ants.” These insects are analogous to an intuitive process, the
workings of which are beyond conscious control. Or clarity can come
through her conscious efforts to systematically or logically assess
and assign priority to the many elements involved in a decision.
Task 2: Acquiring Some Golden Fleece. Aphrodite next orders Psyche
to acquire some golden fleece from the terrible rams of the sun. They
are huge, aggressive, horned beasts who are in a field, butting against
each other. If Psyche were to go among them and try to take their
wool, she would surely be trampled or crushed. Once again the task
seems impossible until a green reed comes to her aid and advises
her to wait until sundown, when the rams disperse and retire. Then
she can safely pick strands of golden fleece off the brambles against
which the rams had brushed.
Symbolically, the golden fleece represents power, which a woman
needs to acquire without being destroyed in the attempt to attain
some. When an Aphrodite woman (or a vulnerable goddess type)
goes out into the competitive world where others battle aggressively
for power and position, she may be hurt or disillusioned if she does
not recognize the dangers. She may become hardened and cynical;
her caring and trusting self may become a casualty, “trampled un-
derfoot.” An armored Athena can be in the midst of a battlefield,
directly involved in strategy and politics, but a woman who is like
Psyche does better observing, waiting, and gradually acquiring
power indirectly.
Acquiring the golden fleece without destroying Psyche is a meta-
phor for the task of gaining power and remaining a compassionate
person. In my psychiatric practice, I find that keeping this task in
mind is very helpful to every woman who is learning to assert her-
self. Otherwise, by focusing only on expressing her needs or anger,
her conversations become alienating confrontations that do not help
her achieve what she wants and that present her in a harsh, destruct-
ive light.
Task 3: Filling the Crystal Flask. For the third task, Aphrodite places
a small crystal flask in Psyche’s hand and tells her she must fill it
with water from a forbidding stream. This
Goddesses in Everywoman