Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. Today’s blog post is an exploration of how we can relate the Kitchener Style Essences to the Goddesses in Everywoman Personality Archetypes as discussed by Jean Shinoda Bolen! I will begin this exploration with the most Yang of the Kitchener Essences and work my way through the most Yin. Yang in this context means having sharp lines in your face shape, whereas Yin is to have very soft lines and roundedness to your face shape! Without further ado, let’s get onto looking at the Kichener Essences and the Goddess Archetypes.
DRAMATIC: ATHENA
~For Dramatic with its sharp angles and fierce energy, I could not align this essence with any other Goddess than Athena! She holds the energy of wisdom, strategy in warfare, and artisanship (as she also was a Goddess of handicrafts). Her warrior energy and seriousness definitely feel to be in line with the fierceness of the Dramatic Essence!
GAMINE: ARTEMIS
~Artemis is the Goddess of the Moon and the Huntress, full of wild energy and a deep playfulness! The playful energy of Artemis when she is at home in the Woodlands is very much in line with the energy of the Gamine, who is incredibly playful in nature. The Gamine is very youthful energy in a more Yang and sharp way (as opposed to the youthfulness of the Ingenue, discussed below) and this is definitely in line with the fact that while Artemis is very youthful, she is also very fierce and not one to cross! Interestingly, I have some Gamine energy in the Kibbe Style System, with my body type falling somewhere between Soft Gamine and Romantic, as every time I read about Soft Gamine, Theatrical Romantic, and Romantic, I find aspects of my body shape that align with each. That being said, I do have a small amount of Artemis Archetype present in my personality, being in a very distant third place to my top two active archetypes, so I do find this a quite fascinating alignment!
NATURAL: DEMETER
~Of course, Demeter had to be my choice for the Natural Essence! The Natural Essence is very much exactly what it sounds like, the very Earth Mother Bohemian energy of being at one with the Natural World. Demeter is the Goddess of the Harvest, and a Goddess deeply tied to her Motherhood, making her energy incredibly aligned with the Natural Essence!
CLASSIC: HERA
~Hera just had to be aligned with Classic Essence, as the Classic Essence is timeless and truly balanced, which gives off a large amount of Regal Energy. Hera, being the Queen of the Gods, wife of Zeus, and very much defined by her husband’s status, which she enjoys (this being a key aspect of the Hera Archetype, pride in her partner’s achievements). In fact, there are exact parallels between women who have been described as Classic Essence in Kitchener and those referenced as examples of Hera Archetype women by Bolen, with the prime example being Jackie Kennedy! I think that this serves to prove my assertion that this archetype and essence are linked.
ROMANTIC: APHRODITE
~This one was one of the easiest alignments to see! Of course, Aphrodite would be connected with the Romantic Essence, which is full of womanly curves and sensual softness in the face. Aphrodite is known as the Alchemical Goddess in Bolen’s Goddesses in Everywoman system, making her truly unique, as she is alone in this category, not truly fitting into either of the other two categories (Virgin or Vulnerable). The Alchemical energy of Aphrodite makes her both muse and artist, truly luxuriating in beauty in all of its forms! This love of things that hold beauty, and of being surrounded by natural beauty and artistic beauty, definitely brings to mind the lushness of the Romantic Essence. Aphrodite is my primary archetype in the Goddesses in Everywoman system, and I definitely have Romantic Essence in my mix (although I would think it is likely third, after the last two essences I will be discussing below), so this alignment definitely harkens to something deep within me!
INGENUE: PERSEPHONE
~Another one that was so easy to align, was this one. Clearly, Persephone, especially in her energy as the Maiden, holds Ingenue Essence! The Ingenue is the youthful energy in a very Yin way, incredibly soft and sweet. This is a very hyperfeminine essence with lots of roundness and one who looks at home with cuteness and girlish charms, which is clearly very much embracing the energy of Persephone as Maiden! This is the essence that is likely my dominant (although it is a bit of a tossup between this one and the one below), and Persephone is a close second in the archetypes active within my personality. Between the alignments, I have found here and with Romantic, it is quite clear to me that our inner truths can definitely impact our outer looks. Our inner personalities can shine through in our physicality in very interesting ways, which aids in how people may perceive us. Sometimes our vibes and looks may just signal a depth of truth!
ETHEREAL: HESTIA
~Now, Ethereal has always been an essence I felt was very much in my mix, however, Hestia is not really in my personality mix, so this one is an interesting connection for me to explore! I should note that I am also combining Oneiric Essence, often called the ‘Lost Essence’ here, as it is very much Ethereal, but a darker version of Ethereal, as both have a withdrawn and very magickal energy. However, before I go over Ethereal and Hestia, I want to state that while Hestia can definitely fall in line with Oneiric Essence, I think the best example may just be Persephone in her Queen of the Underworld aspect, which serves as an interesting connection between Ingenue and Ethereal! I will state that my coloring does lean much more Oneiric, as I do have high contrast in my features, with my very dark auburn hair and my fair pale skin, whereas Ethereal is more often termed as having low contrast in features. You may wonder, how does Hestia relate to the Ethereal Essence? The answer is that she is the Goddess of the Hearth, who is often seen to be very detached from the other Gods, as she does not tend to be in myths causing a great impact on the lives of mortals and her fellow Gods. She much preferred to keep to herself and keep the flame of the Hearthfire alive, and very much present and worshipped in the homes of mortals, giving her a remoteness from her fellow Gods. This very remoteness is something often associated with Ethereal Essence, as someone who exists outside of time and someone who possesses many Otherworldly qualities!
~I hope you have enjoyed this exploration of how we can use both Goddess Archetypes and Kitchener Style Essences together to discover how our natural beauty energy may be connected to the Goddess Archetypes most active within our personalities. What essences and archetypes are most active within you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a recent photo of myself that I think shows how my mix of essences blends together!
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Reading
- https://gabriellearruda.com/the-7-style-essences-explained/
- Goddesses in Everywoman by Jean Shinoda Bolen
- https://www.hercampus.com/school/gwu/exploring-the-oneiric-style-essence/