Love of Muses: Reviews

BOOK REVIEW: GODDESS IN EVERY WOMAN: POWERFUL ARCHETYPES IN WOMEN’S LIVES

WHO IS THE AUTHOR?

This is the book review for Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, Goddess in Every Woman. This book is listed under the category of Social Science and Women’s Studies. This book uses Greek Goddesses to represent personality traits and ways of thinking in woman. She also has a version of the book for men as well, with The God in Every Man. It was the local copy at one point and time for Houston’s Jung Center. The author signed it.  I refer to the 13th anniversary edition not the 1984 version of the book.

The Autor is Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD. Here is her website. This is the only book I have read by her, but it really resonated with me. I kept saying oh, that is me, or oh, that sounds like a friend or family member. She is a writer, and Psychiatrist along with being a Jungian Analyst. To read more on this interesting woman see her site.

If you are not familiar with what an archetype is, I will put the definition here: It helps you understand the book and how it can apply to you. An archetype is a term that Jung is most associated with though the idea comes from from Ancient Greece.

WHO IS CARL JUNG?

Carl Jung (born July 26, 1875, Kesswil, Switzerland—died June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytic psychology, in some aspects a response to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of the extroverted and the introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, literature, and related fields.

No one culture owns an archetype; they are universal. Think of the male hunter or the nurturing mother. Now, they do not have to be gender-exclusive roles; for example, a male nurse and a female soldier exist in our world. Everyone is a combination of different personalities and traits. This is important to remember throughout the book. I saw myself most in Artemis but know that other traits or descriptions of another Goddess also described me as well. We do know that we have a majority one (type or Goddess/God) that is present at any given time. We may know then better in pop culture as a stereotype for example.

Think of a DnD class of character with certain traits that make them good at something. It is the same thing. A template if you will help us learn and grow. That is one thing I enjoy about the book. Goddess in Everywoman helps you learn and grow how to change your present based on your past. It covers not only the traits that are good but ways to deal with unhelpful ones as well.

Here is a link to the Greek Deities but the book has one as well.

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/

Your impression of this book will differ from mine. Here is my review of the book:

BOOK REVIEW: Goddess in Every Woman (13th anniversary edition)  

This is the only book I have read by her, but it really resonated with me. I kept saying oh, that is me, or oh, that sounds like a friend or family member. This book brakes down the female roles in a few distinct categories. Each one is seen through the classic myth of a goddess and her role in the universe. Each of the Goddesses embodies an overall type of Vergin, Mother or another type. To quote her: “For one thing, there are seven complex archetypes to examine and combine in various ways, and each has within herself myriad variations” xiv Bolen. Again, she stressed that as women we can have more than one archetype and feel connected to different Goddess throughout our lifetime.

Here is an example form chapter 6: Hestia: (Vesta is her Roman name)  is the Goddess of the Hearth, and Temple, Wise Woman and Maiden aunt. Please note that virgin here in the sense of ancient times meant that a woman was unmarried.

The Goddesses role in society and mythology.

Rituals and Worship

Then she covers the archetype and various roles of Hestia as an archetype:

Vergin Goddess

Inward-Focused Consciousness

The Hearth Keeper

Temple Hearth Keeper

The Wise old woman

The Self: Inner Centeredness Spiritual Illumination and Meaning

Then she pares the goddess of that chapter up with a male counter part. In this case it is Hermes.

Hestia and Hermes: Mystically Related

Bolen discusses how to bring out Hestia’s energy in your life, covering each stage of a woman’s journey. Starting with childhood and parental influences, she explores adolescence, early years, work, relationships, sexuality, marriage, and interactions with men. She addresses children, middle and later life stages, and psychological challenges of Hestia women. She also offers personal growth strategies. This overview provides a thorough summary without missing vital details.

Gloria Steinem says it well: “The author’s sensitive analysis of archetypes takes them out of their patriarchal framework of simple exploits and gives them back to us as larger than life but believable, real women.” Xiv.

Hestia does represent a real role in antient times, a real position that women held in Rome. So the modern day equivalent might be a female spiritual leader or a woman who is a nun for example. This book as I have said is beautifully written and complex but very accessible.

If you want to understand yourself, your friends, and your neighbor's habits.  This is the book for you. This book is a great journey of self-discovery and as someone that can be too hard on themselves I found this book to be enlightening. Bolen has done an excellent job with books, and it is a must read.

https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/book-review-examples

Book Category: Social Science Women’s Studies

For more on the Jung Center in Houston go here for information.

Sources:

Fordham, F. and Fordham, . Michael S.M.. "Carl Jung." Encyclopedia Britannica, September 17, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Jung.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/archetype

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archetype

https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/book-review-examples