Glossary

Abjection – First defined by feminist scholar and psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva, this part of the Queen’s Path comes at the end of The Hunt. A woman either dies metaphorically or literally. It is the place where all realities seem to converge, so our most base, horrific reality exists with our most rarefied, reality.

Archetype – An archetype is a collection of behaviors and qualities seen and experienced together across cultures.

Blind – The stage on the Queen’s Path right before the woman experiences The Divide. She is blind to what is coming, or blind to what is happening around her. 

Cursed and Marked - The curse and the mark go together. In stories, the mark is a sign of the curse. For example, in Frozen, Elsa is cursed by magic, her mark is the gloves she wears. Her sister is cursed by forgetting her sister has power, and she bears the white streak of hair as a mark of the curse from their childhood.

Embodied Transcendence – This is the critical step on the Queen’s Path. Achieving embodied transcendence is the key to sovereignty. Once a woman has become fully embodied, her sovereignty is assured. 

Hero’s Journey - Joseph Campbell described his discovery of the Hero’s Journey as a monomyth. To him this was the archetypal journey that everyone goes through in life. But in his model, there’s no clear path for women.

The Hunt – This part of the journey ends just as the woman is about to come to the most dangerous part of her experience. She is either pursued by someone or is pursuing some goal or achievement. This is a perilous experience on the Queen’s Path.

MIPE (pronounced MEE-pay) – Magical, Isolated, Powerful, and Endangered is the “other” woman. She’s the typical “bad girl” she’s the outsider, the one who doesn’t follow convention. Her magic isn’t always actual magic, it’s usually something that separates her from the social norms- she’s smart, beautiful, powerful, athletic, or yes… magical.

Mirroring – The part of the journey where the woman finds herself looking at or for a reflection, she is searching for the experience of seeing herself either in someone else’s experience, or as a comparison.

MISOR (pronounced MEE-sohr)- Maiden In Search of Relationship, she’s who we would normally associate with the Good Girl- but she’s not always a good girl. She’s the one who follows the social norms. She’s protected by culture, she adheres to the standards.

Once Upon a Time – Almost every fairy tale begins with these words. It signals that there is a change. Something has shifted in the world, a story begins in innocence and hope, and will follow a well-worn path from division through the Hunt, abjection, and possibly to sovereignty, though this last part is not guaranteed.

Rendered – In this part of the journey, the woman finds herself on either the MISOR or MIPE track of the Queen’s Path.

Sovereignty - The ability to advocate for, and ultimately direct one’s own life. The experience of owning ownself, body, mind, & soul.

Time Model - The story map is divided into two horizons and four quadrants. Above the horizon is the World of Visible Power and Form, while below it is the World of Invisible Forces and Mystery. The upper horizon can be likened to the conscious world, where the one below the horizon is akin to the unconscious, both individually and collectively.