Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/1

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Section I: Steps of the Journey

GROWING UP: THE ORDINARY WORLD

1.Whispers in the Darkness: Call to Adventure

The Wild Swans (Denmark)

The tale begins in the humdrum world of kitchen chores and powerlessness. The heroine lives
with an absent mother and brutal stepmother. The father figure, if there is one, is equally
obstructive. This is the world of the interior, the home, in which she must battle. More than
anything, the girl longs for an escape, an adventure. She leaves home, seeking the lost masculine
presence in her life as she struggles to save her family.

2. Sleeping Beauty’s Chrysalis: Refusal of the Call

Brünnhild and the Ring of the Niblung (Germany)

Sleeping Beauty stories trace the growth from child to woman. Often the destructive mother
rejects this change, and so tries to frighten the girl, or initiate her too fast, to eliminate her as a
rival and keep her trapped in childhood. Only when the princess is ready can she awaken to
womanhood, ready to marry the prince who arrives just as her eyes open to wisdom. This
artificial childhood cannot last forever. The mother has grown too overprotective, too fearful for
her daughter’s safety to let her venture forth. At the same time, home represents safety and
security, a place the daughter is loathe to leave.

3. All the Better to Guide You With, My Dear: Mentor

Tam and Cam (Vietnam)

The wicked stepmother herself often turns mentor, teaching the heroine skills to reach adulthood.
For the heroine usually lacks the kindly wizard who tutors the hero—she must learn to survive
and wrest the skills of adulthood from the hands of her enemy.

4. Dude, Where’s My Sword? Talisman

The Cauldron of Cerridwen (Wales)

While heroes almost always receive a sword (wand, lightsaber…) from their kindly old mentors,
girls wield household objects. One message is that girls shouldn’t fight. Heroines, in fact, value
nonviolence, using cleverness and fortitude over Excalibur. Perhaps in the days of tales by the
fireside, the girls looked on wistfully as their brothers rode off to war. “There’s magic in our
lives, too,” their grandmothers would say. “We can disguise ourselves as men and pick up
swords, be warrior queens like Mab and Atalanta, or we can follow our own path.” Thus, actions
in the so-called “women’s domain” save the men and propel the women toward heroism.

JOURNEY THROUGH THE UNCONSCIOUS

5. Crossing Over: The First Threshold

 Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/2

Hina the Fairy Voyager (Samoa)

Beauty enters the Beast’s world of magic and wonder, representing an introduction to the
sensuous delights of romance. For other heroines, this crossing over represents danger, a battle
against supernatural enemies. Finally, the heroine must surrender her reliance on logic and
willingly enter the world of emotion. This journey into her own unconscious teaches her self-
worth.

6. Where the Wild Things Are: Allies and Enemies

Ix Chel (Maya)

Animal helpers and advisers generally represent part of the heroine’s psyche, pointing out things
she doesn’t notice and teaching her how to outwit her adversary. They guide her, bolstering her
courage when the quest seems daunting. In the world of the mind, a comb becomes a forest
barrier, a cat, a talking companion. All is alive as it shelters or threatens.

MEETING THE OTHER

7. Taming the Beast: The Shapechanger as Lover

Tam Lin (Scotland)

In the game of love, the hero and heroine each view their partner as a shapeshifter. This “other
half” they must cleave to has frightening mood swings and unpredictable desires. Physically, the
two genders are opposites, with contrasting desires and emotions. Hence, many tales describe
enticing swan maidens from the sea or taming beastly monsters into Prince Charmings. Marriage
is a great achievement, signifying the world of adulthood and responsibility. Once found, the
lover must be saved, redeemed, and protected with the heroine’s strength.

8. Unholy Marriage: Confronting the Father

Tattercoats (Germany)

To a young girl, the father is a godlike force. At the tale’s conception, he has all the power, the
girl, none. The king of Tattercoats-style tales banishes his daughter, thus commencing her
adventure. When she returns, a married, triumphant queen, she finds him pitiful and dying. She
learns her father is mortal, fallible, and all too human. He has lost his power and she has gained
it, eclipsing him forever.

9. The Deepest Crime: Abuse and Healing

The Armless Maiden (Xhosa, South Africa)

The father, like every other character in myth, represents part of the self. He is a force for
tyranny and domination, the opponent in gender warfare. The predator, he not only mutilates the
woman’s body but attempts to destroy her soul. This ultimate crime, the opposite of life-giving,
must be conquered and absorbed into the self if the latter is to survive. Why was this story shared
around the world? It answers human needs, as victims of abuse hear the triumph of eventual
marriage, motherhood, and wholeness, even in a male-dominated world. The grotesque violence
 Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/3

of this controversial tale shows the horror of this trauma, still uncomfortably present in our
modern society.

10. “With this Ring…” Sacred Marriage

Scheherazade and Dunyâzâd (Middle East)

Notorious Bluebeard marries women one after the other. When each fails his test and opens the
forbidden room, he murders her. Yet opening the forbidden door is not frivolous feminine
curiosity. The young woman must open the door onto the truth of whom she has married: a mass
murderer. At that moment, she discards her sheltered existence for true understanding. While
feminine curiosity and disobedience to a man’s orders may have been a crime in less enlightened
times, readers should, in fact, celebrate this desire for knowledge and truth. Only through
performing the forbidden act can the woman change innocence to growth. And in so doing, she
finds a way to reconcile with the savage masculine and turn him into both enlightened figure and
true partner.

FACING THE SELF

11. The Endless Summons: Descent into Darkness

The Myth of Inanna (Sumeria)
At the crux of every heroine’s adventure lies the descent into the innermost cave, where the
heroine absorbs the underworld’s mystical secrets. Only through death can she learn to live. In
the darkness, she faces her true nemesis, the submerged shadow of her desires, and conquers it,
in order to return to the world of light.

12. I’ll Get You, My Pretty! Confronting the Deadly Mother

Coatlicue (Aztec)

A theme that often surfaces in these stories is the daughter’s supplanting the mother. When
spring arrives, the crone, symbolic of deathly winter, must surrender dominance to the maiden.
The crone is sterile by necessity, past menopause with grown children who reject her guidance.
The witch, or “Terrible Mother” has already diminished from the triumphant mother to the aging
crone, useful only as a teacher. Now the witch may lose even that last crumbling bastion. Like
the witch-queen of Snow White, the crone seethes that she is no longer fairest in the kingdom.
Therefore, she plots the heroine’s destruction.

13. Ceasefire with the Self: Healing the Wounded Shadow

“Medusa” by Louise Bogan (Greece/America)

While some maidens destroy their oppressor, most learn to accept the dark raging Shadow who
represents the rejected, furious part of their own selves. Athena raises Medusa’s head from the
underworld and sets it on her breastplate, while Psyche becomes a goddess and reconciles with
angry Venus, her new mother-in-law. By giving birth to the child Bliss, she brings about a new
time of peace and enlightenment.

14. The Elixir of Life: Reward

 Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/4

The Lion’s Whisker (Sudan)

Triumphant, the heroine wins what she has sought for so long. She snatches her lover from the
Fairie Queen’s horse, or saves her child from certain death. She may find the brief romance she’s
sought for so long. Still, the quest has not ended, until she returns safely home.

15. Of Carpets and Slippers: Flight and Return

Baba Yaga (Russia)

Once the heroine has “Seized the sword” and accomplished her goal, she often must leave in a
great hurry. The girl from “The Baba Yaga” exemplifies this perfectly, dropping comb and
mirror to deter pursuit. Likewise, Cinderella and Catskin run away from their balls. In this tale,
the flight and escape are the vehicle by which the heroine wins or saves the prince.

GODDESSHOOD AND WHOLENESS

16. Forever Cycling: Rebirth

Changing Woman (Navaho)
To achieve the greatest success, the heroine becomes a “goddess” herself. In this way she
achieves enormous power and becomes a guardian for the next generation. While this
acknowledgement in the external world is more important to the male hero, many heroines
achieve inner ascendancy and outer recognition together.

17. Apotheosis: Mistress of Both Worlds

Demeter and Persephone (Greece)

Persephone spends half her time as a maiden and flower princess, child to the fertility goddess of
the harvest. The other half, she rules the dead as a crone. This dichotomy is perplexing, but less
so if we understand the message contained here. When a creation goddess becomes goddess of
death, she controls both worlds in a unique balance of power and understanding. In the
underworld, she has grown beyond motherhood into a new level of power and understanding. In
this way, the mistress of both worlds comprehends the delicate balance between innocence and
experience, death and life.

Section II: Archetypes

RISING MOON: MAIDEN

18. Smart Girls Rule! The Adolescent Questor

Golden Lotus (China)

Our dearest heroines are Dorothys, Lucys, Lyras, Coralines and Megs. Rather than goddesses,
tragic princesses, or vicious warriors, they are simple, good-hearted girls, armed only with wit
and everyday courage. While unclear how to lift a sword, they solve riddles and make friends
wherever they journey. They steal our hearts with their simple defiance of overwhelming odds
and they triumph, again and again.
 Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/5

19. Don’t Bet on the Princess: The Prize

The Tale of Déirdre (Ireland)

The princess wants the perfect husband—one who is powerful and handsome, a strong provider
for her children. These heroines do not struggle between possible suitors (as do the warrior
women). When offered a choice they instantly pick the “best” man and end the decision right
there. After Zeus has tricked his way to Hera, after the prince has battled thorns to waken
Sleeping Beauty, after Ivan has leaped miles on a magic horse, what is there to do but say yes?
This, too, is a struggle for the animus and complete identity. More than this, it is the “quick fix”
of happiness and identity through marriage. Cinderella is no longer the drudge: she is the queen.
Eliza is freed from her task and can find happiness with her husband. Beauty is no longer a
prisoner of the puzzlingly sensitive beast; she is his princess. Like Hera, queen of the gods, these
women seek marriage as the final attainment of their goals. However, like Hera, they don’t
always find happiness.

20. Mu Lan’s Sisterhood: The Warrior Woman

The Rabbit Huntress (Zuni)

The warrior maiden differs from these other heroines in that she travels on the hero’s journey,
not the heroine’s. Still, she deserves a chapter, as she is most often the “strong woman” readers
visualize. She is the one who dresses as a boy and rides to war, the one who says, “If a man can
do this task, I can do it, too.” Yet, even while cutting herself off from many aspects of femininity
and wielding a man’s weapons, she still follows much of same journey as her quieter sisters.

21. Sword and Shield: The Warrior Lover

Anat and Ba’al (Ugarit)

One possible mate for the warrior woman is a partner and equal, though this match generally
ends in tragedy. The other choice for mate is the sensitive man, the one who is the woman’s true
animus. By accepting the gentle suitor, the warrior woman grows into a strong, balanced person
who defends her young with a wildcat’s tenacity.

22. Sisters: Lesbianism in Folklore

Bearskin Woman and Grizzly Woman (Blackfoot)

Though it can be hard to spot, homosexuality appears in numerous tales. Zeus and Apollo
compete for the handsome cupbearer Ganymede. Artemis frolics with her maidens. Achilles has
his companion, Patrocles. The Hindu Mahabarata features men changing into women. And
several Native American and Innuit tales, including this one, explore lesbianism. Though the
villagers censure them, the couple finds a way to live together as bears, and finally
constellations, in the end. All relationships have their place in fairy tales, as do all families.

23. The Right to Choose: Divine Whore

The Marriage of Aphrodite (Greek)
 Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/6

Another archetype appearing throughout literature is that of the temptress. She is a “bad girl,” a
woman who has discarded conventional morality and proper behavior to control men through her
dangerous sensuality. In men’s stories, these are the evil succubae, women like Morgan le Fay
and Lilith. Is this their only possible role? Morgiana saves Ali Baba by dancing a sensual dance
and then stabbing the leader of the forty thieves. Aphrodite travels the world, proud, naked, and
glorious. For every Morgan le Fay who seduces the innocent Arthur, another woman embraces
her feminine sensuality in order to prosper gloriously in a male-oriented world.

FULL MOON: MOTHER

24. The Other Right to Choose: The Thwarted Mother

Crystal the Wise (Chile)

Marriage is not enough for the heroine. She must grow into a triumphant mother figure, with
children to carry on after her. Sometimes, the antagonist is not the witch, but the husband,
particularly a neglectful one. In this set of tales, the lady, though an abandoned wife, is smart and
self-motivated. She wants her husband back and reclaims him. The wife succeeds not only in
having children, but also in coaxing her husband to mature and accept his role as the head of a
family. In this way, she creates a family by fashioning a husband, not just giving birth.

25. Strength and Honor Clothe Her: The Wife

Isis and Osiris (Egypt)

The wife seeks to rescue her husband through the pages of numerous tales. Loyal and self-
sacrificing, she offers up everything she has to rescue him from imprisonment, or even the
confines of death.

26. Don’t Heroines Get a Break from Those 3 a.m. Feedings? The Triumphant Mother
The Female Shaman (Siberia)

The heroine’s goal is to become a complete mother, resplendent with power. If her family is
shattered, by either grief or remarriage, she cannot become whole without assembling the pieces.
In the case of this tale, she, likely an untried maiden, has inherited this family. She cannot
succeed simply through kindness; she must quest for the wisdom to become a true mother to her
stepchild. In so doing, she earns his love with effort and patience in a story reminiscent of our
everyday struggles.

27. Earth and Sea Incarnate: The Great Goddess

Pele and Hi’iaka (Hawaii)

The “goddess archetype,” is represented by powerful, magical women such as Demeter and
Inanna. The goddess is always the font of power; she rarely grows or changes. The fairy queen
does not go on quests or adventures; instead, she rules her queendom and dispenses advice and
aid. Other times, she is selfish and kidnaps mortals to please her. Yet, benevolent or capricious,
she is the source of beauty, power, and often nature.
 Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/7

28. Divorcing Anima: The Goddess Sublimated

Izanami and Izanagi (Japan)

Historically, many powerful goddesses became denigrated, as Leda, Leto, and Europa’s stories
merged into the Greek pantheon and they became mere consorts of the patriarchal Zeus, or Lilith
changed from a Sumerian demigoddess to a Jewish demonness. Across the world, female taboo
breaking, like Eve’s eating the apple, results in suffering for all mankind.

29. Double Double: The Terrible Mother

La Llorona (Mexico)

In a number of stories, from variants on Sleeping Beauty to The Six Swans, the heroine’s
mother-in-law hides or kills the heroine’s child, and then blames the heroine, naming her a witch
and smearing her mouth with blood. Just as the heroine represents life-giving and creative power,
the Terrible Mother murders new life. Worse yet, she seeks to cast her own shadow over the
heroine, blaming her for the destructive deed. Only by meeting the witch on her own terms can
the heroine persevere. In Jungian psychology, the witch symbolizes the destructive power of the
unconscious, opposite to the heroine.

WANING MOON: CRONE

30. Knives in the Dark: The Destroyer

The Birth of Kali (India)

The Destroyer is a figure of entropy, tearing down all that has been built as the underworld
incarnate, total female power. However, as with the case of Kali, this destruction is not evil but a
catalyst for new life and growth.

31. Source of all Answers: The Wisewoman

The Old Woman and the Devil (Palestine)

Similar to the mentor figure of many stories, the “wise old woman” is a common archetype.
While sometimes she appears as helper in a young woman’s stories, she often appears in her own
tales, often pitted against an authority figure and winning through sheer cleverness.

32. Mrs. Fox and her Cronies: Trickster

A Woman of Valor (Persia)

Female tricksters appear rarely, surprisingly, yet persistently throughout folklore. The trickster is
earthy, sexual, and full of mischief. This character steals and lies to achieve her desire, but the
desire of an affair, a shiny object, a good dinner is hardly the making of legends. Trickster stories
offer a laugh, a bright moment in a dull world. The trickster rarely grows or changes: she has a
simple goal and spends the story trying to achieve it.

NEW MOON: SPIRIT GUARDIAN

33. Unearthly Guardian: The Protector

 Frankel/Heroine’s Journey/8

The Witch in the Stone Boat (Iceland)

Though our loved ones die, they still watch over us and protect us through countless tales across
the world. Cinderella’s mother changes into a tree or doll or goat, and continues to offer
guidance and protection. She is still present, but in a different form. The Little Mermaid likewise
dies in her story, but her journey is not complete. She becomes an air spirit, a creature far more
powerful than ever. The new spirit-heroine has ultimate power: she can guide the mortals
needing her counsel, especially children or the downtrodden. She can traverse the world in an
eyeblink. She can intercede with God for the sake of mortals, like Mary, or bring Cinderella a
glittering ballgown to make her dreams come true. She has reached an expanded consciousness,
an understanding of how nature and the spirit, earth and air, are the same.

34. Coming Full Circle: Rebirth

Copper Woman (Nuu-chah-nulth, Vancouver Island)

The difference between death and life, fairy godmother and infant is an imperceptible one,
offering a barrier as tenuous as a breath. In her enlightened state, the goddess understands how
the cycle must continue and she can descend to earth, to be reborn and claim her place in the
unending ring of nature once again. With this, the heroine truly masters both worlds: mortal and
goddess, corporeal and spiritual, enlightened one and guardian of others. This is the truest
apotheosis.

35. Final Thoughts

A conclusion of all the heroine’s journey offers: empowerment and identity, knowledge and love
of the family. Through her internal dominion and reunited family, the heroine learns the most
important lesson: that while her husband may rule the castle, she protects all within it with
nurturing strength and inner magic.

Appendix: Aarne-Thompson Folktale Types

Notes
Bibliography
Index