ABSTRACT
The archetype of feminine initiation has been expressed in women’s ceremonies for their blood mysteries: menarche, defloration, pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, and menopause. The feminine self seeks realization in this body-embedded archetype that is reflected in her mind and her soul. Women’s initiations, however, are colored by the cultural bias of 2500 years of patriarchal social and political domination. As a modern woman develops, she encounters the external barriers in the culture to her empowerment in the world, and simultaneously struggles with a psychological paradox. This paradox can be seen in both ancient and modern puberty ceremonies. Therefore, in analytic work a woman’s psychological initiation often partakes of the field of consciousness and the symbols and myths of these rituals. Cultural denigration versus celebration of women at those crucial thresholds are encoded in the archetype and come forward under the stress of analytic work. Each woman’s psyche takes up the ancient paradox and creates new meaning for her individuation and for an emerging cultural paradigm of feminine empowerment.
