...The Birth Warrior’s Journey into her Deepest Heart

 
Human beings share a love of myth and storytelling. In particular we are drawn to the “hero’s journey”. Why is that? Perhaps it is because the child-hero in each of us feeds on the hero’s model: first of being afraid and lost, and then mustering up raw courage and determination against all odds.  Another universal appeal is that every one (and every society) is spiritually dependent on the hero’s return. When a hero answers the call to Love, she is agreeing to sacrifice her comfort, and even her life, in order to bring back knowledge, freedom, or some form of treasure, not for herself, but for the benefit of others.

Not every life or birth will be a hero’s journey. Yet every life, and every new mother preparing for birth, or trying to find her way back, can be guided by the mythic journey of the birth hero (or heroine, if you prefer).

What determines whether a mother experiences
her birth as a hero’s journey?

The hero’s journey is a personal, solitary, all-consuming immersion into her deepest heart. It is so deep that it seems at times that she is drowning in grief, love, or ecstasy, and there is no one to save her. She scarcely knows the journey has begun; when she is lost and abandoned in the midst of it, she thinks it will never end. The further she descends into the narrowing passages, the more difficult the tests and trials become. But in crossing each gate, she meets, sees, expresses or accepts a part of herself that she has not known or allowed before.

A soul journey like this is frequently physically demanding, symptomatic and exhausting, possibly even life-threatening. And yet, the heroine’s journey is really about the descent into the unconscious and the Dark Feminine; it is a complete immersion into the Heart.  This journey requires spiritual hunger, perseverance and deep surrender. The more Gates that are passed through, the greater the resistance—resistance to letting go of old Agreements, beliefs, fears, and habits. Those of you who know birth, have seen or experienced this descent into Laborland. You know very well the struggle a woman experiences, not just with pain or fear, but also within her core, within her raw inner self.

She holds on desperately to the very thing she intended to let go of. It is a great struggle; old Agreements fight like hooked fish that do not want to be caught or taken out of the water. This struggle, doubt, and near surrender is often equated with the “transition phase” of labor.

Finally, as we find in all great myths, the hero or heroine dies. She is hung, dismembered, swallowed, or drowned.

 
The hero, on her knees, collapsed, symbolically hangs between two worlds; she cannot escape. She is helpless, completely surrendered, yet is more alive than she has ever been, although it does seem so from the outside. She is in the phase of incubation or transfiguration. New agreements are gestating and growing stronger. Her nervous system is recovering from the shock of seeing her new self, and perhaps the death of her Maiden self, now that she sees herself as a Mother. And there are many other countless powerful realizations during the childbearing year. The hero is resting, in withdrawal and introspection, while her whole being re-wires itself to adapt to her new power and her new knowing.

In due time, there is a psychic labor and birth. It may be precipitous and sudden, or it may take a great effort to express the new life, the new agreements and newly found power. This hero is spent, on her knees, exhausted and in a state of hopelessness and confusion. Her complete surrender is rewarded with the arrival of Allies: angels, ancestors or spirit animals who give her final guidance, protection and spiritual food to sustain and grow the newly-born Love Warrior.

The journey is almost over. Too often we are relieved that the “baby” is born and the moaning is over. But to complete the heroine’s journey, the hero must answer the last Call. She must integrate the clarity and power she went into the journey to find. That is not enough—she must also bring it back to the world in a form so that it can be a gift to others. Perhaps it manifests as words, images, or some other way. What she has gained she must give to others. Remember, the hero made the journey, not for herself, but for others. She must integrate her learning, blending the non-verbal, soulful images and knowing with the language of the world. When the world, her community, is ready to greet her as a returning Birth-Love Warrior, then the circle is made whole. The journey is complete.

Copyright 2007  by Pam England and BIRTHING FROM WITHIN^®.
May not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

Upcoming Birth as a Hero's Journey workshops
with Pam England:

February 9 & 10, 2008: Campbell/San Jose, California

April 10, 2008: The Farm, Summertown, Tennessee

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