When looking at the phase coinciding with Ovulation we identify with the goddesses who value relationship, partnership and the wellbeing of others above all else.
These archetypes get their satisfaction and worth from playing the supporting, receptive and nurturing roles. Co-operation is one of their strengths as is the ability to be self sacrificing for the perceived greater good.
It is the Mother Archetype that most women are encouraged to express.
Mother
We are all familiar with the Mother Archetype. She wants to nurture and grow everything in sight. She is the giver of life and sometimes the taker of life too.
The Mother focuses all her energy on her offspring whether the offspring are her children, her pets, her garden, her friends or her creative projects. She wants to feed you, make sure you are warm and look after you. Her job is to make sure you grow up properly, safely and happily.
Expressed positively, the Mother archetype is great and highly necessary. But when a woman invests so much of herself in the Mother archetype without developing some of the other archetypes, then problems can arise when the offspring grow up and try to leave home.
These Mothers can become domineering, overly dependent and interfering… they turn into Terrible Mothers – the life takers.
Women who have strong Mother archetypes have to learn to nurture themselves as well as those around them. They have to get some of their worth and value from other avenues apart from being Mother.
Aphrodite Goddess of Love
I class Aphrodite as a Virgin goddess and a Mother goddess.
Firstly Aphrodite is a Virgin goddess because She belongs to no man or woman. She simply belongs to Herself. She expresses her abundant sexuality the way she sees fit and chooses not to exchange it for the security of partnership.
Aphrodite is a Mother goddess when She does seek union and partnership with another person whether that partnership is creative, emotional or sexual.
She seeks union with a partner, and feels the desire to consummate the relationship. She symbolises the creative force of attraction and fertilisation on all levels.
Aphrodite as a Mother goddess is just as sensual, receptive and creative an individual as when she is a Virgin goddess. The difference is that She is fascinated by relationship and the transmutation and creativity that takes place when people fall in love with each other. Whenever there is rapt attention and a meeting of the senses whether it be mental, physical or emotional, Aphrodite is there.
Aphrodite as an energetic force is the pre-cursor to all offspring. She is that wonderful heady attraction and chemistry that promises a wonderful and ecstatic union and gorgeous offspring. She wants to merge with the “Other”.
When a woman is ovulating, is feeling amorous and is seized by the desire to have a child NOW, she is acting on an Aphrodite impulse.
Even though Aphrodite symbolises the creativity of procreating, She does not necessarily make an effective Mother. She is not necessarily interested in nurturing and attending to the needs of the progeny that may be the result of the creative urge.
Hera The Wife
Hera is the feminine archetype of the Wife. She longs to be part of a partnership, gets most of her validation and value out of being part of a couple and focuses most of her energy on sustaining her marriage’.
Hera will support her man through ‘thick and thin’, happily foregoing her own needs in order to put the marriage and her partner first. She sees her identity as part of a couple and views other people as couples.
She often does not develop lasting female relationships because She tends to relate to other women as a part of a couple also. She simply does not see the point in nurturing female friendships. She believes that She will have all Her needs met through the primary partnership or marriage.
Hera likes to support traditional, conservative social structures. In fact, She is often instrumental in the creation of the structure and social rules. She seeks security and stability through traditional views and family life.
Hera will have children because they are important for carrying on the family name and because it is the right thing to do. However, Hera will always put Her marriage and Her husband before her children.
On to The Enchantress Archetype
