by Giuditta Tornetta

The influence of a vital woman vitalizes us -  paraphrased from Joseph Campbell (The influence of a vital person vitalizes.)

It was Joseph Campbell who, in the 1940′s, first brought to the public’s attention the Mythic and Archetypal principles embedded in the structure of stories.  In his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” Campbell identified the underlying patterns in myths, stories, and spiritual traditions.  In so doing, Campbell created a standardized language that made it possible to uncover and communicate the underlying archetypal structure of these narrative traditions.

This journey has crucial links to Cosmic Law – the Laws that govern all of creation — natural, human, and divine.  The same keys that govern the Universe and are present in all things including  myth, and  the structure of birth.

Here is Campbell’s structure:

Departure

1. The Call to Adventure
2. Refusal of the Call
3. Supernatural Aid
4. The Crossing of the First Threshold
5. The Belly of the Whale

Initiation

1. The Road of Trials
2. The Meeting with the Goddess
3. Woman as the Temptress
4. Atonement with the Father
5. Apotheosis
6. The Ultimate Boon

Return

1. Refusal of the Return
2. The Magic Flight
3. Rescue from Without
4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold
5. Master of the Two Worlds
6. Freedom to Live

Birth as a Heroine’s Journey

All myths are different yet they all contain some common denominators. In analyzing birth as the heroine’s journey I have touched upon all of Campbell’s suggested structural points to deepen the understanding of this sacred and magical moment in a woman’s life. Some women experience all of them while others skip through some of them.  In the end the journey, whether is through the world without or the one within, is a rite of passage, from womanhood to motherhood, from spirit to incarnation. If one is conscious of her actions, desires, and power the other, the baby, comes into this world strengthened in the knowledge of of his/her own potentiality.

Departure

The young maiden dwells in her ordinary world until she is called to set out on the heroine’s journey. The journey from maiden to mother through the birthing experience begins in the ordinary world:  regardless of social, economic or religious status, all women can give birth. The call to adventure is the point in a woman’s life when she is first given notice that once a baby comes into her life everything is going to change.  When a young girl starts her menstrual cycle, she is eligible for the journey. She can choose to enter the journey or not, but she needs to be conscious of her choices, for her life is forever changed. Often when the call is given, the future heroine refuses to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or obligation, or due to career plans, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or not feeling ready.  In other words, a range of reasons may work to keep her in her current circumstances. At times, the heroine enters her journey by choice; she is ready for a change and she is willing to fulfill her destiny in society as the pro-creator of a new life.

Once the heroine has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, her guide and magical helper appear, or become known. This mentor comes in the form of a midwife, friend, doula or more often  a book. The mother-to-be’s soul resonates with a certain birthing experience. She senses that giving birth is a natural thing, something women have done for thousands of years, millions of times, relying only on their innate knowing.

Entering the first threshold, she encounters the industrialized birthing experience, fraught with doctors, tests, ultrasounds and medical opinions. At this point, the woman crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the everyday world and venturing into a realm where the rules and limits are unfamiliar to her.

The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero’s known world and self, into the realm of the unknown. No longer can the heroine live an unconscious life: she now needs to ready herself to become a mother to another human being,  teaching by way of example. This is the point where the woman is in between, or transitioning between worlds and selves. The world around her tells her there is one way of doing things,  surrender to the machine,  suspend her innate trust of her bodily temple, and give up her right to experience her desired outcome.  These impositions lead to abdicating all decision to a third party, regarding birth as a malady that needs fixing and management, supervised by an all-knowing doctor who will administer drugs or even surgically remove the baby to facilitate an easier birth.

But the mentor’s voice resonates in the conscious woman’s inner ear, she is the heroine of this adventure, she is the one who needs to make the choices which will bring her to her desired outcome. The inner struggle begins here. The separation has been made, or is being made or being fully recognized, between the established world and the unconscious self and the potential for a new world/self. The baby in her belly begs for communication and participation during pregnancy and for participation in the decision making.  When the woman enters this stage empowered and conscious, she shows her willingness to undergo a metamorphosis, retiring the old self for a new version of self.

Continues Next Page >>>>>>>>

 

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