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Why do some women yearn for children so badly, and others crave career success? Why does your big sister enjoy sports and make friends easily, but you struggle in your relationships with other women, preferring books and the company of men? Have you ever wondered why some women clearly value their marriage and husbands over their children?
Since I started telling people I do Goddess archetype work as a Spiritual Leadership mentor, naturally I’ve had a lot of people ask some variation of “What the heck is a Goddess archetype?”
The concept of psychological archetypes was advanced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. He understood archetypes as universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct. [Feist J, Feist GJ, (2009) Theories of Personality, New York New York; McGraw-Hill]
Archetypes are like an energetic frequency that transcend time, location, and the individual. I think of them as behavioural patterns and impulses that work through us — often unknowingly.
We have the potential to hold all archetypal patterns within us, but we tend to express them in varying degrees. Most of us have a primary and secondary, who are expressed most strongly throughout our life. However, many people experience shifts from childhood to adulthood, or through major life changes.
We can “use” different Goddesses and myths as portals to explore feminine archetypes psychologically and spiritually.
As a young girl, were you a free spirit, tomboy type, who loved being active outdoors? Now as an adult, is your primary relationship with your dog(s), as you find that you have lots of friends but are often single? Then ARTEMIS is likely your inner Goddess, virgin Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt who loved the woods and was strong and independent (which can also be the shadow aspect of isolating oneself). She represents the Maiden and Huntress/ Warrior archetypes.
Or maybe you have always known you wanted kids, well before becoming a Mother. When you had children you felt complete, and strongly identify with your nurturing role. Then your archetype is the Mother, like DEMETER, Mother Goddess of the harvest, whose attention and care nourishes the world. Her challenges are grief and worry.
Perhaps you’re an artist, and you value creative self expression above all. Your soul sees romantic pairings as an opportunity for divine union. You love to flirt and have had many lovers. Then APHRODITE is probably dominant, the Goddess of Love, Beauty and the Arts. Unfortunately, you’ve likely experienced “Venus envy” too, since your confidence and beauty inspires jealousy in other women.
In the system I’ve studied and share, there are 7 sacred feminine archetypes, correlated to our 7 chakra centers, all possessing incredible gifts and medicine for us. I now see myself as chairing a committee of Goddesses, who all have their strengths, challenges, and time to shine in my life.
To find out Which of the 7 Sacred Feminine Archetypes YOU are, take my quiz: https://strengthandsoul.com/which-of-the-7-sacred-feminine-archetypes-are-you/
Understanding our archetypes is eye-opening and life changing on so many levels. Seeing how our habits, needs, and destinies shift as our archetypal energies shift in our life is like being given a map of our soul. Then we are also given the gift of seeing everyone through and archetypal lens, which allows us to experience life on the mythic plane.
It helps us in our relationships, as we can have a deeper understanding of someone’s motivations and compassion for their struggles. It also gives us more compassion for OURSELVES, as we recognize our “weaknesses” and patterns simply as universal impulses being expressed through us.
If this intrigues you, I’d love to invite you into Awaken the Goddess Within, my free, private Facebook community dedicated to sacred feminine spirituality, cyclic living and creatrix consciousness.
~ Flora
