In Maureen Murdock's book, The Heroine's Journey, she points out that the way of the feminine is often through depression. And whereas we have been living in a timeline in which the masculine (Will) was predominant, in the new century and millennium we are embarking upon a very different approach. We no longer are propelled by the need to develop and individuate ourselves…we have done that in the last century. Now we are asked to move into a new arena…not through sheer will, but through the lens of our emotions and feeling. "What?" we say! "I don't want to go there…it's oozy, dark, and strange. It's a place that I've been avoiding, because it is calling me inward rather than outward."

What could be more paradoxical in this time of gigantic forward movements along technological lines? Invention, instantaneous communications, the fast track, and fast company… the external road seemingly leading somewhere, but ultimately going nowhere. It's all air pudding - the dog chasing its tail. And in the end, exhausted…the dog is still the dog and the tail is still attached, wagging.

In the feminine descent into the underworld the function is to apprehend the deeper mysteries of life. In other words, we are reaching into the dark womb to find our essence. The more we resist this movement, the more depression we encounter because we are being invited to experience the dark night of the soul that leads to the light of day. This light of day is not the unconscious one in which most of us operate on a daily basis. It is the inner light that comes through understanding and permeates our being. It returns us to the world of appearances never to be constricted by the same issues. We have a newfound understanding of ourselves and our purpose, and we no longer fear living.

Imagine if you will the process of coming into physical birth. We have to go through the experience of the dark womb and the contractions that push us ever onward through the long tunnel into the light of physical reality. The journey of moving into soul purpose is no less daunting, and possibly more confounding, because we seemingly have a choice as to whether to experience the process or not. In the last century, we were able to avoid it. But in this new one, the more we sidestep our "selves" the more we experience emptiness and a void inside. Depression becomes the contraction that is pushing us to go into the cave.

My daughter lived in a monastery at one point on her journey and had an experience with a stove explosion that left her in excruciating pain. For anyone who has suffered burns, you know the feeling. She tried everything to avoid the pain, but was in an isolated monastery where the only pain killer they had was Tylenol. As she felt herself fighting the horror of the unrelenting effects of her burns, she was almost frenzied because there was no escape.

Finally after hours of anguish, she determined that she had to stop resisting and just give in to the pain and go into the center of it. She described a state of bliss and ecstasy when she went into the heart of the pain that totally amazed her. She was no longer resisting, no longer suffering, and gained insights that deepened her understanding of herself and the process of escape that we opt for at every opportunity when we are faced with something that does not fit our idea of comfort.

It is our need for comfort that becomes our imprisonment because we want to avoid suffering at all costs. As the body signals us through headaches, body aches, or any other painful expression that it is out of balance, we run to our medicine cabinet to alleviate the pain, and do little to question the real source behind it. Yet, depression is something that has made itself evident so that we stop and take stock. It isn't as easy to push away. And unless the cause is purely physical or environmental, depression becomes the labor pain of soul and the signal that it is time to move inward to the dark womb of Psyche for our spiritual birth into our full life purpose. We have to go out of our comfort zone to go in, and we have to journey within to go out.

Consider in your own life where you avoid the promptings to go deeper within yourself. Consider how much time you allow for stillness and quiet. How much time for reflection and spiritual attunement. If you suffer from depression, ask yourself when it came upon you. And ask yourself if you have been on a fast track…doing too much in the outer world at the expense of your inner life.

Depression can have many causes. This is one of them. It is up to you to determine if anything within this article resonates. And if it does, make time for stillness in your life…for moments in nature where you can be part of something greater than the rush to accumulate. Find your way in to the center of your being, and be prepared to find someone spectacular that you may only have dimly perceived…You.