mediately the role that actor was to play. In Jungian psychology, the
persona is the mask of social adaptation that a person presents to
the world. It is the way we present ourselves to others and how we
are seen by them. A person with a well-functioning persona is like
a woman with a large wardrobe from which she can choose some-
thing to wear that is appropriate to the occasion and to her person-
ality, position, and age. How we behave, what we say, how we in-
teract with others, how we identify ourselves are all parts of our
persona.
A Hestia woman is by nature uninterested in persona-level con-
cerns, in who’s who and how to make a good or appropriate impres-
sion. Unless she retreats into a convent and never ventures out again,
however, she will have to interact with others, make small talk, and
be interviewed and assessed—like everyone else in a competitive
culture. She doesn’t come by these skills naturally and must learn
them. Often the process is very painful. On having to go to a large
gathering, she feels inadequate, awkward, shy, and inept; she feels
herself without an adequate persona, as if she has “nothing to wear.”
This distress is reflected in bad dreams in which she finds herself
naked or only partially dressed. Sometimes, in metaphorical corres-
pondence to her dream, she presents herself as too naked—she re-
veals too much, is too honest, allowing people to see what others
would keep covered up in the same situation.
A Hestia woman who must appear for an interview or evaluation
must fashion a persona consciously, putting as much thought into
it as she would into a resume (which could be considered an “on-
paper” persona). She needs to have as clear a picture as she can of
“who” she is supposed to be in each particular setting, and she must
be prepared to try on a number of personas, until she discovers a
style that will feel natural to her, once she has “worn” it enough.
ACQUIRING ASSERTIVENESS: VIA ARTEMIS, ATHENA, OR AN
ANIMUS
Besides a persona, a Hestia woman needs to acquire an ability to
be assertive; she needs to have an active aspect to her personality if
she is going to interact with others, or take care
Goddesses in Everywoman