And so the theme continues. Again. With the Wise Woman Archetype on my Priestess journey.
I thought I had the Goddess of Compassion understood and close. Clearly I did not and had much more to learn. I was afraid of the Creator, Destroyer, Preserver and had no good reason to be. I didn’t really ‘get’ or think I needed the Lady of Communion until she hit me with her sovereign grace. I now adore her. And once again I have found myself beautifully schooled by the Divine Feminine with the Wise Woman.
Not only did I not really feel a great connection or even interest in Her, I was in fact entirely resistant, telling myself things such as…
“I’m not old yet.” “The last thing I want to be seen and known as is an old crone.” “I’m sure She is lovely but that’s not me right now.” “There is time to come for this one. Not now.”
I genuinely could go on and on.
And so this is the first archetype in my Priestess journey that I did not in fact dive straight into. A combination of this resistance and also a lingering illness I’ve been releasing, has seen me dial down my own Spirit of late and I guess if you are graciously reading this right now you don’t need me to tell you that’s not really a great thing.
And so quite literally dragging my heels into temple, I had to summon up what felt like every part of me to be fully present, but within moments of deepening into her gentle presence I felt a calmness wash over me that I don’t think I knew I had been desperately needing. My resistance, (or let’s just call it what it is shall we – fear), floated away, as I leaned into her gentle and simplified heart that was even filled with a touch of mischief. Ok. This Wise Woman has something.
In Pagan tradition the Goddess is often seen as woman in three life stages: Maiden, Mother and Crone. The Crone is the wise older woman who is no longer of child bearing age. While she can be revered for her wise and gracious gentleness, unfortunately she can also conjure negative associations of being an old hag, ugly, witchy, bitter, blaming, isolated and alone. And while there are some cultures still amongst us who genuinely revere and appropriately care for the elderly, I believe few would argue with me when I say that in most Western cultures we virtually stop seeing women once they reach a certain age. No longer seen as desirable, sexy or fertile, women become hidden as they age or are stereotyped as ‘mutton trying to dress up as lamb’ or ‘past it’ with just exactly what ‘it’ is remaining somewhat of a mystery to me.
Sex? Humour? Love? Work? Passion? Life?
What the Wise Woman has taught me in her very simple frequency of black and white is that she is not ‘past it’ in this simplistic sense, but rather she is beyond it all. ALL of it.
She has many different faces. She can be wild, wacky and crazy. She can be soft, gentle and magnetic. She is also the Goddess of Wisdom and is limitless light. She has released the egos attachment to being anybody. (Let’s say that again for good measure.) She has released the egos attachment to being anybody. She does not strive, wish, long, covet, compare, doubt.
She just is. She just is who she is.
She simplifies and resonates and you better believe she is a ‘less is more’ being. She is the light at the end of the tunnel. The parting of the veils. A state of wholeness. And she is here to help us return to our wholeness as well. Her view of us is one of perfection and her way is to simply guide us to see that perfectness, wholeness and completeness. That we are all we need to be.
In truth I am finding it hard to put into further words what the Wise Woman has come to mean to me in such a short space of time. She humbles me and makes me drop into my heart with seemingly just a glance or feeling or notion – instantly. She has helped me realise how I overcomplicate things in my life and business far too much and still, after all these years of continual releasing, feel the need to hang tight and grip onto things that I should let go of with a smile or laugh.
Please never leave me wise, old, magnificent Goddess.
Please show me ever more ways I can simplify my life and thinking so that I can just be. Please forgive me for ever believing I did not need you or you had nothing for me to learn at my age. Please guide me to not be so afraid of starting to look like you and be recognised in the flesh as you. Please help me to let go of my ego at deeper and deeper and deeper levels.
And please – please – let me finally stop believing that there is any part of the Divine Feminine that is not within me or for me.
I know now.
I know.
