The Wise Woman Way: Listening to the Voice of Inner Wisdom

What is the voice of inner wisdom? Can you hear it? Does it speak to you? Does it come to you in your dreams? Does it manifest through coincidence and synchronicity?

I believe that there is are many voices of wisdom within us. Each of the voices inside our skulls has its own wisdom. Wisdom is not a self-driving car on a super highway with rest stops and lots of explanatory signs. Wisdom is an old stick-shift on a winding one-lane country road. It demands our full attention at all times: Is that a deer in the trees about to leap into the road? Is the bridge over the river washed out? There are signs, but they are subtle and sometimes difficult to read. And maps are of little help, for all ways lead to where you want to go. There are no wrong ways.

Over the next few days, see if you can identify some of the voices of wisdom that live within you. Listen for the voice of your mother (or childhood survival figure if she was absent), the voice of your mate/consort (real or imagined), the voice/s of your child/ren (real or imagined), the voice of anxiety, the voice of the victim, the voice of self-pity, the voice of abandon, the voice of your inner child, the voice of your wild woman, the voice of cooperation, the voice of forgiveness, the voice of revenge, the voice that sings, the voice that grieves, the voice of rage, the voice of ecstasy, the stubborn  voice, the quiet voice, and the raucous voice.

Intermingled with the voices, you may hear a drone, or a hum, the vibration of the All, the wisdom from “within the within the within.” This voice is often the only one that is deemed to be wise. But it has little information for us about how to manipulate the physical world, how to thrive in a world of conflicts.

We want to be able to hear from the full council of our wisdom. We wish to nourish all aspects of ourselves in the Wise Woman Tradition. But we do not have to pay equal attention to each. We can choose to be more or less attentive to any of the voices of wisdom. Which of these voices informs the way you perceive yourself as a woman? Which of them encourage you to reach for your full potential and which limit you?

Remember when you were young and had parties with your toys? You can do that with the voices in your head to a party; you can invite them to a party, a council meeting, pow-wow, a reunion, a gathering of some sort. Invite them over for dinner. Invite them for an intimate evening alone with you. Topic of discussion: The voices that tell me what it is to be a woman and how I am allowed to act as woman, and how I must be seen to be a woman.

Our mother is our first guide to being a woman. “We look at the world through our mother’s eyes,” a wise woman confided in me. Become aware of her voice in your mind. Become aware of her when she speaks in you and through you. Not her, herself, but the “her” you have created inside yourself. How do you allow her to inspire you? In what ways are you grateful for her support you as a woman? We want our mother’s voice at the banquet, but not always at the head of the table.

Mentors/Ancestors show us the way to be a woman and a human being. Do you hear the voices of your grandmothers, aunts, and teachers? Those special people who have influenced you deeply? Who are they? Mentors jostle us out of our normative ruts of thoughts and beliefs. Ancestors shake us up and demand that we challenge ourselves.  Invite these voices to your party by having a conversation with one or more of your mentors/Ancestors, by phone or in person. Put pictures of women important to you in various places around where you live. Leave plenty of room at the table for them.

People we don’t know, such as performers in the arts and sports, even everyday workers at stores, can become voices in our heads and be part of our inner wisdom council, too. By modeling and revealing what it is to be a woman, friends and acquaintances leave an impression on us. The more varied our experiences, the deeper our wisdom, and the freer our expression of ourself as a woman. To expand your wisdom, widen your circle of friends. Visit other cultures, in reality or virtually. Read about other women and their lives. Share time and food with women whose lives are different. Invite diversity to your dinner party and enjoy a fresh look at wisdom.

Our party is almost complete. Just one more guest: The Emotional Body. There is no stronger inner wisdom than the wisdom of the body. The Emotional Body creates and unleashes hormones and electrical discharges throughout the brain, heart and gut. The Emotional Body remembers the deep past as well as your personal past. The Emotional Body can imagine your probable future and move toward it. It takes some skill and some practice to make use of the wisdom of the Emotional Body, but it is worth the effort. Not only does the Emotional Body tell the truth, respecting it improves our health and longevity. The voice of the Emotional Body has a deep physical/psychic wisdom that helps us stay in synch with ourselves so we experience abundant health.

You are a woman of wisdom. You are a woman of many facets. Let yourself gleam; let yourself shine. Trust your inner wisdom, and its many voices.