The Heroine's Journey
What's the Heroine's Journey?
Archetypes Chart
Though scholars often place heroine tales on Campbell’s hero’s journey point by point, the girl has always had a notably different journey than the boy. She quests to rescue her loved ones, not destroy the tyrant as Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker does. The heroine’s friends augment her natural feminine insight with masculine rationality and order, while her lover is a shapeshifting monster of the magical world—a frog prince or beast-husband (or two-faced vampire!). The epic heroine wields a magic charm or prophetic mirror, not a sword. And she destroys murderers and their undead servants as the champion of life. As she struggles against the Patriarchy—the distant or unloving father—she grows into someone who creates her own destiny.
Eventually, she too descends into the underworld in a maiden’s white gown, there to die and be reborn greater than before. Awaiting her is the wicked stepmother or Terrible Mother (as Jung calls her): the White Witch of Narnia or Wicked Witch of the West: slayer of children and figure of sterility and unlife. This brutal matriarch is often her only mentor. The heroine not only defeats her, she grows from the lesson and rejoins the world as young mother, queen, and eternal goddess.
(Qtd. from my book Buffy and the Heroine's Journey, coming 2012)
Follow the Steps of the Journey
From Girl to Goddess
Book Details
From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine’s Journey through Myth and Legend
ISBN 978-0-7864-4831-9
October 2010
See it at McFarland and Co.
See it on Amazon
Interview in California Writers Club's Writer's Talk
Ordering
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Autographed Copies with a personal message. A
great gift for special women!
more information |
Supporting Materials
PowerPoint presentation on the Heroine's Journey from Baycon 2010.
Comparison of Models
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Campbell’s Hero’s Journey |
Frankel's Heroine’s Journey |
Stages |
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The World of Common Day |
The World of Common Day |
Innocence and Discovery |
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The Call To Adventure |
The Call To Adventure |
Innocence and Discovery |
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Refusal of the Call |
Refusal of the Call |
Innocence and Discovery |
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Supernatural Aid |
The Ruthless Mentor and the Bladeless Talisman |
Innocence and Discovery |
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The Crossing of the First Threshold The Belly of the Whale |
The Crossing of the First Threshold Opening One’s Senses |
Journey through the Unconscious |
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The Road of Trials |
Sidekicks, Trials, Adversaries |
Journey through the Unconscious |
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The Meeting With the
Goddess |
Wedding the Animus Facing Bluebeard Finding the Sensitive Man Confronting the Powerless Father |
Meeting the Other |
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Atonement with the Father |
Descent into Darkness Atonement with the Mother Integration and Apotheosis |
Meeting the Self
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The Ultimate Boon |
Reward: Winning the Family |
Meeting the Self |
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Refusal of the Return |
Torn Desires The Magic Flight Reinstating the Family Return |
Meeting the Self
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Master of the Two Worlds |
Power over Life and Death
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Goddesshood and Wholeness |
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Freedom To Live |
Ascension of the New Mother
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Goddesshood and Wholeness |
Read Henry Potty and the Pet Rock: The Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody
Read From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine's Journey in Myth and Legend
