What goddess archetype are you?
I read a lot of books. Several at a time. Tonight I started the book by Heatherash Amarah, called "Warrior Goddess Training, Become the Woman You Are Meant To Be." Within the first page she hits a chord that resonates with all too many woman. "Do you ...feel the muffling weight of self-judgment and self-doubt? Perhaps you have a deep-seated belief that you are not good enough, ...you have tried the exhausting process of seeking value outside of yourself throughout your life.
If you don’t love and honor yourself with every fiber of your being, if you struggle with owning your power and passion, if you could use more joyful play and simple presence in your life, then it is time for an inner revolution. It is time to claim your Warrior Goddess energy."
Why do so many women doubt themselves? Amarah says: "we are trained to seek our wholeness and value and to find love through others." We look outside ourselves for validation, and confidence. It seems like we need a person to mirror who we are or we don't exist. Interesting enough, I started out my life very self confident, and self assured. It seemed like anything I tried, I could do. But after the age of puberty, I lost something. The messages of "you are pretty", "you will make someone a good wife", crept in and I started looking outwards for who I was. I grew up in the era of "women's lib", but instead of defining me, it confused me. Did I need to be successful in a career, or finding the love of my life and raising a family. Could I do it all? We were told we could. But I remember distinctly in high school my father saying, you can't have a career and a family. At that time, I think he was evaluating how hard it was to manage both well.
Women need to evolve "from being other-focused to inner-focused." Amarah wisely states in her book. "When our attention is trapped by fearful shoulds, what ifs, and don'ts, we scatter our energy and struggle with knowing what is authentic for us. When we... discover who we are on the inside... we begin a sacred path of transformation toward our innate, authentic, embodied power. This is the path of the Warrior Goddess."
The term Warrior Goddess is an example of an archetype. You may not be familiar with the term but we use archetypes to describe people everyday. Archetypes are typical characters, or an action or a situation that represent common and universal patterns of human nature. Archetypes are used in writing to define characters in fiction. We often identify with the character because we recognize them, we recognize their type. An example of other archetypes for women include the Amazon, the Librarian, the Spinster, the Good Wife, the Queen Bee, the Girl Next Door and many more. Our early years and significant stages in life can impact us enough that the personal story we adopt or tell ourselves often fits into an archetype. Does the story you tell about yourself sound like an archetype? Are you the heroine or the victim in your life story?
Sadly Amarah, makes a profound and important point when she says we seek value and love through others. There are too many messages that women receive that undermine our confidence. Actually this is often an important message for both genders, for all ages and all races but for now I will focus on women.
So what does it take to have unshakeable confidence and what seems to limit it?
Amarah says "...ironically the first step (back to your true self, your confidence) ...requires you to relinquish some things that you have been holding on to for a long, long time. ...you must be willing to give up your false beliefs and self- limiting stories."
This resonates significantly for me. I came into my own confidence at different times in my life, in early childhood, and in my late 20's. During college I found direction and my soul mate. Graduating from college, I found a rewarding career and had my son. I grew up with the message that women could have it all. I felt like a goddess. Then a "perfect storm" of bad events and horrendous stress brought me to my knees and in the hospital.
Fast forward through tumultuous years of surgeries and long recovery and I had lost any confidence that I had. I was being defined by illness and limitations. That was the beginning of looking internally and looking back and sorting through my beliefs, trying to find my way back to the self I use to know.
My story changed from the young barefoot flower child who loved to run through meadows of flowers, fearlessly rescuing wild or feral animals, reveling in the game of softball and basketball, loving school and learning, and loving life. When my world crumbled, I became someone who had lost their integrity and my dream life crumbled around me. My body failed me at a time when I needed it most. I had lost my inner goddess because she had been standing on the beliefs of other people and what she had been told. My self worth crumbled when those external oriented beliefs were challenged. I had lost my inner warrior goddess.
Writer Amarah talks about the attributes of a warrior goddess. "Warrior energy is about focus, dedication, purpose, and determination. Consciously bringing these things together gives us our power. Goddess energy is our creative power: unconditional love, pleasure, passion, and wisdom. When we claim our goddess energy we live in joyful self-acceptance and self-respect, and we listen to our sacred inner voice."
I struggle a bit with the word warrior. Its hard for me to identify with and that's ok. But I do relate to the attributes. I want to stand firm in my beliefs, but the word conjures thoughts of going to war.
In doing more research I found Anita Revel at http://igoddess.com/the-7-goddess-archetypes/ who talks about different types of goddesses including
Warrior goddesses or warrior queens. She defines them as : "Warrior queens have unshakeable trust in their abilities to lead. Without hesitation they are prepared to stand up for their rights and the rights of others who rely on them for security. They forge ahead despite (or because of) obstacles. They carve their own path and lead by example. They stay balanced in times or duress, and connected to their traditions and sources of inspiration whether they be at war or in peace. They are in tune with their physical body and respond to threatening situations rationally. And, they are deeply connected with Mother Earth and humanity." If you don't relate directly to that description, fortunately she talks about other goddesses.
To my delight, Rebel talks about Goddesses such as the Magical Muse, the Daring Diva, Primordial Mother, Natural Healer, Sacred Sage and High Priestess. Revel says, " Looking at the ancient goddesses as role models is a fabulous way for each woman to develop the self-love and appreciation for herself as a woman standing complete in her power." You can see the details of each goddess on her website. Having the tendencies of a pacifist and nurturer, I relate more to the Natural Healer Goddess.
Taking a look at your natural tendencies and innate gifts can start to give you direction in who your true self is, what the attributes of your inner Goddess is and can be. We need to know what we believe in and what we value to be able to stand strong within ourselves. Once we know these things, we can use them as a tool of measurement to evaluate our outer world. Do you know your true self; what your attributes and talents are? What do you value? What do you stand for? These are the questions you need to ask yourself to become the strong Goddess that you really are. I can help you explore those questions to find the "true" you.
