Heroine's Journey (eBook)

FromtheIntroduction Thereis a void felt these days by women and men—,who suspect that their femininenature, like Persephone, has gone to hell. Wherever there is such a void, sucha gap or wound agape, healing must be sought in the blood of the wound itself.It is another of the old alchemical truths that 'no solution should bemade except in its own blood.' So the female void cannot be cured byconjunction with the male, but rather by an internal conjunction, by anintegration of its own parts, by a remembering or a putting back together ofthe mother-daughter body. —,NorHall, TheMoon and the Virgin Workingas a therapist with women, particularly between the ages of thirty and fifty, Ihave heard a resounding cry of dissatisfaction with the successes won in themarketplace. This dissatisfaction is described as a sense of sterility,emptiness, and dismemberment, even a sense of betrayal. These women haveembraced the stereotypical male heroic journey and have attained academic,artistic, or financial success, yet for many the question remains, 'Whatis all of this for?' Theboon of success leaves these women overscheduled, exhausted, suffering fromstress-related ailments, and wondering how they got off-track. This was notwhat they had bargained for when they first pursued achievement andrecognition. The image they held of the view from the top did not includesacrifice of body and soul. In noticing the physical and emotional damageincurred by women on this heroic quest, I have concluded that the reason theyare experiencing so much pain is that they chose to follow a model that denieswho they are. Mydesire to understand how the woman's journey relates to the journey of the herofirst led me to talk with Joseph Campbell in 1981. I knew that the stages ofthe heroine's journey incorporated aspects of the journey of the hero, but Ifelt that the focus of female spiritual development was to heal the internalsplit between woman and her feminine nature. I wanted to hear Campbell's views.I was surprised when he responded that women don't need to make the journey.'In the whole mythological tradition the woman is there. All she has to dois to realize that she's the place that people are trying to get to. When awoman realizes what her wonderful character is, she's not going to get messedup with the notion of being pseudo-male.' Thisanswer stunned me—,I found it deeply unsatisfying. The women I know and workwith do not want to be there, the place that people are trying to get to. Theydo not want to embody Penelope, waiting patiently, endlessly weaving andunweaving. They do not want to be handmaidens of the dominant male culture,giving service to the gods. They do not want to follow the advice offundamentalist preachers and return to the home. They need a new model thatunderstands who and what a woman is. In Daybook:The Journal of an Artist AnneTruitt writes:Thecave of womanhood feels cozy to me, and I shall always, I think, retreat to itwith the comfortable feeling that I am where I should be in some sense deeperthan words can articulate. So men may feel about some cave of manhood that Ican only imagine. There is sturdy common sense in accepting the differencesbetween men and women as salt. But because womanhood is 'home' to medoes not mean that I wish to stay home all the time. The cave would becomefetid if I never went out, I have too much energy, too much curiosity, too muchforce to remain so confined. Whole areas of myself would either atrophy orsour. If I wish to be responsible to myself, and I do, I have to pursue myaspirations. Womendo have a quest at this...