Map of the Heroine's Journey

Birth, stagnation, death, and incubation is the cycle that will follow us for all our days and maybe into whatever comes next. This cycle we witness in nature, which is always the truest guide in how to live. But I’m also finding another cycle that we, women especially, move through, and that is the heroine’s journey. A cycle of awakening, moving into the depths, traveling the road of trials, rising, and then integrating what we’ve learned. We’ll move through this time and time again, but it’s not linear. It will ebb and flow, taking one step forward and two steps back. We’ll move into the forest of darkness, embrace drought in the desert, be renewed by the waters, and so on.

This is where my painting “Map of the Heroine’s Journey” came from. First inspired by Hildegard Bingen’s illuminations—drawings of her dreams from God. She used folk like techniques with layers of symbolism to make 35 pieces that she articulated for the women in her convent to help create.

This piece is a visual of the landscape we embark on this journey through the Celtic maze that will have us moving forward and backward, never quite the same journey, but also through elements we’ll learn how to navigate the more that we visit them. We start by going into darkness, the forest where we'll meet the wise old crone in her home, maybe Baba Yaga herself. She direct us where to go next through riddle and vague description—how the road of trials begins. We'll be baptized in waters, washing away what no longer serves us, nourishing ourselves with creative movements that flow to and through us. There will be dry spells, deserts that put us through a drought but then bring us back to our communities to nurture us or back to the water to sustain us. 

Around and around we move through is journey, not just once but every time we become a new person–the transitions from child to maiden, maiden to mother, and mother to crone, just to name a few. Sometimes you'll make it to the tree of life in the center, other times you'll make it far enough to serve you and return back to finish it later. 

Like I said, you path isn't linear, so there is no wrong way to embark on this journey. You simply have to take the first step and go. You won’t regret it.