I went to a workshop yesterday called The Heroine’s
Journey: Create Your Own
Mythic Story with Margaret Jones. It was a lot of fun and quite
insightful. The idea was that each participant would create a character and, with her (or as her), embark on an imagined journey.
Margaret
began by placing cards of female figures from various Tarot decks on the
circular table in front of our small group. We were to choose one to be our character. One of the few that landed right in front of me was the High Priestess
card from the Mythic Tarot. Now,
interestingly enough, when I use Tarot (less and less often these days as my
SoulCollage® cards are in the forefront for me), I almost always work with the Mythic
deck. Even more interesting is that
in this deck, the High Priestess card is Persephone. Here’s what the card looks like:
Synchronicity! I love it when I find synchronicities, when I
realize that synchronicity is what I’m experiencing.
This one was not at all subtle or hard to get!
One of
things Margaret asked us to do was to write about this character’s flaws or
weakness. What arose in my mind was that
Persephone is strongly influenced and impacted by those around Her who have
great power. One of Her tasks is to come
into Her own, to become who She is called by Her own soul to be.
I’ve just
turned 67. Surely, I am not still wrestling
with this issue, right? I’m a strong
woman. I can hold my own. Right?
When
leaving on our imagined journey, we were told to bring one thing along with
us. It was clear from my card what mine
was to be: a pomegranate. Okay, so not
the most useful or practical object to take on a journey (others brought
containers of water, flints to make fire, etc.). Oh, well….
The image led me. Better a
pomegranate than the card's other choice - a handful of dead flowers.
We experienced various parts of the journey - advice and gifts received – aspects I won’t
bother going into here – but one very interesting and difficult aspect for me was the
destination. We each selected a picture
of a place, but we chose sight unseen.
When I turned my image over, I was truly taken aback. Here’s what it was:
Devastation. Clear-cutting. Why would a journey lead me here? Am I being called to witness the damage that
men have done, or to heal the earth (well, yes, who isn’t?), or ….?
With a lot
of writing and reflecting, I realized that what I saw as Persephone’s flaw came
into play here. I don’t think I’m
unusual as a woman, even a strong and sometimes outspoken woman, to have spent
much of my life under the influence of the powerful, and especially the
patriarchal. Patriarchy has wounded us
all, including the earth. And I admit that sometimes
I still allow those who ought to have no power over me the ability to hurt
me.
But what
She/I hold in my hand is the pomegranate, a bold symbol of female power and
fecundity. This is what the devastated
world needs. After all this time and work
and awareness, I still need to work for the great healing. Even more than ever.
For those who have experienced
SoulCollage®, I will be telling Persephone's story at the next session – Sunday, April
24th. There is still
space. Please come! Just RSVP.
