The Wise Woman Tradition Empowers Women
The Wise Woman Tradition empowers women by:
* Focusing on simple remedies that are easily accessible * Sharing information freely * Offering compassionate listening * Renaming her weaknesses as strengths * Reminding her that her body is the body of the earth, is the body of the goddess, is the sacred ground of being.
The Wise Woman Tradition empowers women to:
* View themselves as healthy, even when they have problems * Create their own healthy norms * Honor their natural cycles and changes (puberty, menses, pregnancy, menopause) * Define themselves from a woman-centered viewpoint * Connect with other women for personal and planetary healing
Much of modern medicine seems complicated and difficult to understand. Many alternative remedies are also complicated, some are unduly expensive, others require special training and initiations. This disempowers women. The Wise Woman Tradition, by focusing on simple remedies that are easily accessible, and by sharing information freely, allows women to feel competent and powerful in taking care of their own health.
The Wise Woman Tradition heals by nourishing the wholeness of each unique individual. Nourishing has three primary aspects: simple ceremony, nourishing foods, and compassionate listening. When women are heard, when we listen to each other, then we feel validated and empowered. Harking back to the consciousness-raising sessions of the 1970's, and informed by Native American teachings of the talking stick, compassionate listening reshapes women's stories so they can reshape their lives.
One of the great gifts of the Wise Woman Tradition is the renaming of our weaknesses as strengths. When we allow ourselves to be depressed, outraged, yearning, grief-stricken, confused, fearful, bitchy, and more; when we allow all that we are to be part of us, then we can finally find and celebrate our wholeness/health/holiness.
The Wise Woman Tradition empowers women by reminding us that we are sacred, that our bodies are sacred. As women, we are the earth. Each one of us lives in the body of the earth. Each one of us comes from this sacred ground of being. And not only are we empowered to honor ourselves, we are empowered to demand that respect from all others.
When women accept orthodoxy's image of them as constantly in need of help, they accept a powerless position. When women accept the Wise Woman Tradition's assertion that they are already perfect, already vibrantly healthy, even when they have problems, they assume a position of power. When women create their own healthy norms, they create a place of power in which
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