Goddess Archetypes
Finding strength in Goddess mythology
Hi friends,
I hope everyone is hanging in there and taking care.
Last week I had carved out a few days to work on my illustration portfolio. I sat down at my desk last Wednesday after reading the news, heavy with feelings. And she flew out of me:
The title was also there, sitting on the tip of my tongue: Woman Stands Defiant In The Face Of Relentless Patriarchy, The Flowers Are Her Armour.
Painting this Goddess made me feel stronger - made me feel like my rage and sadness and fear and art could be galvanizing somehow.
I love that in many Goddess mythologies, Divine Feminine qualities are almost always intertwined with a love and respect for Mother Nature. That in ancient cultures, these energies were revered by everyone, regardless of gender.
(Being off my phone and out with Mother Nature has been the best medicine this week.)
I have often turned to Goddess myths for strength in challenging times. When I lived in the US for 10 years, far from family, I thought a lot about Persephone. When I was pregnant with my son, feeling vulnerable and fearful, I found courage and tenacity reading the novel Circe.
Lately, I have been reading a lot about Lilith. Do you know her? She is new to me, a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology. She feels to me like the epitome of disruption from a place of integrity and self-love - the antithesis of the good girl sacrificing herself to please others - and, speaking as a former good girl looking for inspiration: I love her.
A quick overview, courtesy of Astrologer Chani Nicholas:
Lilith, first wife of Adam. Lilith, who was told her place was beneath her husband. Lilith, who chose self-imposed exile over living a life with a man who didn’t see her as his equal. Lilith, who upon realizing God was in on this, uttered the Holy One’s ineffable name and left the Garden of Eden for good.
Lilith, not of The Father, but for her freedom.
Lilith ends up in a cave in the desert, a place of meditation if you will. Desolate. Barren. Beautiful. The desert was once the floor of the ocean. And it’s here, at the bottom where we find ourselves.
I believe that it is Lilith who returns to the Garden of Eden as the snake that tempts Eve with the apple in the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Lilith whispers to us through the ages, “Leave this place. It doesn’t know you. It doesn’t want you in your entirety. It seeks only to diminish you. Bite the apple. Incorporate this wisdom. Leave here and discover who you really are.”
Immersing myself in Lilith has been a balm lately, a trust in a kind of intuition and sacred feminine energy that is larger than myself.
Astrologers posit that Lilith is also a point in our birth charts - that the placement of Black Moon Lilith is an indication of our own personal signature of defiance, a path to strength in our own unique way.
I will keep painting.
In other news, my gallery North Coast Asylum is running a very rare sale this week -25% off all paintings with code NCA25. I think there are a couple of days left. You can see my paintings available with them here:
Sending Love!
Katy x