tion.” She has a “one-track mind,” which allows her to do what she
sets her mind on. When she concentrates on outer goals or whatever
the task at hand—as is characteristic of Artemis and Athena—the
focus is achievement-oriented.
Danielle Steel, whose seventeen novels have sold more than 45
million copies in eighteen languages, exemplifies this type of focused
consciousness. She describes herself as “an overachiever” and says,
“It’s very intense. I usually work twenty hours a day, sleeping two
to four hours. This goes on seven days a week for six weeks”^3 (until
the novel is completed).
When the focus is turned inward, toward a spiritual center—which
is the directional focus of Hestia—the woman in whom this archetype
is strong can meditate for long periods, undistracted by either the
world around her, or by the discomforts of maintaining a particular
position.
PATTERNS OF BEING AND BEHAVING
Women who follow their own inclinations to become competitive
swimmers, active feminists, scientists, statisticians, corporate exec-
utives, housekeepers, horsewomen, or who enter convents or
ashrams exemplify virgin goddess qualities. In order to develop
their talents and focus on pursuing what has personal value, virgin
goddess women often avoid fulfilling traditional women’s roles.
How to do so—that is, how to be true to themselves and adapt to
living in “a man’s world”—is the challenge.
In mythology, each of the three virgin goddesses faced a similar
challenge, and developed a different solution.
Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, forsook the city, avoided contact
with men, and spent her time in the wilderness with her band of
nymphs. Her adaption mode was separation from men and their in-
fluence. This mode is analogous to that of contemporary women
who join consciousness-raising groups and become feminists intent
on defining themselves and their own priorities, or who work in
women-run collectives and businesses that serve womens’ needs.
Artemis women are also represented by “rugged individualists,”
who go it alone and do what matters to them, without personal
support or approval from men—or from other women, as well.
Goddesses in Everywoman