seen from Algeria
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Czechia
seen from Germany
seen from Argentina
seen from Czechia
seen from Yemen
seen from Italy
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Czechia
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Belarus
seen from South Korea
seen from Singapore
Go embrace!
Image source: Pinterest.
“Women who follow their own inclinations to become competitive swimmers, active feminists, scientists, statisticians, corporate executives, housekeepers, horsewomen, or who enter convents or ashrams exemplify virgin goddess qualities. In order to develop their talents and focus on pursuing what has personal value, virgin goddess women often avoid fulfilling traditional women's roles. How to do so—that is, how to be true to themselves and adapt to living in ‘a man's world’—is the challenge.
In mythology, each of the three virgin goddesses faced a similar challenge, and developed a different solution.
Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, forsook the city, avoided contact with men, and spent her time in the wilderness with her band of nymphs. Her adaption mode was separation from men and their influence. This mode is analogous to that of contemporary women who join consciousness-raising groups and become feminists intent on defining themselves and their own priorities, or who work in women-run collectives and businesses that serve womens' needs. Artemis women are also represented by "rugged individualists," who go it alone and do what matters to them, without personal support or approval from men—or from other women, as well.
In contrast, Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, joined men as an equal or as a superior at what they did. She was the coolest head in battle and the best strategist. Her adaptation was identification with men—she became like one of them. Athena's way has been taken by many women who have joined the corporate world or who have succeeded at traditionally male occupations.
Finally, Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, followed an introverted way of adapting by withdrawal from men. She withdrew inward, became anonymous in appearance, and was left alone. The woman who adopts this mode downplays her femininity so as not to attract unwanted male interest, avoids competitive situations, and lives quietly, as she values and tends the daily tasks or meditation that give her life meaning.”
-Jean Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman
Goddess Girls
Aries: Athena was the counsellor of the masculine, Honour the Aries for her extroverted creativity, she is shattering glass ceilings and demanding justice from the masculine to the feminine
Taurus: Everything that King Midas touched turned to gold as a wish come true, so you can watch this when a Taurus makes a wish and receives the resources to make it true, their ability to turn ‘trash’ into ‘treasure’
Gemini: Hermes had contact with all of the Gods being the only one in direct contact with Hades in the Underworld, you can see this through the Gemini’s ability to talk to anyone about anything
Cancer: Hekate was protected by an army of crossed souls, and you can see this in the way that Cancer seems to summon supernatural adrenaline and weapons in the defence of family and loved ones
Leo: The Goddess in Leo is the Princess of Light, so Leos have conquered their own shadows, and they do not live up to their reputation for theatrics in this regard, secret, silent, and private battles inside, delivering darkness back into the Kingdom of Light
Virgo: Erigone was the Goddess traumatised by the death of her father, and you can see this in through the Virgo's sense of the world being unreliable and guilty when indulging in pleasures
Libra: Aphrodite was the Goddess of Cosmetics and Costumes, and you can see this in the way that Libra has the ability to be a chameleon of many identities and styles that belong to the many Queens within her
Scorpio: The precious and vulnerable child grows into the Wise One, the Queen upholding material and spiritual responsibilities, honour her privacy, part of her is still this 12-year old girl fighting battles far beyond her maturity
Sagittarius: Dionysis, a Sagittarius God was given the epithet of ‘the Wanderer’ as he roamed in delirium, you can see this in the way that Sagittarius is ‘never there’ and either coming or going, internally homeless, hesitant to settle
Capricorn: Ananke is the Capricorn Goddess of Compulsion and Slavery, and you can see this in the way Capricorn never knows when, or how to stop. like they are enslaved to higher or unknown being
Aquarius: Ganymede was much adored by the Gods by virtue of beauty, and you can see this in the way that so many Aquarians are popular and loved by virtue of just being who they are
Pisces: Pisces emanates the Holy Trinity, procreation, love, and death, honour every face that she wears, for these are not fake but the many expressions of the triple Goddess
Cherry
‘ORANGE GODDESS,’ 2020
paint and mixed-media collage on canvas
Stately, regal, beautiful Hera, whom the Romans knew as Juno, was Goddess of Marriage. She was the consort of Zeus (Jupiter), the supreme god of the Olympians, who ruled over the heavens and earth. Her name is thought to mean "Great Lady," the feminine form of the greek word hero. Greek poets referred her to as "cow-eyed"—to compliment her large and beautiful eyes. Her symbols were the cow, the Milky Way, the lily, and the peacock's iridescent tailfeather "eyes" that symbolized Hera's watchfulness. The sacred cow was an image long associated with the Great Mother Goddesses as provider of nourishment, while the Milky Way—our galaxy, from the Greek gala, “mother's milk”—reflects the belief, predating the Olympian deities, that the Milky Way came from the breasts of the Great Goddess as Queen of Heaven. This then became part of Hera's mythology: when milk spurted from her breasts, the Milky Way was formed. The drops that fell on the ground became lilies, flowers symbolizing another pre-Hellenic belief in the self-fertilizing power of the female genitals. Hera's symbols (and her conflicts with Zeus) reflect the power she once held as a Great Goddess whose worship preceded Zeus. In Greek mythology, Hera had two contrasting aspects: she was solemnly revered and worshipped in rituals as a powerful goddess of marriage, and was denigrated by Homer as a vindictive, quarrelsome, jealous shrew.
-Jean Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman
Athena is a feminine archetype: she shows that thinking well, keeping one's head in the heat of an emotional situation, and developing good tactics in the midst of conflict, are natural traits for some women. Such a woman is being like Athena, not acting "like a man." Her masculine aspect, or animus, is not doing the thinking for her—she is thinking clearly and well for herself. The concept of Athena as an archetype for logical thinking challenges the Jungian premise that thinking is done for a woman by her masculine animus, which is presumed to be distinct from her feminine ego. When a woman recognizes the keen way her mind works as a feminine quality related to Athena, she can develop a positive image of herself, Instead of fearing that she is mannish (that is, inappropriate).
-Jean Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman
Every heroine must reclaim the power of the snake. To understand the nature of the task, we need to go back to the goddesses, and to women's dreams.
Many statues of Hera show snakes entwined in her robes, while Athena was portrayed with snakes wreathed around her shield. Snakes had been symbols of the pre-Greek Great Goddess of old Europe, and serve as symbolic reminders (or rem-nants) of the power once held by the female deity. One famous early representation of a deity (Crete 2000-1800 B.C.) was a female goddess with breasts bared, arms outstretched, and a snake in each hand.
The snake often appears in women's dreams as an unknown, an awesome symbol that the dreamer warily approaches when she begins to sense that she can assert her own power over her life. For example, the dream of a thirty-year-old married woman, soon to be separated and on her own: "I am on a trail, when I look ahead and see that the path I am on will pass under a large tree. A huge, female snake is coiled peacefully around the lowest branch. I know it is not poisonous, and I'm not repulsed—in fact, it is beautiful, but I hesitate." Many dreams like this come to mind, where the dreamer is awed or aware of the power of a snake rather than fearful of it as dangerous: "There is a snake coiled up under my desk...” "I see a snake coiled on the porch . . .,” “Three snakes are in the room. . .”
Whenever women begin to claim their own authority, or make decisions, or become aware of having a new sense of their own political or psychic or personal power, snake dreams are common. The snake seems to represent this new strength. As a symbol, it represents power once held by goddesses, as well as phallic or masculine power, representative of animus qualities. Often the dreamer senses whether it is a male or female snake, which helps to clarify the kind of power the snake symbolizes.
-Jean Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman
