45 Master Characters (49 page)

Issues of Facing Grief, Giving and Receiving Love, Being in Relationships and Accepting Herself:
Does the hero feel like she doesn't fit in? Is she self-conscious in social situations? Does she need to have someone else tell her what the right thing to do is? How does she behave toward others? Can she have a lasting relationship without sabotaging it? Does she accept herself as she is? What is she grieving over?

Issues of Facing Lies and Communicating and Expressing Herself:
Can she speak her mind? Is she afraid to stand out? Is she rebellious and overactive? Has she bought into all the negative statements others make about her? What lies has she told herself? What lies has someone else told her? Is she confused? Does she suppress her creativity?

Issues of Facing Illusion, Honoring Intuition and Imagination:
Is the hero afraid to find out who she is and see things clearly? Is she in denial? Does she have a lack of imagination? Does she ignore her gut feelings and intuition? Does she feel worthy of the positive side of her archetype? What illusion does she buy into?

Issues of Facing Attachment and Finding Self-Awareness:
Is the hero open-minded? Or does she blindly obey others? Does her inner critic sabotage her ability to succeed and be responsible? Does she allow life to teach her? Does she learn from her mistakes? Is she able to understand what's happening to her and see the outcome of her actions? Is she aware of her own motives? Is she too attached to her family or job to be able to know herself?

Ultimately the hero must give up all control and completely surrender herself and all of her weapons on the descent. Stripped of all her coping mechanisms she must confront her demons. If shame is an issue for her she'll be shamed so she can face and later heal it. If survival is an issue for her she'll lose her means of support so she can support herself later on.

Think of Dorothy in
The Wizard of Oz
— home and family are the most important things to her; they mean survival. She finds herself all alone in the Land of Oz, her home and family gone. While the plot is about her finding her way home, the descent is about her facing her fears, facing the guilt of leaving her Aunt, facing illusions in the forest as well as in Oz and making new friends and forming relationships.

This hero must give up the path of resistance used by those on the masculine path, the path that fights against the flow of things, and instead move into the path of allowance, going with the flow of events and taking each one in stride. Brains and courage are what she needs to find now — like Dorothy who finds the Scarecrow “brains” and the Lion “courage.” Later when she ascends she will learn to have the “heart” of the Tin Man which will allow her to temper her courage and brains with compassion.

She must also learn to trust her instincts, which tell her not to trust a certain person or situation, or she'll be pulled down the wrong path, opening doors that lead nowhere.

For the first time she comes face-to-face with the villain or his goons and barely survives. She is cut down. She doesn't think she can last one more minute. This isn't what she bargained for.

She reminiscences even if just for a moment that things were much easier before. She may even want to go back to the old world, the safe world. That's why it must be shown to be a bad place for her. The betrayal (or realization) must be strong enough to carry her through this. She will long for the comfort of the familiar and to make the best of what she had. She'll be tempted to settle for something less than what she truly wants.

Examples:

If she quit her job, she may be unable to find another one, and the bills are piling up around her. She is evicted from her home. (Survival)

If her husband left her, she is feeling totally alone and depressed. He may try to come back into her life just as her date cancels. (Rejection and Loneliness)

She may be forced to confront the one who verbally or physically attacked her. (Power)

She may have to face being humiliated and vulnerable in order to save someone or something. (Shame)

She may have to give up everything she owns and everything she knows and flee. She may have to venture off into a new town or country to hide. (Attachment)

She may have an experience that makes her feel different from everyone else, possibly a mystical or psychic experience. (Illusion and Intuition)