What is Rewilding?
Rewilding is to return. To return to a state of being, before clock time and iPhones and Wi-Fi; before petrol cars and microwave meals and monthly salaries became our normal. “But what’s wrong with all of these wonderful modern inventions?” You may ask. And the answer is that nothing is “wrong” if they are used in support of our essential, instinctual, authentic, purposeful and embodied human nature. What’s “wrong” is when they overtake this natural, human state and become life itself. Which if you take a look around on any normal day, it’s easy to see that they have.
So rewilding is not just a return, but a reclaiming of who you really are.
Rewilding is a process of un-taming.
What does Rewilding have to do with the Feminine?
For women on a personal level, rewilding is SO incredibly powerful. It’s not simply about connecting with nature (though that is a big part of rewilding). It’s more about tapping into the full spectrum of your own human nature and accessing the deep, sacred power that you hold within. Unlocking this door can set off a whole chain of incredible gifts, benefits and upgrades to your life, here are just a few:
- Ability to express authentically
- Increased confidence
- Discovering purpose and meaning in life
- Discovering inner passion
- Unlocking hidden gifts
- Healing trauma
- Full embodiment, feeling comfortable in your own body.
- A more sensual experience of the world
- More intimate and connected relationships
Of course, as with all of life, what happens within reflects outward into the world. Your inner world becomes your outer world. So rewilding the feminine personally will affect the wider world and the way in which the overarching Sacred Feminine principles are able to anchor into the Earth. You can read more about the suppression of the Divine Feminine (and why She is returning) HERE.
The key here, is that your personal story is a part of the greater female story, so embarking on a journey of healing and discovery through rewilding is a vital part of healing the rest of womankind and Mother Earth herself.
*This isn’t to say that rewilding the masculine isn’t also vital. But for women, reclaiming this part of their sacred selves is a potent way to reconnect with the Goddess within. And this is something the Earth is crying out for.
How to Begin Rewilding…
There are many advocates, leaders and guides, even rewilding schools that offer to walk you through the experience of stripping back the heaviest and most numbing parts of this modern life.
For some, this involves connecting with ancestral practices, with the land, ritual and sacred symbols. For some, it could involve art and creative expression. Some methods for rewilding the feminine can be extreme. In fact, talk of rewilding may be conjuring up images of off-grid camping, being unwashed for a week, foraging for wild berries and communing with trees…. Which is could be! These kinds of outback, sacred vision quests are becoming more popular as a way to dive into your soul and face your demons. OR, rewilding could look decidedly more gentle, more everyday and a whole lot more doable. Because however much we’d all love to abandon our responsibilities and run naked in the woods, goddess braids blowing in the wind (wouldn’t we!?) it’s just not on the radar for most modern women or men.
The good news is, there are far less radical ways to rewild.
One of the most powerful ways we have discovered here at Numerologist.com is to look to the archetype of the number 5. This is SO similar to different archetypes of the wild woman, the nomad, the gypsy, the storyteller. (The book Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, is a long and valuable exploration of these wild woman archetypes through many myths and stories).
Archetypally, using the blueprint of the 5, the information contained in this numerical frequency is ancient, and already rests in the Earth herself, so what better place to look?
Here are 5 simple and sacred practices to rewild the feminine, using lessons from the freedom-seeking number 5:
1. Lead from a place of desire, impulse and intuition
In her 2014 book “My Year without Matches” Claire Dunn describes her experiences after quitting her job and leaving a comfortable life to spend a year in the Australian wilderness. And whilst her story IS extreme, some of the wisdom she shares is simple and could quite easily take root in the lives of the most cautious urban-dwelling rewilders. In an interview with Living In the Future (after her return from the wilds) Dunn describes a deep shift which occurred as a result of her experience in the wild, around her understanding of how to show up in the world:
“…It’s almost like that year in the bush gave me that first insight, and those first new, very powerful experiences of this new way of being, which at the time I referred to as the feminine way. I was discovering this much more feminine way of showing up in the world, which was much more motivated and moved by desire, impulse, intuition and feeling, than by thought, and rationality and logic…”
Moving through life motivated by these primal senses: desire, impulse and intuition, is one of the most powerful ways we can each rewild our own lives, wherever we currently are, without actually having to change very much in our external environments.
2. Connect to Place
Connecting to where you are at any given moment, is a powerful, effective and simple way to rewild. Before screens took over and there was so much in the way of entertainment and constant cerebral stimulation to keep us occupied, people used to inhabit their surroundings. Notice where you are.
- Notice how the air feels, notice how it tastes.
- Seek out the breadth of different tones you can hear.
- Look at the way light bounces around or is absorbed at different times of the day.
- Buy local food.
- Cook the traditional recipes from the place where you now live. (If you live in the city and are surrounded by its diversity, experience this. If your local take-out is Somali or Nepalese or Greek, this IS your local food!)
- Speak to the people who live close by about their experiences and perspectives of the area.
- Notice the seasonal shifts.
- Which flowers are in bloom, which are turning?
The nomadic nature of the Number 5 archetype lives and breathes for these experiences of place. So whether you are constantly on the move or have always lived in the same town, rooting into the place where you are in any given moment, using these sensory tools is a prime way to rewild.
3. Be a storyteller
Rewilding is about freedom: Freedom from the past and freedom from the future. So to be wild and untamed is to create your own story. What this means is to give yourself permission to imagine, to dream, to find a new perspective; to see the world in a way which is different from the way you’ve been taught, to believe in a history which is different from the one written in books.
The number 5 is one of the great storytellers. This is because this archetype understands that using words and images in such a way to enlighten, subvert and change the perspectives of the people around you, is one of the most potent ways to create the world anew.
So rewild yourself by rewilding your perspectives, through the stories you tell.
4. Connect to the Rhythms of Nature
Wherever you are, at whatever time or season, one of the best ways to rewild the feminine is to connect to the cycles of nature. Doing this – becoming conscious of the turning of the great wheel and where we stand upon it – reminds you of your primal, earthly self. It reinforces the fact that despite all of the modern entrapments and accessories you’re surrounded by, you are intrinsically part of the natural world. And what’s more, if you listen closely to the gentle, unending rhythms, you will hear them as an invitation to come back to where you belong…
5. Embody Sensuality
Probably the core component to any rewilding practice is the embodiment of sensuality.
Many in the conscious community are eager to experienced ever enhanced levels of spiritual awakening but the truth is, we are human beings having an embodied human experience. So to deny this is to deny a huge part of life and risks rejecting so much learning, healing and pleasure that comes through the body.
As one of the forerunners for embodied experience, the archetype of the 5 is a lifelong seeker of sensual pleasure. Become one too! Rewilding can only be truly effective is ALL facets of the human experience are unlocked. The easiest way to begin to do this is to consciously connect to your life through the senses – to see, touch, taste, smell and listen to life.
Perhaps you already do this?
Turn up the dials.
Deepen into each experience.
Search for more.
You will find it.
If you want to learn more about how the numerological archetypes can help you on your journey to re-awaken the Sacred Feminine in all her guises, take a look at this article HERE.
Have you been drawn to the notion of rewilding?
Do you have a practice, an intent or a collection of tools that you already use in your life, to rewild your own feminine within? Please DO share below! We would love to connect with you!
