Initiation in the Underground Forest of the Female Soul

Clarissa Pinkola Estes "is an American poet, psychoanalyst and post-trauma specialist who was raised in now nearly vanished oral and ethnic traditions." In her book, "Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype", using her tribal background she uses tales, mythologies, psychology and spirituality to weave the golden threat of a wholesome female being. In the fourteenth chapter named " La Selva Subterranea: Initiation in the Underground Forest", the writer illustrates the seven stages of transformation that encompass the the underground journey of the female psyche. She initiates the female reader into the magically wild feminine world that unfolds with the rite of endurance. As she claims, "In mythos, the teaching of endurance is one of the rites of the Great Wild Mother, the Wild Woman archetype. It is her timeless ritual to make her offspring strong. It is she who toughens us up, makes us potent and enduring." Following are the seven rounds of completion as described in the book.

The First Stage

The initiation in the underground happens when a woman gives up her intuition and surrenders her power in a state of limbo. She's made a poor bargain. Specifically, the naive and innocent feminine being is betrayed. Nonetheless, with this betrayal and loss there is a coming change of consciousness. And this change is good, for as Estes writes, "No sentient being in this world is allowed to remain innocent forever". Truly, the loss of innocence is a rite of passage. Though there's grief, there's also hope; for the woman has become conscious of her pain. Thus, she can reclaim her wildness back.

The Second Stage

In this stage the woman comes to acknowledge that she was the sacrifice for the initiation to begin. Hence, the woman is tear-stained and aware of the fact that her life will cease to be what it once was. Yet, she is given a mission now; to strengthen herself. To understand the patterns and the way out of the abyss. She has to be alone and regain herself. Ester writes,

"The only way we can stand the thought of this is by the promise that someone, somewhere in the underside of the psyche, waits for us, waits to help us, heal us. And this is so."

Henceforth, the woman must believe in the value of the fall; the transformative journey about to happen. She must believe that the Wild Mother is waiting to give her ancient, underworld teachings. At this point, the woman starts to weep for her lost self; the familiar. However, crying is vital for her awareness. Tears are her protection. For now, the ground is open and she descents. She continuous to weep for she is helpless yet, she follows the age- old path of initiation. She's in a new level of the underworld for she now knows the power of her tears. And thus, she is getting closer to to the wise, Wild Woman.

The Third Stage

This is the stage of wandering. The woman consciously decides to walk away from her old life. Now she is lost but goes on nonetheless to the deeper recesses of her soul. There's no going back. She must live fully awake, no matter what. She's in a desperate need to go in her inward journey. She has becomes the lone wolf; the outsider. What used to excite her, doesn't. The outside world seems meaningless. Yet now that she is helpless, she is helped by the Wild Spirit. The writer assures, "during the darkest times the feminine unconscious, the uterine unconscious, Nature, feeds a woman's soul. Women describe that in the mist of their descent they are in the darkest dark and are touched by the brush of a wing tip and feel lightened. They feel an inner nourishing taking place." During this dark time, a woman is fed by the fruit of the feminine unconscious. She is promised nourishment from the Wild Mother. In fact, she's given a taste of who she will become. Hence, the journey continuous.

The Fourth Stage

Here the woman encounters the intra-psychic forces of her soul await her in the underworld. Here happens the "transformative union of unlike substances". New energy is transmuted as these psychic elements blend together. Now, there's no turning back. The woman, like Persephone, can from now on live both in the underworld and the topside world. She embodies the Life/ Death/ Life cycle of life. The yin and the yang. The light and darkness. Hence, the woman is being "twice born"; she is baptized in the two realms of psychic existence. She's made queen of life and death. Yet, her transformation is not over yet. As the author notes, "she is the lunar woman who knows what passes in the night, even the sun itself must roll past her underground in order to renew itself for day". And with this understanding, the journey into the abyss unravels towards the light.

The Fifth Stage:

In this round the woman will have to prove her faith and dedication to her 'newly found psychic stance". This is because the Devil force of her psyche desires her destruction. He is appalled by her embryonic power. Yet, precisely because of her newfound sense of self she no longer tolerates the threats of this predator. Specifically, "She does not give in. She knows what is integral, knows what will help a woman thrive, knows a predator when she sees one, knows what to do about it." The key here, is awareness. Now the woman is aware of the dark, destructive aspects of her soul and thus, she is not undermined by their power. Instead, she lights them up, sees them and goes on anyways taking with her newborn"spirit baby". With faith and determination she wanders on her inner realms to reach her destination.

The Sixth Stage

At this point, the woman has taken back her power. She is infused with a destiny only she understands. She has found her voice. She is strong in herself; she has a firm grasp of herself. Now, she "is being a woman shining with La Destina, possessed of a deep sense of her own destiny." She's the master of herself.

The Seventh Stage

Finally, the journey is completed. The inner and outer forces of the woman's psyche are unified. She now acts the lessons she has learned in the underworld. She walks the talk. She is truly changed. She has crossed the vast, unconscious lake unto the new shore. A new life is about to happen. As noted by the author, "When we come up out of the underworld after one of our undertakings there, we may appear unchanged outwardly, but inwardly we have reclaimed a vast and womanly wildness. One the surface we are still friendly, but beneath the skin, we are most definitely no longer tame. " And thus the transformation is concluded with a new sense of being...

... Till next time.

* Illustration by Danielle Noel