posted by KWiz on "Women Who Run With The Wolves", Health and Wellness, Personal Development, Spiritual Growth

Running Toward The Wild Woman! – Part 1

We are continuing our study of Women Who Run with the Wolves. Last week’s discussion centered around the importance of using stories to begin the work of reclamation of our souls. We continue, then, with a story Dr. Estes entitles “La Loba.”

La Loba

“There is an old woman who lives in a hidden place that everyone knows in their souls but few have ever seen…She calls herself…La Loba, Wolf Woman.

“She creeps and crawls and sifts through the…mountains…and…dry riverbeds, looking for wolf bones, and when she has assembled an entire skeleton, when the last bone is in place and the beautiful white sculpture of the creature is laid out before her, she sits by the fire and thinks about what song she will sing…

“…she stands over the criatura, raises her arms over it, and sings out…sings some more…sings more and the wolf creature begins to breathe…and as she sings, the wolf opens its eyes, leaps up, and runs away…suddenly transformed into a laughing woman who runs free toward the horizon…

“So remember, if you wander the desert, and it is near sundown, and you are perhaps a little bit lost, and certainly tired…La Loba may take a liking to you and show you…something of the soul.”

This story is a great one, because in it, a miracle occurs. It is a resurrection of that which was once buried inside, that which represents the real woman, the real you, the real me. That woman who is passionate, devoted, relateable, loyal, loving, strong — all those things we, as women, were meant to be. We are speaking of a resurrection of the soul.

It is, according to Dr. Estes, La Loba, that resides within each woman. But how, with La Loba, do we experience that miracle of resurrection that allows us to reclaim who we are?

Dr. Estes refers to Carl Jung’s work with “the collective unconscious” and “the objective psyche” to explain how to access this reclamation, to begin to experience the miracle of resurrection. It is at this point where things get a little fuzzy to me, but according to Wikipedia, the collective unconscious/objective psyche is “that part of a person’s unconscious (such as memories of mental patterns) which is common to all human beings.” “It contains archetypes, which are forms or symbols that are manifested by all people in all cultures. They are said to exist prior to experience, and are in this sense instinctual.”

What I gather here is that instinctual work plays a crucial role in reclaiming who we are. Nevertheless, it is a work that goes much deeper than just reading a book for guidance, for example. It requires a sort of “religious experience” in which one perceives God in one’s soul and through that, undergoes some sort of life change (my language and interpretation). We begin that life change through, as Dr. Estes states, “deep meditation, dance, writing, painting, prayermaking, singing, drumming, active imagination, or any activity which requires an intense altered consciousness.” (I must qualify myself here; I don’t believe in attempting to have altered consciousness experiences – but I do not want to exclude it because of my own personal beliefs centering around Christianity. I offer it here because Dr. Estes presents it this way, and I want to honor that.) Dr. Estes continues with, “She arrives there by deeply creative acts, through intentional solitude, and by practice of any of the arts.”

Wow! That’s a lot for me to try to digest and communicate to you. What I would ask of you, before we can go any further, is determine for yourself what creative acts do you think would allow you to move forward to experience, for yourself, the miracle of resurrection in your own life? Do you dance? Do you play an instrument? Are you a painter, photographer, or sketch artist? Do you journal (online or on paper)? All of these activities, and many which are not listed, can help you reach that place that will allow you to begin to regain what was lost. It is necessarily an intentional work, one that cannot be approached lightly. Make a determination that you will use whatever creative act you need (this is a personal decision) to begin to experience this miracle.

(Personally, when I am consistent, I enjoy prayer and journaling as that which allows me to gain access to the Source of my inner contentment. I tend to lose myself and become detached from my soul when I don’t engage in these “creative” acts.)

I think a great example of this type of work can be illustrated by the Peanuts’ Schroeder playing the piano. If ever you watch any Charles Schultz cartoons during the holidays, Schroeder is in his own world, allowing no one, including Lucy, to disturb him. It seems there is nothing that can break into his world while he is “at work.” It is what he seems to do when he needs to contemplate, to meditate, to get within. Now, granted, I’ve gone a little overboard here, but it does show the type of intensity that might be required to enter in this inner work:

It also gives me an excuse to place an image in one of my posts!

Next week, we’ll take a look at the next story, “The Four Rabbinim” in the same chapter, “The Howl: Resurrection of the Wild Woman.” In this story is a lesson on the attitude with which we approach this inner work.

I look forward to your comments!