women were not stopping at having two children, but were having
three, four, five, or six. By 1950 the birthrate in the United States
equaled India’s for the first and only time.
Twenty years later, the 1970s was the decade of the women’s
movement—vintage years for Artemis and Athena. Women who
were motivated to achieve were now supported by the times. Fem-
inists and career women were in the center of the stage. More women
than ever before were now in school, pursuing doctoral, business,
medicine, and law degrees. “Until death us do part” marriage vows
were increasingly broken, and the birthrate was down. Meanwhile,
women motivated by Hera’s need to be a mate and Demeter’s need
to have children were functioning in an increasingly unsupportive
climate.
When specific archetypal patterns in some women find favor in
the culture, those women can do what is inwardly meaningful to
them and can receive outer approval. Institutional support matters
greatly. For example, women with Athena’s innately logical mind
need access to higher education to develop intellectually. Women
with Hestia’s spiritual focus thrive in religious communities.
THE EFFECT OF HORMONES ON GODDESSES
When hormones shift dramatically—at puberty, during pregnancy,
and at menopause—some archetypes are enhanced at the expense
of others. The hormones that cause breast and genital development
at puberty may stimulate the sensuality and sexuality that are
characteristics of Aphrodite. Some girls become young Aphrodite
women when they develop physically; others develop breasts and
begin menstruating, but do not turn their interest toward boys. Be-
havior is not determined by hormones alone, but through the inter-
action of hormones and goddess archetypes.
Pregnancy instigates a massive increase in the hormone progester-
one, which sustains the pregnancy physiologically. Again, different
women react differently to this increase. Some become emotionally
fulfilled as their bodies become large with child, and they feel like
the embodiment of Demeter, the mother goddess. Others seem al-
most oblivious to the
Activating the Goddesses