Hypnosis and ancient Greek myths in the quest of femininity.

A woman that identifies with the archetype of Goddess Athena, feels she has a strong purpose in her life and is exceptional in strategy and plan execution. She never loses her head or heart due to lack of self control.

According to the myth, Athena’s first entrance in the company of the rest of the Olympian Gods was glorious. She sprang out of Zeus’ head, as a full grown adult wearing a gold armour and holding a spear in one hand. Athena was born an adult which describes her serious outlook on life. As her birth signifies, she values rational thinking and stands for the prevalence of will and intellect over instinct and nature.

On her breastplate Athena wore a symbol of her power - the aegis, a goatskin decorated with the head of Medusa. This was a monster with serpents instead of hair, while its scary appearance turned to stone everyone who dared to look at it. The myth carries through this picturesque metaphor the shadow aspect (the dark side) of this archetype.

The Athena woman can, similarly to the medusa, kill a conversation. Through her focus on facts and details and by using her critical attitude, she can unintentionally and unconsciously undermine another person. She can be intolerant of other people’s problems and very critical about their lack of strength. She assesses other people’s behaviour, with the precision of a surgeon. Athena women can get caught up into demonstrating strong male energy, in areas such as business, law, politics and construction, or express a male competitive energy no matter what profession they do. No matter how well they do career wise, their personal life is unbalanced.

When the occasion is merely social like a gathering or a date, this medusa effect can prove boring or infuriating. However, when this archetype is in a position of authority, she may turn on the full power of the medusa uncovering inadequacies of the other sex. Such lack of empathy is killing. The other person can feel turned to stone. She becomes the mirror of other people’s weaknesses but she never looks in this mirror herself. This is the problem she brings up to every potential relationship. This is why her life may lack intimacy and is often lonely. When a woman wears the medusa armour (metaphorically) she is not showing any vulnerability or empathy and she gets perceived as a cold woman who cannot share any human emotion.

Thus she kills off any potential of true communication where the heart or the soul of the person can be shared.

We are after all human magnets when it comes to attraction of the opposite sex. We all have two energies within – one masculine and one feminine. It is the combination of these two energies that determines who we attract into our lives. A woman that identifies with the above description has to re-invent herself, if she wants to achieve balance. She should leave behind her scepticism and any preconceived notion of what an upcoming experience will feel like. She has to learn to listen to others.

This can often be difficult to achieve as an Athena woman has learned to operate in this mode all her life and had no childhood. Erasing the wrong software of the self focused Athena and installing a new one with elements of empathy for others, can prove challenging for stubborn Athena. Effective results can be achieved and maintained with hypnotherapy, a metaphor through the use of the beautiful ancient Greek myths and their wisdom.

Written by: Chryssanthi Dafopoulou with a Degree in Adult Nursing and MA in Gender Culture and Development. Registered Hypnotherapist with NCH, GHR, CNHC and UK Anxiety.