Summary: Bonnie Bright M.A. speaks with Dr. Arlene Landau on how the Venus/Aphrodite archetype manifests in our culture and the role Jungian analysis as a way to understand it. Aphrodite is the golden goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology. Women who embody the Aphrodite archetype have much less choice in how they behave or react than they, or others, imagine. The myths say Venus/Aphrodite qualities are essential for the joy of life, but the shadow side of Aphrodite manifests when a woman is completely identified with Aphrodite's powers, when other archetypal qualities of the feminine are unimportant to her. The tragedies that result from this are the subject of numerous well-known novels and films and exemplified in the lives of certain actresses and other celebrities. Dr. Arlene Landau shares glimpses of her own identifcation with the Venus/Aphtrodite archetype and her journey to understand it while helping others do the same.
