her, she gains the power that knowledge provides. The “goddesses”
are powerful, invisible forces that shape behavior and influence
emotions. Knowledge about the “goddesses” within women is new
territory for consciousness raising about women. When she knows
which “goddesses” are dominant forces within her, a woman ac-
quires self-knowledge about the strength of certain instincts, about
priorities and abilities, about the possibilities of finding personal
meaning through choices others might not encourage.
Goddess patterns also affect relationships with men. They help
explain some of the difficulties and affinities certain women have
with certain men. Do they choose men who are powerful and suc-
cessful in the world? Crippled and creative? Boyish? Which “god-
dess” is the unseen impetus propelling a woman toward a particular
type of man? Such patterns influence choices and the stability of
relationships.
Relationship patterns also bear the imprint of particular goddesses.
Father-daughter, brother-sister, sister-sister, mother-son, lover-lover,
or mother-daughter—each pair represents a configuration that is
natural for a particular goddess.
Every woman has “goddess-given” gifts to learn about and accept
gratefully. Every woman also has “goddess-given” liabilities, which
she must recognize and surmount in order to change. She cannot
resist living out a pattern determined by an underlying goddess ar-
chetype until she is conscious that such a pattern exists and seeks
to fulfill itself through her.
MYTHS AS INSIGHT TOOLS
The first important link I saw between mythological patterns and
women’s psychology was provided by Erich Neumann, a Jungian
analyst, in his book Amor and Psyche. Neumann used mythology as
a means of describing feminine psychology. I found Neumann’s
combination of myth and psychological commentary to be a
powerful “insight tool.”
In the Greek myth of Amor and Psyche, for example, Psyche’s
first task was to sort a huge, disordered heap of seeds, placing each
kind of grain in a separate mound. Her initial reaction to this task,
as well as to the next three, was despair. I noticed that the myth fit
a number of my women patients who
There Are Goddesses in Everywoman