shares with these relationship-oriented women a need to develop
her animus or have Artemis and Athena as active archetypes in order
to be effective in the world.
MASCULINE ANIMUS OR
FEMININE ARCHETYPE?
Subjective feelings and dream figures help differentiate whether
a woman’s active focus is associated with a masculine animus or
with a feminine goddess pattern. For example, if a woman feels as
if the assertive part of herself is something alien to who she is—that
is, like a male in herself on whom she calls in difficult situations re-
quiring her to “be tough” or “think like a man” (neither of which
she feels “at home” doing)—then it is her animus that is rising to
the occasion and helping her. Much like an auxiliary engine is called
on when more power is needed, the animus is held in reserve. This
reserve mode is especially true of women in whom Hestia, Hera,
Demeter, Persephone, or Aphrodite are the strongest patterns.
But when Athena and Artemis are well-developed aspects of her
personality, a woman may naturally be assertive, think well, know
what she wants to achieve, or compete comfortably. These qualities,
far from being alien, feel like inherent expressions of who she is as
a woman, and not like the qualities of a masculine animus that does
it “for her.”
Dreams are the second way of differentiating an Artemis or Athena
archetype from an animus. They indicate whether these virgin
goddesses are the source of a woman’s active attitude, or whether
qualities such as assertiveness or aiming for goals should be attrib-
uted to a masculine aspect of the woman.
When Artemis and Athena are the predominant archetypes, the
dreamer is often exploring unfamiliar terrain alone. She is in the role
of the protagonist who struggles with obstacles, climbs mountains,
or ventures into a foreign country or underground landscape. For
example, “I am at the wheel of my convertible, speeding on a country
road at night, outrunning whoever is in pursuit”; “I am a stranger
in an amazing city that is like the hanging gardens of Babylon”; “It
is like
The Virgin Goddesses: Artemis, Athena, and Hestia