I’ve been fascinated with archetypes ever since discovering Joseph Campbell and his studies on mythology.
What, exactly, are archetypes? Jean Bolen, author of Goddesses in Everywoman, defines them as “powerful inner patterns… dominant forces within us” linked strongly to myth, which Joseph Campbell calls “depersonalized dream.” Within myths are characters who express singular aspects of our existence and potential. These are archetypes, alive in human imagination since the beginning of time.
The Women’s Wheel of Life, Chapter 1: The Goddess and the Mystery
In The Women’s Wheel of Life: Thirteen Archetypes of Woman at Her Fullest Power, Elizabeth Davis and Carol Leonard discuss a variety of archetypes unique to women. They both have backgrounds as midwives and so have a passion for recapturing the sacredness of birth. But they “were soon convinced that the best way to assure women their reproductive rights was to resacralize the entirety of women’s lives, not just the act of giving birth.”
The Wheel
Thus came the women’s wheel of life. Twelve archetypes lay on the outer circle, three corresponding to each of the four seasons and the four cardinal directions. These archetypes are the Daughter, Maiden, Blood Sister, Lover, Mother, Midwife, Amazon, Matriarch, Priestess, Sorceress, Crone, and Dark Mother. Each corresponds to a different stage in life as we change and mature. Not every woman embodies every archetype, and with the Transformer at the center of the wheel, the archetypes may not even be experienced chronologically.
The Transformer enables women to travel across the circle to embody a later archetype or an earlier one. I really liked this way of looking at our lives. Our paths are not always linear or clear cut. Life, as well as our personal growth, can be unpredictable. A diagnosis that could be fatal may lead a young woman to step into the Dark Mother archetype when she’s facing death. A middle-aged widow may revisit the Lover stage as she finds new love. An older woman in her seventies can recapture the adventurous spirit of the Maiden when she retires.
Another facet of the wheel is the fact that archetypes that are across from one another complement each other. For example, “Both Mother and Crone engage in caretaking. The Mother nurtures her young, or some brainchild or creative endeavor, while the Crone, in her wisdom, nurtures society.” Instead of describing the twelve archetypes chronologically, the authors structure the book so you read about these complementary stages together.
An underlying theme to this book is Blood Mysteries, which are menarche (a girl’s first menstrual cycle), birth, and menopause. These often act as stepping stones in a woman’s psycho-spiritual path. Each one brings about substantial biological, psychological, and sociocultural shifts, leading us into another stage of life. I think the biology of most women connect us to the cycle of nature. Like the moon, we cycle each month. Like the earth, we give birth to new life.
Personal Takeaways
I really appreciated that this book asked me to consider these Blood Mysteries thoughtfully. Our society fails to honor these bodily changes and many other big transformations in life. We celebrate births and marriages, but our celebrations are typically reduced to gift-giving, like the modern baby shower. There’s little discussion of aging and what it means to become a woman (or a man).
As I read, I kept thinking of what small rituals I could do as I raise my daughter. I want to honor her girlhood, her womanhood, and the different stages of life we all go through. Many of the things that the authors suggest, I’ll be honest, are a little too out there for me. I’m in favor of normalizing menstruation and even honoring it, but I definitely won’t be harvesting my period blood for my garden. I’ll have to find something that works for me and my family to honor those transitions.
This book inspired me to pay attention to the stages in life and the patterns that lead us forward. I thought of my own journey, of course. I’m currently in the Mother stage, and I gained perspective and insight on past archetypes. For example, in the Blood Sister stage, women cling to one another and “move in packs like she-wolves or lionesses to hung excitement, hunt mates, hunt meaning and purpose for their lives.” I kept thinking of the girls I made deep friendships with in my teen years, especially Nancy, who I adopted as my twin and to this day is always referred to as my sister.
I saw how I’ve stepped into other archetypes that are chronologically ahead of the Mother. My Rheumatoid Arthritis, which I was diagnosed with at nineteen, moved me forward to the Priestess, who goes through some kind of descent in order to transmute fear and anxiety into love as the Sorceress. “The descent as Priestess involves both loss of control and the demise of one’s cherished stability, often due to an abrupt twist of fate.”
One woman’s story resonated with me as she spoke of her “journey through the underworld”.
I’m an optimist; I enjoy feeling good and I like to see myself as doing fine, so to see myself crumble and to have all my friends realize that I was crumbling was very painful… I just had to keep telling myself, ‘I’m not going to try to pick up the pieces, I’m not going to pretend I’m on top of this or working with this in any kind of way; I’m just completely at the mercy of this journey I’m on.’
For me, a chronic illness debilitated me and derailed my plans for my twenties, so I was in a very similar place. In the end, it was submission to my body’s illness that brought me to a place of resignation, and then to true acceptance.
Another archetype I embodied before its chronological time was the Amazon. When I left my marriage, fell in love with a long-time friend, and moved to Spain, it was the Amazon’s strength, intensity, and passion driving me. I sought independence in a fresh way and embraced freedom and wildness. I was truly in touch with my own instincts and passions.
As I read through the archetypes, I found myself thinking of other women I’m close to, whether family members of friends. I grew up with a variety of interesting women in my family and church (I wrote about it on Medium a few years ago). I love thinking about their journeys and where they may be on the women’s wheel of life.
After reading this book, I also have a renewed sense of appreciation for my body and the cycles it goes through. I hope to instill this in my daughter as I raise her into a woman.
Other Thoughts
The authors briefly discuss different walks, such as women who are unable to or choose not to become mothers by giving birth. They referenced Mothers “birthing” creative projects and businesses instead of children. I still think they could’ve shed more light on alternative walks of life. For example, with the Midwife stage, most of their examples were about being a literal midwife. I’m not sure what the Midwife looks like for women who don’t become midwives in their careers.
For other unorthodox situations, I can use my imagination with how they may fit into the wheel. While non-transwomen have the Blood Mysteries to guide them, I imagine any woman will experience similar archetypes throughout life. I would love to hear from any transwomen and how they feel their journey may relate to these archetypes, or from others who have an interesting story about how their gender, sex, and spirituality overlap. Get in touch!
The important thing to remember when reading this book is that archetypes are only symbols; they’re not a prescription for every person. The circle is more of a lens through which we can view our lives. We can take what applies to us, but we shouldn’t try to fit ourselves into any boxes, and that’s certainly not the authors’ intent. It’s more important to use it to foster your personal evolution.
The natural physical changes women’s bodies go through contrasts us with males, who experience much more subtle physiological changes throughout life. I think men could learn a lot from women who are more in touch with the cycles of their bodies and the cycles of nature.
Over the last century or so, especially since the rise of feminism which has given women more opportunities, women have learned a lot from men. We’ve learned how to be more assertive, competitive, proactive, and ambitious. I see many signs that we’re entering a new age, where men learn from women. They’re learning to be more in touch with their emotions, nurture others, live in community, and honor the Earth. All of these traits are something that every human is capable of, regardless of sex, but in a more egalitarian society, we are continually exchanging ideas and learning from one another.
This was a really interesting book to read after The Feminine Face of God. While that book was mainly Judeo-Christian in its discussions, The Women’s Wheel of Life continually refers to pagan and Celtic traditions, divination practices such as Tarot and I Ching, ancient mythology, and many Earth-based religions and spiritual paths.
While I appreciated the diversity of perspectives, I also found it a little distracting when I didn’t know exactly what they were talking about. I didn’t want to constantly pause to look things up, so a few of the examples they used to talk about the different archetypes I read through but didn’t understand. The authors do what they can to give you context, though, so I still gained a lot from their references.
It can be pretty harsh on Christianity, especially in relation to how it has done disservices to women and the Earth. Unfortunately, the core message of Christianity (love, redemption, and salvation) often gets lost in the dogmatism of the church and its oppression throughout the years, and it’s no different in this book.
In the end, this is a fascinating book that I would recommend to open-minded people curious about the path of the woman. While I may not agree with certain viewpoints or be confused by some of what they’re discussing, it’s opened up a new world for me. I’ve added dozens of books from their bibliography to my to-read list, and I have a renewed interested in archetypes and mythology (I definitely need to finish Women who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes).
I’m continually in awe of the strength, versatility, and complexity of women. This book reminded me in many ways how fortunate I am to be circling the women’s wheel of life.