Re-Visioning The Feminine Through Intentional Creative Process

Abstract

This research is about revisioning the Feminine; this is an exploration into the depth of image, alchemy, intentional creativity, and the catalytic role they play in psychic and somatic integration. Hekate was identified as an image of the dark Feminine that invoked fear in Western culture. For this reason Hekate was selected for interpretation for this alchemical hermeneutic study. An examination of the dark Feminine as Hekate was conducted using an intentional creative process. Also investigated in this study are the alchemical processes of nigredo and albedo and their correlation with transformation within an intentional creative process. Intentional creativity was identified as a viable method for encountering experiences of psychic and somatic integration. Further, through incorporating current research in trauma and neuroscience, this research examined responses to fear in connection to image and the involvement of image in mind-body-subtle body disconnection. This qualitative research was conducted using alchemical hermeneutic methodology to examine the lived experience of re-visioning the Feminine. The data examined in this study was collected by working with an intentional creativity method developed by artist Shiloh Sophia McCloud. McCloud’s intentional creativity model was applied to a dream image, and the researcher’s responses to the layers of the painting process then generated the data for the study. The findings of this study show that McCloud’s method produced lasting experiences of psychic and somatic integration, and that through re-visioning the Feminine the mind-body-subtle body experience of fear was transformed.