Persephone, the child-like woman of ancient Greek myths, was plucking red poppies in a sunny field when her dark uncle Hades burst through the earth and abducted her in his iron chariot. Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, made Persephone his unwilling bride. She became the Goddess of Spring. When she returned to the surface every six months to be with her grieving mother Demeter, she brought the flowers and the new leaves with her.
A Child-like Quality in Women
The Venerable Tenzin Palmo, says in her book, Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism: "A childlike quality of the mind really means a mind which is fresh, which sees things as if for the first time."
What Men Think of Childlike Women
How do men today perceive this quality when they do find it in a woman?
Says Lloyd Robert, animator, art director and teacher: “I saw Lolita. She was a mistake in terms of overkill. She knew what she was doing and that was her undoing. She was a put-on child. But Monroe was a delight. She had that rare mix of innocence and sexuality – at least that’s what one saw on the screen if not in her private life. Everyone knows how helpless she was in a childish way in her private life.
Some women confuse child-likeness with childishness. They burst into tears all the time; they try to manipulate people through their tears. I think that gets in the way of getting ahead. Child-likeness is an inward quality and can be very attractive in a woman. I knew this child-woman who showed this quality in her sweetness and kindness. She would run out of the house to see a sunset or chase a butterfly. She was a teacher and she instilled this same enthusiasm into the kids she taught. “
Rakesh Ramakanth, entrepreneur, says most career women lose their childlike innocence because they have to project themselves as serious people. According to him, a childlike woman laughs whole-heartedly, is adventurous and candid.
Childlike women are wonderful says the psychology student Jasmeet Sawhney because they don't "put on airs" and are not afraid to be themselves. He adds that some people may think of a childlike woman as retarded, but he believes that the quality of childlikeness protects an individual from stress.
A Winning Openness
The psychologist Carl Jung proposed that the child archetype with its openness embodies the urge for self realisation. The philosopher Arthur Koestler wrote about the child's "innocence of perception" which enables him to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Sources:
- Tenzin Palmo -- Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism published by Snow Lion Publications
- Myths-Dreams-Symbols
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