Wild woman
You are
Like a strong fire
That rushes
All over my
Entire body
Wild woman
I love the way
You kiss me tonight
And I can feel you holding
Me tight
Wild woman
Wild woman
Wild woman
See you next time
I am glad that you were
Mine tonight just for a
Little while
Aldo Kraas
====================================
The aspect of the "Wild Woman" brings up so many images and concepts to explore, and as this year's "Awaken the Wild Woman Within" Retreat approaches, I am feeling called to listen more deeply to my own callings and stirrings within that have been whispering, singing and at times screaming to me to get my attention. In modern culture, the wild part of all of us, man and woman alike, has been almost discouraged from having it's full or even fair expression. We are taught to be "good" children, obedient, and to do the "right" thing, even at the cost of our very souls sometimes. We are, in modern culture, taught that wildness is something to be tamed, subdued, quieted and kept contained very carefully in the dark places of our subconscious minds, dreamstates or fantasy realms. Wildness is looked at as "crazy" or "intense" and is so often, especially for women, given strong sexual connotations. "She's Wild," or "wild thing," etc.
In a lot of ways, being wild is looked down on, or thought of as immature or not being "responsible" in the world. And to me, that is a sad reality in the modern world. Wild things are kept in cages, they are unsafe, unpredictable by nature and as such aren't to be relied on. There are volumes to go into here on the reality of what "civilization" has done to wild women (who were, at one time, labled witches), wild cultures (African, Native American, etc), wild animals, and wild places. There is a deep seated fear of the whole concept of the wild, both within us and outside of us.
In January of 2010, I started to have some pretty interesting dreams while working in Costa Rica. In one dream, I gave birth to a litter of kittens, and when I went to pick one up, it turned into this crazy wild animal, biting me and almost alien like in it's intensity and I had to throw it down and lock the door lest it destroy me. In another dream, there was a big beautiful tiger that someone had killed for money in the jungle I was living in, and a huge panther that had been domesticated and was on a leash, miserable in it's domestication. For three months, I had dream after dream in this vein, many of them involving cats, and all of them having this theme of wildness domesticated, or a wild animal being domesticated... and from these dreams came the realization that there was/is a part of myself that is calling to be free, calling to be honored and expressed: the wild nature of the feminine was calling to me thru the dream worlds.
And, so when Sofiah and I started talking about doing a retreat for women this year, it was these dreams that were a part of my personal inspiration for bringing women together to work with the deeper, subconscious, primal aspects of ourselves that aren't "societally" (or even "spiritually" sometimes) accepted, acknowledged or even totally unveiled yet.
Being in touch with our "wild side" is really, in essence about being in touch with our authentic selves, our deeper selves, the part that plays out it's fantasies in dreams or in the dark mysterious places of our deep subconscious. What if, instead of being ashamed of our primal pulses (lust, jealousy, magic, shame, guilt, fear, etc) we could find ways to look deep into them and find jewels there? Therein lie the teachings of compassion and/or the voices of our untamable expressive spirits just waiting for us to give them a chance to move thru us. Movement, play, art, drumming, and reflective time in nature are some of the most powerful means known to the human being to access and channel the subconscious into the superconscious. This is what "Awaken the Wild Woman Within" is all about!
My hit is that by unveiling these pieces of ourselves, and integrating them with the same kind of respect we give to the beautiful, bright pieces of ourselves, we become more whole, more natural, more comfortable and more real in the world. And, by doing THAT, we become examples of authentic, expressed beings who can then inspire the same in others.
A wild woman is fearless in being totally herself, expressed fully in integrity with her passions and deeper truths, and unintimidated by those who find that expression threatening or too real.
A wild woman is in love with this life, and in love with all parts of herself... even the shadows for they give us our deepest teachings.
Posts
