Don’t Compete with a Goddess!

In Greek mythology, Arachne was a highly skilled weaver. So confident was she of her talent that she bragged her weaving was more beautiful than that of the goddess Athena. Athena did not take kindly to the comparison. She approached Arachne disguised as an old woman and issued this warning: “I have had much experience and I hope you will not despise my counsel. Challenge your fellow mortals as you will, but do not compete with a goddess.”

Arachne failed to recognize her divine visitor or take her advice. On the contrary, she repeated her boast, whereupon Athena shed her disguise and, after a weaving contest, turned Arachne into a spider, destined to weave her webs forever.

Hubris never ends well in Greek mythology.

If you look closely at the stories, hubris always seems to involve someone setting themselves at cross purposes with the powers that be, not mortal powers, but divine powers. This happens in our lives today, perhaps not with the same cast of characters, but metaphorically similar. When we set ourselves apart from the power of the universe, we lose our natural alignment and connection with the energy of creation, and we suffer for it in one way or another.

This universal power is not separate from us. It breathes us into life and flows through us when we are open to it. It is our natural birthright. It is who we are. Within each of us is a goddess or god of infinite love, empowering us from within with the eternal flame of creation. When we deny or block this energy, it is like competing with our true nature, trying to assert our separated, individual will over the natural order and harmony of the immense universe that dwells in each divine soul.

It never ends well.

So why do we do it? Because we fear. We fear because we have mistakenly perceived ourselves as separate and alone, which is never true. Yet we believe our own misperception, and from that perspective, the power that is naturally ours seems apart from us – vast, overwhelming, terrifying. It’s hard to recognize that that energy is the essence of who we are. The flame of divine love burns within all our hearts, waiting to be liberated. So don’t compete with a divine being, because that divine being is you!

Forgive the long quote that follows, but Marianne Williamson describes this so beautifully, it’s worth reading it in full:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.