When we follow the tracks of the Wild Woman Archetype, who is viscerally connected to the cycles of the Sun and Moon and intrinsically connected to the living world, we are over and over again faced with the presence of darkness. Eventually the Full Moon fades to Dark, just as the day fades into night.
To the modern woman, born with access to electricity, living in a culture whose relationship with darkness is avoidant at best and intolerant at worst, both the reality of physical darkness and the very human experience of darker emotions can spark a lot of fear.
We may think, “It’s night, turn on a light” or “I feel a wave of sadness coming on, make it stop.”
Just as we all have our favorite lights for night time, we also have our favorite ways to make our darker emotions stop – even if it’s just for a little while.
We expend a great deal of energy & resources attempting to outrun our darker emotions, just as we spend copious amounts of energy and physical resources to make and power the tools that light up our nights.
When we brush up against the presence of the Wild Woman Archetype, one of the first qualities that stands out is her courage. She walks skillfully in the midnight forest. She does not let the darker caverns of her inner life deter from sitting still and listening in. Just as she has acquired knowledge and tools to navigate the night & the Winter, so has she gathered the tools and knowledge to give her rage, her grief, and her fear space to be heard, seen & felt.
Instead of spending her finite amount of time on Earth trying to outrun her rage, her grief, her fear – for she knows it is futile and they will catch her eventually – she plants her feet, and breathes her way into full presence, as she allows the swell emotion to take its course. She has learned that every feeling, when fully experienced and carefully witnessed, will change and transform. She has seen again and again that when her stormier emotions are given some space to be, they can be great catalysts for learning & change.
She allows the darkness to embrace and nourish her like the soil does the seed.
Life on Earth is a strange and wondrous experience – full of opposites: Winter & Summer, night & day, cold & hot, joy & sorrow. We need not be surprised or afraid when a dark night falls upon us or within us. It’s one of the most natural things in the world. (One that, incidentally, proceeds the return of light every single time.)
We can call upon the Wild Woman Archetype to help us learn to navigate all manner of darkness which is as full of nourishment, mystery, growth, life & magic as the womb which was our first home here on Earth.
She will ask us to gather our tools and knowledge.
She will ask us to truly learn from our experiences.
And she will remind us again and again: there is no singular superior way to walk in the dark, but rather a set of tools gathered & perspective honed that is right for each of us.
Deepest Solstice blessings from the caverns of my heart to yours.
♥️ & Howls,
Chris
On the Horizon
Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on December 2nd!
Online, from anywhere.
Using a dynamic meditation journey, we will tune into the New Moon, to your own Inner Guidance, synced up with wild-hearted women from around the world. This offering will include music, storytelling, meditation, journaling prompts & intention-setting.
Can’t make it live? No worries. All participants will receive a copy of the recording with 24 hours of the session.
Join the WILD WOMAN UNDERGROUND.
"The Circle Leader Training Program at The Wild Woman Project was one of the most transformative and healing experiences of my life. I have received many tools, resources, support, and connections that I will carry on with me forever." ~ Hannah Devin, Graduate
We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 26 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.
Chris Maddox is the founder of The Wild Woman Project where she teaches women how to utilize the gifts of the Wild Woman Archetype in their everyday lives & how to lead women’s circles in their local communities. She is the organizer & facilitator of the beloved annual WILD WOMAN FEST, a women’s retreat-festival hybrid which fosters a deep connection to nature, a direct experience of the divine feminine & profound spiritual sisterhood among the women in attendance.
An ever student of the great mysteries of existence and nature itself, Chris believes women are holding innate gifts & tools that society at large needs – now more than ever. She is committed to helping women remember their special magic and to bring it forward into every corner of their lives, for the greater good of the planet.
Breathes her way into full presence…
Thank you for this…
You’re so welcome, Eileen ♥️