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Meditate on the Archetypes of the Goddesses Within You.
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* Venus, Goddess of Love and Beauty
* Demeter, Goddess of Grain and Maternal Archetype
* Persephone, Maiden and Queen of the Underworld
* Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Craft
* Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow
* Hecate, Triple Goddess of the Phases of the Moon
* Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth
* Diana, Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt
* Juno, Goddess of Commitment
* The Moirai, the Three Spinners of Fate
* The Muses of Meditation, Memory and Song
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VENUS
Luxuriate with Venus, Goddess of Love and Beauty. Commune with Venus
(Aphrodite, Aphrogenia, Anadyomene, Astarte, Cytherea, Cypris, or Dionaea, as
she is also known), when you want to celebrate your sexual passion, your
sensuality and all your "tender" feelings! To know her within you is to know
your creativity, fertility and your enjoyment of love, affection and beauty in
your life. Invoke her to bring your senses to more awareness of these
properties. Look in the western sky for Venus' bright light. Look for Venus in
the beauty of the sea -- her place of birth -- or a sunset. Call on her to
bring harmony to your life.
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DEMETER
Nurture with Demeter, Goddess of Grain and Maternal Archetype. If the archetype
of Demeter (or Ceres, as she is also known) is alive in you, then you are
rejoicing in the yearning to provide physical and spiritual nurturing to your
children, or perhaps your inner children or chosen children. Invoking Demeter
involves honoring your power to sustain life through all its phases --
gestation, birth, marriage. She is the archetype of the Great Mother inside us
all. Focus on her to ground yourself in your physical body and to nurture it.
You can also act on Demeter's behalf by being an activist for environmental
issues, as Demeter is the goddess of the earth mother and natural agricultural
cycles.
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PERSEPHONE
Honor Transitions with Persephone, Maiden and Queen of the Underworld.
Persephone (Prosepina, or Kore, as she is also known) represents the transition
from innocent maidenhood to adult womanhood, knowledgeable of the depths of the
psyche. In myth, Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, was abducted to the
underworld by Hades when she had been entranced by a lush field of narcissus
blossoms. In her grief over the loss, Demeter the Goddess of Grain, stopped the
natural agricultural cycles. Eventually Persephone was allowed to return to the
world each spring to bring fertility back to the earth, and thus she became a
symbol of renewal that returns each year. She also became a guide for other
Goddesses to the underworld, and thus she became a symbol of our deepest
knowledge of ourselves and the value of sharing our journeys with other women.
Thus she represents the continual spiral that is our psychic development.
Meditate on Persephone to become more aware of your simplicity and complexity.
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ATHENA
Consult with Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Craft. Athena (Glaukopis/"owl-eyed",
Gorgopis/"gorgon faced", or Minerva, as she is also known) within us represents
that part of ourselves that is summoned to provide logic and self-assurance.
Her totem bird is the owl. She is ruled more by her head than her heart. Your
inner Athena can be fostered by practicing skills and crafts. Athena is the
Goddess of weaving, horse training, flute playing and other military, political
and domestic crafts. She invented the wheel and all arts & sciences. Athena
sprang from Zeus' head fully formed. If your archetypal Athena is strong, you
may have always seemed mature, even in childhood. You may need to develop your
abilities to let yourself be free, unrestrained and immature.
Set up an altar to Athena with olive branches, blue candles, and amber incense.
Envision Athena and invoke her by saying:
Athena is my strength.
She is my armor.
I walk in peace and safety.
Her shield deflects all harmful.
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IRIS
Let Your Feelings Flow with Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow. Iris was attendant and
messenger to the Goddess, Juno, and thus the feminine counterpart to Hermes.
She represents balance, action and intelligence in dealing with the flow of
feelings. You invoke her when you make decisions based on sympathy, kindness
and the wish to preserve relationships and harmony. This provides a balance to
Athena's detachment. However, sometimes Iris represents ambivalence and a lack
of separateness from others that can also be an extreme to be avoided.
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HECATE
Deepen with Hecate, Goddess of the Moon. Hecate is portrayed as a triple-faced
Goddess, representing the maiden, mother and crone and the three phases of the
moon. She is a mighty sorceress or witch. She is often described as inhabiting
the heavens, earth and the Underworld, thus having access to our collective
unconscious. She represents fertility, the menstrual cycle, crossroads,
intuition and fluctuation. She represents hope when we are confused and our
understanding seems vague and mysterious. Foster your awareness of your depth
by invoking Hecate through focusing on your dreams, fantasies and using art
experientially.
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HESTIA
Feel at Home with Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth. Hestia (also known as Vesta
or Vestal Virgin) is the inward-focused, meditative goddess of spirituality
represented by the warmth of the fire in the center of the hearth. Invoke
Hestia by making your hearth and home beautiful and by reorganizing in the
meditative, centering quality of homemaking activities, such as by taking the
time to slowly rearrange your closet or bedroom. Creating order in your home
can be a path to creating inner order.
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DIANA
Become Active for Yourself with Diana, Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt. Call on
Diana (or Artemis as she is also known) for inner strength. She is the virgin
goddess of the woods, whose totem animals are the deer, bear and hare. She is an
archer who's arrow never fails which can serve to inspire you to make goals with
determination. You are invoking Diana when you spend time not focusing on
relationships but rather on yourself and your own development. Explore your
environment by taking a hike or traveling.
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JUNO
Enhance Your Capacity to Bond with Juno, Goddess of Commitment. Meditate on
Juno (or Hera, Hebe, Theria as she is also known) to aspire to know your own
fullness of power and healing. She is the Goddess protector of women and
marriage, "the Lady of the Cities," "the organizer," the lady of civic law,
child raising and relationships. She is the Goddess of the summer bounty and
the June bride.
Juno, Hera, Queen of the Powers,
Bring me, bring out my own, my own.
Let all that is needed be done well, be done well.
Let me sing of your glory under the moon.
I am ready for my personal power.
I am the arm that does your work.
I am the mind of your thoughts.
I am the will of your achievements.
I am the conductor of your power.
Hera, Juno, Hebe, Theria,
I am the heart of your love.
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THE MOIRAI
Meditate on your Life with the Moirai, the Three Spinners of Fate. The Moriai
are the mythical spinners of the thread of human life and destiny. They
represent that part of ourselves that is in our center that makes unconscious
choices based on our fate in life. This image invites us to look at our part in
calling our experiences to us, both negative and positive.
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THE MUSES
Seek Inspiration from the Muses of Meditation, Memory and Song. In the act of
creating you invoke the muses. They invite us to live our lives in self-
expression and in recognition of the inspiration in nature all around us.
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