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Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 1 (Part 1)
By KWiz | February 12, 2007
Running Toward The Wild Woman! - Part 1
We are continuing our study of Women Who Run with the Wolves
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!
Article Series - Women Who Run With The Wolves - Reflections
- Reclaiming Ourselves - Women Who Run With The Wolves
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - “Singing Over The Bones” (Introduction)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 1 (Part 1)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 1 (Part 2)
- That Wild Woman! Well…
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 2 (Part 1)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 2 (Part 2)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 2 (Part 3)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 3 (Part 1)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 3 (Part 2)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 3 (Part 3)
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Topics: "Women Who Run With The Wolves", Health and Wellness, Personal Development, Spiritual Growth |
Related Articles
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 1 (Part 2)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - “Singing Over The Bones” (Introduction)
- Reclaiming Ourselves - Women Who Run With The Wolves
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 2 (Part 3)
- Women Who Run With The Wolves - Chapter 3 (Part 1)
February 13th, 2007 at 11:28 am
hi! thanx for your kind comment - just to rectify things: my blog is a retrospective. It all went well - my son was born at 30 weeks by c-section in August, and we were released after 7 weeks in hospital.
What I’m trying to do is to write it out of my system, and perhaps help others who think all hope is gone.
Look forward to seeing you again!
February 13th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Such awesome news!!! Thank you for clarifying… I’ll be back!
February 16th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
AWESOME….thanks for sharing…beautiful.
April 9th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
the jungian things that got fuzzy for you: think about the things that resonate within us as humans so much they come up again and again and again in our stories - the apple, the snake, the wicked stepmother, the child saviour. those are just some of those archetypes. there are those that believe (myself included) that the alchemy of the spirit, the interal ressurection of the human soul is one of those things that shows up in so many stories that they all become an analogy for something happening deep in our own hearts.
as for myself, i write. i journal. i was a musician once upon a time, wrote and sang my own songs for people who sometimes appreciated them and sometimes didn’t. i paint and get into the play-doh with my daughter, i sing her lullabies and tell her stories at bedtime. sometimes she gets me to dance with her.
April 9th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Hi phaenix_ash, thanks for clarifying those Jungian aspects that were unclear for me. Your explanation makes great sense.
You say you were a musician at one time - what happened? I ask because I took piano lessons for 7 years from elementary school through the end of high school, then completely dropped it. I regret that decision greatly; every time I see someone play the piano I feel like I’ve made a mistake in letting my piano playing fall by the wayside. I can hardly read music anymore.
I’ll be getting in to the paint and play doh with my daughter this summer (she’ll be 3 in May). And I always read to her and she loves to dance. So I anticipate that these activities will allow her to develop her own inner life. I will not stifle her.
Thank you for your wonderful comment!
April 10th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Well, I had been a working singer/songwriter in the southwest for some years when I was blessed with a completely unexpected pregnancy. I kept up the gig until she was about 18 months old, even did some gigs while hugely pregnant, but after awhile I just needed a break. It’s not something I regret (much). I think my path lies elsewhere now and I’m quite glad to be on it with my daughter in tow.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi phaenix_ash!
Isn’t it interesting and wonderful how we can be so incredibly blessed by the unexpected gift of children when we’re not looking for it? My pregnancy was unexpected (but we weren’t NOT trying). But the birth of my daughter and her incredible self has been the joy of my life. I’m glad to see you don’t regret (much) your decision to (temporary?) break from the music scene.