If Women Rose Rooted

1. The Heroine's Journey: Reclaiming Our Stories and Feminine Power

If women remember that once upon a time we sang with the tongues of seals and flew with the wings of swans, that we forged our own paths through the dark forest while creating a community of its many inhabitants, then we will rise up rooted, like trees.

Reclaiming our stories. The Heroine's Journey begins with recognizing and reclaiming the stories that have been lost or suppressed in our patriarchal culture. These stories, often rooted in Celtic mythology and folklore, reveal women as powerful, creative, and deeply connected to nature and the land.

Embracing feminine power. This journey involves rediscovering and embracing the unique strengths and wisdom of the feminine. It's about moving beyond the limitations imposed by society and reconnecting with our innate power as women, which is often associated with intuition, nurturing, and a deep connection to the cycles of nature.

Rising up rooted. The ultimate goal of this journey is to become like trees - firmly rooted in our own strength and wisdom, while also being flexible and able to grow and change. This metaphor emphasizes the importance of both personal growth and maintaining a strong connection to our origins and the natural world.

2. Descent into Darkness: Confronting the Shadow and Embracing Transformation

To love a bog is to love what lies beneath, buried in the rich black butter. Will you go willingly, and sink into the welcoming dark?

Embracing the darkness. The journey often involves a descent into metaphorical darkness - a period of facing our fears, confronting our shadows, and grappling with difficult emotions or experiences. This phase is crucial for personal growth and transformation.

Transformation through challenge. Like the bog that preserves ancient artifacts, this dark period can reveal hidden aspects of ourselves and our potential. It's a time of gestation and rebirth, where old patterns and beliefs are broken down to make way for new growth.

Willingness to change. The key to navigating this phase is the willingness to engage with the process, to "sink into the welcoming dark" rather than resist it. This requires courage and trust in the transformative power of the journey.

3. Finding the Path: Navigating Challenges and Cultivating Allies

We all need allies to help us on our journey. Our European folk and fairy stories are full of them, and many come in human form: the wise old woman in the woods who offers advice, the fairy godmother who offers gifts . . .

Overcoming obstacles. The Heroine's Journey is filled with challenges and tests that help develop strength, resilience, and wisdom. These may come in the form of internal struggles or external obstacles.

Finding guides and allies. Along the way, the heroine encounters various helpers and guides. These may be:

• Human allies: mentors, friends, or unexpected helpers
• Animal allies: often representing different aspects of nature or personal qualities
• Spiritual or magical allies: embodying wisdom or supernatural aid

Learning to ask for help. An important part of the journey is learning to recognize when we need support and being open to receiving it. This often involves developing trust and building relationships with others and with the natural world.

4. Unearthing the Buried Feminine: Reconnecting with Nature and Ancient Wisdom

We are wild creatures still, at heart, and if we listen to our hearts we will remember how to listen to the song of the fierce-beaked, wild-winged little wren who, hopping from tree to stump, shows us the way home.

Reconnecting with nature. A crucial aspect of the Heroine's Journey is rediscovering our deep connection to the natural world. This involves:

• Spending time in nature
• Observing and learning from plants and animals
• Recognizing the cycles and rhythms of the earth

Reclaiming ancient wisdom. The journey often involves rediscovering and embracing ancient knowledge and practices, particularly those related to the feminine. This might include:

• Herbal medicine and plant lore
• Traditional crafts like spinning and weaving
• Storytelling and mythology

Finding our wild selves. By reconnecting with nature and ancient wisdom, we begin to uncover and embrace our own wild, instinctual selves - the parts of us that have been suppressed or forgotten in modern society.

5. Restoring Balance: Integrating Masculine and Feminine Energies

What we need is encouragement for business leaders to demonstrate moral courage, to stand up and say this has to stop; it's not working. Because no matter how we look at it, commoditising the planet and destroying it for short-term profit makes no sense.

Recognizing imbalance. The journey involves recognizing the imbalance in our current society, where masculine qualities like competition and domination have been overvalued at the expense of feminine qualities like cooperation and nurturing.

Integrating energies. The goal is not to reject the masculine, but to restore balance by integrating both masculine and feminine energies within ourselves and in society. This involves:

• Valuing traditionally feminine qualities
• Encouraging a more balanced approach in leadership and decision-making
• Fostering cooperation rather than competition

Promoting sustainable practices. By restoring this balance, we can create more sustainable and nurturing practices in business, governance, and our relationship with the environment.

6. The Return: Bringing Gifts and Wisdom Back to the World

We do not do this alone. We do not do this without the world, which listens in its turn as we tell the stories back to it. The world does not see that we are 'other', that we have made ourselves separate.

Returning transformed. After the journey of transformation, the heroine returns to the world, bringing with her the wisdom and gifts she has gained. This return is not an end, but a new beginning.

Sharing wisdom. A crucial part of the return is sharing the insights and knowledge gained during the journey. This might involve:

• Telling stories
• Teaching or mentoring others
• Creating art or writing
• Engaging in activism or community work

Reconnecting with community. The return often involves finding new ways to engage with and contribute to one's community, bringing a more balanced and nurturing approach to relationships and societal structures.

7. Becoming Elder: Embracing the Crone and Cultivating Wisdom

'She is older than time,' a local guidebook says of her, and indeed it is told that she is the Hag of Beara. 'She is older than time,' a local guidebook says of her, and indeed it is told that she is older than time.

Embracing age and wisdom. The final stage of the Heroine's Journey involves embracing the role of the elder or crone - a figure of wisdom and power in many traditional cultures.

Cultivating wisdom. This stage involves:

• Reflecting on and integrating life experiences
• Deepening one's connection to nature and ancient wisdom
• Taking on roles of mentorship and guidance in the community

Honoring the cycles of life. Embracing the crone archetype means honoring the full cycle of life, including aging and death. It involves recognizing the value and power of each stage of life, and the unique gifts that come with maturity and experience.

Last updated: January 24, 2025