Juno

January 13, 2014 — 1 Comment

Juno is the Roman goddess of childbirth and marriage.  She conceived and gave birth to her son, Mars, the god of anger, by taking an herb given to her by the goddess Flora.  She acts as one of the three guardians of Rome together with Minerva and Jupiter.  Both Juno and Jupiter are said to be able to throw thunderbolts. She was jealous when Jupiter gave birth to a fully armed Minerva from his head, so she gave birth to her own warrior son.

In Thomas Moore’s new book, A Religion of One’s Own, he explains that Juno can be perceived as a guardian angel spirit for women.  Men have similar genius spirits, in a mythological sense.  These guardian angels or personal spirit guides act to individuate and protect people.  It is notable to me that either Jupiter or Juno can give birth to armed warriors for protection. Another key concept brought up in the book that is new to me is that Mars was considered to be a close friend of agriculture.  Mars protected the crops from pests.  Mars represents anger artfully directed, rather than repressed or exploded.  That is why they are called martial arts, not lucha libre.

The idea of protection reminds me that it is fitting and  healing to deal with dark emotions appropriately.  The energy of the thunderbolt throwing parents of Minerva and Mars must be carefully directed and not treated lightly.  War and anger may be a part of life, but they can be used to remove obstructions in an earthly or a spiritual realm.  Primal anger, which we all have, is useful and instructive.  It draws the line, but it can also cause great distress and confusion.  I agree with the idea that we need to be aware of our anger and how we express and use it as an integral part of a personal awakening.   I like the helpful imagery of my full time Juno guarding me, and plan to take her with me all the time.  If you enjoyed a guardian angel as a child, or even if you never did, it is not too late to relate to yours.