Introducing Hera

After my marriage, my life became a soap opera. All of a sudden a day wouldn’t pass without an instance of betrayal, an act of vengeance, a murder attempt or even the occasional transfiguration. And while this is an undeniable part of my story, it is not the whole story. Not by a long shot…

I still remember what it was like – to be trapped in the darkness, squashed and cramped. I had no knowledge of a time before the darkness. For me, for all of us, this was what life was. Every now and again another would join us and we would all have to adjust to make room. Not that there was much room to be made. Close, dark, damp – our world pressed in against our skin, constricting our movement, arresting our breath.

And how shocking the light was. With no way of determining the passage of time, I cannot tell you just how long it was that we were trapped in that eternal night. But I can tell you that when the light finally came, and I was born for a second time, it was the dawning of a new day, the dawning of a new time – the time of the Olympians.

It was a long time before my eyes adjusted to the blinding light, so used to straining through the dark as they were. When I finally found focus it was to look on the most beautiful of all faces. His eyes were steadily fixed on mine, and his lips curved into a smile that I found myself helpless but to return. He was our saviour, our brother. He was Zeus, the god who sliced open the belly of our father Chronos to release us, his trapped siblings. We all looked upon him with awe and with love. We all looked to him to lead us forwards.

But the way he looked at me was different from the way he regarded the others. To them he offered camaraderie, friendship, warmth. To me he offered love, desire, heat.

And I didn’t want it.

I was free for the first time in my life. Free to dance. Free to run. Free to laugh and shout and sing. I had no desire to attach myself to another. I was experiencing joy for the very first time in my life. I wanted nothing more than to listen to the sounds of the cuckoo echoing around the foothills of Olympus, to feel the earth beneath my feet, to raise my arms towards the sun and feel the warm rays trickle down to settle in my heart.

I was new. I was complete. I was whole. I was me.

All this week, I have been sharing excerpts from the 6 goddess stories that make up Virgins & Lovers: Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Goddess. Today it it Hera’s turn – the queen of heaven…

Now, you may think you know Hera – that vengeful shrew that made life a misery for Hercules, amongst many others. You may believe that her story could have nothing to teach you – after all, none of us likes to engage in the emotions of jealousy, or the acts of revenge. But what I want you to know is that Hera is a goddess with so much more depth than the way she is so often portrayed.

She is a goddess who loses her sense of self – loses her centre. And she is a goddess who rediscovers her sense of self – recentres herself.

If you are interested in exploring this amazing goddess for yourself, rather than rely on the popular interpretations of her energy, then you can find her full story, plus journal prompts, a visualisation & a creative exercise, all specifically designed to help you connect to her, in Virgins & Lovers. Trust me, you’ll never think of Hera in quite the same way again!