Embracing a once-valued archetype

Wise Woman: one who sees beyond the illusion. One who has embraced her gifts and suffered for the sake of her Soul’s calling.  One who has been tried and tested and who has conquered her demons and embraces her shadow. 

In the Wild: One who trusts her own inner authority and supports others in doing the same.  One who lives her own sovereignty and therefore cannot be contained by the status-quo. One who has broken free from the fear, power, oppression, and control of the prevailing system.  One who is authentically free.

Before patriarchy wrested power from the masses, wise women were held in high esteem.  These were the women of the community/tribe/clan who were healers and midwives.  They comforted the dying and journeyed with the grieving.  These were the women who were the seers, oracles, prophets, counselors, and guides.  They were the secret-keepers, knowledge holders and record-keepers, protectors of the clan’s history and their stories. Finally, they were the “pray-ers”- engaging with the powers of Great Spirit to ensure the clan was in harmony with the Wisdom of the Universe and Her cycles.

These were the women whose services were so critical to the survival of the community that their needs were provided for by the clan so that the women might focus solely on their good work.  My Irish ancestors gave these women the names of:

Seabhean – the woman who walks between the worlds

or

Bean Feasa – the woman who sees

We live in a world where the Wise Woman are no longer honored.  Instead, for centuries we have been ridiculed, condemned, even murdered because of the gifts we display, and more specifically, because we have risen above the fear that keeps the patriarchy in its power. Women who have claimed their own inner authority and who use it freely are a threat to the patriarchal system. It is for this reason that for centuries, our ancestors have hidden or denied their gifts and suffered – not only the imprisonment of patriarchy, but also the emotional/physical/mental/psychological/spiritual consequences of putting a lid on the Spirit of Love that seeks to be known in the world through us.

Isn’t it time we set that Spirit free?

How are you called to embrace the archetype of the Wise Woman in the Wild?  What steps are you currently taking to live your truth?  What are the systems of control that you have escaped?  What is still holding you back from living your sovereignty?