Herrick Susie - Your story is your power: free your feminine voice

To the memory of Adupa and For Gerald O. Barney

Who shared her story powerfully because he envisioned a better future

We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains. Thats what I wantto hear you erupting. You young Mount St. Helenses who dont know the power in youI want to hear you.

Ursula K. Le Guin Author

We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place from the first Time.

T.S. Eliot Poet

Whether we realize it or not, we define ourselves through stories. Understanding your own story is the key to understanding yourself, your world, and your capacity to act within that world.

In the heart of your story, you will find youyour voice, your power, and your truth. And because there is only one you, and you are unique in all of time, your story can be known and expressed only by you. And we need your storyyour point of viewand your feminine power now more than ever.

We are at a juncture where we need womens voices, womens intelligence, womens compassion, and womens courage to help us navigate the difficult challenges that our species and our planet face. We use the word woman to apply to anyone who identifies with being a woman, regardless of their birth sex. When we say feminine, we are speaking to the feminine energy that lives in everyone. It is our deepest hope that this book will guide you to the center of your story so that you can share your voice and your true gifts with the world.

The labyrinth is an ancient metaphor for this journey, and it is the organizing principle for this book.

In a labyrinth, there are no roadblocks or tricky turns. The path flows continuously, like water, spiraling and meandering as it goes. It is not a direct line from one point to another, but an organic, evolving process that takes time and moves to its own rhythm. Similarly, the path through this book is designed to help you spiral to the center of your story and then out again, giving you ways to digest what you discover and to create space for new insights to emerge.

May the meandering, renewing, and turning path of your story continue to guide youas it has guided ushome.

With love,

Elle and Susie

The point of a maze is to find its center. The point of a labyrinth is to find your center.

Part One

How We Got Here

"The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller... The storyteller sets the vision, values & agenda of an entire generation that is to come."

Steve Jobs as recounted by Tomas Higbey, Journalist

Stories live inside you and shape your life. But why?

What were the earliest stories you heard that hooked you? What compelled you to want to hear them again and again? What inspired you to share them with othersperhaps even your own childrenpassing those stories on throughout time, giving the stories life?

The most enduring tales tap into something larger than mere entertainment: They literally help us evolve.

We warm our hands on storiesboth historical and imaginedall the while taking in essential information:

The sharing of fairy tales from generation to generation is among the most enduring methods for creating and sustaining culture. What does that mean for us?

For women, much of our early collective education resides in these tales. It is as though each of us is given a recipe that shows us what to do to create a successful life, as well as how to behave to get that life. The characters, attributes, and themes of these well-known tales socialize us from a very young age, shaping our earliest ideas of who we are, what our culture values in us, and who we feel we ought to become if we want to find our own happily ever after. As women throughout time grapple with the directives for happily ever after, we watch the story, we learn from the story, and, unless challenged, we will, in time, live the story. So whats the story?

For girls, the earliest and oldest story is often a fairy tale. What young girl or woman today isnt intimately familiar with Cinderella? Beauty and the Beast? Snow White?

In the classic fairy tale Cinderella, a beloved daughter is orphaned, adopted, and turned into an indentured servant while everyone else gets to go to the ball. With the help of a fairy godmother, a dress, and a famous pair of shoes, Cinderella goes to the ball and is so beautiful that the handsome young prince falls in love with her. Despite the jealousy of her stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella gets the prince, becomes a princess, and is lifted out of her painful life of manual labor.

Another classic tale is Beauty and the Beast. The main character, Belle (beautiful in French), is also a beauty. She finds herself in a horrible situationher beloved father is imprisoned by the cruel, arrogant Beast, so she sacrifices herself and becomes the Beasts prisoner in exchange for her fathers release. Beast frightens Belle and is cruel to her, but he develops feelings for her. Trapped in an abusive relationship, Belle uses her beauty, sexuality, and submissive spirit to turn Beast into a kinder man, with whom she eventually falls in love.

Finally, Snow White. Like the other women, Snow White is slim, demure, and physically attractive, but her beauty makes her stepmother jealous. This conflict creates the central plot of the story: Multiple attempts are made to murder the girlasphyxiating her with a corset, putting out a bounty on her head, and, finally, poisoning an apple, of which Snow White takes a bite. Ultimately, a handsome young man (who also happens to be a prince) falls in love with the girl because, once again, she is beautiful. He kisses her while she is unconsciousobviously without her consentand brings her back to life.