The Heroine’s Journey
You may be aware of Joseph Campbell’s work around the classic story arc of “The Hero’s Journey”, and you may be a raving fan. (I know I was).
However, if you’re a part of approximately half of the population who identifies as female or non-binary, you may not have been able to picture yourself on the Hero’s Journey. And not because you’re not a hero. But because you’re not a man.
I’m excited to introduce to you, the Heroine’s Journey. It might just hit home for you the way it does for me, and I hope it brings some peace and clarity to whatever quest you find yourself on.
So saddle up sisters! There are no damsels in distress here…
Maureen Murdock was a student of famed American literary legend Joseph Campbell who was a professor of literature at the prestigious Sarah Lawrence College. Like so many of us, she was particularly fascinated by Campbell’s work on mankind’s favourite literary archetype - the Hero.
When studying with Campbell, she began to question where the woman’s in the Hero's Journey, and if a woman’s version of the Hero’s Journey looked the same as a man’s? She began to work with women in therapy, and dig deeper into the psycho-spiritual differences between women and men.
It was then she realized that there was a completely different journey happening for women, and began to chart out the Heroine’s Journey in 1983. She showed it to her old teacher Joseph Campbell who told her, “Women don’t need to make the journey. In the whole mythological journey, the woman is there. All she has to do is realize that she’s the place that people are trying to get to.”
Now, one could interpret his comment in 2 ways:
Women are whole already and do not need to go on a journey of fulfillment
Joseph Campbell doesn’t understand the deep differences of a woman’s psyche
Maureen (reminder, a woman herself!), leaned into the latter.
She has become the first person on record to challenge the Hero’s Journey, exploring the deep nuances of the divine feminine in all of its bittersweet entirety.
She calls it: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness and divides it into ten stages:
HEROINE SEPARATES FROM THE FEMININE. The “feminine” is often a mother/mentor figure or a societally prescribed feminine/marginalized/outsider role.
IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MASCULINE & GATHERING OF ALLIES. The heroine embraces a new way of life. This often involves choosing a path that is different than the heroine’s prescribed societal role, gearing up to “fight” an organization/role/group that is limiting the heroine’s life options, or entering some masculine/dominant-identity defined sphere.
ROAD/TRIALS AND MEETING OGRES & DRAGONS. The heroine encounters trials and meets people who try to dissuade the heroine from pursuing their chosen path, or who try to destroy the heroine.
EXPERIENCING THE BOON OF SUCCESS. The heroine overcomes the obstacles in their way. (This is typically where the hero’s journey ends.)
HEROINE AWAKENS TO FEELINGS OF SPIRITUAL ARIDITY/DEATH. The heroine’s new way of life (attempting the masculine/dominant identity) is too limited. Their success in this new way of life is either temporary, illusory, shallow, or requires a betrayal of self over time.
INITIATION & DESCENT TO THE GODDESS. The heroine faces a crisis of some sort in which the new way of life is insufficient, and the heroine falls into despair. All of the masculine/dominant-group strategies have failed them.
HEROINE URGENTLY YEARNS TO RECONNECT WITH THE FEMININE. The heroine wants to, but is unable to return to their initial limited state/position.
HEROINE HEALS THE MOTHER/DAUGHTER SPLIT. The heroine reclaims some of their initial values, skills, or attributes (or those of others like them) but now views these traits from a new perspective.
HEROINE HEALS THE WOUNDED MASCULINE WITHIN. The heroine makes peace with the “masculine” approach to the world as it applies to them.
HEROINE INTEGRATES THE MASCULINE & FEMININE. In order to face the world/future with a new understanding of themselves and the world/life, the heroine integrates the “masculine” and “feminine” qualities/perspectives. This permits the heroine to see through binaries and to interact with a complex world that includes the heroine but is also larger than their personal lifetime or their geographical/cultural milieu.
