and plans meals to make optimal use of bargains. The Athena woman
finds challenging the tasks of living within a budget and spending
money well.
The Athena woman can be a superb teacher. She explains things
clearly and well. If the subject requires precise information, she is
likely to have mastered it. Her forte may be to explain complex
procedures that progress in a step-by-step fashion. The Athena
teacher is likely to be one of the most demanding. She is one of those
“no excuses” teachers, who expect and get maximum performance.
She doesn’t “fall for” sad stories or give unearned grades. She does
best with students who challenge her intellectually. She favors the
students who do well and spends more time with them than with
those that fall behind (unlike a maternal Demeter teacher, who gives
more of herself to those who need help the most).
As a craftsperson, an Athena woman makes functional objects
that are aesthetically pleasing. She also has a business head, and so
concerns herself with showing and selling her work, as well as
making it. She works well with her hands, and, whatever her craft,
she prides herself on mastering the skill required and on the work-
manship of her product. She can do variations of the same object
with enjoyment.
An Athena woman in an academic field is likely to be an able re-
searcher. With her logical approach and attention to details, doing
experiments or gathering data comes naturally to her. Her fields of
interest are usually those which value the clarity of thinking and
use of evidence. She tends to be good at math and science, and may
go into business, law, engineering, or medicine—traditionally male
professions, where she feels quite comfortable being one of the few
women in her field.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH WOMEN: DISTANT OR DISMISSED
An Athena woman usually lacks close women friends, a pattern
that may have been noticed around puberty when she did not form
best-friend bonds, or even before. In adolescence, most friends share
their fears, dark secrets, longings, and anxieties about their changing
bodies, parental difficulties, and uncertain futures. Concerns about
boys, sex, and
Athena: Goddess of Wisdom Growing beyond the confining