In his book, ‘The hero with a thousand faces’ Joseph Campbell gifted us with the ‘Hero’s Journey’ – a map for personal and collective growth and transformation, that he derived from his in-depth analysis and study of the myths of the Gods across cultures. His work uncovered a psychological journey of growth embedded in these stories.

He did however only give us half the story and, when a student of his Maureen Murdock asked, 'what about the psychological journey of the feminine/women?' and suggested a new model, his response was that ‘women don’t need to take the journey… she’s the place that people are trying to get to’ (Campbell, 1981).

Maureen declined to agree and completed her own in-depth studies of not only Goddess myths, but her female clients in her psychology practice. She called this nuanced map of a woman’s journey of personal growth and transformation – “The Heroine’s Journey: A women’s quest for wholeness”.

So what’s the difference between the Hero and Heroine’s journey?

Both journeys are a process of transformation and growth that comes from going under the surface of our life to find and face aspects of ourselves that are blocks in becoming who we want to be in life.

Both are cycles of growth where we develop and build new capabilities and skills, where we discover what really matters to us and free ourselves up to create the life we always dreamed of. Both the Hero and Heroine’s Journey are available for women and men to take.

The place where they differ is how the journey of transformation unfolds. That may sound a small shift, but it changes everything, and for women especially, it is a profound experience of valuing and understanding a huge part of ourselves that has often been denied its full expression; namely the feminine.

Let’s take a blockbuster Hero and Heroine to help us understand this more:

Luke Skywalker in Starwars – He is the classic hero who uses ‘the force’ (plus a phallic lightsaber!) to battle and overcome his enemies. His primary mentor is a male elder who schools him in training his mind to be clear. His ‘tribe’ are friendly loyal male allies. His nemesis of the ‘dark side’ (and ‘dark’ is inferred as the ‘wrong’ side), that he must battle is his father. The feminine is represented in Skywalker's sister, Princess Leia, a character that we might warm to, but who also is not the protagonist of the movie.

Merida in the Disney movie Brave – She is a female maiden warrior who chooses to step out of the expected path of success (e.g. being a polite, well polished princess set to achieve her power and success through marriage to the masculine). Her primary mentors are the wise old woman in the woods and the unconscious hidden feminine ‘wildness’ of her mother, symbolised in the bear. Unlike the friendly male mentors of Luke, Merida’s mentors seem to threaten her with death and besiege her with difficulty before delivering their winning wisdom that allows her to heal the wars of her male forbearers. Her prize for achieving this is freedom and self determination based on what matters to her.

Interpreting the symbolic paths of Hero and Heroine

In the Hero’s Journey the primary transformation is with the inner masculine, with an emphasis in looking at how the power of thought is used rightfully and becomes a ‘force for good’. It’s about clearing away sometimes ruthlessly, that which is not in accord with this enlightened awareness. Princess Leia is the feminine representation and whilst she embodies her beauty, joy, emotion and sensuality alongside her courage, she is still seen primarily in her support of Skywalker's quest and journey.

Whereas, for Merida in the Heroine’s Journey; all the action is with the feminine. She identifies at the outset that she has finished playing the game set up for her by patriarchal culture and in frustration and curiosity embarks on her quest to freedom. She is not trying to clear away and irradiate the ‘dark’ or hidden energies of the feminine, but rather must find and accept these powers within herself. She must work with the intuitive wise witch energy, and befriend the wild feminine energy of the bear. She must also learn to respect their forces and work with them consciously for good. You might ask why these energies appear malevolent on first meeting? The answer is perhaps that after years of being attacked, judged, belittled and betrayed, they are testing the Heroine’s trustworthiness – will she take the steps to friendship or betray these new found allies at the first sign of unacceptableness?

So if we are to be Heroines, we must find beauty in the ugly, engage our wildness with purpose vs tame it, and learn how our body and senses are superpowers rather than an object for someone else’s pleasure.

Are you starting to feel the difference?

So what does this mean for women serious about their personal development?

The Heroine’s Journey hones in on the experience and perspective of women and as such can give women incredibly relevant and accessible maps to their psychological journey. So for instance in order to succeed we do need to step out of the gender stereotypes of what women can do or be – whether that’s overcoming everyday sexism, or facing ‘women’s guilt’ of being a working mum, or ‘women’s shame’ of not wanting or not having children. The Heroine’s Journey looks directly at this tangle of cultural feminine and masculine stereotypes and personal situations and offers a map to navigate towards your freedom and purpose.

As a woman or man we can take both the Hero and Heroine’s paths. However, because we are part of a culture that validates the Hero’s Journey nearly exclusively, it’s most likely that you have taken the Hero’s Journey of growth already.

You might recognise how you handle challenge and the unknown, perhaps with a determination to clear away the deadwood, and channelling your energy and thoughts to a 1 pointed focus of key goals, banishing and overcoming fears and weaknesses along the way?

What you might not yet have taken is the other half of your DNA helix of transformation - the Heroine’s Journey. If so, you might notice that after the initial high of achieving your heroic goals you feel a tad unsatisfied, or at worst disillusioned and questioning what all the hard work was for. Normally when you have not included the feminine principle in your growth, you sense there is something still incomplete, a yearning to feel more connected to yourself and life.

What does it feel like to be the Heroine?

Where your Hero is conquering the darkness, your Heroine is bringing compassion to heal it’s forgotteness and undoing internalised patriarchal judgements that it’s less than, weak or even evil and dangerous.

When you choose to enter the terrain of psychological growth as the Heroine, your courage is accompanied with humble reverence. As you journey into the unknown you are reclaiming lost and beautiful parts of yourself – so it’s not a battle, but rather a surrender of the false feud that kept you separate from an essential part of yourself. For instance your intuition and sensitivity start to become your finely tuned GPS for making choices that are really in alignment with your values and purpose. Your Wildness and emotional capacity to laugh, cry, rage and rejoice become the flow of an abundant creative life that is returned to you after perhaps years of aridity.

Being your Yin Yang radically whole self

Not only are the Hero and Heroine's Journey different and distinct in vital ways, they are also an essential complimentary pair. They are quite literally the yin and yang of our world. We need both, and currently the masculine yang energy is driving a lot of our cultural, political show without a female counterpart.

Yet many are hearing the collective call to take a Heroine’s Journey and we can see the changes in our outer world, for instance the grassroots upsurge of compassionate disruption through inclusive movements such as #womenrising #heforshe #timesup that are all standing for equality and freedom for all.

In terms of personal change, my experience of working with women is that in taking your own Heroines Journey, there is a huge discovery of personal power that thus far has remained latent, yet is essential for women wanting to achieve their goals, dreams and purpose.

If you are feeling drawn to explore your Heroine’s Journey, read '7 Signs you are at a Key Threshold on your Heroine's Journey', join a Circle of Women event, or contact me for a 30 minute complimentary coaching session.