YOUR good goddess GUIDE

Feeling overstretched or underappreciated? Then embrace the wisdom of the ancient Greeks, says Dr Helen Johnson, and let your inner goddess shine

On my 19th birthday, my mum Nancy sent me a mug with the word ‘Goddess’ repeated several times on it. I still have it today; it sits in pride of place on my bedside table. Every morning, even when I don’t particularly feel as though I’m in my feminine power, it reminds me of my purpose in life.

Whenever I overhear women talking about channelling their inner goddess, I can’t help but smile. I don’t recall a time when I didn’t know about those six dominant women of the Ancient Greeks. There’s the warrior Athena, the adventurer Artemis, sensual Aphrodite, powerful Hera, mystical Persephone and the nurturer Demeter.

When I was a child, our house was full of books, and one of them was The Goddess Within. My father bought it for Mum. Looking back, I can see that Mum took the principles of the book to heart because she was supremely balanced in all six of her goddess energies.

Mum understood that learning their power and passing that wisdom on to me was vital in nurturing me and helping me grow into a well-balanced woman who is able to appreciate all aspects of her femininity.

Every year Mum would buy a calendar that depicted old-fashioned yet light-hearted domestic scenes with amusing captions about the goddesses. She’d hang it in the kitchen where we could see it daily. She appreciated the humour but also the idea that even in our ordinary lives we are channelling our inner goddess.

Of course, I didn’t realise that at the time.

Mum died in a tragic accident in 2004 when she was hit by a steel bollard from the Star Clipper at St Katharine’s Pier in London, while she and Dad had been waiting to board. Our family was devastated by her sudden loss and the gaping hole she left.

I was just 23 and still living at home. In an instant, life as I knew it crumpled. I was training to be a barrister at the time, but I abandoned my studies. Instead I travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Malawi, then spent my mid-20s re-examining my life path while grieving for my mum.

Eventually I returned to university and gained a PhD in criminology. I chose this subject because I’m fascinated by how people can change their lives.

Losing my mum was (and still is) devastating in so many ways – one of which is the loss of her powerful and unwavering guidance. I’ve often wondered about the advice she might have given me as I grew older. Apart from the usual ‘get a grip’ counsel and the insistence that I avoid the use of hyperbole, I’m sure that she would recommend the goddess models as a blueprint for living.

But it wasn’t until I was 31 that I picked up The Goddess Within again, the same book she had treasured all those years ago. I really only began reading it to feel close to her and try to connect with my memories of her again. Yet as I turned each page and took in the knowledge contained there, something magical began to

Every aspect of the six goddesses is a celebration of femininity

happen. I ‘got’ it; it was as though Mum was talking to me.

While exploring the ideas, there were times when I genuinely felt as though I was conversing with her. It was then that I realised that this was what Mum wanted for me. Every aspect of the six goddesses is a celebration of femininity. It was my wake-up call for what I was to do with my life. I started to take the whole concept much more seriously and recognise the goddesses’ power.

I finally appreciated why women aren’t ever just one thing, just one type of energy – they can be a mother, businesswoman and gardener, too – and that embracing the attributes of the six ancient goddesses is about accepting every aspect of being a woman.

I’ve done this for myself and, over the past 18 months, I’ve launched the Goddess Acumen, a philosophy that helps women follow this way of living.

FINDING THE GODDESSES TO GUIDE YOUR LIFE

Goddess Acumen is about helping women ramp up their power and strength. In one-to-one sessions, at retreats and in workshops, I’ve advised hundreds of women who find themselves at a crossroads in their lives. Be it divorce, career change, getting back into the dating game, finding their place in the world post-retirement or working through relationship issues, I help women clear internal space and plug into their feminine power so that they can find balance, purpose and freedom – and feel like their true selves again.

The six different feminine powers allow women to look to each goddess to identify what they are lacking and need more of in their life. Typically as women we’ll be lacking in at least one or two areas of our goddess make-up. That feeling when there’s a block or something incomplete in our lives? That’s us failing to connect with all our inner goddess resources. My philosophy is that if we try to embrace aspects of each of the six goddesses we’ll have more energy and greater resources to live our lives.

Unsurprisingly, I work with a lot of Athena-type women: high-achievers who work too hard and get stressed out. I’m one myself; that’s why it’s important for me to channel the adventurer Artemis – for me that has meant learning to surf. I’m not brilliant at it, but it helps balance my stress levels. I also work with women who have retired and lost their sense of Athena identity. I show how they need to focus on becoming the queen of their community by channelling Hera qualities of being organised and supportive in their neighbourhood.

I call the six different feminine qualities Goddess Archetypes – these are the different aspects of female psychology that are explored through human form, characters and stories. Archetypes are ways of thinking about being human; they are templates that help us to understand our relationship to ourselves, others and the world around us. These days, we often fail to do that: we’re either a mum or a career woman, homemaker or environmentalist – when really these should be aspects of all of us.

Using goddesses as a metaphor to explore different aspects of our lives as women is both powerful and effective. I believe it offers a new perspective and a different way of relating to yourself – and it can be transformational.

Women aren’t ever just one thing – they can be a mother, businesswoman and gardener, too