Artemis - Taking Care of One Self
This week is dedicated to one of my favorite Goddesses. It is – Artemis. Her main leadership skill is showing us how to take care of ourselves.
Artemis is a strong protectress, aware of her own power - and not likely to let anyone take it from her.
Even as a small child the Artemis was decisive. When Zeus asked Artemis what presents she wanted for her third birthday she responded without hesitation that she wanted six things: to be allowed to live without having to be distracted by love and marriage, a bow and arrow just like her brother’s, a hunting costume and freedom from having to dress up like a lady, the job of bringing light into the world, sixty young nymphs to be her companions and to help care for her hunting dogs, and all the mountains on the earth to live on.
Zeus was amused by her precociousness and happily granted the little goddess Artemis her wishes. Even at this tender age it was clear that Artemis was going to be the most independent of the goddesses, one who thrived on challenges!
Artemis’ association with the natural world, the wilderness, symbolizes her own untamed spirit. The most independent of the goddesses, she roamed the forests in her role as huntress. Artemis was famous for her hunting skills, for the sharp focus of her attention and her unerring aim. She was known as a fearless and responsible hunter, willing and able to bring down the most terrifying beasts.
Despite her “wildness” (her refusal to conform to conventional ways or tradition) and her fierce independence, Artemis was depicted as one of the compassionate and healing goddesses. Of all the Greek goddesses, she was the most self-sufficient, living life on her own terms, comfortable both in solitude and in holding the reins of leadership.
The Greek goddess Artemis gives us courage. She illuminates those places that terrify us and lends us her strength to bring us safely through our fears.
As we can see Artemis has many faces and domains that she affects. However her legacy is mainly about selfhood and taking care of one self.
When Artemis appears in your life it is time to take care of yourself. It is time to focus on your own needs. Have you been too much in service of others without making sure you get what you need for yourself? Has it been too long since you had time for yourself or space of your own? Do the boundaries of your selfhood seem blurred and indistinct? Do you feel you have no right to a self of your own, but must always be thinking of others, putting their needs first, until you don’t know who you are or what you want?
Now is the time to take yourself back and celebrate and strengthen who you are. Artemis says that wholeness is nurtured when you honor, respect and give time to yourself. She also asks how can you expect to hit any targets if you don’t have a self from which to shoot?
This week give yourself the gift of taking back those parts of yours that you have given out to the world.
Take the time to sit in a meditation and look at your body and ask yourself if there are any missing pieces. Open to allow yourself to get a sense, image or a feeling of where those missing pieces are. For example: Did you give your lover your joy piece and now you can’t experience joy without him/her? Did you give your children your sense of fulfillment and now you feel unfulfilled as they grew up? Did you give your job your sense of importance and now without it you can’t experience being proud of yourself and being useful?
Call those pieces home. Let them re-enter your body and, as they do, feel yourself grow stronger and more vital. When you finish you can write down those different pieces and make a blessing to them as they came back home – back to you.
Enjoy your week of selfhood!
