[It’s the end of an era and the start of something new. I’ve been primarily working with goddess archetypes as part of my practice since I was fourteen. Now it seems its time for me to move on. But, in honour of the feminine archetypes that have guided me thus far, this is the goddess series.]

Hecate: The job of the alchemist is to act upon and manipulate matter through studying, analysing and combining them with other elements. This, to me, describes, perfectly, what it has become to be a woman. (An old woman sits before me, her grey hair twisted in a plait around her head forming a makeshift crown. Her long black robe smells musty, like dust and heavy incense.) 

Me: You’re not supposed to be here yet.

Hecate: I’ll come back later then.

Me: Send Pandora in if you see her, she’s late.

We see alchemy as the combination of magic and science. In fact, the alchemist used chemistry, physics, maths, astronomy and spirituality to accomplish what was known as The Great Work, the Philosopher’s Stone or the Elixir of Life. I don’t wish to accomplish anything so big in my lifetime, maybe, for right now, I could just finish this? So, maybe I should get to the point and stop going off in all these irrelevant tangents?  Pandora, get a move on!

Wait, what did she mean about alchemy being an allegory for what women have become? Is that what women do, study people and the world around them to learn how best to manipulate? Is that the only way to get anything in this world? 

I stopped watching Arrow (2012 – 2020) because Felicity Smoak, was irritating me so much. She controlled everything around her, but through the most underhanded, slippery ways, but then never owned up to it. “Oh, Oliver, don’t kill people, it’s bad, I can’t possibly be with a murderer.” “Oh, Oliver, this guy was mean to me, forget everything I said before because he needs to die now. I can’t possibly be with you if this bad man isn’t dead.” I may be paraphrasing, but I’m honestly not far off from the actual script.