Descent, Re-membering, and the Awakening of the Heroine
A lecture and discussion with Dr. Kayleen Asbo
Many of us are familiar with the prevailing monomyth of The Hero’s Journey, popularized by Joseph Campbell. Reflected in the stories of figures like Theseus and Siegfried, the mythic hero encapsulates the extraverted1 movement of psychic growth: conquest, achievement, the slaying of dragons, triumph and mastery, the allure and pitfalls of the outer world.
Running in tandem is the The Heroine’s Journey, a complementary model established by Maureen Murdock. Like the hero, the heroine represents the individuating impulse within us all, but with a decidedly introverted flavor. Reflected in the stories of Sleeping Beauty and Vasilisa, her path is one of reconciliation, awakening into personhood, re-membering, and reclamation of the soul. Rather than conquering the outer world, she descends to the underworld of the psyche, to the great archetypal figures and energies who initiate her to the mysteries of life and death.
This summer, we’ll be following her journeyings through The Heroine’s Quest workshop series here at The Artemisian. To prime our explorations, I wanted to share a discussion and lecture I had with the incredible mythologist, scholar, and cultural historian, Dr. Kayleen Asbo.
Over 5 years ago (wow, does time fly!!), we hosted Kayleen for a live event through my podcast, the Golden Shadow. Kayleen presented on the heroine’s path, tracking her movements and themes across mythology, fairy tales, and film. Her presentation (and the following Q&A) touches into the essential archetypal aspects of the heroine, many of which we will be exploring in The Heroine’s Quest series.
I hope you enjoy!
~Alyssa
Curious to join The Heroine’s Quest?
The Heroine’s Quest is a members-exclusive workshop series and guided inner work experience hosted here at The Artemisian. Across three live workshops, we’ll explore the myths of Psyche & Eros, Bluebeard, and Rapunzel as symbolic maps of individuation, descent, awakening, and psychological transformation.
Upgrade your subscription to join us live, access the workshop recordings, and participate in the series.
Here, I’m referring to the Jungian concept of attitudes that modify functions of consciousness. Extraversion is the movement of psychological energy towards external factors and the outer world. Introversion is the movement of psychological energy towards the individual and the inner world.
These concepts do not dictate sociability, whether you like parties or a have propensity for being shy and withdrawn. They reflect what psyche instinctively pays attention to, how the psychic landscape is shaped, how we contend with conscious and unconscious reality.
For more, see my post: You’re Not Just an Extravert or Introvert.