Podcast - Episode 0234 - Goddesses In Everywoman — The Vulnerable Goddess Archetypes

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• Animas and Anima – Feminine and Masculine Archetypes
• Goddesses in Everywoman by Jean Bolen
• Gods in Everyman by Jean Bolen
• Vulnerable Goddesses
• Last episode on virgin goddesses
• This podcast we are discussing the three vulnerable goddesses
• They are vulnerable because they find their fulfillment in relationships with others.
• Vulnerable goddesses are marked by a diffuse awareness instead of the targeted consciousness of the virgin goddesses
• Vulnerable goddesses keep their perceptions open and can observe the dynamics around them
• We are questioning the traditional roles of women today, so the vulnerable goddesses may give us some feminine aspects that we have begun to push away.
• Less about empowerment talk and more about tendencies that may sneak up on us.
• All three of the vulnerable goddesses were victimized: raped, abducted, humiliated, etc.
• 3 vulnerable goddesses:
  • Hera – goddess of marriage
  • Demeter – goddess of grain, harvest, and motherhood
  • Persephone – 2 phases: Girl element of all women, and Queen of the Underworld
• Hera – Goddess of Marriage
  • Hestia’s sister.
  • Consort of Zeus.
  • All stories in Greek mythology reference Zeus. He is the great liberator.
  • She was revered on one side as an ancient, powerful goddess and denigrated as a jealous woman.
  • She was perpetually being cheated on by Zeus
  • Her relationship to her children was ambivalent
  • Strong jealous streak
  • The part of the feminine energy that wants to be a mate in a committed relationship
  • Bride-Zilla – marriage day is the most important day of their life
  • The Bachelor
  • A lot of US President wives have Hera energy
  • We tend to denigrate sticking with a situation through hard times
  • There can be positivity in sticking with someone when things get bad.
  • There is a dark side to the vulnerability of these goddesses
  • If you have Hera energy make sure you are not staying in an abusive relationship in an attempt to honor vows
  • Hera archetypes have traditional views of femininity and definite ideas of male/female roles
  • Heras need to develop independence and competence so they can build self-reliance
  • Artemis or Athena energy would be good for a Hera to develop
  • Hera archetypes can also create more connections to women alone – not just other wives
  • Support structures are essential for Hera archetypes
• Demeter – Goddess of grain and the harvest
  • Demeter is the mother of Persephone – they are very intertwined.
  • Demeter is most known for her search for Persephone after she was abducted and raped by Hades
  • Demeter asked Zeus to bring back Persephone and Zeus said he had sanctioned the abduction
  • Demeter – Zeus’s consort – became incredibly grieved
  • All harvest and growth died until she got Persephone back.
  • Demeter energy is the type of woman who defines herself in her role as mother
  • Not uncommon for such women to get to a certain age and start feeling like something is missing if they don’t have a child
  • Not all women feel this way
  • The Demeter archetype can be missing when some women have children, and they have to work hard on developing that mother energy
  • These energies can arise at different times of life
  • Demeter energy can also exist in men.
  • ISFJ man who fosters terminal children
  • Demeter was persistent. She made people suffer until Persephone was returned to her.
  • There are a lot of mothers who have created a lot of resources for special needs children because of their persistence.
  • Forrest Gump’s mother
  • There can be a dark side of Demeter
  • Netflix documentary: Mommy Dead and Dearest
  • Demeter archetypes can create illnesses in children to keep them dependent
  • Smother
  • A Demeter can adopt some Virgin Goddess energy to help them develop lives outside of their mother roles so their children can build independence
  • Demeters are very woman-oriented, unlike Hera archetypes
  • Foster care or social movements are also good energetic focuses for a Demeter
  • They tend toward co-dependent relationships and can end up passive aggressive
  • Boundaries and independence are essential to Demeter archetypes
  • Athena energy would be good for a Demeter.
  • Self-parenting
  • It’s better to have an equal partner in a relationship, not just a dependent
  • When Demeter was looking for Persephone, she was raped by Poseidon
  • She was so focused on her child she put herself in a vulnerable position
  • Demeters need to take care of their needs
• Persephone – young girl and queen of the underworld
  • Two very different phases
  • All women have experienced a Persephone energy as young girls
  • Persephone was guileless and naive which left her open to abduction
  • After Persephone’s experience, she is much wiser. No longer an innocent young girl
  • After she was abducted and brought to the underworld, Zeus dispatched Hermes to get Persephone so Demeter would let things grow again
  • Persephone had eaten from a pomegranate, so she was forced to spend part of the year in the Underworld
  • She told Demeter she was forced to eat the pomegranate, but she did so willingly
  • She was no longer the innocent child. She is savvier.
  • Then she gets to a place where she understands the dark psychological space
  • Queen of the Underworld is a compelling title for someone who started out as a naive girl
  • Sylvia Plath Bell Jar
  • Persephone becomes the concierge of the underworld
  • Young girls who experience trauma thru no fault of their own can go from wide-eyed innocence to profound psychological depths
  • Such ones become mediums or Shamans and are obsessed with death and the supernatural
  • Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) is a very Persephone type character: young, innocent, victimized, raped, and now is a powerful queen.
  • In the modern world, we can extend childhood and innocence longer than previously
  • Systemic protections expire at a certain age, and yet the transition to adulthood hasn’t happened in some people.
  • They are left sitting ducks without the ability to make decisions and without the systemic protections they enjoyed as children.
  • We don’t honor commitments as we used to and Persephone flourishes in that context because she doesn’t want to mature.
  • There are a lot of Persephones that are holding onto their girlhood instead of making the transition to Queen of the Underworld.
  • It doesn’t have to be trauma; it can just be tackling the challenges of the real world
  • When that doesn’t happen, Persephone archetypes can become devious because they don’t feel powerful they feel powerless
  • They don’t know what else to do but be devious to keep currying the favor of the ones they need to protect them
  • They can also become quite narcissistic.
  • Persephone was looking at the narcissus flower when she was abducted.
  • They can become self-consumed to get the favor and protection they need from the outside world
  • Young girls on social media with all the seductive selfies
  • Not authentic, mature seductiveness
  • “If I’m hot enough, I may never have to get a job. Someone rich will marry me.”
  • Even men have a Persephone energy
  • Becoming Queen of the Underworld can be scary, but that is the power of a Persephone.
  • They reconcile those darker parts with the reality of the world and show those more profound insights to others
  • Lena Dunham’s show “Girls”
  • It’s never a good idea to be fully one goddess.
  • We want a seasoning of other types to prevent an extreme expression of a single goddess archetype
  • If Persephone doesn’t grow up, she will create a dynamic with the world where it feels like it needs to protect her
  • It is Persephone’s job to defend herself, find her power, and become Queen of the Underworld.
• We are in a very virgin goddess period. Very Artemis.
• The vulnerable goddess archetypes are within us for a reason.
• We tap into compassion, kindness, love, and imagination with the vulnerable goddesses
• The ideal is to develop the virgin and vulnerable goddesses together
• There are a lot of different energies in the world. Honor people’s differences.
• The alchemical goddess Aphrodite is next.

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