Aphrodite can show us how to enrich our lives with more fulfilling relationships. Athena or Hermes can help us deal more effectively with disharmony in our workplace or among our friends. Artemis can empower us to be more confident; Sekhmet, braver and more assertive; Bast, more persuasive; Apollo, more creative.
The essays in this book retell the myths of fifteen gods and goddesses from ancient times, interpreting them in terms of their relevance to our lives in western society today. They reveal the essential qualities of these deities and show how the evocations can help us realise our hidden potential by enhancing the qualities of a particular god or goddess within ourselves. The deities were chosen to cover a wide range of psychological attributes and social situations.
Each essay ends with a beautiful poetic evocation of the god or goddess designed to evoke within you the essential qualities of that deity. If done with intention and in suitable circumstances, you will feel yourself growing in stature and expanding your nature to incorporate the qualities of the deity. The book gives advice on how to make the evocations effective.
A Taste of a Goddess Within: Artemis
To illustrate the relevance of the ancient gods to modern life, here is the last page of the essay on Artemis and her evocation:
……. Artemis affirms the inviolate individuality within each one of us. We are all “whole unto ourselves”, responsible for our own life decisions. Whereas Aphrodite urges us towards relationship and reciprocity, Artemis encourages us, even when in relationship or giving birth, to maintain our personal integrity, our self-esteem, our independence of spirit. This is truly to be “ever virgin”, whole unto ourselves.
Artemis is energetic, physically fit and active, skilful in the use of the bow. A modern Artemis is likely to be trim of body, to be able to mend a fuse or change a wheel on a car and perhaps to be proficient in a martial art. To Artemis, life is a constantly unfolding adventure, full of interest and possibility. She keeps her innocence and has no truck with cynicism or pessimism.
Her appeal to modern women, still struggling to disentangle themselves from stereotyped gender roles and images, is strong. Women, young or old, maiden, mother or crone, can all be empowered by evoking the qualities of Artemis within themselves.
But men also suffer from gender stereotyping and have a dread of being seen as effeminate if they soften the macho masculine image. They are exhorted to acknowledge their feminine side but are not given an acceptable idea as to what this means. Artemis provides an image of the feminine that carries none of the connotations of weakness and dependency so prevalent in the usual stereotype. She challenges men to relate to women on equal terms, with respect and without preconceived ideas. Through her, men also can discover their inner integrity and be whole unto themselves. They can then dare to approach Artemis as Goddess of the Moon to find the key to their sensitive and imaginative creative depths, so often inaccessible to the stereotypical male.
To both men and women, of all ages and situations, the evocation of the Artemisian spirit can bring liberation into one’s inner core of personal integrity.
ARTEMIS
Hail Artemis, Virgin Huntress of the Night, who art throned upon the high hills in the silver light and indigo shadows of the risen Moon. In thy right hand is the Bow, and in thy left hand the leash of thy Hounds. On thy feet are the buskins of soft leather, and thou art crowned with the Crescent Moon. Thy voice is a bell of clear command, not to be gainsaid.
Swiftly and surely weave thy way among the shadows of the Soul’s Night; Mistress only of thyself, yielding to none, pursue thy native way. Thy shafts strike silver fire from the Earth. Thou art ever on the horizon, ever remote, nor Man nor God may possess thee; yet thou art at the centre of all creatures, the Foundation of the Worlds of sense and dream.
Wherever tendon and muscle stretches to the athletic stress of joyous effort,
Wherever Woman strides unveiled and armed, her own Mistress,
Wherever heads are high and eyes alight with the Fire of Freedom,
Wherever hair flies in the wind,
There is thy footfall heard among us.
By the tireless pursuit of the Quarry,
By the Rhythm of the Endless Chase,
By the compulsion of dreams and the restless tide of the future,
By wayward will and ready hand,
I call upon thee to Be with Us in Body and in Spirit.
(Essay by Jean, evocation by Zach.)
