Inspiration no3: Wild is God

The one of the most important books that I've read in my life is Clarissa Pinkolas Estés's Women who run with the wolves. Myths and stories of the wild woman archetype. 

I must admit, you have to get use to rather uncouth, harsh, and overly loaded language of the book. One sentence can evoke millions of meanings, one page can be read within one day, one week, or... This book makes readers aware of a priceless historical heritage that was deprived of contemporary, unspiritual life. The concept of archetype is taken from the works of Carl Jung. 

The book is organized into chapters. Each contains an archetypical story which is later analysed by the writer. Some time ago, when those stories were passed down from generation to generation, their role was to teach and pass on the most valuable experiences and thoughts, developed by our ancestors. Nowadays, the tradition of story-telling is constantly diminishing, and is practically uncultivated. This is a great loss. 

For me one of the most interesting fragments, included the history of a girl who took an metaphorical journey to find her inner self. Estes outlines here a stages of woman’s' life development, which change every 7 years:

0-7 the age of body and dreams; socialization without the loss of imagination

7-14 the age of separation and plait of reason and imagination

14-21 the age of a new body; girly age; budding, yet concealed sensuality

21-28 the age of a new world; new life; getting to know different worlds

28-35 the age of motherhood; learning how to mother to yourself and to others

35-42 the age of search; mothering to your own personality; search for personality

….

Here’s also a quotation from the book:

“Sometimes the one who is running from the Life/Death/Life nature insists on thinking of love as a boon only. Yet love in its fullest form is a series of deaths and rebirths. We let go of one phase, one aspect of love, and enter another. Passion dies and is brought back. Pain is chased away and surfaces another time. To love means to embrace and at the same time to withstand many endings, and many many beginnings- all in the same relationship.”