Reclaiming the Wild Heroines behind the monsters
Medusa, wild and feral women and post-Solstice vibes
Well hello,
How are you, really though?
And how is this time post-Solstice treating you? Everyone I’ve spoken to recently seems to be responding to that question with some form of the idea that time really is speeding up, and that things are changing faster than they can sometimes keep up with.
I get that entirely. And since a friend and I carried out a deep ritual together on the light of the last Full Moon, I swear things are changing so fast that it sometimes feels like I’ve been ten different people before breakfast!
Only last week I was telling a friend about Lagertha’s behaviour as she reaches that point somewhere between toddler puppy and adolescent dog and declared:
“When she’s good she’s very, very good. And when she’s bad she’s feral.”
My friend’s response? “Well, couldn’t you say that about all women?”
I think I actually stopped dead and gave her a “hell yes!”. But then I’ve been binge-watching Yellowstone recently and have decided I’m firmly in my Beth Dutton era (if you know you know, and if you don’t then I highly recommend watching!) so maybe slightly feral and wild women are the theme of my Summer!
Which brings us nicely onto the main subject of today’s post and a woman I’ve been journeying a lot with lately… that famous heroine/ monster: Medusa
How Medusa Lost Her Heroine Narrative (and why we need to reclaim her)
How powerful would it be if we re-awakened the primal priestess energy within ourselves?
That’s exactly what my ‘Rekindling Her Stories’ sessions focus on.
Medusa is the subject of July’s Her Stories session – a familiar tale, but do we know the full picture?
We generally know Medusa as a terrifying snake-headed Gorgon who turns men to stone.
But she’s the perfect case in point for the buried woman whose story has been lost to time, twisted to fit the patriarchal narrative.
Because the only part of her story that he's been conditioned into us is how she was slain by Perseus, a heroic warrior.
And then he used her gifts in war as a weapon to take down his enemies.
But over recent years, Medusa’s become a symbol of women's empowerment, particularly in the wake of the Me Too movement.
Why is that?
Because the deeper story is that Medusa’s Gorgon era began when she was raped by a powerful man.
Her gift to Gorgon nature – turning men to stone – was the ultimate protection against a man who defiled and betrayed her.
Medusa’s become a figure of feminine empowerment and liberation.
It’s really important to hold on to that.
But I also think it's important that we step back and ask some big questions:
Why has this figure of women's liberation and protection from rape and sexual violence been cast as the villain for so long?
Why has everything other than Medusa’s death been buried and hidden from us?
This is the case with so many women who were a threat to history.
Indeed, Lilith, the original woman, defied patriarchy and was subsequently demonised and called evil, as we learned in last month’s Re-Kindling Her Stories session.
Why do we look at Medusa as a threat and focus only on her death, when patriarchy overcame her?
Because she absolutely was a threat to patriarchy.
One look from her could literally turn men to stone.
And so, Medusa’s story as a survivor of violence and someone who carved out her own life was buried.
Those bits were hidden from us.
Instead, we’re told to focus only on what patriarchy wants us to – the fact this terrifying ‘beast’ who could turn men to stone was killed and used as a weapon.
If we look at Medusa as a victim, what happened at the end of her life was just another example of patriarchal violence.
In that sense, we can argue that where Medusa was concerned, the patriarchy feel like they've won.
If that's the story they tell us, patriarchy wins.
If that's the story we believe, patriarchy wins.
Yet, when we reclaim these Her Stories and delve deeper, we remember the parts that have been buried and they've tried to make us forget.
By doing that, we remember the power we have, perhaps not to turn anybody to stone, but certainly to reclaim agency over our bodies, lives, space and destiny.
We won’t be the heads on the front of anybody's shields.
That’s not what this new age of feminism and woman is about.
It's not what this new age of the world is about.
So, I invite you to learn more about Medusa, including why there are statues of her buried upside down in the Basilica Cistern underneath Istanbul.
And I invite you to learn how to dig up the full story of your own life.
By doing that, you come back to a place of reclaiming agency.
Book your spot here for my next Rekindling Her Stories session on Wednesday, July 19th – I’d love to see you there and share this one with you.
Flowing with the current energies
You’ll notice that this month’s post is a little different to usual. It’s been a busy few weeks (months in honesty!) with a lot of shifts both internally and in the world around me. And if truth be told I’m a little worn out so am going as gently as possible with myself until I take some time off in a few weeks from now… perhaps choosing to stop and rebel against the past structures I’ve created for myself is another part of that wild and feral feminine energy at play!
So instead of a host of links, allow me to share with you just two things - the movie trailers that have been bringing me joy and just a touch of magic over recent days and weeks:
This one for Barbie - am I the only one counting down the days until this movie is released?!
And this one for Wonka, which makes me smile if only for Hugh Grant dancing at the end!
Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I hope that your weekend is wonderful.
I hope that I get to see many of you for one last Re-Kindling Her Stories session on Wednesday - especially because I’m certain it’s going to be a good one - before I take a Summer break. But otherwised, I wish you all the very best for the coming week and beyond and, until we speak again, am sending lots of love your way xx