The “medicine woman” is one of the most forgotten and suppressed female archetypes in human history. She is the wise woman, the visionary, the seer, the intuitive, the healer, the deep artist, guide and leader. She holds the gifts of energy healing and expanded consciousness. She sees the past and future and sees deep into the hearts of others. Her passion is to serve and restore harmony, balance and healing to humanity and the Earth.
She is the aspect of us that is ready to return as part of a greater human awakening.
In our pre-patriarchal past, the Medicine Woman occupied a celebrated position in her society. She served her community in all parts of the globe in myriad ways as shaman, wise woman, midwife, herbalist, oracle, priestess, sacred dancer, seer, and queen.
Her gifts of vision and healing were honoured and integrated into the every lives of those she served. She brought wisdom and humility to powerful rulers through her oracle gifts that brought guidance from spirit. She tended the worship of the Goddess through honouring the cycles and fertility of the Earth. Her far-seeing shamanic vision was ancient medicine for the soul. Her myths and stories restored the meaning to even the deepest suffering.
For a while, across many cultures, her archetype was suppressed, condemned, punished, distorted and eventually forgotten as patriarchal systems of rule through domination denied the value of the feminine and denigrated women and Earth as evil and inferior. The heart of feminine power was forgotten and even women forgot to see themselves as powerful.
Yet the medicine woman is now returning. Millions of women on this planet hold this archetype deep within their hearts and wombs. Many carry the memories of their former powers and the many lives they lived to express those powers in service. They also carry the wound of being denied, punished and suppressed for who they rightfully were.
Now they are ready to emerge again into the complexity of the modern world. A world where some women enjoy unparalleled freedoms and others still live in medieval style suppression of their rights. Yet what all these women have in common is that in their world, the medicine woman is yet to be embraced as an authentic and joyful expression of feminine power.
We live in a world that is dominated on one hand by religion and the other by rationality and science. Neither of these mainstream paradigms acknowledge the magic, mystery, intuitive nature, healing power and veneration for the Earth and humanity that is innate to the medicine woman.
We cannot wait to be told that we exist or given permission to express our power anew. We know that we hold power and that we are needed. And if our souls have chosen to return now, it is for a high purpose, one that only we can discover. It is down to us to examine our true motivations and passions, to recognize ourselves as medicine women, to heal ourselves and to figure out just how our passion for life becomes our sacred purpose.
We are teachers, healers, counselors, guides, coaches, ceremony holders, social activists, entrepreneurs, visionaries, communicators, artists and activists. We hold our Medicine Woman archetype in the private and public spheres. We have been educated and raised in a masculine paradigm. We need to remember who we are and reawaken our innate powers and passion. When we do so, our work will bring much needed balance and healing to the world.
Do you hold the Medicine Woman archetype? Have you struggled to see how you fit in, what your path is, how to express your true self in your work and relationship? In that case it’s time for you to heal, tune in with your gifts, and take your rightful place again in the world. You are needed! The world needs women like you to step into power and visibility and be a beacon of hope, light and healing.
