Enola Holmes: The Alone Girl
Sherlock Homes’ little sister.
Just as smart. Just as courageous. Just as curious. (but not as valued)
She’s a new type of girl, having to deal with an old-fashioned male mindset and a sexist society. (Sound familiar?)
She’s a girl, raised by the wild and free feminine. (I know some of these wild maidens being raised by wild and free moms. They rock.)
And they’ll never get her to fit into their tidy little boxes. (Although capitalism has us buying things in boxes, which keeps us boxed in.)
I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed Enola Holmes. I hadn’t heard anything about this movie and just chose it out of curiosity. I always liked Sherlock’s stories. And the blurb said she solved mysteries.
I was pleasantly surprised because it was so much more than a mystery. This is a great story about the rise of Feminine Spirit and how it supports this young woman’s innate sense of freedom. (There are some early feminist story threads throughout it.)
The Goddess really made a comeback in the 1970’s but we lost sight of her a few decades later. Back then, the major thrust of the feminist movement was into the outer world, demanding gender equality.
In the past 10 years, though, more women are finding their way to the Goddess and to a reconnection to the Divine Feminine. They are taking the inner, heroine’s journey to reconnect to our lost gifts and wisdom. And now we are turning back out into the world with a new vision and a new wisdom.
A truly feminine wisdom. A triple Goddess type of wisdom.
Enola Holmes is the young Maiden, trained in feminine consciousness along with masculine intellect, and then left to face her initiation into womanhood.
Enola was raised by a single mom who taught Enola how to activate and integrate her body, mind and spirit. Her mom allowed Enola to explore how to find her way naturally, awakening her native intelligence. She let Enola’s curiosity and sense of fun steer her studies, whether in learning tennis or reading the house’s entire library. Science, learned in nature and in a lab, sparked her curiosity further.
Demeter & Persephone
Mother and daughter were as close as close can be. Very much like Demeter and Kore in ancient Greece. Bonded in love and mutual respect. But like that ancient myth, this idyllic life had to be broken.
On her 16th birthday, Enola wakes to find her mother gone from the house. Disappeared, leaving all her belongings behind, along with her daughter.
Enola, so much younger than her two older brothers, hasn’t seen them in years, but with her mother’s disappearance, they arrive to take care of the house as well as Enola’s life.
Sherlock, Mycroft and Enola
Sherlock is the brother Enola respects and emulates, collecting and studying any news story about the crimes he’s solved. Sherlock is amused and bemused, and intrigued by her wit. Watching to see who she is. Often sympathizing with her.
Mycroft is another matter. He’s a stereotype of patriarchy – fussy, dominating and sort of stupid. He becomes her guardian and is appalled by her apparent lack of civilized manners. He’s the one who plans to put her in a box, a girls’ finishing school, so she can be married off.
So here is patriarchy thrown in Enola’s face. What will she do? How will her upbringing help her?
One part of Elona’s initiation story is to find her lost mother. Through many adventures and narrow escapes, Enola travels to London seeking her.
The other part of her initiation story is to help a young man develop a spine and face his power. In following the clues and trusting her intuition and her logic, she proves herself the equal of Sherlock and the ban of Mycroft!
I’m sure there are lots of women and their daughters who will love this movie.
So many women today are teaching their daughters the magic of feminine nature and power – to let instinct guide, to learn through connection, to let curiosity lead the way – as well as the mastery of masculine logic and will.
At some point, these young women will be thrust into the world and have to face patriarchal rules and opinions. If they use their feminine wits, charm, grace and intelligence, as Enola did, they will maneuver quite well in the world.
They need to be fearless yet cautious. Smart yet willing to learn. Secretive yet open to help. They need a vision to follow into the world. And they have to deal with whatever adventures come their way as they follow their path. These are the fairy tale tests the hero or heroine must deal with on her way to her goal.
And of course, all women need training in martial arts – each of us needs to know how to defend ourselves if we get in scary situations.
Let’s recognize what feminine consciousness achieves. By Enola, the feminine, holding true to herself, she frees the young masculine lord and sets him on his course to do the right thing. Because he listens to her. Because he respects her.
She is the new feminine spirit at work in the world.
As Enola and her mom state, “Our future is up to us!”
Enola Holmes, based on a YA series by Nancy Springer, is on Netflix. I highly recommend it to women and girls. And the men who love them.
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