Were you told as a girl that you were ‘too emotional’, ‘too sensitive’?
Were you told to “put on your big girl panties” or to “toughen up”?
You are not alone.
So many of us received similar messages growing up. And as a grown woman, you may outwardly appear to be less sensitive. However, this just masks your secret reality. Underneath the tough exterior is a little girl that still cares too much, feels too much and regularly feels hurt by the actions and words of others.
If this is you, then somewhere along the way you complied with the calls to ‘toughen up’ by armouring up or growing a tough skin in order to protect yourself. It could be that you deployed your inner warrior, your inner protector – the Huntress Archetype.
In this blog, I explore the Huntress Archetype, her Shadow Archetype – the Wounded Warrior, common Wounded Warrior Beliefs and Warrior Wounds that you may need to heal.
To learn about the Mother Archetype and the Maiden Archetype read my other blogs in this Archetype Series.
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Who Is The Huntress Archetype?
The Huntress, in her purest essence, is a woman on a mission. An independent spirit who pursues a life of her own and on her own terms. The Huntress Archetype represents a woman’s autonomy. The Huntress has the gift of being able to focus on her goals to achieve them without any distractions. She is courageous, protective, competitive, and self-assured.
A woman who ascertains Huntress characteristics relies on herself and doesn’t need a partner to feel complete. She’s a natural activist and stands firm in what she believes.
The Huntress is a protector of others, especially other women who have been victimised. She feels at home spending time in the wilderness of mother nature and has a strong affinity with the moon. The Huntress’s greatest strengths are her self-reliance, independence, confidence, persistence, courage, and ability to focus on achieving her goals.
Do you want to be to find out more about the Huntress Archetype? Buy my book.
The Huntress Archetype Through The Life Stages
The Huntress Archetype is our inner warrior. During the adolescence stage in our lives when we begin to withdraw from our family. We may have dreams of travelling and conquering the world. We use the Huntress Archetype to protect ourselves and to help us to focus on what we want to achieve out of life. Our inner Huntress gives us the courage to trust ourselves, leave our parental home and brave the unknown.
Some women in midlife have habitually neglected their Huntress in favour of the Selfless Mother Archetype. They have forgotten that they are fierce, brave, powerful and strong. Once you feel the call to your broken dreams and promises, you can start to feel a strong resurgence of the Huntress and her powerful energy rising in you.
We can use the Huntress’s energy to set and accomplish goals, take a new direction in life, find and follow a new purpose, or start a new career. This energy has the potential for you to be a courageous advocate for others.
Do you want to be to find out more about the Huntress Archetype? Buy my book.
Representation Of The Huntress Archetype In Our Modern Culture
Mulan, Raya, and Merida in the children’s Disney movies are all representative of the Huntress Archetype. We also see strong Huntress representation in superheroes like Black Widow, Wonder Woman or Xena warrior princess.
The Goddess who most strongly represents The Huntress Archetype is the Greek Goddess Artemis (Goddess of the hunt, wild animals, the moon, chastity and childbirth) and her Roman counterpart, Diana.
Myth has it that Artemis helped her mother Leto birth her twin brother Apollo. Even though she hunted animals, she was a ‘worthy’ hunter who was also a fierce protector of them – especially their young. Artemis is considered a ‘Virgin Goddess’. This could be why women with a strong Huntress are seen as self-contained, and self-reliant and do not feel the need for a partner to complete them.
The Wounded Warrior – The Shadow Huntress Archetype
The shadowed or wounded Huntress is the Wounded Warrior. She puts up a facade of bravado which seemingly lacks vulnerability and she tends to push others away. Wounded by experiences with others, she casts a protective armour and finds it difficult to trust others. The Wounded Warrior does not rely on others or let others. She is fearful of being let down and hurt. The Wounded Warrior appears aloof and is often emotionally unavailable.
Even though the Wounded Warrior is a natural protector of other women, she can quickly resent them. She is repelled by the ‘neediness’ and ‘weakness’ of other women. This could be because she is subconsciously reminded of her own vulnerability or how she was hurt in the past. The Wounded Warrior will often feel compelled to compete with other women due to her Sister Wound (the way other women have wounded her in the past).
The Wounded Warrior often chooses to prioritise her work or her mission over her relationships because this feels ‘safe’ to her. This single-mindedness leads her to push others away and alienate friends and family because she shuts them out or neglects them.
The Wounded Warrior finds it difficult to slow down and celebrate successes. Instead, she shifts her focus to the next thing that she would like to ‘hunt’. She derives a sense of self-worth from her achievements and how productive or emotionally or physically ‘strong’ she is.
Do you want to be to find out more about the Huntress Archetype? Buy my book.
The Wounded Warrior finds it extremely difficult to rest or surrender control and constantly feels the need to act. This behaviour leads to being in a constant state of survival. The Wounded Warrior often risks burning herself out as she is unable to share her workload because she can’t trust others with her ‘mission’.
Core Beliefs Of The Shadow Huntress Archetype
The Wounded Warrior wears her ‘busyness’ as a badge of honour. She believes that her worth is determined by how many goals she can achieve and how capable others perceive her.
She deliberately distances herself from others as she believes that emotional vulnerability and asking for help are signs of weakness.
The Wounded Warrior has been deeply wounded in her past which caused her to put up armour to protect herself. She would like to let others in or have more connected, meaningful relationships. However, at her core, she believes that if she allows her armour to drop and for people to see who she really is they will hurt her again or reject her for her battle scars.
Warrior Wounds That You May Need To Heal
All of the Shadow Archetypes have wounds that require healing.
If you identify with the Huntress Archetype or find yourself falling into the shadow of the Wounded Warrior, then you may have one (or more) of these Warrior Wounds.
If you have put up armour but want to feel safe enough to lower it in order to have more connected relationships with yourself and others, then you may need to do some healing in these areas.
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The Sister Wound
Many of our wounds as women have been inflicted by other women. You may have been hurt by your sisters and female friends when you were growing up.
For example, you may have been told by other girls that we couldn’t play with them. Or you may have been excluded from a friend group or have been made fun of by the ‘popular’ girls. Perhaps you had a falling out with a friend because of a boy or because they promised to keep your secrets and then betrayed you.
You may have had a sister who excelled in sports or academics and who you felt was your parent’s favourite. Or Perhaps your sister was really pretty and got a lot of attention from boys and the boy you fancied liked her instead of you.
Whatever the wounding was, this sent you the message that other women were not to be trusted. It also taught you that relationships with them were not safe for you. These interactions may have caused you to ‘armour up’ or distance yourself from having meaningful friendships with other women.
Do you want to be to find out more about the Huntress Archetype? Buy my book.
The Mother Wound
As a woman, your mother provided you with the most influential example of what it means to be a woman and mother. Our relationship with our mother is also our first and most influential female relationship. We inherit Mother Wounds from our mother which we internalise and take on as our own.
To read more about The Mother Archetype and Mother Wounds CLICK HERE.
The Wounded Masculine Wound
Most women grew up in a male-dominated culture. This culture does not only wound women but it also wounds men. Women learn that their ‘place’ is as homemakers, peacemakers and mothers.
Men learn that they need to be strong, dependable and a provider. Many girls who have natural Huntress characteristics and who have goals that they would achieve are taught through experience that in order to succeed they have to shut down their feminine side in a male world.
A lot is said about Mother Wounds. However, girls are hugely affected by Father Wounds too. If you idolised your father or felt neglected by him, you may have developed Wound Warrior behaviours to please, feel seen or loved by him.
The Productivity Wound
The Wounded Warrior strongly associates her worth with how productive she is or how many goals or how much recognition she receives. The wounded behaviour can stem from her childhood experience of only being loved or accepted if she was achieving academic or sporting recognition. This could be because the Wounded Warrior has not learned intrinsic validation. Instead, she rather needs the validation of others.
She may strive for perfectionism. The Wounded Warrior believes that she is never good enough. No matter how successful she is in life, she feels compelled to aim higher or do more to prove that she is good enough.
Do you want to be to find out more about the Huntress Archetype? Buy my book.
If you recognised yourself in some of the Wounded Warrior characteristics, beliefs and wounds, you are not alone.
Do you want to be to find out more about the Huntress Archetype? Buy my book.
