This thesis is based on the stories of the lived experience of two groups of women, the first was a group of women healers, and the second, a group of academic women.Woven through the his-story of women in medicine are two myths-those of Inanna and Isis.The insights that have come from this study will give future women a path to travel to reclaim their past.Both science and scientific medicine are critiqued, and more holistic alternatives as part of this process are offered. The thesis has been constructed with a series of stories to acknowledge the uniqueness of each individual's experience.These stories provide the threads that weave the thesis together and are congruent with both the process of the making of meaning in our lives, and with our journeys toward healing.The study is embedded in both a social and feminist framework and that of depth psychology/mythology. It is based on feminist research methods and cooperative inquiry methodology and uses narrative for the recounting of the experience. It is also a heuristic inquiry that offers constructive critique using reflexive learning and explores the richness of difference in philosophies of healing and the experience of transformation. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)