Читать книгу The Virgin's Promise - Kim Hudson - Страница 10

Preface

as I developed this theory of the Virgin archetypal journey, it dawned on me that my life was following the Virgin story. I was a wife in a privileged life, busy caring for my family, and pushing my fascination with story aside. One day I noticed an ad for a Writing for Film and Television program. I thought that perhaps writing screenplays might be the easiest way to start. It’s all dialogue. How hard could that be? I had a lot to learn but the thought gave me permission to do it.

On the first day of school I was all nerves, but I had a plan for survival. I would blend in with the crowd. Lay low and learn was my motto. Getting here had been a work of progressive requests and assurances until finally the space was carved out for a few months – secretly I hoped it would be for a lifetime. I decided to wear faded blue jeans and a white poet’s blouse, hoping to give a youthful, artsy impression. From a distance no one would suspect I was over forty. My God, my classmates were young-faced! A woman welcomed us and read a poem by Marion Williamson. By the time she got to “We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?’,” I was sure she was talking directly to me.

Randomly, people were asked to introduce themselves. I slouched, made no eye contact, and silently chanted “lay low and learn,” but the instructor stood in front of me and asked me to speak. It was a classic opportunity to shine in the Virgin archetypal story.

I stood up and blurted out, “I had my fortieth birthday and suddenly realized if I don’t try something now, this will be all that there is.” I slipped back into my chair, pretty sure I’d blown any effect my poet blouse was giving.

Eventually, a psychologist joined us. He spoke on the works of mythologist Joseph Campbell, psychiatrist Carl Jung, Holly wood story editor Christopher Vogler, and the story of the Hero’s Journey. I was in love. and I don’t say this lightly. The concepts just jumped out at me as truths. He described inherited archetypes that connect all humans through time. An archetype represented each of the three stages of the masculine and feminine life: beginning, middle, and end. Each stage had an accompanying shadow side, making a total of twelve archetypes. We, the three hundred people in the theater, were going to brainstorm and pull these archetypes from our collective unconscious pool.

We began by questing for a name for the beginning stage masculine archetype. Hero was chorused by the crowd. The shadow side, Coward, didn’t cause the crowd to stall, either. The masculine at the height of his power was described as Father/King/God, which I vaguely remembered from an art class. We struggled to name the shadow side of being a mature masculine archetype and were rewarded with the Tyrant. Very satisfying! Then we found words for the elderly masculine archetype including Mentor, Wise Man, and Merlin. His shadow side, a Lecher, made me chuckle.

We turned to the feminine side and stalled. The psychologist wrote “Princess/Virgin” to describe the beginning feminine archetype. I was intrigued by the association of sexuality with a feminine archetype. The description of the shadow side of the beginning feminine archetype was the Whore. Yikes!

People enthusiastically shouted out mature feminine archetype names like Mother, Queen, and Goddess. The call for the shadow side left the room popping with suggestions: Evil Stepmother, Wicked Queen. This seemed plainly wrong. That wasn’t a shadow side – that was the same as the light side, except not very nice about it. The more I thought about it, Queen was more the female version of King than an opposite. I adjusted the mature feminine to Mother/Goddess in my mind. While I was at it, I decided that the masculine in my version is Lover/King. I smiled at myself. Only three hours into it and I was already questioning great thinkers like Campbell and Vogler. Then I thought that maybe this is the point. Every one of us has the ability to reach inside ourselves, look for a feeling of resonance, and make a connection with the archetypes in our own way.

The instructor called for an example of a positive image for the end stage feminine archetype. The auditorium was silent, making me feel entirely justified in my earlier vanity. Slowly I raised my hand.

“Crone?”

Several people argued that Crone was a negative archetype, but eventually it was determined she may create unpleasant circumstances, but they benefit others, so she was a light side archetype. Crone, Wise Woman, and Fairy Godmother were added to our archetypal list. For the description of the shadow side of an end stage feminine archetype, “Witch” was eagerly shouted out and accepted. I was uncomfortable writing this down. A witch may not see herself as operating from the shadow side. I was sure archetypes had to be unbiased and universal.

We paused and looked at our chart. There it was, brought up from its storage place in our collective unconscious. Then I heard that the Hero archetype also had a repeated progression of actions that mapped out a full, meaningful experience. The Hero lives in an Ordinary World until one day he receives a Call to Adventure. At first he Refuses the Call, because of the great danger, but after Meeting with the Guide, the Hero Crosses the First Threshold to a foreign land. Suddenly away from everything familiar, the Hero is tested in his ability to survive. Clear in his purpose he meets allies who can help him and learns about his enemy. The allies make Preparations to enter the enemy’s lair and increase their chances of success. The Hero faces near-death in a Crisis, escapes with his life, and is Rewarded with an advantage when next he faces the enemy. He takes the Road Back and meets the enemy in a Final Battle. The Hero defeats the enemy, sometimes at the cost of his life, and Returns with the Elixir that will keep the village safe.

We were told that in Campbell’s theory, all story, throughout history and across all cultures, follows a mono-myth which he called the Hero’s Journey; the story of the beginning stage masculine archetype, which applies equally to women and men.

Lay low and learn. I couldn’t do it. “What about the whole other side of the chart?” I inquired, nodding to the feminine archetypes.

“Well,” the psychologist answered, “the feminine archetypes are considered more passive and internal. Good in novels, but movies are all about action.”

This did not sit right with me. For weeks, concepts of archetypes kept churning in my head as I kept doing my double shifts, film-school student by day, mom by night. Suddenly I found myself inexplicably weeping on the bus, in my instructor’s office, alone at home. One day my instructor said, “It is amazing how hard people work to stay stuck.” He was talking about my screenplay character but that was exactly what I was doing. I needed to stop hiding in my marriage and make room for this research.

Back and forth on the bus I kept wrestling with the concept that the Virgin archetype also had a pattern of behavior. Repeated beats emerged from watching many non-hero movies. The Virgin begins her story in a Dependent World. She carries her kingdom’s hopes for their continuation, which are contrary to her dream for herself. At first she is afraid to go against her community and realize her own dream. But then she has a small Opportunity to follow her dream in secret. She acknowledges her dream by Dressing the Part, if only temporarily. Enlivened by this first experience, the Virgin goes back and forth, juggling the two worlds, enhancing her dream in the Secret World, while appeasing her Dependent World. Eventually she No Longer Fits Her World and she gets Caught Shining. In this crisis the Virgin has a moment of clarity and Gives Up What has Been Keeping Her Stuck. The kingdom Goes into Chaos. Now, she Wanders in the Wilderness trying to decide whether she will make herself small again to make people happy or choose to live her dream. She Chooses Her Light! She loses her protection and it is grim, but the kingdom Re-orders itself to accommodate the blossoming Virgin, and changes for the better.

I decided to get unstuck and believe in myself. I studied myths, legends, scriptures, and theories of mythology and anthropology. I attended lectures at the Jungian Institute in Switzerland and read the leading books on screenwriting theory, Jungian archetypal theory, and myths and fairy tales. I analyzed movies chosen for their Virgin theme as well as their popularity.

Despite child-raising commitments, caring for my mother, and the inevitable end of my marriage, I kept rewriting, editing, and sharing my theory. I believed in the world of archetypes and in return the archetypes inspired me, educated me, and gave me a passion for life.

Archetypes are a very rich and fascinating area. They touch what is universal and meaningful in us. In your hands you have the bones for writing stories that awaken our feminine potential through creative, spiritual and sexual being. This is only the beginning. My greatest dream is that it will inspire your creative energy and lead to rewarding storytelling experiences.