For years Jean Shinoda Bolen has been fascinated by the female soul and its facets. Therefore, she has entirely dedicated her life as a psychologist to women. In her book, published in the 1980s ‘Goddesses in Everywoman’, she has already developed a vivid approach, based on the archetypes of Greek Goddesses. Images of women which have been alive in the human consciousness for more than 3000 years.
In her work, with thousands of women, Bolen has used the archetypal Goddesses as shortcuts to describe and analyze the different female behaviour patterns and personalities. On the other hand, the images of the Goddesses have been able to help both her and her clients to discover and awaken their strengths.
This is the reason why I have already introduced some female archetypes in the form of Goddesses (Aphrodite, Artemis and Demeter), and now I would like to continue with Persephone. These Goddess-archetypes can help us women with self-reflexion, self-awareness and development.
SOUL ASPECTS OF PERSEPHONE: A BRIEF SUMMARY
Typical characteristics of a Persephone woman: insecure – shy – cautious – indecisive – passive – adjusted – compliant – afraid of relationships – no awareness of own strengths and qualities.
But also: great willingness to dive into the depths of the soul – turn weaknesses into strengths – highly sensitive – special access to one’s soul and spirituality
Typical for Persephone woman: juvenile appearance and behaviour – willingness to adapt – introverted – excellent power of observation – inner wisdom – strong intuition – unusual psychological abilities – highly sensitive.
Shadows of the Persephone woman: passivity – aimlessness – listlessness – inability for building relationships – escapism – powerlessness – manipulation – narcissism
In one of my next blogs I will introduce you to the Goddess-aspects of Hera.
Ingrid Auer for Women 