Goddesses in Everywoman

Persephone the Guide is part of that person’s psyche, the archetype responsible for the sense of familiarity the person feels wh ...

Placing a positive value on receptivity is the first step in its cultiv- ation. A receptive attitude toward other people can be ...

please, does what she is told, and wears what is chosen for her. An oversolicitous mother compounds little Persephone’s own tend ...

herself who contributes or detracts from her own self-esteem. This pattern can result in a relationship in which mother’s and da ...

ADOLESCENCE AND EARLY ADULTHOOD Young Persephone’s high school experience is usually a continu- ation of her early life. If she ...

ments, Persephone procrastinates. She acts as if she expected to be rescued from the task or as if she had all the time in the w ...

“tough men” drawn to her innocence and fragility; and men who are uncomfortable with “grownup” women. The label “young love” fit ...

ally compliant daughter, the mother attacks her choice. She deplores the man’s personality, character, or background, sometimes ...

MARRIAGE Marriage is something that often “happens to” a Persephone wo- man. She gets “abducted” into marriage when a man wants ...

spent only part of the time married, and the rest fantasizing about other men. CHILDREN Although a Persephone woman may have chi ...

on having nonintrusive mothers who love them and admire their independent spirit, which is so different from their own. A Persep ...

source of spirituality deep within herself that dispels her fears about growing old and dying. If she matured, made commitments, ...

such a woman feels as if she had all the time in the world to make up her mind and thus can wait until something moves her. She ...

she will be disillusioned when marriage is not fulfulling. In marked contrast, the Persephone woman must resist an equally unsub ...

IN THE UNDERWORLD: PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLNESS During part of her myth, as captive in the underworld, Persephone was a sad maiden who ...

ner images, musings, and imagined life—a world to which only they have access. A woman may have spent too much time by herself o ...

WAYS TO GROW To make a commitment, a Persephone woman must wrestle with the Kore in her. She must decide to marry and say yes wi ...

with her own sexuality is a potential of the Persephone archetype consistent with mythology. Once Persephone was Queen of the Un ...

her become aware of “nerve endings I never even knew about be- fore.” UNCOVERING A CAPACITY FOR ECSTATIC RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE Th ...

for others. For example, when I was a psychiatric resident a book written by “Renee,” Autobiography of a Schizophrenic Girl, gav ...