ABSTRACT
This chapter describes at length a piece of work, taking place over several hours, involving exploration of a myth through a series of exercises within the context of an on-going training group. It includes discussion of the themes from the myth, the traditional folk tale of Vasalisa and Baba Yaga, as told by Carissa Estes in her book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, and of the activities which were derived from them. The chapter describes how a traditional story was used as a basis for personal and collective work. The story begins with the scene at the deathbed of Vasalisa's young mother. Vasalisa's childhood home becomes hostile and she finds herself in exile from it. Vasalisa's journey takes her deep into the forest on an unmapped path. Like many mythic journeys, it leads her into an underworld of hidden places and dark forces. Both Vasalisa's tasks involve sorting clear mind-states from dulled and irrational ones.
