Table Of Content

Goddesses in Everywoman Powerful Archetypes in Women’s Lives Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. To my mother, Megumi Yamaguchi Shinoda, M.D., who was determined to help me grow up—as she hadn’t— feeling that I was fortunate to be a girl, and could do whatever I aspired to as a woman. From the seed grows a root, then a sprout; from the sprout, the seedling leaves; from the leaves, the stem; around the stem, the branches; at the top, the flower…. We cannot say that the seed causes the growth, nor that the soil does. We can say that the potentialities for growth lie within the seed, in mysterious life forces, which, when properly fostered, take on certain forms. M. C. Richards, Centering in Pottery, Poetry and the Person Contents Epigraph iii Acknowledgments ix Foreword by Gloria Steinem xi Introduction to the Twentieth-Anniversary Edition xv Introduction There Are Goddesses in Everywoman 1 1. Goddesses as Inner Images 13 2. Activating the Goddesses 25 3. The Virgin Goddesses: Artemis, Athena, and Hestia 35 4. Artemis: Goddess of the Hunt and Moon, Competitor and Sister 46 5. Athena: Goddess of Wisdom and Crafts, Strategist and Father’s Daughter 75 6. Hestia: Goddess of the Hearth and Temple, Wise Woman and Maiden Aunt 107 7. The Vulnerable Goddesses: Hera, Demeter, and Persephone 132 8. Hera: Goddess of Marriage, Commitment Maker and Wife 139 9. Demeter: Goddess of Grain, Nurturer and Mother 168 10. Persephone: The Maiden and Queen of the Underworld, Receptive Woman and Mother’s Daughter 197 11. The Alchemical Goddess 224 12. Aphrodite: Goddess of Love and Beauty, Creative Woman and Lover 233 13. Which Goddess Gets the Golden Apple? 263 14. The Heroine in Everywoman 278 Appendix Who’s Who in Greek Mythology 297 Cast of Characters (list describing the gods and goddesses) 297 Goddess Chart (summary in chart form) 301 Notes 303 Bibliography 313 Index 321 About the Author Praise Other Books by Jean Shinoda Bolen Cover Copyright About the Publisher Acknowledgments Every chapter in this book has many unnamed contributors—pa- tients, friends, colleagues—who exemplified aspects of each goddess archetype, or provided insights into them. Most descriptions are therefore composites of many women, known to me under many circumstances; especially through twenty years of psychiatric prac- tice. It is a privilege to be trusted by people who reveal their depths to me, enabling me to better understand their psychology and through them, the psychology of others, including myself. My pa- tients are my best teachers. To all of them, thank you. I have been blessed and burdened by many editors, each of whom added to the development of this book and to my growth as a writer during the three years that I worked on the manuscript: editorial direction and comment came from Kirsten Grimstad, Kim Chernin, Marilyn Landau, Jeremy Tarcher, Stephanie Bernstein, and Linda Purrington, to whom I turned for copyediting. And in the midst of their differing perspectives, I also learned to trust my own voice and vision, which was a lesson in itself and led to a change in publishers. In this, Kim Chernin’s encouragement was especially valuable. My thanks go also to Nancy Berry, who worked skillfully and swiftly at the typewriter and computer whenever I called on her for help; to my literary agents, John Brockman and Katinka Matson, who added their expert perspective to a difficult “book birthing” process; and to my publisher, Clayton ix Goddesses in Everywoman Carlson at Harper & Row, who through his intuition and personal regard for my first book, The Tao of Psychology, had faith in me and in Goddesses in Everywoman. My family have been stalwart supporters as I labored on this book in their midst. Long ago, I decided that if I were to write, I would do it without withdrawing from them or closing a door between us. I would be available and present, at the same time that I would need their consideration. My husband, Jim, and my children, Melody and Andy, have been with me all the way on this project. In addition to emotional support, Jim has from time to time lent his professional eye as an editor to my writing, encouraging me to trust my own in- stincts, to leave in examples and images that evoke feelings. And my heartfelt thanks to many people whose support to finish Goddesses in Everywoman came at synchronistic times—whenever I was discouraged and needed to be reminded that this book could be helpful to others. My task was to persevere until the book was finished. Once published, I knew that it would have a life of its own and would find whomever it is supposed to reach. x Foreword I would like to invite you into this book, especially if you are one of those readers who might be, as I was, resistant to its theme. After all, how can mythological goddesses from a patriarchal past help us to analyze our current realities or reach an egalitarian future? Just as we are most likely to buy books recommended by trusted friends, my inspiration to read this manuscript came from knowing its author. I met Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen when she was organizing Psychiat- rists for ERA, a group of women and men inside the American Psychiatric Association whose professional experience had led them to believe that equal treatment under the law was crucial to women’s mental health. They therefore supported the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. All groups are the result of many energies, but Jean was clearly an effective and inspired organizer of this one. She not only envi- sioned such a group and sparked the imagination of her colleagues; she also followed through on the procedural detail of forging a co- hesive, national organization out of busy and disparate people. In that process, she took care to bridge generational, racial, and professional differences, to research accurate, relevant information, and to leave even the most resistant adversary with dignity and some new understanding. Watching Jean in action left no doubt that she was a practical, expert organizer in the here and now; a gentle revolutionary whose healing calm and accepting spirit were testimony xi