The Kore—Greek for Virgin—is a mysterious and elusive figure. Youthful and self-contained, the Kore personifies an archetypal state in which a person becomes one-in-herself.

In C. G. Jung’s essay “The Psychological Aspects of the Kore” (1951), he makes the striking assertion that the Kore is a Self-figure for women, possessing a psychological power equivalent to that of the Mother. These rarely discussed ideas carry significant implications for women’s psychology and have direct bearing on the development of feminine consciousness in both women and men. Who is this figure accorded such depth, power, and psychological importance?

Drawing from her book The Kore Goddess: A Mythology and Psychology (2021), Dr. Safron Rossi traces the pattern of the Kore through archaic Greek statues and myth in order to discern how and where the Kore appears in life—and how she plays a critical role in the process of individuation.