Practical Spirituality (incorporating the 'Wild Woman')

[Carmen]

I said I was going to post a thread on the 'wild woman', but I also wanted to post a thread on 'Practical Spirituality'. So I am including both. Be interesting to see where this goes!

I'm not a very good wordsmith and I do not write at great length as I am not intellectual. Anyway, I will give it a go.

I like, and I have always been interested in other peoples personal journeys. I find them inspirational. We get lots of info/advice from all manner of people on this forum, but it's the personal experiences that interest me. It's, 'how have you applied what you have learned'?' how has it changed you? What use have you made of it?

So much of what we learn is philosophy and it remains philosophy until and unless it is applied. Its the application to our immediate friends and family that counts. How we relate. Many people have one persona in public and a totally different one in relating to those closest to us.

To me the awakening to spirit has to be practical. It has to make a difference, otherwise it's just talk, philosophy.

I would love to hear from others of how they have changed by what they have learned here. How has it impacted their lives. Is there a practical application for spiritual matters?

[modwiz]

I have been on the outside of 'normal' my whole life. Being true to yourself almost always means being a little different in a world of followers. I actually try to be of some help here at the forum. It is what I do in life.

I have learned something here for sure though. It is how one cannot be as real as in face to face communication. There is no twinkle in the eye when it is necessary to convey a point that might have a rough edge for a receiving ego. The more 'plastic' give and take of a conversation is lost in a forum, for the most part.

Since I like learning new skills and using them, PA has been great for that. My re-entry after exile was another 'education' for me.
BTW. I was hoping to hear about some wild feminine tales, based on the thread title. Perhaps it is still early on in this thread, but the OP could have gotten the ball rolling here. :p

[Jenci]

What's the wild woman, Carmen? I would be interested to hear about it. :)

I agree with you about spirituality. Ultimately it is about direct experience - the words only help you to get to that experience.

Jeanette

[Carmen]

Well Jenci, I can relate the 'wild woman' concept as I experienced it. I possibly would be mundane for some members here but it is a freedom of expression, that is not contained by social norms, it is wild and free.

In my late 40s life seemed to be winding down somewhat, the fun, raucous parties of my twenties and thirties was replaced by quiet boring gatherings that finished early and were just that, boring!

Then, one day, I met a horse. Horse was tied up and kept getting one long leg hooked over the rope and I kept rescuing him from that. He was a beautiful, young, leggy horse and totally unsuitable to someone who hadn't ridden for twenty years. Well, anyway I fell in love with him and bought him. He was three and had just been broken in. We had some pretty hairy rides initially cos he was a hot horse.

So, this horse kinda changed what I did. I had to get fit and gather some guts and will to ride him. So I did.

Then, Sham, (short for Shamiradin) and I went on a horse trek, a week long one round mountains in Southland at the bottom of New Zealand. There was about eighty riders all together. What a blast of a week it was. That was fourteen years ago and I must say the riders who went on that trek are still talking about it. The weather was foul. We rode most days in rain, encountered many bogs. We partied most nights, late into the night, in woolsheds. We camped in the catching pens where the sheep pooped. It was totally mad but I had more fun on that trek than you could poke a stick at. Talk about out of my comfort zone. My hot horse proved to by very smart and careful when it came to difficult spots. One time the rain came in and we all took off to get to the next woodshed and I found myself alone in an area that had been burned. I decided to cut acrossa stretch of ground that had been burned and found my horse up to his shoulders in bog. Whoo! That was scary! We were committed and could not go back. I just kept myself over Sham's point of balance. He finally made it over the other side, shaken and exhausted. He is half Arab and half Irish Hunter so he has a big heart!

Well, getting to the point! Wild Woman! On this trek I met and connected with wild women, and I joined in with great relish. It's hard to describe but it's as if something was released that had been contained and suppressed by social norms for ever. The energy was incredible. We could dance and drink all night and get up early the next day to ride magnificent wild mountains. We seemed to be able to, as they say, drink the men under the table, and actually not get drunk ourselves. We were kinda high on life and freedom.

I also experienced something I call 'cowboy ethic'. The men looked after and appreciated the wild women. It allowed them to enjoy woman in a different way. They also loved the wildness of what we did. I felt young again in a totally different way. Some relationships were formed and unformed but that wasn't the point. It was like an initiation. At the end of the days we were happy we made it through the day without getting hurt or injured. That, 'on the edge ' feeling, when accomplishing something beyond your capacity, is very satisfying.

This whole experience allowed a part of me that had been suppressed to come out and express. It was a wild spiritual freedom. I express it in my singing, but this first trek allowed me to express it physically in dance, and humor and hard riding in mountains.

[Carmen]

I appreciate your words on this forum Modwiz. I too, attempt to write in a way that bypasses the altered ego of people. It is an art and skill that is difficult in mere words, but nevertheless something that can be achieved. I usually just write when I am prompted from within. Then the words just flow.

In our lives we can usually pinpoint moments of 'aha'. Moments that we finally got something. Something that moved us. Something that changed what we think or how we think. In my life these moments were life changing. I will attempt to chronicle those moments of my life when I 'understood' something. Often they would be something I had 'known about' for years but actually 'known about' does not make it experience. Until something is experienced it is just philosophy, someone elses first hand experience. Intellenct is all about this, recycled ignorance from outside of ourselves. Not saying that information, knowledge is negative. It is the first stage of experiential wisdom. We need knowlege/information as the platform for experience. Sometime people may experience something outside of their norm but have no basis of knowledge to understand what they just experienced. So gathering information from a wide source is important.

[RunningDeer]

"I am a Scaredy-Cat Wild Woman"

Wild woman’s spiritual journey is the courageous steps taken or what would appear to the outside world as absolutely crazy. Life experience is synonymous with spiritual path.

The day before my 18 birthday, I filled a brown paper bag with some things hitched a ride to the next state and began a new life. Which meant one more year of high school while I worked 3rd shift, and had an apartment of mine own. Fresh start.

Filled my 1963 VW with my 3 1/2 year old son’s things, pot and pans and some clothes and drove away from a marriage and brand new home that became just a house. Fresh start.

With one more semester of college, the TV switch began to smoke and flame. I was afraid it would explode. Grabbed my son, while he grabbed his teddy bear and watched as it went up in flames. The volunteer fire department wouldn’t come out because of 3 false alarms in the complex that day. Fresh start.

Biggest lost my son, Michael’s passing 1994, and then 6 months later sudden death of my partner, Wolfgang. Fresh starts... Grrrr.

In 2004, walked away from the security of a 27 year job, to live a life undefined by society or me for that matter. Fresh start.

And I am still saying that I would not change one second of my life. I know of great sorrow, great forgiveness, great compassion, and great love. And I am all of this because of the gift of real life experiences. Life experience is synonymous with spiritual path. Which is defined as a "Spiritual Walk on the Wild Side".

I’m still a scaredy-cat, but I continue to over ride it knowing that I always, always land on my feet. I can’t explain it. There’s a part of me that watches as this Paula steps out and moves forward. There’s an inner knowing that the feet know which direction to go. And I’ve noticed that as it’s happening, I’d swear that I’m in flight. My stomach is in joy mode. My mind, like a tethered balloon asking, "What's going on?" All while chuckling with glee. And the hardest thing is to know what and when, yet I trust that it’ll unfold as needed.. A journey ... I know not where next. Yet. Tank is all gases up though. Fresh start.

[Carmen]

Okay, see ya later folks. I'm off to boundary ride my property and find out where my stock water leak is. I know what will happen. I'll be riding and composing posts! Anyone else do that?

[Carmen]

Thank you Whitecrowblackdeer, a truly inspirational story of courage and spiritual will. The idea/experience of not knowing an outcome, but just going with an impulse of change is inspiring. It goes beyond control and broadens our experience. Often it takes something traumatic to make a change but to stay with the old way is just not an option. Sometimes we just have to jump off the cliff and not care where we land. It can't be worse than what we have left!

[RunningDeer]

Thank you Whitecrowblackdeer, a truly inspirational story of courage and spiritual will. The idea/experience of not knowing an outcome, but just going with an impulse of change is inspiring. It goes beyond control and broadens our experience. Often it takes something traumatic to make a change but to stay with the old way is just not an option. Sometimes we just have to jump off the cliff and not care where we land. It can't be worse than what we have left!

Thank you, Carmen. For me it always is better, though the steps in between are long at times. The distance helps with the larger perspective. I like your "...jump off the cliff and not care where we land." So true, and empowering!

Much appreciation for this thread. xo

[NeverMind]

BTW. I was hoping to hear about some wild feminine tales, based on the thread title

I have one, involving my best friend, hair rollers and an anthill.
I am pretty sure you don't want to hear it. :)


On topic, I love walking barefoot whenever I can, even in the city (just not on the streets), and regardless of the weather.
Where I live, wherever I live, apparently that's wild enough. :-)

[Carmen]

My friend, who is six ft and looks like Joanna Lumley (sweetie darling) used to carry whiskey in a large coke bottle in her saddle bag. Whiskey is wonderful to drink near the end of a long days riding when one is absolutely knackered. So we would often share gulps/sips with other riding mates at that time of day. Unfortunately my friends horse at the time, didn't like the sound of the plastic bottle cracking when squeezed and would bolt. I can still see my friend disappearing down the track at a rate of knots, long legs akimbo, blond hair flying, doing her best to stop the horse and save the !whiskey!Treasure those hilarious memories!

[mosquito]

The wildness has been tamed within us all, men as well as women, and it's wonderful to read these stories of wildness expressing itself, love it !!!

I'd love to be able to sit here and say how my physical life is a bed of roses thanks to all the spiritual work I've done, but alas .......

My journey, in a nutshell, is analogous to climbing a mountain, enjoying the view, thinking "ok, what next" and then being pushed off the top only to fall into a deep, seemingly endless ravine. I know the highs, I know the lows, and am attempting to bring everything together into a meaningful way of life. It seems the harder I try, the less success I have (how does one measure success ?). I've spent a long time looking at my own darkness, learning to love it and accept it, bring it into the fold and not have it sabotage me.

I'm incredibly hard on myself, I suppose if I were to have an objective look at my whole life, I would have to admit that actually I've done alright, I've done some amazing things, kept myself unorthodox at every step, stuck my fingers up at society and its' "values" while also trying to make my way in the world, not always easy.

A big step for me was in 2006 when I sold what I could and either gave away or threw away all the rest of my posessions, talk about liberating ! 4 years in China though has seen me accumulate a little more than I'd like, but I know I can get rid of it all should I so decide.

Right now trying to cope with mood swings and changes of mind whiuch are incresasing in frequency (not severity thankfully), I sense something is in the air, not just for me personally but for the world.

Thanks Carmen and everyone else.

Philip

[Jenci]

Thank you Carmen for sharing your wild woman experience. Something you embraced with a full heart.

This is what we are here for in this life: to experience.

When we realise this, we stop resisting the flow and go with it, allowing the flow to take us where it needs us to be. Sometimes the flow is wild and thrilling and the joy from the ride is unspeakable.

Other times the flow pulls you under and you feel like you are drowning....... but still you don't resist.

Practical spirituality is life in all of its glory and devastation.
Jeanette

[Carmen]

Sometimes it takes tragedy to cause us to pause, and take stock in our busy, full, human lives. This was the case with me. My daughters death in 83 was the catalyst for me to 'stop' my total focus on things materialistic and human. I often say, it's as if God picked me up by the stuff of the neck, shook the **** out of me, set me down and said, "Now, work it out again"!! A long time ago now, but that was the beginning of my search.

Life was never the same after that moment. I set out to find the mystery of life. It didn't make sense that the youngest, the brightest lights, should be suddenly snuffed out! It was also brought home to me very clearly that we are not our bodies! All that made my daughter, Charmaine, who she was, was gone! I had no affiliation or clingingness to her dead body. I recognized that who we are really is what animates our bodies and is completely unseen. Our beingness, our light, shines through our eyes, the light of the soul.

Shock, mercifully, causes us to transcend this plane of 3 d which enables us to cope with what has happened. I remember moving in slow motion through the events of that day, looking into the faces of all those involved in the drama. We are not emotional in this transcendent state, we just 'observe'.

So, that was my dramatic start on my journey out of 3d, out of 'normal' conventional life. I gradually left behind all I had been in every which way! the search for meaning sets one apart, out of the norm, but change cannot be denied, or ignored. To do so is to remain ignorant and a lost opportunity for another lifetime! I have come to see that Charmaines death was her gift to all of our family and maybe the reason that she incarnated.

.( My daughter turned her bike into an oncoming car passing her at speed. She died instantly. I could not see her but I was very aware of her standing, watching us looking at her dead body. )

With this thread I intend to show instances, catalysts of spiritual growth, as it happened to me. Most people don't need such drama to wake up but many do. Cracking the egg of the grid seems to be the most difficult part. It kinda gets easier after that.

[RunningDeer]

Thank you, Carmen.
Love,
Paula <3

[Beren]

Carmen,

I like this thread and posts in it. I have a good vibe reading it.
I especially liked your horse riding experience. :)
I am very fond of them.
Regarding experiences -as you know me from old Avalon and here all these years I speak from my heart and soul and experience.
Every word I ever wrote here came from my own life and threads in it.

My initial reason to join here is to broaden the spectrum of vista for others and myself.
Whole my life I feel in my veins,bones and whole being this connection in spirit with God(Creator or Source) and this deeply personal connection led me through various experiences all around the world.
I witnessed miracles in people`s lives and my own and I felt and feel how spirit works through me to aid others.
Even bigger revelation for me was and is that I am not alone in this and that anyone can do this , only if they chose so.

Kindred spirits are here in this forum and I feel us all like a family.

I have this gift of God to harmonize things. I`ve had it all my life . I see connections everywhere and I feel awesome when I am able to portrait this to others whom doesn`t connect the dots in their own life or for broad things around them.
I can see and feel unity in-at first sight- non connectable things and people. Give them space and love and miraculously they will find connecting points and will bond.

I see this as spirit of oneness or holy spirit. Why holy? Because life is holy.

Wild women are actually lively energies in women or men. Emotion set free. Free of negativeness and judgement.
It`s so fascinating when you see a woman whom connects with this energy and is free.
Most women aren`t.
Ones who are , well ,they lift the spirits or others and show God`s creative side or fire of life, for women nurture life.
They aren`t creating it but without their nurturing life could not happen as we know it.

Even if it`s not physical this nurturing component of wild woman AKA energy is ever present for all things -seen or unseen need nurturing to grow.

Blessed may be all here!

:)

[Carmen]

thank you Beren. I like the idea of 'harmonizing'. It fits with how I am much of the time. Every now and then though my personality has a quick, cutting, clever retort/reaction to a poster! I write it all out, press the reply button and it comes up

"sorry, your post has to be more than ten letters long!! (this when I've written out a whole page)!!!LOL Spirit says No!

[merkabagirll]

"WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES - Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype" is an amazingly spiritual book about the Wild Woman! Eloquently written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, herself a cantedora (storyteller), it it richly imaginative and draws on many traditions. Filled with humor, sadness, gladness, madness, bliss, terror and every thing in between! A truly masterful and wisdom-filled offering.

[sdv]

Women who run with wolves helped me to recover from an abusive relationship and reclaim myself as a woman. When I left the corporate world in 2008 I sent out this message to everyone via email:
GENERAL WOLF RULES FOR LIFE
1. Eat
2. Rest
3. Rove in between
4. Render loyalty
5. Love the children
6. Cavil in moonlight
7. Tune your ears
8. Attend to the bones
9. Make love
10. Howl often

[Carmen]

Me too sdv, it's a great book and calls to women to free themselves from polictically correct and totally controlled lives of quiet desperation. To just be free to express in any way one wishes, emotionally, soulfully and financially. To do and be what our mothers and grandmothers never could do, or be!

I need to read this book again. It was years ago that I first read it. Actually when I think back on what it meant to me, it reminds me somewhat of a spirited horses reaction to harsh, forceful treatment! They fall on their swords, so to speak, die, kill themselves somehow to escape. It's better than submitting. Hate to be dramatic, but I've seen this with horses. It's either that, or they completely lose their spirit and become automatons!