Pallas Athene: Reclaiming Archaic Feminine Wisdom in the Age of the Father.

(Part of the series on “Constellating the Asteroid Goddesses in the Chart”).

Born from the head of her father Zeus, Pallas Athene was fully grown and armoured at her birth. Pallas’ mother Metis was the pre-Olympian goddess of wisdom, counsel, and deep thought.

Foretold in a prophecy by Gaia and Uranus that Metis would bear a daughter who would be wiser than her mother, and a son who would be more powerful than his father, Zeus swallowed Metis to prevent the prophecy from coming to pass. Metis however was already pregnant with Athena, and when Athena was fully grown, she burst forth from the head of her father, ready for battle.

Metis was after all a magical and cunning goddess who was also a trickster. In fact, the Greek word metis meant a quality that combined wisdom and cunning.

As a warrior and a wisdom goddess, Pallas placed the slain head of Medusa on her breastplate as a symbol of terror and protection. The head of Medusa even while slain could still turn men to stone.

Pallas Athene, then, is endowed with the wisdom of her magical mother, and the serpent power of Medusa. Though she is born from the head of her father and is forever bonded to him, Pallas is not only a patriarchal daughter but also holds within her the power of archaic feminine wisdom. She observes and expresses the ways of the father as ally and counsel while containing the veiled power of her mother, and the power of the dark feminine.

In his book, Athene: Virgin and Mother in Greek Religion and Gods of the Greeks, Karl Kerényi, interprets Pallas Athene as a “living psychological reality” representing a unique synthesis of intellect, masculine alignment, and archaic feminine power.

It could be argued that it is precisely the quality of archaic feminine power that has been missing from the daughters of patriarchy in modern times. When we think of women of power in the political spheres, women like Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, and Nicola Sturgeon, we do not necessarily get a sense of archaic feminine wisdom, wise counsel magic or cunning. Instead, these female leaders appear to all intent and purpose to be no different to the men of power but for gender. This is not to criticise any individual, it is to acknowledge that there has been a certain quality of feminine wisdom that has long been absent from our platforms of power.

While the howl of the “wild feminine” is returning to our eco-psychic structures, Kerényi, highlights how Athene transforms “darker animal nature” into civilized forms. He frames Athene as a “protectress against the ravaging impulse of archaic elements.” Her role as teacher of crafts offers practical application of intelligence used to harness and contain lawless dark powers.

 In a time of chaos, the archetype of Pallas Athene offers clear headed strategy, sagacity, wisdom, and protection from the primordial forces that threaten to annihilate.

 For modern women, Pallas offers guidance in how to navigate the world and its current systems, not by losing ourselves to the wild and untamed reaches of Lilith, or the petrified wisdom of Medusa, but through wise and creative intelligence and protection of feminine wisdom.

Pallas Athene is an archetype of our time; the more we constellate the archetype in our own lives, the more realised she manifests in contemporary societal structures.

Astrologically working with Pallas Athene offers a symbolic gateway through which to connect with her essence in our lives. By exploring where Pallas Athene sits in our own chart by sign house and aspect, we can actualise her gifts. Furthermore, exploring the relationship between Pallas, Medusa, and Metis in our chart, offers a broader, contextualised picture of our original blueprint of archaic feminine wisdom, where it has been frozen, and how it may be reactivated.

For the next 8 weeks, I am offering concentrated and focused astro sessions on the asteroid goddesses- “Constellating the Asteroid Goddesses in the Chart”. The sessions are for 1 hour and get right to the heart of how these powerful feminine signatures operate in your life and how to bring them more fully into consciousness.