Goddesses in Older Women: Archetypes in Women Over Fifty
Author: Jean Shinoda Bolen
List Price: $25.00
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ISBN: 006019152X
Publisher: HarperCollins (06 March, 2001)
Sales Rank: 39,102
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
Archetype as Fate?
A rich, chewy, enjoyable read, full of Goddesses as archetypes (Hestia the homebody; Hera the wife; Demeter the mother; Athena the achiever; Artemis the adventurer; etc.). Lots of thought-provoking information here -- but, as a typical American addicted to self-help books which tell you, step by step, WHAT TO DO, I found this book frustrating. She simply states that a Hera (wife archetype) who has lost her husband or has never married will feel miserable and frustrated -- no suggestions on how to cope with it!! Maybe this is realism (and the self-help books are bull), but because Bolen is a Jungian analyst, surely she helps women cope with this sort of thing every day. I would have liked some examples of how other women (patients, or examples from history) cope when they cannot fulfill their archetypes.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Fascinating and informative
Goddess In Older Women reminds me a great deal of Women Who Run With The Wolves which my sister gave me a dozen years ago. Jean Shinoda Bolen MS notes in the beginning that "At some point after fifty, every woman crosses a threshold into the third phase of her life. As she enters this uncharted territory--one that is generally uncelebrated in popular culture--she can choose to mourn what has gone before, or she can embrace the juicy crone years."The book is split into 4 parts. 1 is Her name Is Wisdom which covers the Goddess of pratical and intellectual wisdom; mystical and spiritual wisdom;Intuitive and psychic wisdom; meditative wisdom.
2 She Is More...Than Wisdom which deals with the Goddess of Transformative Wrath-Her name is Outrage; Healing Laughter Her Name is Mirth; Compassion Her Name is Kindness
3 She Is A Goddess Growing Older Goddesses in Everywoman Revisted Artemis Goddess of Hunt and Moon; Athena Goddess of Wisdom and Crafts; Hestia Goddess of Hearth and Temple; Hera Goddess of Marriage; Demeter Goddess of Grain; Peresephone the Maiden and Queen; Aphrodite Goddess of Love and Beauty
Part 5 She Is a Circle. Circles of Wisewomen clan mothers Grandmother circles and Crone circles.
Fact is European women seem to appreciate and honour the crone more than we do here in the states. Crone sadly is a misunderstood word. It simply means an older women who is wise and wonderful. It isn't anything dark or spooky.
Women Who Run With The Wolves and this book should be books any intelligent women who appreciates being a woman of worth owns. And should you care I am the Athena type....
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