On the one scale that counts, she has failed (in her own eyes) regard-
less of her achievements.
Other goddesses usually are present in a woman who does well
in the work world. Yet if Hera is the overriding pattern, she does
not feel her work is of major significance. If she is married, she will
naturally subordinate her career to her husband’s and will gear her
work hours and chances for promotion to his needs. Only on the
surface will it look as if a Hera woman were in a dual-career mar-
riage: her career is really her marriage.
In this age of dual careers, where two paychecks are often needed,
many working wives are Hera women. However, the Hera woman
always says, “Whither thou goest, I will go.” She will not propose
a temporary geographical separation, with one or the other commut-
ing to be together on weekends. Nor will she insist that her career
is just as important as his. For that, another goddess must play a
part.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH WOMEN:
THE DEVALUED SPECIES
A Hera woman doesn’t usually place much importance on
friendships with other women and generally does not have a best
friend. She prefers being with her husband and doing things with
him. If she does have a close and enduring friendship with a woman,
other goddesses are responsible.
If she is unmarried, she feels that meeting eligible men is of prime
importance. She may pair up with another woman to go with to
places where a woman alone would not be comfortable, such as
bars. But once in a steady relationship she has little time for her
single women friends and usually drops them.
A Hera woman naturally maintains a social custom, common
among certain women, of canceling previously made plans to see
women friends if she is asked out by a man. Once she is married,
this arrangement extends to canceling friendships with women.
A married Hera woman relates to other married women as half
of a couple. Either she finds unattached women potentially threat-
ening if her husband shows the least bit of atten-
Hera: Goddess of Marriage, Commitment Maker and Wife