrive in traditionally masculine areas of activity.

Finally, Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, chose the third way - removal from men. She went deep into herself, left faceless, unknown and alone. A woman, driven by Hestia, obscures her femininity so as not to attract unwanted interest from men, avoids conflict situations and lives in isolation. She has a penchant for daily reflections that give meaning to her life.

These three virgin goddesses did not betray themselves, in whatever relationship they were involved. They have never been overwhelmed by other deities, nor by their own emotions, they have not been affected by suffering, kinship, or change.

As a result of such concentration, a woman can be cut off from her own emotional and instinctive life. She is not affected by other people's problems, she distances herself from other people. It is psychologically "impenetrable", which means that no one "penetrates" it. This woman has no idea what emotional intimacy is. There is no one who would have any meaning for her.

Thus, a woman who has identified herself with the image of a chaste virgin goddess is most often alone, there is no significant “other” in her life. However, despite the fact that the role given to her by her goddess is quite limited, such a woman is able to spiritually grow and change throughout her life. Being like a virgin goddess from birth, she may find that Hera is able to teach her to build kinship relationships with their obligations to loved ones, and Demeter can help her feel the excitement of maternal instinct. An unexpected love will reveal to her that Aphrodite is also part of her.

New theory

Describing Artemis, Athena and Hestia as positive, active female images, I challenge the traditional postulates of psychology. Depending on whose point of view - Freud or Jung - prevails in psychology at the moment, the qualities that are characteristics of virgin goddesses are defined as symptoms, pathology, or as an expression of a not fully realized masculine element in the female soul. Such theories are humiliating for women. Many women who are familiar with Freud's theory consider themselves defective only because they preferred to make a career rather than have a child. Those who believe in Jung's theory are embarrassed to express their thoughts aloud, because Jung believed that women's thinking is objectively inferior to men's. Freud's theory is penis-centered. He described women in terms of what they lack anatomically rather than in terms of what is present in their bodies and souls. From Freud's point of view, the absence of a penis makes women inferior and crippled creatures. As a consequence, he believed that normal women suffer from penis envy, are masochistic and narcissistic, have an underdeveloped superego (or, to put it simply, women are less conscientious than men).

According to Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, women's behavior should be interpreted as follows:

A competent and self-confident woman who takes an active life position and, apparently, enjoys the opportunity to exercise her intellect and abilities, thereby manifests a "masculine complex". According to Freud, she acts as if she believes she is "not castrated." In reality, no woman wants to stand out - the need to stand out is a sign of the "masculine complex" and can be seen as a "denial of reality." A woman who wants to have a child actually wants to have a penis, but she sublimates this desire by replacing the desire to have a penis with the desire to have a child. If a woman is sexually attracted to a man, then she has discovered that her mother does not have a penis. (According to Freud's theory, female heterosexuality has as its starting point a traumatic moment when a woman, as a little girl, discovers that she does not have a penis, and then finds out that her mother does not either. Therefore, she directs her libido instead of mother to a father who has a penis.) From Freud's point of view, a sexually active, according to men, woman physically cannot enjoy her sexuality, nor naturally express her sensuality. Instead, she acts compulsively, trying to get rid of her anxiety about her own "castration".

Jung was more "kind" to women than Freud. At least Jung did not view women as defective men. He put forward a hypothesis that refers to differences in the chromosome set of men and women. From his point of view, women have a conscious feminine essence and an unconscious masculine component - the animus, while men have a conscious masculine personality and a feminine anima in the unconscious.

According to Jung, the personality of a woman is characterized by subjectivity, receptivity, passivity, the ability to educate and care. Rationality, spirituality and the ability to act decisively and impartially Jung considered masculine qualities. He believed that men, unlike women, are really gifted with them by nature. Women with similar personality traits have difficulty because they are not men; if a woman is a good thinker or competent in anything, she just has a well-developed masculine animus, which is by definition less conscious and therefore less differentiated than the male intellect. Such an animus can be hostile and irrationally stubborn, as emphasized by Jung and his followers.

Although Jung did not consider women to be internally defective, nevertheless he believed that they were not as capable of creativity, objective in their views and active in life as men. Jung generally tended to view women as subordinate and attached to men beings, deprived of their own independent needs. For example, he believed that a man is a creator, and assigned a woman the role of an assistant in the male creative process: "A man brings out his own work from his inner feminine nature as a completed work of creativity", and "the inner masculine part of a woman brings out creative seeds, capable of impregnating the feminine part of a man."

Jung's theoretical position discouraged women in their pursuit of achievement. He wrote: "Choosing a male profession, studying and working like a man, a woman does something that does not correspond, if not directly harm her feminine nature."

Goddess images

When the goddesses are viewed as models of normal female behavior, a woman, more corresponding to the wise Athena or rival Artemis, and to a lesser extent - Hera-wife or Demeter-mother, gets the opportunity to value herself as an independent person - active, impartial in her assessments and achievement oriented. She, contrary to Freud's diagnosis, does not suffer from a masculine complex and does not believe that her life position is due to the animus and inherently masculine, as Jung would like.

When the images of Athena and Artemis awaken in a woman, such "feminine" qualities as dependence, receptivity, the ability to educate and care cannot be expressed in her personality. She will have to develop them in order to learn how to create strong close relationships, be vulnerable, give and receive love and care, and support the development of others.

Hestia's contemplative aspiration to the inner depths of the soul keeps her at an emotional distance from others. Despite this, her calm benevolence helps her to support and teach others. A woman driven by the image of Hestia, just as in the case of Athena and Artemis, needs to develop the ability for personal intimacy.

Women like Hera, Demeter, Persephone or Aphrodite have other tasks. These images predispose to intimate relationships, they fit the Jungian description of women. Such women need to develop qualities that are not the strengths of their dominant behaviors - focus, objectivity and self-confidence. Their life task is to develop the animus or awaken the archetypes of Artemis and Athena. The same task is faced by women in whom the archetype of Hestia predominates.

Masculine animus or feminine archetype?

An analysis of the subjective experiences and content of a woman's dreams helps to find out what determines her life activity - a masculine animus or the image of a female goddess. For example, if a woman feels alienated from her assertive part, feels it in herself as a man, whom she calls on only in difficult situations that require her to "be tough" or "think like a man" (while she never feels "at home" ), which means that her animus is manifested in her. It is held in reserve and activated when a woman needs more energy. First of all, this applies to women in whom the images of Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Persephone or Aphrodite are stronger.

When a woman has well-developed aspects of Athena and Artemis, she can really be persistent, think clearly, know what she needs, and successfully operate in a competitive struggle. These qualities are felt by her as an expression of her feminine nature, but in no way an alien masculine animus acting "for her."

The second way to distinguish the Artemis or Athena archetype from the animus is to analyze dreams. So you can determine what drives a woman - the archetype of the virgin goddess or the purposefulness and assertiveness due to the masculine principle.

If the archetypes of Artemis and Athena predominate, a woman in a dream often explores an unfamiliar area herself in a dream. She sees herself as the protagonist of her dream, battling obstacles, climbing high mountains, or bravely penetrating into a foreign land or dungeon. For example: "I'm in a car at night with convertible rushing along the village road, overtaking other cars"; "I am a stranger in a wonderful city, I see the hanging gardens of Babylon"; "I am a double agent and should not be here; I feel the danger - people around me can guess who I am.

In a woman's dreams, the ease of travel or the difficulties encountered reflect the ratio of internal and external obstacles that arise when trying to be an independent, effective person in this world. Both in her dreams and in real life, a woman feels natural when she determines her own path. When acting, she thinks only of herself.

When perseverance and confidence in a woman are not developed, a different image often appears in women's dreams. It can be a vaguely represented or a well-defined, easily recognizable person - a man or a woman. The gender of this character is a symbol by which we can determine whether we are dealing with "masculinity" (animus) or "femininity" (virgin goddess).

For example, if the dreamer is just developing the qualities of Artemis or Athena and is at an early stage of her professional training, most often she sees in a dream an unknown woman of indistinct outlines. Later, she may dream of a woman similar to herself in terms of education or career, or a fellow student.

When a woman's dream companion is a man or a youth, she is likely to identify herself with "vulnerable" goddesses or, as we shall see, with Hestia or Aphrodite. For such women, men symbolize action, and therefore in their dreams, perseverance and competitive spirit appear as masculine qualities.

Similarly, if a woman needs to gather her courage to enter an office or an academic institution, the animus, or masculine aspect of her nature that sustains her at such times, may be expressed in dreams as a vaguely distinguishable male, perhaps a teenager or young man, with whom she is in some unknown and often dangerous place. After she gets good grades or promotions and feels more confident in her abilities, the area in her dreams becomes more and more friendly, now in a dream she is accompanied by a familiar or seemingly familiar man. For example: "I'm on a long bus ride with my old school friend", "I'm in a car driven by a man; now I can't determine who he is, but we know him in a dream."

The new theory, which I describe in detail in this book, is based on the existence of archetypal images or patterns of behavior introduced into everyday life thanks to Jung's concept. I do not reject the model of female psychology described by Jung, but I consider it suitable only for some, but by no means for all women. The chapters on "vulnerable" goddesses and Aphrodite develop Jung's model, in the following chapters - on Artemis, Athena and Hestia - I propose new schemes that go beyond Jungian theory.

Chapter 4. ARTEMIS: goddess of the hunt and the moon, rival and sister

Goddess Artemis

Artemis (Diana among the Romans) is the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The beloved daughter of Zeus and Leto, slender Artemis wanders merrily through wild forests, meadows and hills, surrounded by devoted nymphs and hunting dogs. She is a marksman, dressed in a short tunic, armed with a silver bow, and has a quiver of arrows over her shoulders. Artemis was also depicted as the goddess of the moon - with torches in her hands and with a halo of stars and the moon around her head.

Wild animals included in the retinue of Artemis symbolize her patronage of wildlife. The male deer, his female, the hare and the quail reflect the elusiveness of her nature. The lioness expresses the royalty and prowess of the hunting goddess, while the ferocious boar represents her destructive aspects. The bear is a symbol of the patronage of youth. In ancient Greece, girls were dedicated to Artemis. During their adolescence, they were under her protection and were called "young bears". Finally, the untamed horse wanders with a herd through the wilderness, like Artemis with her nymphs.

Genealogy and mythology

Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, the sun god. Of the two, she was born first. Their mother, Leto, is the deity of nature, the daughter of two titans, and their father is Zeus, the supreme god of Olympus.

Many things prevented the birth of twins. Everyone was afraid of the vengeful wrath of Hera, the lawful wife of Zeus, and Leto's presence was unwelcome wherever she appeared. Finally, she took refuge on the desert island of Delos and there she gave birth to Artemis and Apollo.

Artemis was born first and helped Leto during the long and difficult birth of Apollo. For nine days and nine nights, Leto suffered terrible pain caused by the efforts of the vengeful Hera. Artemis, who became a midwife for her mother, was revered as the patroness of childbirth. Women addressed her, calling her a "healer of pain" and "no pain." They prayed to her to relieve their labor pains and help to give birth to a child or grant them "easy death" from her arrows.

When Artemis was three years old, Leto transferred her to Olympus to introduce her to Zeus and divine relatives. The "Hymn to Artemis" says that she sat on the lap of her magnificent father, who caressed her with the words: "When the goddesses give birth to children like this for me, the wrath of jealous Hera does not frighten me. My little daughter, you will have everything that you you wish."

Artemis asked for a bow and arrows, a pack of hounds for hunting, a retinue of nymphs, a tunic short enough for running, wild forests and mountains at her disposal - and eternal chastity. All this father-Zeus willingly provided her. All this plus the privilege make your own choice.

Soon Artemis went to the forests and to the reservoirs to choose the most beautiful nymphs. She then descended to the bottom of the sea and found the Cyclopes, the masters of Poseidon, who forged for her a silver bow and arrow. And finally she sought out Pan, the god of the wild, a half-man, half-goat, playing the flute, and begged him for some of the finest hounds. Artemis was impatient to try out the gifts she received, and at night, by the light of torches, she started a hunt.

As is known from the myths, Artemis, helping those who turned to her with a plea for help, acted quickly and decisively. But she was also quick to deal with her offenders.

One day, when Leto went to Delphi to visit Apollo, the giant Titius * tried to rape her. Artemis quickly appeared at the call of her mother, as if aiming from a bow and hit him with an arrow.

[*] Titius - in Greek mythology, a giant of chthonic origin, the son of Zeus and Elara. Born in the bowels of the earth, where Zeus hid his beloved, fearing the wrath of the jealous Hera. Later, the vengeful Hera inspired him with a passion for Zeus's beloved Leto (Mythological Dictionary, "Soviet Encyclopedia". M., 1991). -- Approx. ed.

On another occasion, the arrogant and stupid Niobe insulted Leto, boasting that she, Niobe, had many beautiful sons and daughters, while Leto had only two. Leto called on Apollo and Artemis to avenge this offense, which they immediately did. Apollo killed the six sons of Niobe with his arrows, and Artemis killed her six daughters. Niobe turned into a stone forever shedding tears.

It is noteworthy that Artemis repeatedly came to the aid of her mother. Nothing like this is known of any other goddess. Artemis also willingly responded to the pleas of other women. The forest nymph Arifuza summoned Artemis when she was about to be abused. Arifuza returned from hunting and entered the river to refresh herself by swimming. The river god desired a naked nymph and attacked her. Arifuza, horrified, tried to flee. Artemis heard her cry, covered her with a cloud of fog and turned it into a spring.

Artemis was merciless to those who insulted her. This fatal mistake was made by the hunter Actaeon. Once, wandering through the forest, Actaeon accidentally approached the backwater where the goddess and her nymphs were swimming. Insulted by the intrusion, Artemis turned him into a deer by throwing water in his face. Her hunting dogs pounced on Actaeon like a wild beast. In a panic, he tried to flee, but the dogs overtook him and tore him to pieces.

Artemis also killed another hunter, Orion, whom she loved. It was manslaughter on her part. Once Apollo, offended by the fact that Artemis fell in love with Orion, saw that he swam far into the sea. Orion's head was barely visible above the water. Apollo found Artemis and pointed out to her a dark object in the sea away from them, telling her that she would not be able to hit such a small target. Incited by her brother, Artemis, not knowing that she was aiming at Orion's head, fired an arrow that killed her beloved. Subsequently, Artemis placed Orion among the stars and gave him one of her hounds, Sirius, as his celestial satellite. So the only man she loved became a victim of her excitement.

Artemis is known primarily as the goddess of the hunt, but she is also the goddess of the moon. Night is her element. Artemis roams her wild domains by moonlight with burning torches. The moon goddess Artemis is associated with Selene and Hekate. The three of them make up the lunar triad: Selene rules in the heavens, Artemis on earth, and Hekate in the creepy and mysterious underworld.

Artemis as an archetype

Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the moon, personifies the independence of the female spirit. As an archetype, she gives a woman the right to pursue her own goals in her own chosen field.

virgin goddess

As a virgin goddess, Artemis is immune to love. She was not abused, she was not kidnapped, like Demeter and Persephone. Artemis did not know marital ties. The archetype of the virgin goddess is expressed in a sense of integrity, self-sufficiency, it defines the life position "I can take care of myself" and allows a woman to act confidently, independently and independently. A woman feels whole, does not need a male protector, pursues her own interests and chooses a field of activity without needing male approval. Her self-definition and sense of self-worth is based more on who she is and what she does than on whether she is married or to whom. A typical sign of the awakened archetype of the virgin goddess Artemis is when a woman insists on being addressed as "Miss", thereby emphasizing her independence and detachment from men.

Shooter focused on target

Goddess of the hunt, Artemis the shooter can choose any target close or far. As she sets out in pursuit of her prey, she knows that her arrows will reach their targets without fail. The Artemis archetype gives a woman the ability to fully focus on an important subject for her and not pay attention to the needs of others. Perhaps the competition with other people only enhances her excitement from the "hunt". Concentration and persistent pursuit of the goal help Artemis to succeed. This archetype makes it possible to independently, without outside help, achieve the desired result.

The archetype of the women's movement

Artemis is the embodiment of the qualities idealized by women's movements: independence from men and male opinion, success in life, caring for persecuted helpless women and girls. The goddess Artemis helped her mother during childbirth, saved Leto and Arifuza from rape, punished the rapist Titius and the hunter Actaeon who invaded her possessions. She was the patroness of young girls and especially teenage girls.

All this corresponds to the tasks that feminists set themselves. They organize rape clinics and shelters for downtrodden women, and run classes for women with sexual problems. The women's movement pays special attention to the problems of childbearing and obstetrics. Its activists are sounding the alarm about pornography and incest, because both are traumatic for children and women.

The goddess Artemis was accompanied by nymphs - minor deities associated with forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, seas and springs. They traveled with her, hunting and exploring the wilderness. The nymphs were not bound by household chores, they were not interested in what women “should” do, men did not lay claim to them. They lived as "sisters", and Artemis, who guided them and always came to their aid, was their "big sister". Not surprisingly, the women's movement especially emphasizes the "sisterhood" of women, because its archetypal inspiration is Artemis.

Gloria Steinem, founder and editor of Women's Magazine, is a modern woman who embodies the Artemis archetype. This is a legendary person to whom many people transfer the image of the goddess. From the point of view of society, Gloria Steinem is the leader of the women's movement, however, looking at her more closely, we will find a tall, graceful Artemis surrounded by companions.

Women who share the goals of the women's movement admire Gloria Steinem and identify with her as the embodiment of Artemis. This was especially evident in the early seventies. Then many women wore the same as Gloria's aviation glasses and imitated her even in her hair - they went with long flowing hair, parted in the middle. Ten years later, superficial imitation was replaced by the desire to become just like her - an attractive, independent woman with great personal power.

Gloria Steinem's veil of secrecy is maintained by her role in society and reinforced by her loneliness. She had several romantic relationships with men, but, as befits a woman who represents a self-sufficient chaste goddess "belonging to no man", she never married.

Like Artemis, Gloria Steinem elder sister, provides assistance to women who turn to her. I also received her support when I asked her to come to the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association to help those who were trying to get the Association to support the boycott of states that did not ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. I watched with admiration that many men feel its great power and literally prepare to share the fate of the unfortunate Actaeon. Some male psychiatrists opposed to her quite sincerely (albeit completely unfoundedly) believed that they could lose research subsidies if this "goddess" used force to punish and destroy them.

Artemis merging with nature

It is the archetype of Artemis that attracts a woman to deserted places and wild nature. Thanks to him, a woman comes to terms with herself and, when she wanders through desert forests and mountains, falls asleep under the moon and stars, or, peering into the distance, walks along the desert seashore, experiencing a feeling of unity with being.

Here is how Lynn Thomas describes the feeling of a woman who perceives pristine nature according to her inner Artemis:

"In the beginning - a majestic landscape and silence, clean water and clean air. And also detachment ... the opportunity to forget for a while about family ties and daily household rituals ... And the gift of energy. Primordial nature fills you with energy. I remember , as I once lay on the banks of the Serpentine River in Idaho and was aware of everything around ... I could not sleep ... Being held me in its palms. I was swallowed up by the dance of molecules and atoms. My body responded to the pull of the moon. "

"Moon Vision"

The clarity of the gaze of the huntress focused on the goal is only one of the ways of "seeing" the world associated with the archetype of Artemis. The second way, "lunar vision", characterizes Artemis as the goddess of the moon. In the moonlight, the earth's landscape looks blurry, beautiful and mysterious. The star-studded sky and the boundless panorama of the surrounding landscape attract the eye. Contacting in the light of the moon with Artemis inside ourselves, remaining one on one with nature, we stop separating ourselves from the world and merge with being, dissolve in it.

China Galland, the author of the book "Woman and Primordial Nature", emphasizes that, remaining alone with nature, a woman plunges into the depths of her soul: "When we find ourselves in the pristine nature, we see the landscape of our inner essence. The deepest value of such an experience is the recognition of our relationship with the world." Women who are attracted to nature by Artemis begin to perceive the world in a different way. Often their dreams become brighter and more vivid than usual; through such dreams they gain a new understanding of themselves. Dream symbols, in which their inner world is revealed, are born in "moonlight", as opposed to everyday reality, which needs bright daylight.

Development of the Artemis archetype

Women corresponding to the type of Artemis immediately recognize their resemblance to this goddess. Others may be tempted to get to know her. There are women who are aware of the existence of Artemis in themselves and feel the need for her to become a more significant part of their nature. How can we develop Artemis in ourselves, strengthen her archetype? And how can we help awaken Artemis in our daughters?

Sometimes, in order to awaken in yourself the archetype of Artemis, you need really drastic measures. I'll give you an example. One talented writer, for whom the work meant a lot, nevertheless, forgot about her every time as soon as another man appeared on the horizon. At first, the presence of a man in her life intoxicated her. Then she could not do without him at all. Her life revolved around this man, and the more he cooled towards her, the more she went crazy for him. One day a friend said to her: "You're just obsessed with men." Then she realized that she would have to refuse to deal with men if she wanted to succeed in literature. She settled outside the city and began to develop Artemis in herself, working alone and only visiting old friends from time to time.

A woman who marries early often passes immediately from the role of a daughter (the archetype of Persephone) to the role of a wife (the archetype of Hera) and often discovers Artemis only after the dissolution of the marriage, when she is alone for the first time in her life. At such a moment, she may feel an unprecedented freedom and find that she herself is able to have a good time. She will find pleasure in morning jogs or in participation in a women's support group.

A woman with a series of love affairs in the past, who thinks that she is worthless without a man, will be able to awaken Artemis in herself only after she “puts an end to men” and seriously decides that she will most likely never marry. Having mustered up the courage to face this opportunity, she will live surrounded by friends and do as she pleases. The archetype of Artemis will give her the opportunity to find satisfaction in a sense of her own self-sufficiency.

Artemis awakens in women not only due to pristine nature. The same thing happens when our daughters compete in various sports, go to teen camps, travel and study in other countries as part of student exchange programs.

Artemis Woman

The qualities of Artemis appear in girls at a very early age. Usually, little Artemis is active and completely absorbed in the study of new subjects. About her ability to focus attention on what she is interested in, people often speak like this: "How focused she is - at the age of two" or "Think before you promise her something. She has an excellent memory, she is nothing does not forget." Encouraged by Artemis to explore new territories, the girl gets out of her crib or leaves the playground and goes to the "big world".

Artemis is confident in her motives and life principles. She defends the weak and is the first to say, "It's not fair!" Artemis girls brought up in families where preference is given to sons cannot come to terms with this. They do not perceive such injustice as a "given". Often in a younger sister who demands equality with her brothers, one can discern a future fighter for women's rights.

Parents

The parents of a woman who confidently walks her own path, satisfied with herself as a person and rejoicing that she is a woman, are sometimes like Leto and Zeus. They, just like these gods, contribute to the realization of the potential of Artemis, which lies in their daughter. For an Artemis woman, in order to successfully compete with men and achieve her goals without conflict, it is very important paternal approval.

Many fathers, like Zeus, give support to their daughters. Sometimes their "magic gifts" are intangible - it can be common interests, mutual understanding, empathy. Sometimes such "gifts" are quite real. The famous tennis champion Chris Evert was coached by her father, professional tennis player Jimmy Evert. He gave his daughter a tennis racket when she was only five years old.

If the daughter of Artemis was born into a family far from patriarchal values ​​and therefore without correspondence in Greek mythology, her childhood does not look too much like life on the top of Mount Olympus. If both parents equally share the care of children and household duties, and at the same time each of them is engaged in his own career, they become a model for their daughter Artemis. However, these qualities do not fit well with motherhood and close relationships.

Problems arise when parents criticize the Artemis in their child as she doesn't fit their ideas of what a daughter should be. A mother who would like to have an obedient, clinging girl, but is forced to raise an active, limitless child, may feel frustrated and not accepted. She expects her daughter to follow her on her heels and obey her unquestioningly, because "mother knows best", but these hopes are not justified. Even at the age of three, little "Miss Independence" does not want to stay at home with her mother, but prefers to play with older children, leaving her dolls behind. And she does not want to wear dresses with frills and please her mother's friends with her exemplary behavior.

Later, Artemis may run into opposition when she wants to do something without parental permission. If she is not allowed to do what boys are allowed to do just because "you are a girl", she may burst into tears in protest. And if this does not help, she retires in indignation. Such conflicts rob her of self-confidence, especially if she is subjected to derogatory criticism from her father, who "would like to see her as a young lady" and at the same time does not value her abilities and ambitious aspirations.

I know from my own experience what are the consequences of such an attitude of fathers towards their daughters, Artemis. Usually the daughter obeys, but in her soul she is in pain. This is how a pattern of behavior is formed, which is based on deep uncertainty. In the future, following this model, a woman will act contrary to her own interests. Her worst enemy is self-doubt. Even those who, in their youth, seemed to successfully resist attempts to limit their ambitions, nevertheless found themselves traumatized by the misunderstanding of their parents. If a woman lives with the feeling that she does not live up to the ideal of her father, she hesitates and cannot make the right decision when new opportunities appear in her life. Her achievements are less than what she is capable of. Even if she succeeds, she still feels inferior. Such personality defects arise where preference is given to sons, and purely female stereotypes of behavior are expected from daughters.

One Artemis woman who attended my seminar put it this way: "My mother wanted Persephone (a pliable little mother's daughter), my father wanted a son, but they had me." Some mothers criticize their Artemis daughters for pursuing goals that are alien to them. However, the mother's negative attitude does much less harm than the father's criticism, because in the eyes of Artemis the father has much more authority.

Here is another typical difficulty in the relationship of a mother with her daughter, Artemis. Artemis believes that her mother is passive and weak. If the mother experienced periods of depression, abused alcohol, divorced her husband, gave birth at a young age, the Artemis daughter, describing her relationship with her, usually says: "I was the parent." In the course of further conversation, it turns out that memories of the mother’s weakness and the thought that she herself did not then have sufficient strength to somehow change the situation cause severe mental pain to her daughter Artemis.

While the goddess Artemis always rescued her own mother, Artemis daughters' attempts to save their mothers usually fail.

The archetype of the virgin goddess in the Artemis daughter is strengthened by the lack of respect for the weak mother. Trying not to be like her mother, she tries with all her might to get rid of her daughter's affection, hides her own vulnerability and, above all, strives for independence.

When an Artemis daughter lacks respect for a mother who limits her life to traditional female roles, she is trapped. Rejecting identification with her mother, she also rejects what is commonly considered feminine - softness, receptivity, the desire for marriage and motherhood - paying for this with an unfortunate feeling of her inadequacy as a woman.

Adolescence and youth

In adolescence, the Artemis daughter demonstrates an innate desire for competition, showing her inherent perseverance, courage, and the will to win. To achieve any goal, she is already at this age quite capable of self-restraint. She can take long walks, climb rocks, sleep outdoors, ride a horse, chop wood for a fire with an ax, or become as skilled a marksman as Artemis herself. The archetype of teenage Artemis is personified by the heroine of the classic film National Velvet.

Teenage Artemis is a girl who strives for independence and is prone to exploration. She boldly ventures into the forests, climbs the mountains and wants to know what is in the next street. Its slogans are "Don't limit me" and "Don't pressure me". Unlike many of her peers, she does not like to adapt and is reluctant to compromise, as she usually knows what she wants and does not think about whether someone likes it or not. Sometimes this self-confidence turns against herself: other people may consider her stubborn and cheeky.

The Artemis girl, who leaves her parents' house for college, experiences a joyful revival. She feels her independence and is ready to accept the challenge that life throws at her. She usually finds a kindred spirit to "run along".

If she is in good physical shape, she can take daily long runs, reveling in the feeling of her own strength and grace and enjoying the state of special clarity of consciousness that appears during the run. (I have yet to meet a woman who can run a marathon without the powerful drive of Artemis, which provides the combination of focus, will, and competitive spirit that is so necessary for running.) We also see Artemis in skiers rushing down the snowy slope, whose the physical and psychological state is such that difficulties only spur them on.

The Artemis woman puts a lot of effort into her work. Competition and rivalry only incite her. Often she chooses the profession of a lawyer or gets a job where she can help other people.

She usually starts her business with the release of products that she considers undoubtedly useful, in creativity she most often expresses her emphasized personal vision of the world, and in politics she devotes herself to the fight against environmental pollution or defends the rights of women. Fame, power and money can come to her if the field in which she succeeds is prestigious and has its own rewards.

At the same time, the interests of many Artemis women are often far from any commerce, are not compatible with career growth and do not provide either fame or a solid bank account. They go down unbeaten paths, pursuing goals that are incomprehensible to most, and at the same time they do not have time to establish close relationships with people or achieve success in life.

The defender of the losing side, the misunderstood reformer, the "voice crying in the wilderness", to which no one pays attention, the representative of "pure", non-commercial art - all this is Artemis (however, in the latter case, Aphrodite joins Artemis, with her influence on creativity and emphasis on subjective experiences).

Since the Artemis woman is unconventional, it is possible that sooner or later she will find herself in conflict with herself or with others. It happens that the desires of Artemis do not correspond to her capabilities, for example, if her parents consider her aspirations inappropriate. If an Artemis woman was "born too early", the obstacles in her path may be insurmountable, and then the spirit of Artemis will be broken in her.

Relationships with women: sisterly

The Artemis woman has a strong sense of female solidarity. Like the goddess herself, surrounded by nymph companions, friendly relations with other women are very important to her. This pattern of behavior dates back to elementary school. Her "best friends" are those with whom she shared everything that is important in her life. Such friendships can last for decades.

Working Artemis women easily unite in support groups, various women's organizations, guardianship societies for young women in a particular field of activity - all this makes it possible to express the archetype of a sister.

Even prone to individualism and avoiding social activities, Artemis women are ready to defend the rights of other women. Usually this is a consequence of their closeness to the mother, thanks to which they are full of sympathy for the female fate. The youth of their mothers coincided with the post-war birth boom, which did not allow them to express themselves sufficiently. Later, their Artemis daughters realized what remained for them a pipe dream. Therefore, often not far from the Artemis woman, you can find her mother, who looks at her daughter with approval.

By nature, most Artemis women are prone to social activities. The Artemis woman feels equal to men; she competes with them, realizing that the stereotyped "female" role assigned to her by society is unnatural for her. Hiding your abilities - "don't let a man know how strong you are" or "let a man win (in an argument or tennis)" - is contrary to her nature.

Sexuality

The Artemis woman, like the goddess herself, can keep her virginity. Then her sexuality remains undeveloped and unexpressed. However, at present this is quite rare. Most likely, the Artemis woman will gain sexual experience due to her penchant for exploration and new adventures.

The sexuality of an Artemis woman can be similar to that of an ordinary man who prioritizes his work. For both of them, close relationships are secondary. In the first place there is always business, career, creativity. Sex in such cases is more of an amusement and physiological need than a physical expression of emotional intimacy and family obligations (Hera's motivation) or a manifestation of genuine sensuality inherent in Aphrodite.

If an Artemis woman is a lesbian, she usually enters some

• Psychology

Jin Shinoda Bolen Goddesses in every woman New psychology of woman. Archetypes of Goddesses Translated by G. Bakhtiyarova and O. Bakhtiyarov M.: Publishing House "Sofia", 2005 J. Bolen. Goddesses in Everywoman. S.F.: Harper & Row, 1984 Why is it that for some women the most important thing in life is family and children, while for others it is independence and success? Why are some of them extroverted, career-focused, logical and precise in detail, while others willingly become introverted stay-at-homes? The more diverse a woman is in her manifestations, - notes Dr. Bohlen, - the more goddesses appear through her. The challenge is to decide how to either increase these manifestations or fight them if you don't like them. The book "Goddesses in every woman. New psychology of women. Archetypes of goddesses" will help you with this. Every woman recognizes herself in one or more Greek goddesses ... and not one of them will condemn herself. The book will provide you with powerful images that you can use effectively to understand and change yourself. Although this book contains information useful to psychotherapists, it is written for every reader who wants to better understand those women who are closest to the reader, loved, but still remain a mystery. Finally, this book is intended for women themselves, to whom it will help them discover the hidden goddesses within themselves.

J. Bohlen. GODDESSES IN EVERY WOMAN

Introduction. THE GODDESS IS IN EVERYONE OF US!

Every woman plays a leading role in her own life story. As a psychiatrist, I have listened to hundreds of personal stories and realized that each of them has a mythological dimension. Some women turn to a psychiatrist when they feel completely demoralized and “broken”, others when they realize that they have become hostages of circumstances that need to be analyzed and changed.

In any case, it seems to me that women ask for help from a psychotherapist in order to learn to be the main characters, the leading characters in the story of your life. To do this, they need to make conscious decisions that will determine their lives. Previously, women were not even aware of the powerful influence that cultural stereotypes had on them; in a similar way, they are usually unaware now of what mighty powers lie within themselves, powers that can determine their actions and feelings. It is to these forces, represented in the guise of ancient Greek goddesses, that I dedicate my book.

These mighty inner circuits, or archetypes, explain the main differences between women. Some, for example, in order to feel like an accomplished person, need monogamy, the institution of marriage and children - such women suffer, but endure if they cannot achieve this goal. For them, traditional roles are of the greatest importance. They are very different from other types of women who value their independence above all because they focus on what is important to them personally. No less peculiar is the third type - women who are attracted by the intensity of feelings and new experiences, because of which they enter into ever new personal relationships or rush from one type of creativity to another. Finally, another type of woman prefers loneliness; Spirituality is of the utmost importance to them. The fact that for one woman an accomplishment, another may seem like complete nonsense - everything is determined by which archetype of which goddess prevails in her.

Moreover, in every woman coexist some goddesses. The more complex her character, the more likely it is that various goddesses are actively manifested in her - and what is significant for one of them is meaningless for the others ...

Knowledge of goddess archetypes helps women understand themselves and their relationships with men and other women, with parents, lovers and children. In addition, these divine archetypes allow women to sort out their own urges (especially with compelling addictions), frustrations, and sources of contentment.

The archetypes of the goddesses are also interesting to men. Those who want to better understand women can use the archetype system to classify women and gain a deeper understanding of what to expect from them. Moreover, men will be able to understand women with a complex and seemingly contradictory character.

Finally, such a system of archetypes can be extremely useful for psychotherapists working with women. It offers curious clinical tools for understanding interpersonal and internal conflicts. Goddess archetypes help explain differences in character and make it easier to identify potential psychological difficulties and psychiatric symptoms. In addition, they indicate the possible ways of development of a woman along the line of one or another "goddess".

This book describes a new approach to female psychology, based on the female images of ancient Greek goddesses that have existed in the human imagination for more than three millennia. This type of female psychology is different from all theories where the "normal woman" is defined as obeying a single "correct model", personality schema or psychological structure. Our theory is based on observations of diversity normal differences in female psychology.

Much of what I know about women comes from professional experience—from what I learned as a psychiatrist and Jungian psychoanalyst, from teaching and consulting experience as a practicing teacher at the University of California and principal analyst at the Jung Institute in San Francisco. .

However, the description of female psychology, which is given on the pages of this book, is based not only on professional knowledge. Most of my ideas are based on the fact that I myself am a woman who has known different female roles - daughter, wife, mother of a son and daughter. My understanding increased through conversations with girlfriends and other women. In both cases, women become for each other a kind of "mirrors" - we see ourselves in the reflection of other people's experiences and realize the common thing that binds all women, as well as those aspects of our own psyche that we were not aware of before.

My understanding of female psychology was also determined by the fact that I am a woman living in the modern era. In 1963, I entered graduate school. That year, two events occurred that eventually sparked the women's rights movement in the 70s. First, Betty Friedan published her Womanish Mystery, where she highlighted the emptiness and dissatisfaction of an entire generation of women who lived exclusively for other people and someone else's life. Friedan has identified the source of this lack of happiness as a problem of self-determination, rooted in developmental arrest. She believed that this problem was caused by our very culture, which does not allow women to recognize and satisfy their basic needs for growth and development, to realize their human potential. Her book, which put an end to common cultural stereotypes, Freudian dogma and the manipulation of women by the media, offered principles whose time is long overdue. Her ideas gave vent to repressed violent feelings, and they later led to the birth of the women's liberation movement and, finally, to the creation of the National Organization of Women.

Also in 1963, under President John F. Kennedy, the Commission on the Status of Women released a report that described the inequality in the economic system of the United States. Women were paid less than men for the same work; they were denied vacancies and denied promotion opportunities. This flagrant injustice has become yet another confirmation of how undeservedly the role of women in modern society is underestimated.

So I entered the world of professional psychiatry at a time when the United States was on the cusp of a women's rights movement. In the 1970s my understanding of the problem increased. I began to realize the inequality and discrimination of women; I realized that the cultural standards set by men were themselves rewarding women for uncomplaining obedience or punishing women for rejecting stereotyped roles. I ended up joining a handful of female colleagues from the Northern California Psychiatric Association and the American Psychiatric Association.

A double look at female psychology

I became a Jungian psychoanalyst around the same time I switched to feminist positions. After graduating in 1966, I studied at the C. Jung Institute in San Francisco and in 1976 received a diploma in psychoanalysis. During this period, my understanding of female psychology steadily deepened, and feminist insights were combined with Jungian psychology of archetypes.

Working on the basis of either Jungian psychoanalysis or female-oriented psychiatry, I seemed to be building a bridge between two worlds. My Jungian colleagues didn't really care what was going on in political and social life. Most of them seemed only vaguely aware of the importance of women's struggle for their rights. As for my female psychiatric feminist friends, if they thought I was a Jungian psychoanalyst, they probably saw it either as my personal esoteric and mystical interest, or as just some additional specialty that, although deserving of respect, has no attitudes towards women's issues. I, torn between one and the other, over time comprehended what depths the merger of two approaches - Jungian and feminist - can reveal. They are combined into a kind of "binocular vision" of female psychology.

The Jungian approach made me realize that women are subject to powerful inner forces -- archetypes which can be personified by the images of ancient Greek goddesses. In turn, the feminist approach helped me understand that external forces, or stereotypes- the roles that society expects from women - impose on them the templates of some goddesses and suppress others. As a result, I began to see that every woman is somewhere in between: her inner drives are determined by goddess archetypes, and her outer actions are cultural stereotypes.

Jin Shinoda Bolen - A GODDESS IN EVERY WOMAN

NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMAN. ARCHETYPES OF GODDESSES

In every woman, several goddesses coexist. The more complex her character, the more likely it is that different goddesses are actively manifested in her - and what is significant for one of them is meaningless for the others ... Knowing the goddess archetypes helps women understand themselves and their relationships with men and other women, with parents, lovers and children. In addition, these divine archetypes allow women to sort out their own urges (especially with compelling addictions), frustrations, and sources of contentment.
In this book, I will describe the archetypes that operate in women's souls. They are personified in the images of the Greek goddesses. For example, Demeter, the goddess of motherhood, is the embodiment of the mother archetype. Other goddesses: Persephone - daughter, Hera - wife, Aphrodite - beloved, Artemis - sister and rival, Athena - strategist, Hestia - keeper of the hearth. In reality, archetypes do not have names, and images of goddesses are useful only when they correspond to female sensations and feelings.

The concept of archetypes was developed by Carl Gustav Jung. He considered them as figurative schemes (samples, models) of instinctive behavior contained in the collective unconscious. These schemas are not individual, they more or less similarly condition the responses of many people.

All myths and fairy tales are archetypal. Many images and plots of dreams are also archetypal. It is the presence of universal archetypal patterns of behavior that explains the similarity of the mythologies of various cultures.

Goddesses as archetypes

Most of us have heard about the Olympian gods at least in school and seen their statues or images. The Romans worshiped the same deities as the Greeks, but called them by Latin names. According to the myths, the inhabitants of Olympus were very similar to people in their behavior, emotional reactions and appearance. The images of the Olympic gods embody archetypal patterns of behavior that are present in our common collective unconscious. That is why they are close to us.

The twelve Olympians are best known: six gods - Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, and six goddesses - Demeter, Hera, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite and Hestia. Subsequently, the place of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, in this hierarchy was taken by the god of wine, Dionysus. Thus, the balance was broken - there were more gods than goddesses. The archetypes that I describe are the six Olympian goddesses - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite and, besides them, Persephone, the myth of which is inseparable from the myth of Demeter.

I have classified these goddesses as follows: virgin goddesses, vulnerable goddesses, and the alchemical goddess.

Virgin goddesses stood out as a separate group in ancient Greece. The other two groups are defined by me. Each of the categories under consideration is characterized by a particular perception of the world, as well as preferred roles and motivations. Goddesses differ in their affections and how they treat others. In order for a woman to love deeply, work with joy, be sexual and live creatively, all of the above goddesses must be expressed in her life, each in its own time.

The first group described here includes virgin goddesses: Artemis, Athena and Hestia.

Artemis (among the Romans - Diana) - the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The realm of Artemis is a wilderness. She is an unmissable marksman and patroness of wild animals.

Pallas Athena (Minevra)

Athena (among the Romans - Minerva) is the goddess of wisdom and crafts, the patroness of the city named after her. She also patronizes numerous heroes. Athena was usually depicted wearing armor, as she was also known as an excellent military strategist.

Hestia, the goddess of the hearth (among the Romans - Vesta), is the least known of all the Olympians. The symbol of this goddess was the fire that burned in the hearths of houses and in temples.

Virgin goddesses are the embodiment of female independence. Unlike other celestials, they are not prone to love. Emotional attachments do not distract them from what they consider important. They don't suffer from unrequited love. As archetypes, they are an expression of women's need for independence and focus on goals that are meaningful to them. Artemis and Athena personify purposefulness and logical thinking, and therefore their archetype is focused on achievement. Hestia is the archetype of introversion, attention directed to the inner depths, to the spiritual center of the female personality. These three archetypes expand our understanding of such feminine qualities as competence and self-sufficiency. They are inherent in women who actively strive for their own goals.

The second group is made up of vulnerable goddesses - Hera, Demeter and Persephone. Hera (among the Romans - Juno) - the goddess of marriage. She is the wife of Zeus, the supreme god of Olympus. Demeter (among the Romans - Ceres) - the goddess of fertility and agriculture. In myths, Demeter is given special importance in the role of mother. Persephone (among the Romans - Proserpina) is the daughter of Demeter. The Greeks also called her Kore - "girl".

These three goddesses represent the traditional roles of wife, mother and daughter. As archetypes, they are relationship oriented, providing experiences of wholeness and well-being, in other words, meaningful connection. They express women's need for strong bonds and affection. These goddesses are attuned to others and therefore vulnerable. They are suffering. They were raped, kidnapped, suppressed and humiliated by male gods. When their attachments were destroyed and they felt offended in their feelings, they showed symptoms similar to those of ordinary people's mental disorders. And each of them eventually overcomes their suffering. Their stories enable women to understand the nature of their own psycho-emotional reactions to losses and find the strength to cope with mental pain.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty (among the Romans - Venus) is the most beautiful and irresistible alchemical goddess. She is the only one who falls under the third category. She had many novels and, as a result, many offspring. Aphrodite is the embodiment of erotic attraction, voluptuousness, sexuality and the desire for a new life. She enters into love affairs of her own choosing and never finds herself in the role of a victim. Thus, she combines the independence of virgin goddesses and the intimacy in relationships inherent in vulnerable goddesses. Her mind is both focused and receptive. Aphrodite allows relationships that equally affect her and the subject of her hobbies. The Aphrodite archetype encourages women to look for intensity rather than permanence in relationships, to appreciate the creative process, and to be open to change and renewal.

Family tree

To better understand the essence of each of the goddesses and their relationship with other deities, we must first consider them in a mythological context. Hesiod gives us such an opportunity. "Theogony", his main work, contains information about the origin of the gods and their "family tree".

In the beginning, according to Hesiod, there was Chaos. Then came Gaia (Earth), gloomy Tartarus (immeasurable depths of the underworld) and Eros (Love).

The mighty, fruitful Gaia-Earth gave birth to a son, Uranus - the blue boundless Sky. Then she married Uranus and gave birth to the twelve Titans - the primitive natural forces that were worshiped in Greece in antiquity. According to the Hesiod genealogy of the gods, the Titans were the first supreme dynasty, the ancestors of the Olympian gods.

Uranus, the first patriarchal or paternal figure in Greek mythology, hated his children born of Gaia and did not allow them to leave her womb, thereby dooming Gaia to terrible torment. She called on the Titans to help her. But none of them, except for the youngest, Kronos (among the Romans - Saturn), did not dare to intervene. He responded to Gaia's plea for help and, armed with the sickle received from her, began to wait for Uranus in ambush.

When Uranus came to Gaia and lay down with her, Kronos took a sickle, cut off his father's genitals and threw them into the sea. After that, Kronos became the most powerful of the gods. Together with the Titans, he ruled the universe. They gave rise to many new gods. Some of them represented rivers, winds, rainbows. Others were monsters, personifying evil and danger.

Kronos was married to his sister Rhea, the Titanide. From their union was born the first generation of the Olympic gods - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.

And again, the patriarchal progenitor - this time Kronos himself - tried to destroy his children. Gaia foretold that he was destined to be defeated by his own son. He decided not to let this happen and swallowed all his children immediately after their birth, without even finding out if it was a boy or a girl. So he devoured three daughters and two sons.

Having once again become pregnant, Rhea, mourning the fate of her own children, turned to Gaia and Uranus with a request to help her save her last child and punish Kronos. Her parents advised her to retire to the island of Crete and, when the time comes for childbirth, to deceive Kronos by giving him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. In his haste, Kronos swallowed the stone, thinking it was a baby.

The rescued child was named Zeus. Later, he overthrew his father and began to rule over all gods and mortals. Growing up secretly from Kronos, he subsequently tricked him into regurgitating his brothers and sisters back, and together with them began a long struggle for power over the world, ending with the defeat of the Titans and their imprisonment in the dark abysses of Tartarus.

After the victory over the titans, the three god brothers - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades - divided the universe among themselves. Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea, Hades the underworld. Although the earth and Olympus were supposed to be common, nevertheless Zeus extended his power to them. Three sisters - Hestia, Demeter and Hera - according to patriarchal Greek beliefs, did not have substantial rights.

Thanks to his love affairs, Zeus became the father of the next generation of gods: Artemis and Apollo (the sun god) - the children of Zeus and Leto, Athena - the daughter of Zeus and Metis, Persephone - the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Hermes (messenger of the gods) - the son of Zeus and Maya, Ares (god of war) and Hephaestus (god of fire) are the sons of the legal wife of Zeus, Hera. There are two versions of the origin of Aphrodite: according to one of them, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, in the other case, it is argued that she preceded Zeus. Through a love affair with a mortal woman, Semele, Zeus also fathered Dionysus.

To remind the reader who is who in Greek mythology, the book ends with brief biographical notes on the gods and goddesses, arranged in alphabetical order.

History and mythology

The mythology dedicated to the Greek gods and goddesses we describe is a reflection of historical events. This is a patriarchal mythology that glorifies Zeus and heroes. It is based on the clash of people who professed faith in the maternal principle, with invaders who worshiped warlike gods and created religious cults based on the male principle.

Maria Jimbutas, professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and specialist in European mythology, writes about the so-called "Old Europe" - the first European civilization. Scientists estimate that the culture of Old Europe was formed at least five (and possibly twenty-five) thousand years before the patriarchal religions arose. This matriarchal, sedentary and peaceful culture was associated with land, sea and the cult of the Great Goddess. Information collected bit by bit during archaeological excavations shows that the society of Old Europe did not know property and social stratification, equality reigned in it. Old Europe was destroyed during the invasion of semi-nomadic hierarchically organized Indo-European tribes from the north and east.

The invaders were belligerent people of patriarchal morals, indifferent to art. They treated with contempt the more culturally developed indigenous population that they enslaved, professing the cult of the Great Goddess, known by many names - for example, Astarte, Ishtar, Inanna, Nut, Isis.

She was worshiped as a life-giving feminine, deeply connected with nature and fertility, responsible for both creative and destructive manifestations of the power of life. The snake, the dove, the tree and the moon are the sacred symbols of the Great Goddess. According to mythological historian Robert Graves, before the advent of patriarchal religions, the Great Goddess was believed to be immortal, unchanging, and omnipotent. She took lovers, not so that her children would have a father, but solely for her own enjoyment. There were no male gods. In the context of a religious cult, there was no such thing as paternity.

The Great Goddess was dethroned in successive waves of Indo-European invasions. Authoritative researchers date the beginning of these waves between 4500 and 2400 BC. BC. The goddesses did not disappear completely, but entered the cults of the invaders in secondary roles.

The invaders imposed their patriarchal culture and their militant religious cult on the conquered population. The Great Goddess in her various incarnations began to play the subordinate role of the wife of the gods worshiped by the conquerors. The powers that originally belonged to the female deity were alienated and transferred to the male deity. For the first time, the theme of rape appeared in myths; myths arose in which male heroes killed snakes - a symbol of the Great Goddess. The attributes of the Great Goddess were divided among many goddesses. Mythologist Jane Harrison notes that the Great Goddess, as in a broken mirror, was reflected in many lesser goddesses: Hera received the rite of sacred marriage, Demeter - mysteries, Athena - a snake, Aphrodite - a dove, Artemis - the function of the mistress of the wild.

Goddess Aphrodite

According to Merlin Stone, author of When God Was a Woman, the final overthrow of the Great Goddess occurred later, with the advent of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The male deity took the dominant position. The female goddesses gradually receded into the background; women in society followed suit. Stone notes: "We are surprised to discover to what extent the suppression of women's rituals was in fact the suppression of women's rights."

Historical goddesses and archetypes

The Great Goddess was worshiped as the Creator and Destroyer, responsible for fertility and cataclysms. The Great Goddess still exists as an archetype in the collective unconscious. I often felt the presence of the fearsome Great Goddess in my parents. One of my patients, after giving birth, identified herself with the Great Goddess in a terrifying aspect of her. The young mother experienced psychosis shortly after the birth of her child. This woman was depressed, had hallucinations, and blamed herself for taking over the world. She paced the hospital room, miserable and pitiful.

When I approached her, she told me that she "ate greedily and destroyed the world." During her pregnancy she identified with the Great Goddess in her positive Creator aspect, but after giving birth she felt she had the power to destroy everything she had created and did so. Her emotional conviction was so great that she ignored the evidence that the world still existed as if nothing had happened.

This archetype is also relevant in its positive aspect. For example, the image of the Great Goddess as a life-giving force takes possession of a person who is convinced that his life depends on maintaining a connection with a certain woman who is associated with the Great Goddess. This is a fairly common mania. Sometimes we see that the loss of such a connection is so devastating that it leads a person to suicide.

The Great Goddess archetype has the power that the Great Goddess herself had at the time when she was truly worshiped. And therefore, of all the archetypes, it is this one that is able to exert the strongest influence. This archetype is capable of causing irrational fears and distorting perceptions of reality. The Greek goddesses were not as powerful as the Great Goddess. They are more specialized. Each of them had their own sphere of influence, and their powers had certain limits. In women's souls, the Greek goddesses are also not as powerful as the Great Goddess; their ability to emotionally suppress and distort the perception of reality is much weaker.

Of the seven Greek goddesses, representing the main, most general archetypal models of female behavior, the most influential are Aphrodite, Demeter and Hera. They are much more closely related to the Great Goddess than the other four goddesses. Aphrodite is a weakened version of the Great Goddess in her incarnation as the goddess of fertility. Demeter is a reduced copy of the Great Goddess as Mother. Hera is only an echo of the Great Goddess as the Lady of Heaven. However, as we shall see in the following chapters, although each of them is "less" than the Great Goddess, together they represent those forces in the soul of a woman who become irresistible when they are required to do their due.

Women who are affected by any of these three goddesses must learn to resist, as blindly following the commands of Aphrodite, Demeter, or Hera may adversely affect their lives. Like the goddesses of ancient Greece themselves, their archetypes do not serve the interests and relationships of mortal women. Archetypes exist outside of time, they do not care about a woman's life or her needs.

Three of the remaining four archetypes - Artemis, Athena and Persephone - are daughter goddesses. They are removed from the Great Goddess for another generation. Accordingly, as archetypes, they do not have the same absorbing power as Aphrodite, Demeter and Hera, and affect mainly character traits.

Hestia, the eldest, wisest, and most revered goddess of all, eschewed power entirely. She represents the spiritual component of life, which should be honored by every woman.

Greek goddesses and modern women

Greek goddesses are female images that have lived in the human imagination for more than three millennia. They embody female aspirations, they embody behavioral patterns that historically were not allowed to women.

Greek goddesses are beautiful and powerful. They follow exclusively their own motives, not knowing the dictates of external circumstances. I argue in this book that, as archetypes, they are able to determine both the quality and direction of a woman's life.

These goddesses are different from each other. Each of them has its positive and its potential negative properties. Mythology shows what is important for them, and in a metaphorical form tells us about the possibilities of women like them.

I also came to the conclusion that the Greek goddesses of Olympus, each of whom is unique, and some of them are even hostile to each other, are a metaphor for the internal diversity and internal conflicts of a woman, thereby manifesting her complexity and versatility. All goddesses are potentially present in every woman. When several goddesses fight for dominance over a woman, she needs to decide for herself which aspects of her essence and at what time will be dominant, otherwise she will rush from one extreme to another.

The Greek goddesses, like us, lived in a patriarchal society. The male gods ruled over the earth, sky, ocean, and underworld. Each goddess adapted to this state of affairs in her own way - some by separating from men, some by joining men, some by withdrawing into themselves. The goddesses who valued patriarchal relationships were vulnerable and relatively weak compared to the male gods who dominated the community and could deny them their desires. Thus, the Greek goddesses embody the life models of a woman in a patriarchal culture.

HEROINE IN EVERY WOMAN

Every woman has a potential heroine. She represents a female leader in her life story, on a journey that begins at her birth and continues throughout her life. As she walks her unique path, she will undoubtedly encounter suffering; feel lonely, vulnerable, indecisive and face limitations. She can also find meaning in her life, develop character, experience love and reverence, and learn wisdom.

It is formed by its decisions through the ability to believe and love, the willingness to learn from experience and make commitments. If she evaluates what can be done when she encounters difficulties, decides what she will do, and behaves according to her values ​​and feelings, then she is acting as the main character of her personal myth.

Although life is full of circumstances beyond our control, there are always moments of decision, nodal points that determine further events or change human character. As the heroine of her heroic journey, a woman must begin with the attitude (even if at first "as if") that her choice matters. In the process of life, a woman becomes a person who makes decisions, a heroine who shapes her future self. It either develops or degrades by what it does or does not do and by the positions it occupies.

I know that my patients were shaped by events not only external, but also internal. Their feelings, their inner and outer reactions determined their path and who they became, to a much greater extent than the degree of misfortune and adversity they faced. For example, I have met people who lived through childhoods full of deprivation, cruelty, callousness, beatings, or sexual abuse. However, they did not (as might be expected) become like the adults who mistreated them. Despite all the bad things that they experienced, they felt compassion for others - both then and now. The traumatic experience left its mark, they were not unscathed, but despite this, the ability to trust, love and hope survived. When I guessed why such events happened, I began to understand the difference between a heroine and a victim.

As children, each of these people saw themselves as the protagonist of a terrible drama. Everyone had an inner myth, a fictional life, imaginary comrades. The daughter, beaten and humiliated by a rude father and unprotected by a depressed mother, recalled telling herself as a child that she was not part of this uneducated, uncouth family, that in reality she was a princess being tested by these ordeals. Another girl, beaten and sexually harassed (and who, as an adult, completely disproved the notion that those who were beaten in childhood later beat their own children), fled to an imaginary bright life that was completely different from reality. The third represented herself as a warrior. These children thought about the future and planned how they could leave their family when they were old enough. Meanwhile, they themselves chose how they would react. One said, "I wouldn't let anyone see me cry." (She ran into the foothills and wept when none of her offenders could see her.) Another said, "I think my mind left my body. It was like I was in a different place every time he touched me."

These girls were heroines and decision makers. They retained their dignity in spite of their mistreatment. They assessed the situation, decided how they would act in the present, and made plans for the future.

As heroines, they were not strong or powerful demigods like Achilles or Hercules, the heroes of Greek myths who were stronger and more secure than mere mortals. These children, like precocious human heroines, are more like Hansel and Gretel, who had to use their minds when they were abandoned in the woods or when the witch fattened Hansel for a roast.

In real life stories of women, as in myths about heroines, the key element is the emotional or other connections that a woman makes along the way. A female heroine is one who loves or learns to love. She either travels with someone else, or seeks such an alliance in her search.

Path

On every road there are decisive forks that require decisions to be made. Which way to choose? Which direction to follow? To continue a line of conduct consistent with one principle, or to follow a completely different one? Be honest or lie? Go to college or go to work? Have a baby or have an abortion? End relationships or leave? Get married or say "no" to this particular man? Seek immediate medical attention if a breast tumor is found or wait? Just quit school or work and look for something else? Have a love affair and risk marriage? Give in or persevere to achieve something? What choice to make? Which way to choose? What's the price?

I recall one vivid college economics lesson that would come in handy years later in psychiatry: the real price of something is what you give up in order to get what you want. This is not the accepted way. Taking responsibility for making a choice is a crucial and not always easy moment. A woman's ability to choose is what defines her as a heroine.

In contrast, the non-heroine woman follows someone else's choice. She yields sluggishly rather than actively decides. The result is often a willingness to be the victim, saying (after the fact) "I really didn't mean to do this. It was your idea" or "It's all your fault we're in trouble" or "You're the one who got us here" , or "It's your fault that I'm unhappy." And she may also feel tormented and deceived and make accusations: “We always do what you want!”, Not realizing that she herself never insisted on her own or did not express her opinion at all. Starting with the simplest question, "What do you want to do tonight?" to which she invariably replies, "Whatever you want," her habit of giving in can grow until the control of her life simply falls into the wrong hands.

There is also another non-heroic model of behavior, when a woman lives, as if stomping on a crossroads, not having clarity in her feelings, feeling uncomfortable in the role of the one who decides, or not trying to make a choice because of her unwillingness to give up other options. She is often a bright, talented, attractive woman who treats life like a game, refusing close relationships that might become too serious for her, or careers that require too much time or effort. Her stop at not deciding in reality represents, of course, the choice of non-action. She can spend ten years waiting at a crossroads until she realizes that life is passing her by.

Therefore, women need to become heroines-choicemakers, instead of being passive beings, victim-sufferers, pawns moved by other people or circumstances. Becoming a heroine is an inspiring new opportunity for women who have been guided from within by archetypes of vulnerable goddesses. Self-assertion presents a heroic task for women who are malleable like Persephone, who put their men first like Hera, who care about someone else's needs like Demeter. To do this, among other things, means for them to go against their upbringing.

In addition, the need to become a heroine-who-decides comes as a shock to many women who mistakenly thought they already were. Being women of the type of virgin goddesses, they can be psychologically "covered with armor", like Athena, independent of the opinions of men, like Artemis, self-sufficient and lonely, like Hestia. Their heroic task is to venture into intimacy or become emotionally vulnerable. For them, the courageous choice is to trust someone else, need someone else, take responsibility for someone else. It can be easy for such women to make risky business decisions or speak in public. Courage from them requires marriage or motherhood.

The heroine-who-decides must repeat Psyche's first task of "sorting grains" whenever she finds herself at a crossroads and must decide what to do now. She must pause to sort out her priorities, motives, and potentialities in a given situation. She needs to consider what choices exist, what the emotional cost might be, where decisions will take her, what intuitively matters most to her. Based on who she is and what she knows, she must make a decision, choosing a path.

Here I touch again on a theme that I developed in my first book, The Tao of Psychology: the need to choose the "path with the heart." I feel that everyone should weigh everything, and then act, scrutinize every life choice, rationally considering, but then justify their decision by whether their heart agrees with this choice. No other person can tell you if your heart is being touched, and logic cannot provide an answer.

Often, when a woman is faced with such "either/or" choices that have a significant impact on her later life, someone else puts pressure on her: "Get married!", "Have a baby!", "Buy a house!", "Change your job!", "Stop!", "Move!", "Say yes!", "Say no!". Very often a woman is forced to subordinate her mind and her heart to oppressive ideas created by someone's intolerance. To be the one who decides, a woman needs to insist on making her own decisions at the right time for her, realizing that this is her life and she will live with the consequences of these decisions.

In order to develop clarity and understanding, she also needs to resist the inner urge to make rash decisions. The initial stage of life may be dominated by Artemis or Aphrodite, Hera or Demeter with their characteristic force or intensity of response. They may try to displace the feeling of Hestia, the introspection of Persephone, the cold-blooded thinking of Athena, but the presence of these goddesses provides a fuller picture and allows a woman to make decisions that take into account all aspects of her personality.

Journey

When a woman embarks on a heroic journey, she faces challenges, obstacles, and dangers. Her answers and actions will change her. She will discover what is important to her and whether she has the courage to act according to her own ideas. Her character and capacity for compassion will be tested. Along the way, she encounters the dark, vague sides of her personality - sometimes at the same time that she is convinced of her strength and her self-confidence is growing, or when she is overcome by fear. She will probably survive some losses and experience the bitterness of defeat. The heroine's journey is a journey of self-discovery and development, in which the various aspects of a woman's personality are combined into a single entity that retains all its complexity.

Resurrection of the Serpent's Power

Each heroine must acquire the power of the snake. To understand the essence of this task, we need to return to the goddesses and women's dreams.

Many statues of Hera have snakes wrapped around her mantle. Athena was depicted with snakes wrapped around her shield. Serpents were symbols of the pre-Greek Great Goddess of Old Europe and serve as a symbolic trace of the power that the female deity once possessed. In one of the earliest images (Crete, 2000-1800 BC), a bare-breasted female goddess holds a snake in her outstretched arms.

The snake often appears in women's dreams as a mysterious, frightening symbol, to which the dreamer, having felt the possibility of asserting her own strength in life, carefully approaches. Here is a description of a dream of a thirty-year-old married woman: “I am walking along a path; when I looked ahead, I saw that I had to pass under a huge tree. A huge snake peacefully coils around the lower branch. I know that it is not poisonous and nothing threatens - indeed, she is beautiful, but I hesitate. Many dreams similar to this one, where the dreamer is rather reverent or aware of the power of the snake than afraid of danger, are remembered: "A snake wrapping around my table ...", "I see a snake curled up on a balcony ...", "In three snakes in the room..."

Whenever women begin to assert their power, make important decisions and realize their power, as a rule, dreams with snakes appear. Often the dreamer feels the gender of the snake, and this helps to clarify the kind of power symbolized by the snake.

If these dreams coincide with the real life of the dreamer, she has the opportunity, from a position of power or independence, to cope with such questions that arose after choosing a new role: “Can I be effective?”, “How will this role change me? "," Will people like me if I'm decisive and strict?", "Does this behavior threaten my close relationships?". The dreams of women who have never experienced their own power before, most likely indicate that such women should approach the Force carefully, as if approaching an unfamiliar snake.

I think of women gaining a sense of their own power and authority as "claiming the power of the serpent," the power lost by female deities and mortal women at the moment when patriarchal religions stripped goddesses of power and influence, presented the snake as a symbol of evil, threw away her from Eden and made women inferior. Then I imagine the image, the personification of a new woman - strong, beautiful and able to raise and educate children. This image is a terracotta sculpture beautiful woman or a goddess rising from the earth and holding a sheaf of wheat, flowers and a snake in her hands.

Bear Power Resistance

Unlike the male hero, the doer heroine can be threatened by the irresistible pull of the instinct of motherhood. A woman who is unable to resist Aphrodite and/or Demeter may become pregnant at the wrong time or under adverse circumstances. If this happens, she may deviate from the path she has chosen - she is captured by instinct.

I knew a young woman, a graduate student, who forgot all her goals when she felt caught in the urge to get pregnant. She was married and about to get her PhD when she was overcome by the desire to have a child. In those days, she had a dream: a huge bear held her hand in her mouth. She unsuccessfully tried to free herself and called for help from some men, but they were of no use. In this dream, she wandered until she came to a sculpture of a bear with cubs, which reminded her of the sculpture at the San Francisco Medical Center. When she placed her hand on the foot of the sculpture, the she-bear released her.

As she pondered this dream, she felt that the bear symbolized her motherly instinct. Real she-bears are great mothers, they selflessly feed their vulnerable offspring and fiercely protect them. Then, when the time comes for the grown-up cubs to be independent, the mother bear firmly insists that the resisting cubs leave her, go into the world and take care of themselves. This symbol of motherhood firmly held the dreamer until she touched the image of Mother Bear.

The dreamer received the dream's message. If she can promise to maintain her desire to have a child by the time she completes her dissertation (only two years from now), her obsessive desire to get pregnant may subside. Indeed, after she and her husband decided to have a child and she made an internal commitment to get pregnant shortly after completing her dissertation, the obsessive state disappeared. She was able to focus on her studies again. As she made contact with the image, instinct lost its grip. She knew that in order to make a career and at the same time create a real family, you need to resist the power of the bear until she was awarded a doctorate.

Archetypes exist outside of time, not interested in the realities of a woman's life or her needs. When goddesses awaken in a woman, like a heroine, she must say in response to their demands: "yes", or "no", or "not now". If she hesitates to make a conscious choice, instinct or archetypal schema will take over. A woman, captured by the instinct of motherhood, must resist the power of the "bear" and at the same time honor her.

Banishing death and the forces of destruction

Each heroine of myths invariably comes out on her way against something destructive or dangerous, threatening her with destruction. It is also a common theme in women's dreams.

A female lawyer dreamed that she was leaving the church of her childhood and that two wild black dogs attacked her. They jumped on her, trying to bite her neck: "It was perceived as if they were going to bite through the carotid artery." When she raised her hand to deflect the attack, she awoke from her nightmare.

Ever since she started working at the agency, she has been increasingly embittered by her treatment. Men usually assumed that she was just a secretary. Even when those around her were aware of her real role, she often felt insignificant and thought that she was not taken seriously. She, in turn, became critical and hostile towards male colleagues.

At first it seemed to her that the dream was an exaggerated reflection of the perception of herself as constantly "attacked". Then she began to wonder if she herself had anything like those wild dogs. She analyzed what was happening to her at work and was amazed and frightened by the sudden realization that came to her: "Why, I'm turning into an evil bitch!" She remembered the feeling of grace that she experienced in the church in the happy times of her childhood, and realized that she was now completely different. This dream was an inspiration. The dreamer's personality was threatened by a real danger of self-destruction by her own hostility, which she directed at others. She became cynical and angry. In reality, as in the dream, it was she who was in danger, not the people on whom she directed her bitterness.

Similarly, the negative or shadow aspects of the goddess can be destructive. Jealousy, vindictiveness, or Hera's rage can become poisonous. A woman possessed by these feelings and aware of her condition oscillates between vindictiveness and horror at her feelings and actions. When in it the heroine fights with the goddess, dreams may appear in which she is attacked by snakes (indicating that the power represented by them is dangerous for the dreamer herself). In one such dream, a poisonous snake darted towards the dreamer's heart; in another, the snake plunged its venomous teeth into the woman's leg, preventing her from walking. In real life, both women were trying to survive infidelity and faced the danger of succumbing to venomous, malicious feelings (like the wild dog dream, this dream had two levels of meaning: it was a metaphor for what was happening to her and in her).

The danger to the dreamer, coming in human form in the form of attacking or threatening men or women, usually comes from hostile criticism or its destructive side (while animals seem to represent feelings or instincts). For example, a woman who returned to college when her children were still in elementary school dreamed that a "huge matron jailer" was blocking her path. The scene appears to represent both her mother's negative judgment of her and the maternal role with which she identified; the dream expressed the view that this identification is like being imprisoned.

Hostile judgments of internal subpersonalities can be truly destructive, for example, "You can't do this because you are bad (ugly, inept, unintelligent, untalented)". In essence, they say, "You have no right to strive for more," and present messages that can upset a woman and undermine her good intentions or self-confidence. These aggressive critics usually appear in dreams as men threatening her. Internal critical attitude often corresponds to the opposition or hostility that a woman faces in the world around her; critics parrot the unkind messages of her family or culture.

From a psychological point of view, every enemy or demon that the heroine encounters in a dream or in a myth represents something destructive, gross, undeveloped, distorted or evil in the human soul, seeking to take over and destroy it. Women who dreamed of wild dogs or poisonous snakes realized that when they struggled with dangerous or hostile actions directed at them by other people, they were equally threatened by what was going on inside them. An enemy or demon can be a negative part of their own soul, a shadow element that threatens to destroy what represents the compassionate and competent part in it. An enemy or demon can also be in the soul of other people who want to harm, subdue, humiliate or control it. Or, as often happens, she is threatened by both.

Experiencing loss and grief

Loss and grief is another theme in women's lives and heroine myths. Somewhere along the way someone dies or has to be left behind. The loss of close relationships plays a significant role in women's lives, as most of them define themselves through their close relationships, and not through their own achievements. When someone dies, leaves them, leaves or becomes a stranger, then this is a double loss - both close relationships in themselves, and close relationships as a source of self-definition.

Many women who have been dependent parties in close relationships find themselves on the path of the heroine only after suffering the pain of loss. The pregnant Psyche, for example, was abandoned by her husband Eros. In her search for reunion, she completed the tasks that ensured her development. Divorced and widowed women of any age can make the decision to become independent for the first time in their lives. For example, the death of a beloved ally prompted Atalanta to return to her father's realm, where the famous race took place. This is in line with the intention of those women who enter their careers after the loss of close relationships.

Metaphorically, psychological death occurs whenever we have to let something or someone go and cannot help but mourn the loss. It may be the death of some aspect of ourselves, an old role, former position, beauty or other passing qualities of youth, a dream that is no more. It can also be a close relationship that ended in death or separation. Will the heroine awaken in the woman or will she be devastated by the loss? Will she be able to grieve and move on? Or will he succumb, harden, sink into depression, stop his journey at this point? If she goes further, she will choose the path of the heroine.

Passing through a dark and narrow place

Most heroic journeys involve passing through a dark place - mountain caves, the underworld, labyrinths - and eventually coming out into the light. They may also include crossing a deserted desert into a flourishing land. This part of the journey is analogous to experiencing depression. In myths, as in life, the heroine needs to keep moving, acting, doing what needs to be done, staying in touch with friends or coping on her own without stopping or giving up (even when she feels lost), keeping hope in the dark.

Darkness is those dark repressed feelings (anger, despair, indignation, resentment, condemnation, revenge, fear, pain due to betrayal, guilt) that people must overcome if they want to get out of depression. This is a dark night of loneliness, when, in the absence of light and love, life seems like a meaningless cosmic joke. Grief and forgiveness usually represent a way out. Now life energy and light can return.

Death and rebirth in myths and dreams is a metaphor for loss, depression and recovery. In retrospect, many of these dark periods are seen as rites of passage, times of suffering and trials, through which a woman learns something of value and develops. Or, like Persephone in the underworld, she can be a temporary prisoner, then to become a guide for others.

transcendent challenge

In heroic myths, a heroine who sets off on a journey, overcomes unthinkable dangers and defeats dragons and darkness, at some point gets stuck, unable to move forward or backward. Wherever she looks, incredible obstacles await her everywhere. To open her way, she has to solve a certain problem. What to do if her knowledge is clearly not enough for this, or if her uncertainty in her own choice is so strong that a solution seems impossible?

When she finds herself in an ambiguous situation, where every choice seems potentially fatal or, at best, hopeless, her first test is to remain herself. In crisis situations, a woman is tempted to become a victim instead of being a heroine. If she remains true to the heroine in herself, it is clear to her that she is in a bad place and can fail, but she continues to believe that one day everything can change. If she turns into a victim, she begins to blame other people for her troubles or curse fate, drink or take drugs, attack herself with degrading criticism. In this case, she finally submits to circumstances or even thinks about suicide. Having resigned from the role of the heroine, the woman becomes inactive or hysterical, panic seizes her, or she acts so impulsively and irrationally that she ultimately suffers final defeat.

In myths and in life, when a heroine is in a difficult situation, all she can do is remain herself and not change her principles and obligations until someone or something unexpectedly comes to her aid. To remain in a situation, waiting for the answer to come, is to enter into a state that Jung called "transcendental function." By this, he meant something emerging from the unconscious to solve a problem or point the way to the heroine (ego) who needs the help of what is outside of her (or him).

For example, in the myth of Eros and Psyche, Aphrodite gave Psyche four tasks, each of which required something from her that she had no idea about. Each time, at first, Psyche felt overwhelmed, but then help or advice came - from ants, a green reed, an eagle, a tower. In the same way, Hippomenes, in love with Atalanta, had to race with her in order to win her hand and heart. But he knew that he would not be able to run the distance fast enough to win, and therefore he would lose a life. On the eve of the competition, he prayed for help to Aphrodite, who, as a result, helped him win. In a classic western, a brave but small force suddenly hears a horn and realizes that the cavalry is rushing to the rescue.

All of these are archetypal situations. A woman as a heroine must understand that help is possible. When she is in a state of internal crisis and does not know what to do, she should not retreat or act out of fear. To wait for a new understanding or change in circumstances, to meditate or to pray - all this means to lure out of the unconscious a solution that will help to transcend the stalemate.

A woman who had a dream with a bear experienced a deep personality crisis, feeling an urgent need to have a child in the midst of working on her doctoral dissertation. The instinct of motherhood, which seized her with irresistible force, had previously been suppressed and now demanded to give it its due. Before having a dream, she was in the thrall of an "either-or" situation from which there was no satisfactory outcome. In order to change the situation, she had to feel the solution, not logically construct it. It was only after the dream had affected her on an archetypal level and she fully realized that she should hold on to her desire to have a child that she was able to safely delay conception. This dream was the answer of the unconscious, which came to the rescue in solving her dilemma. The conflict disappeared when the symbolic experience gave her a profound and intuitively felt sudden understanding.

The transcendental function can also be expressed through the synchrony of events - in other words, there are very significant coincidences between the internal psychological situation and current events. When faced with such things, they are perceived as a miracle. For example, a few years ago a patient of mine started a self-help program for women. If she had obtained a specific amount of money by a certain date, the fund would provide her with the missing funds, guaranteeing the continuation of the program. When this deadline approached, she still did not have the required amount. But she knew that her project was necessary, and did not back down. Soon a check arrived in the mail for exactly the amount she needed. She was unexpectedly returned, and with interest, a debt two years ago, which she had long since discarded.

Of course, in most cases of predicament, we do not get such clear answers. More often we perceive certain symbols that help to clearly understand the situation and then resolve it.

For example, my previous publisher insisted that this book be revised by another person, who had to significantly reduce it and put the ideas presented here in a more popular form. The message "What you are doing is not good enough" that I received for two years hit me hard psychologically and I was tired. Part of me (like a pliable Persephone) was willing to let someone literally rewrite the book, as long as it was published. And I, wishful thinking, began to think that perhaps it would be for the best. A week before the book was to be given to another writer, I received word.

An author from England, whose book had been rewritten by the same writer under similar circumstances, visited my friend to tell him of his experiences. He said what I never put into words, but nevertheless intuitively knew: "They took the soul out of my book." When I heard these words, I felt that a revelation had been sent down to me. The same thing should have happened to my book. This gave me the freedom to act decisively. I hired an editor myself and completed the book myself.

This message was loud and clear. Further events developed quite favorably. Grateful for the lesson, I remembered an ancient Chinese saying expressing belief in synchrony and transcendental function: "When the student is ready, the teacher will come."

Creative insight is also transcendent. In the creative process, when a solution exists but is not yet known, the artist-inventor-scientist believes there is an answer and stays in his situation until the solution arrives. Creative person often in a state of increasing tension.

Everything that could be done has already been done. The person then relies on an incubation period after which something new is inevitable. A classic example is the chemist Friedrich August Kekule, who discovered the structure of the benzene molecule. He puzzled over the task, but could not cope with it until he dreamed of a snake holding its tail in its mouth. Intuitively, he realized that this is the answer: carbon atoms can connect with each other in closed chains. Then he did research and proved that his hypothesis was correct.

From victim to heroine

As I was contemplating the heroine's journey, I learned and was very impressed with how Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) turns alcoholics and alcoholics from victims into heroines and heroes. AA activates the transcendental function and, in essence, gives lessons on how to become the maker of one's own choice.

The alcoholic begins by recognizing the fact that she is in a hopeless situation: it is unthinkable for her to continue drinking - and at the same time she cannot stop. At this point of hopelessness, she joins a community of people helping each other on their shared journey. She is taught how to call on a power far greater than herself to get out of the crisis.

AA emphasizes the need to accept what cannot be changed, change what is possible, and be able to distinguish one from the other. According to the rules of AA, a person in a dangerous emotional state, who cannot clearly see his future life path, plans his actions no further than one step. Gradually, one step a day, the alcoholic becomes the mistress of her own destiny. She gains the ability to make choices and discovers that she can be competent and, in her empathy, help others.

The female heroine embarks on a journey in search of her own individuality. Along the way, she finds, loses, and rediscovers what makes sense to her, until she adheres to the values ​​she has acquired in life in any circumstances that challenge her. She may again and again face that which is stronger than herself, until in the end the danger of losing her individuality is overcome.

I have a painting in my office of the inside of a nautilus shell that I painted many years ago. It emphasizes the spiral structure of the shell. Thus, the picture serves as a reminder that the path we choose is also often in the form of a spiral. Our development is cyclical - through behavioral patterns that again and again bring us back to our Nemesis - to what we must certainly meet and overcome.

Often it is the negative aspect of the goddess that can take us over: Demeter or Persephone's susceptibility to depression, Hera's jealousy and suspicion, Aphrodite's promiscuity in love affairs, Athena's lack of scrupulousness, Artemis's ruthlessness. Life gives us multiple opportunities to face what we fear, what we need to realize, or what we need to overcome. Each time our spiraling cycle brings us to the site of our main problem, we gain greater awareness, and our next response will be wiser than the last, until eventually we can pass Nemesis in peace in harmony with our deepest values.

Journey's end

What happens at the end of the myth? Eros and Psyche are reunited, their marriage is celebrated on Olympus. Psyche gives birth to a daughter named Joy. Atalanta chooses the apples, loses the contest, and marries Hippomenes. Note that, having shown courage and competence, the heroine does not leave at sunset alone on horseback, like the archetypal cowboy hero. There is nothing of a conquering hero in her. Reunion and home is how her journey ends.

The journey of individuality - the psychological search for wholeness - ends with the union of opposites in the inner marriage of the "male" and "female" aspects of the personality, which can be symbolically represented by the Eastern symbols - Yang and Yin, connected in a circle. In a more abstract and non-gender-specific way, the journey to wholeness results in the ability to work and love, to be active and receptive, independent and loving part of a couple. All these are the components of ourselves, to the knowledge of which we can come through life experiences. And these are our potential opportunities with which we set off.

In the final chapters of Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, the last temptations to wear the ring were nevertheless overcome and the Ring of Omnipotence was forever destroyed. This round of fighting evil was won, the heroic task of the hobbits was completed, and they returned home to the Shire. Thomas Eliot in Four Quartets writes:

We will not stop our search
And at the end of wanderings we will come
Where we came from
And we will see our land for the first time.

In real life, such stories do not end very spectacularly. A recovering alcoholic can go through hell and come back to appear to others as an unremarkable teetotaler. The heroine, who repulsed hostile attacks, who proved her strength in the fight against the goddesses, in everyday life often gives the impression of a completely ordinary woman - like the hobbits who returned to the Shire. However, she does not know when a new adventure, called to test her essence, will herald itself.

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Gene Shinoda Bolen is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst in private practice, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California Medical Center, and internationally renowned lecturer and author of several books.

FIND YOURSELF AMONG THE GODDESSES!!! - Natalia Vinogradova

They say that with men, each of us should be a goddess. Yes, psychologists say. They described the types of our relationship with the stronger sex with the help of ... ancient Greek mythology. Which goddess do you look like?

Demeter is a mother woman.

You strive for the constant care of your loved ones;
- perceive a man as a child;
- inclined to make decisions for all family members;
- you think that your relatives will not cope without you.

In ancient Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of fertility and agriculture. This is the type of woman-mother, sensitive and caring. She sees her happiness in the family: she seeks to warm everyone with warmth, "to take under her wing." But sometimes such excessive care turns into importunity and even imperiousness. Demeter perceives her beloved man as her child. He tries to make decisions for her husband and, in difficult situations, take the brunt. It is hard for her with a man who is looking for entertainment outside the walls of the house.

Advice. For harmonious relationships with loved ones, give them freedom. Your guardianship can be burdensome. Trust that your loved ones are able to solve their own problems: this will help save your time and effort.

Persephone - woman daughter

You perceive your beloved as a father;
- ready to dissolve in it, sacrificing their interests;
- you often lack affection and care;
- you tend to withdraw into yourself and get hung up on anything.

Sincere, receptive, understanding, Persephone is ready to sacrifice any interests for the sake of her "daddy". Her secret desire is to be near her beloved all her life, completely giving herself to him. If necessary, she will study, work, but not because she herself wants it - her chosen one likes it. If she fails to meet her one and only, Persephone suffers, feeling left out and abandoned.

Advice. It is important for you to learn to stop in your self-sacrifice and look for other ways of self-realization: work, sports, hobbies. By fully devoting yourself to a man, you will cease to be valuable as a person - and he will lose interest and respect for you.

Hera - a wife with a capital letter

You are considered wise and just;
- you can find a common language with almost anyone;
- for your husband you are a partner and adviser;
- Loyalty for you - the highest value.

Like the ancient Greek goddess Hera, who was subordinate to her husband Zeus, a woman of this type is ready to faithfully serve her husband. A wise and experienced wife, she will help him advance in his career, fulfill himself. This does not mean at all that Hera does not think about herself. She is a wife, which means she should always be beautiful and well-groomed. Hera is smart, well-read, interesting with her. She also comprehensively seeks to develop children, for whom mother is an indisputable authority. The only thing that Hera will not forgive is betrayal or deceit, for she herself remains faithful to her husband and considers it a guarantee of family happiness.

Advice. You're used to keeping your feelings to yourself. And sometimes you feel a lack of warmth from your chosen one. Do not be afraid to talk to him about it, because your inner harmony is also his happiness.

Hestia - mistress of the house

Since childhood, you dreamed of a strong family;
- you feel safe only in your home;
- I do not agree that a housewife is not a profession;
- you know how to meet and see off.

Her house is always clean, warm and cozy, and on weekends it smells like pies. Hestia is the true keeper of the hearth. Calm and reasonable Hestia would never exchange her fortress for the outside world - cruel and full of surprises. Noisy parties, long journeys, crazy ideas - pleasures are not for her. She does not need to realize herself in a career: Hestia's work is in the family. A man with such a woman will be comfortable and calm, however, he can get bored.

Advice. Don't focus on the house. Get out of your fortress more often to gain impressions and see the world. Find friends with whom you are interested, look for yourself in creativity, read more - diversify your life.

Athena - general in a skirt

It is important for you to make a career;
- you know how to solve problems "like a man";
- you strive to lead the stronger sex;
- you respect leaders - the same as yourself.

The goddess of war, Athena, was born from the head of Zeus. She is a good strategist and

Every woman plays a leading role in her own life story. As a psychiatrist, I have listened to hundreds of personal stories and realized that each of them has a mythological dimension. Some women turn to a psychiatrist when they feel completely demoralized and “broken”, others when they realize that they have become hostages of circumstances that need to be analyzed and changed.

In any case, it seems to me that women ask for help from a psychotherapist in order to learn to be the main characters, the leading characters in the story of your life. To do this, they need to make conscious decisions that will determine their lives. Previously, women were not even aware of the powerful influence that cultural stereotypes had on them; in a similar way, they are usually unaware now of what mighty powers lie within themselves, powers that can determine their actions and feelings. It is to these forces, represented in the guise of ancient Greek goddesses, that I dedicate my book.

These mighty inner circuits, or archetypes, explain the main differences between women. Some, for example, in order to feel like an accomplished person, need monogamy, the institution of marriage and children - such women suffer, but endure if they cannot achieve this goal. For them, traditional roles are of the greatest importance. They are very different from other types of women who value their independence above all because they focus on what is important to them personally. No less peculiar is the third type - women who are attracted by the intensity of feelings and new experiences, because of which they enter into ever new personal relationships or rush from one type of creativity to another. Finally, another type of woman prefers loneliness; Spirituality is of the utmost importance to them. The fact that for one woman an accomplishment, another may seem like complete nonsense - everything is determined by which archetype of which goddess prevails in her.

Moreover, in every woman coexist some goddesses. The more complex her character, the more likely it is that various goddesses are actively manifested in her - and what is significant for one of them is meaningless for the others ...

Knowledge of goddess archetypes helps women understand themselves and their relationships with men and other women, with parents, lovers and children. In addition, these divine archetypes allow women to sort out their own urges (especially with compelling addictions), frustrations, and sources of contentment.

The archetypes of the goddesses are also interesting to men. Those who want to better understand women can use the archetype system to classify women and gain a deeper understanding of what to expect from them. Moreover, men will be able to understand women with a complex and seemingly contradictory character.

Finally, such a system of archetypes can be extremely useful for psychotherapists working with women. It offers curious clinical tools for understanding interpersonal and internal conflicts. Goddess archetypes help explain differences in character and make it easier to identify potential psychological difficulties and psychiatric symptoms. In addition, they indicate the possible ways of development of a woman along the line of one or another "goddess".

This book describes a new approach to female psychology, based on the female images of ancient Greek goddesses that have existed in the human imagination for more than three millennia. This type of female psychology is different from all theories where the "normal woman" is defined as obeying a single "correct model", personality schema or psychological structure. Our theory is based on observations of diversity normal differences in female psychology.

Much of what I know about women comes from professional experience—from what I learned as a psychiatrist and Jungian psychoanalyst, from teaching and consulting experience as a practicing teacher at the University of California and principal analyst at the Jung Institute in San Francisco. .

However, the description of female psychology, which is given on the pages of this book, is based not only on professional knowledge. Most of my ideas are based on the fact that I myself am a woman who has known different female roles - daughter, wife, mother of a son and daughter. My understanding increased through conversations with girlfriends and other women. In both cases, women become for each other a kind of "mirrors" - we see ourselves in the reflection of other people's experiences and realize the common thing that binds all women, as well as those aspects of our own psyche that we were not aware of before.

My understanding of female psychology was also determined by the fact that I am a woman living in the modern era. In 1963, I entered graduate school. That year, two events occurred that eventually sparked the women's rights movement in the 70s. First, Betty Friedan published her Womanish Mystery, where she highlighted the emptiness and dissatisfaction of an entire generation of women who lived exclusively for other people and someone else's life. Friedan has identified the source of this lack of happiness as a problem of self-determination, rooted in developmental arrest. She believed that this problem was caused by our very culture, which does not allow women to recognize and satisfy their basic needs for growth and development, to realize their human potential. Her book, which put an end to common cultural stereotypes, Freudian dogma and the manipulation of women by the media, offered principles whose time is long overdue. Her ideas gave vent to repressed violent feelings, and they later led to the birth of the women's liberation movement and, finally, to the creation of the National Organization of Women.

Also in 1963, under President John F. Kennedy, the Commission on the Status of Women released a report that described the inequality in the economic system of the United States. Women were paid less than men for the same work; they were denied vacancies and denied promotion opportunities. This flagrant injustice has become yet another confirmation of how undeservedly the role of women in modern society is underestimated.

So I entered the world of professional psychiatry at a time when the United States was on the cusp of a women's rights movement. In the 1970s my understanding of the problem increased. I began to realize the inequality and discrimination of women; I realized that the cultural standards set by men were themselves rewarding women for uncomplaining obedience or punishing women for rejecting stereotyped roles. I ended up joining a handful of female colleagues from the Northern California Psychiatric Association and the American Psychiatric Association.