The Goddess of Love and Her Archetypes, Which One Are You?

Which aspect of the Goddess of Love do you most identify with? Is it Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty? Or perhaps Lilith, the Primal Goddess? Or do you see yourself more as the Sacred Prostitute, Courtesan or Sexual Healer?

The Goddesses of Love have many names for they represent a side of the Divine Feminine that depicts women’s sensual and sexual natures. These goddess archetypes have often been seen from a very narrow point of view. The mythology of any culture always reflects the values of that culture and so do the pantheon of gods and goddesses that are created.

Many of the goddesses representing sexuality are seen as dark or dangerous and often demonized. The goddesses of love are often limited to being beautiful, sensual and often bitchy, thus reflecting the view point of the patriarchal culture they were created in.

I have delineated five basic archetypes of the Goddesses of Love and Sexuality: the Goddess of Love and Beauty, the Primal Goddess, the Sacred Prostitute, the Courtesan, and the Sexual Healer who has primarily emerged over the past 15 years. Of course each of these archetypes have many different names, some of which are: the Goddess of Love is known as Aphrodite, Venus, Innana, Oshun; the Primal Goddess is Lilith, Shakti, Pele and Brigit; the Sacred Prostitute is Ishtar; and the Sacred Courtesans are Aspasia, Theodora, Veronica Franco to name a few. These last three are not generally reflected by goddess images but rather individual women.

In our modern world how women are seen is still greatly influenced by these images of the feminine. Although most women do not know this, they too have allowed themselves to be seen and to see themselves through the lens of one or more of these archetypes. We fear, hide, are ashamed, or exploit our sexual power. Very few women fully use and embody their authentic feminine power,standing in their feminine strength,love,beauty,intelligence,grace,and sexuality. When we do, we take the apology out of being a woman. What I have come to realize is that women need to embrace all of these aspects of themselves if they truly wish to feel whole and stand in their full authentic feminine power. This includes learning how use their sexual power not to survive but to thrive. Understanding how to be and use this magnificent power is key if we wish to create a world where women are safe to be women.

So how do we do this? Well the first thing is to begin to understand who these images of the feminine are to us personally. Which ones do we fear or feel comfortable with. How are we currently showing up in the world regarding our sexual power? For the most part women have been forced to use their sexuality to survive. We see throughout history that women’s sexual power has been feared and therefore it needed to be controlled. And one of the best ways to do that was to make sex evil, women the temptress and to tell her that she could only use her sexuality to serve men.

Through getting to know the various archetypes of the goddess which represent feminine sexuality and love we can begin to learn more about ourselves and our sexual expression. We can also begin to embody more of the qualities we wish to express. Through getting to know each archetype those aspects you feel most comfortable or uncomfortable with, those you embrace or wish to embrace, you will have a better understanding of your own nature.

By practicing ritual, creating an altar, learning the art of adornment, or whatever you can, you will begin to own more of your wholeness as a sexually powerful woman. By doing this you will no longer fear any aspect of your feminine nature and will be able to express yourself in the arts of love fully.

By awakening to our own inner goddesses of love and embodying more of their qualities, we can finally begin to integrate all of the sexual archetypes both for ourselves and for the collective. We can also begin to explore what new love and sexual images we wish to create for a new world that is no longer afraid of the feminine, but rather honors, reveres and celebrates her power as we once did many thousands of years ago.