be caretaking Demeter. This shift can have an adverse effect on her
job, since that’s what she most often drops. She spends too much
time on personal telephone calls, listening to the troubles of others.
She too often rushes out on an errand of mercy, and is on the verge
of being fired. Another woman may find that a feminist rally trans-
forms her into a full-blown Artemis out to avenge intrusions onto
women’s territory, as she feels a surge of sisterhood and strength.
And money matters can turn yet another woman from a casual,
people-oriented person into a “bottom-line” Athena, a stickler for
contracts concerned with how much is due her.
When a woman falls in love, change threatens former priorities.
Inwardly, at the archetypal level, old patterns may no longer hold.
When Aphrodite becomes activated, the influence of Athena may
wane, making career advancement less important than her new love.
Or Hera’s pro-marriage values may be overcome, if infidelity results.
Psychiatric symptoms develop if the negative aspect of a goddess
becomes activated by circumstance. The loss of a child or a significant
relationship can turn a woman into a grieving Demeter mother who
stops functioning and just sits, profoundly depressed and unreach-
able. Or a husband’s proximity to an attractive woman—a co-
worker, employee, or neighbor—can call forth jealous Hera, causing
a woman to become mistrustful and paranoid, seeing deception and
infidelity where there are none.
“DOING” ACTIVATES GODDESSES
The saying “Doing is becoming” expresses a way that goddesses
can be evoked or developed by a chosen course of action. For ex-
ample, practicing meditation can gradually activate or strengthen
the influence of Hestia, the introverted, inwardly focused goddess.
Since the effects of meditation, like meditation itself, are subjective,
usually the only person who notices a difference is the woman her-
self. She may meditate once or twice a day, and then go about her
daily routine feeling more “centered,” enjoying the times of quiet
well-being that are characteristic of Hestia. Sometimes others sense
the difference too, as did the office staff of one supervising social
Activating the Goddesses