by Dr. Susan Corso, seedsforsanctuary.com

Oh, just everything. The name of something is its nature. Think of nearly every fairy tale ever written. Being a namer of anything gives one power.

The first time I saw the title of the book I am about to recommend, I froze. No, I shivered. Shivered deep into my menopausal layers of clothing. You know how it sometimes happens that you recognize something and you don’t know why? Try this.

“The Queen of My Self—Stepping into Sovereignty in Midlife”

I had to have the book. Had to. Amazon.com was made for the likes of me. Donna Henes, internationally recognized urban shaman, writer, and artist, is the author. I waited two days. When it arrived, despite the fact that I was working to a strict timeline for a corporate client, I put everything down and sat with the book in my lap on the porch—and shivered.

Opening the cover, I began to read it and weep. Quite literally. I had a name for myself. True confessions: I’d known I was a princess from the time I was born, but the thing about being a princess is that, over time, we grow up. We can’t help it. What do we grow into? The Queen.

Donna Henes was approaching 50 (as am I) and the traditional mythological model for female experience didn’t work for her. The female trinity of myth is Maiden, Mother, Crone. She wasn’t a crone at 49! Not old enough, experienced enough, wise enough, wrinkled enough. Neither am I.

Donna is an iconoclast. Is an archetype not right? No problem. We’ll find a new one. Because she’s the real thing, Donna dug deep into herself and discovered the Queen. In her book, she tells you how she found her own inner Queen, and how we can find our own—if we choose.

The first half of her book tells us the herstory of the Queen and Donna’s own story. In the second half, there are Queenly how-to’s under the rubric The Queen Suggests…. Let me just say this about her suggestions… it’s no mistake that the piece on a chess board which has the greatest freedom of movement is the Queen.

Fifteen days after I turned 40, my mother died, and all hell broke loose. I will not be sorry to see the end of this decade in my life. What I can tell you unequivocally though is that now that I have a name for myself for the next decade, I can’t wait.

Donna Henes lives in, and I quote, “Exotic Brooklyn.” Her book can be purchased from www.thequeenofmyself.com

Many, many thanks, Donna! Long live the Queen!