Journal
 Who are your heroines? Tell me about
the women you admire and respect.
Explain your choices.
Call to
Adventure
Return
Supernatural Aid
The Journey
Abyss
Crossing of the
Threshold
The Hero’s Journey
 A public transformation
 Societal
 Heroic deeds are visible to many
Separation from the
feminine
Sacred marriage
Identification with
the masculine
Healing the
wounded
masculine
Road of Trials
Boon of success
Healing the
mother/daughter
split
Urge to
reconnect
with the
feminine
Initiation and
descent to the
realm of the
goddess
Awakening to
feelings of spiritual
aridity
The Heroine’s Journey
 The journey inward
 The female journey is a journey of self discovery
 Focus upon emotional transformation
 Finding balance in an unbalanced society
 The first six stages are led with the mind (intellectual
journey)
 The last four stages are led with the heart/soul
Separation
Daughter sees her mother as vulnerable, self loathing or
powerless
Cultural distortions of female body cause a disconnect
Daughter separates herself from perceived negativity
 She is cutting off key parts of herself which will need to
be resolved later in the journey (loss of integrity or
balance)
Identification with the masculine
 Connection with father figure and outward forms of
power
 Masculine role is heroic with freedom
 Father affirms a young girl’s sense of self
Road of trials
 The journey towards adulthood and overcoming many
myths:
 Dependency
 Inferiority
 Contentment through the affirmation of others
Boon of success
 Focus on product instead of process.
 There is a struggle to achieve which becomes an
addiction.
 One is never satisfied
Awakening
 Spiritual aridity
 feeling out of synch with one’s self.
 The river of creativity has dried up
 Painful stage that causes one to transform.
 Beginning to look “down and in” rather than “up and out”
Initiation and Descent
 Moving into a different state of being.
 Feeling of sadness, undirected.
 This descent has a task to recover the discarded parts of one’s self




that were originally lost.
Often looked at as depression but this descent is necessary as a “call
of the soul”.
Creating oneself anew and undertaking these challenges.
Demeter/Persephone myth
“Shattering the mirror” of the feminine occurs in separation and then
needs to be put back in order. It will invariably strengthen the
individual and clarify their sense of self.
Lots of work needs to be done at this stage.
 A reexamination of one’s values
Urge to reconnect with the feminine
 Listening to one’s intuition.
 Returning to the sense of self that was there before a focus
on achievement.
Healing the mother/daughter split
 looking at one’s ability to express feelings.
 Grief comes from a recognition of the loss.
 Accepting who the mother was and identifying with her
place in her time.
 Sense of compassion.
 A need to learn about “being” instead of “doing”.
Healing the wounded masculine
 Identifying what denies your limits.
 What is the driver in oneself that causes loss?
Then…
 Find the positive aspects of masculine nature (protecting
oneself, taking action, developing an internal man with
heart, developing compassion for oneself).
 Growing an internal, supportive father.
 Developing a benevolent, loving aspect of one’s
masculinity.
Sacred marriage
 Integration of masculine and feminine.
 Finding balance between masculine and feminine.
 Integrating all aspects of one’s nature.
Maureen Murdock article
 Read and annotate for her ideas regarding this journey
 Create a gist statement on the back of this article
which responds to the following question:
 What is the major difference between the hero’s journey
and the heroine’s journey? What did you find most
important about this difference?