Trauma & Art

On Artemis

Short extract from an interview in Jung Journal of Culture and Psyche (Routledge) retrieved on May 28^th, 2018 from http://jeanshinodabolen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Into-the-Woods-Bolen-Interview.pdf

‘For decades, Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen has led us “into the woods.” She has given the world a lifetime of Artemis-inspired work, and through her example and writing, we can more fully understand and embrace the archetypal energy of Artemis within the psyche as well as its confuence with other archetypes, the analytic process, and humanitarian activism.

Helen Marlo: It is great to interview you, especially given the subject of your latest book, Artemis: The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman. You have lived out and championed Artemis – an underrepresented or overlooked archetype that expresses, among many things, activism in women. Can you say a bit about the book and its central message?

Jean Shinoda Bolen: The key word in the title is “Indomitable,” which means untamed or not able to be subdued. Artemis is the archetype active in the girl who survives abuse and neglect, who can see herself as a survivor rather than a victim. Like the goddess of the hunt and moon, she aims for a target or goal of her own, and with her lunar aspect, develops the capacity for reflection and perception of mystery. Egalitarian relationships with men and sisterhood are natural. This is the archetype of the activist and feminist. This archetype was liberated by the women’s movement and is coming into its own now.

HM: What motivated you to write it now?

JSB: There was a reactivation of Artemis in my own psyche. I went to the United Nations (UN) in 2002 and have been going annually since then as an advocate for a UN World Conference on Women. I continue to be appalled at what I learn about: the trafficking of little girls, the use of rape as a weapon in conflicts, and, in many parts of the world, what a tragic and awful fate results from being born female. I was inspired by the indomitable spirit of girls and women who survive and work in the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that rescue and help. Artemis is their archetype. While I’m not on the frontlines, the intuitive feeling function that gives me empathy and serves me well in doing analysis, motivates my Artemis-activism. Writing the book began with telling the myth of Atalanta at the Jung Institute in Küsnacht (2012). In Jungian circles, the myth of Psyche, told by Erich Neumann in Amor and Psyche (1956), is described as the psychological development of the feminine. But it’s a pattern that doesn’t describe women whose leading archetypes are Artemis, Athena, and Hestia. I wanted this myth to become a counterpart to the Psyche myth in Jungian thought about women’s psychology…..’

More recent affairs and events both at a national and global level have brought to my mind the lack of the kind of citizenly care that Wendy Hollway talks about, which produces a bulwark against political corruption, unbridled market forces or religious fundamentalism, Othering and violence.

‘Louis Cozolino suggests that ‘we are not the survival of the fittest, but the survival of the nurtured’. Therefore, nurturing relationships in our early life are important in helping us develop empathy and healthy relationships and optimal levels of a caring capacity. Wendy Hollway writes that ‘babies are not born with capacities to care and the acquisition of the morality that underpins good caring is a complex and conflictual process  that is an integral part of psychological development’ (p. 5, 2006). She basically suggests that systematic and continuous failure of care have profound impact on a person’s character and how they relate to others, which creates a ripple effect and when whole groups fail to care, cultures of hate, retribution and vengeance can be created that reproduce the traumatic conditions. There is less chance of the kind of citizenly care that produces a bulwark against political corruption, unbridled market forces or religious fundamentalism (p.2, 2006). Hollway’s interesting care ideal suggests that firstly, we are able to engage in reciprocal, independent care receiving and care giving, and secondly, that we can provide non-negotiable, asymmetrical demand for care for (our) children. Thirdly, we are able to take care of the self, and finally, we are capable of extending our care to human and non-human objects such the environment, animals, etc. (p.18, 2006)……’ (Tonya Alexandri)