
“Whom should I turn to,
if not the one whose darkness is darker than night, the only one
who keeps vigil with no candle
and is not afraid—
the deep one, whose being I trust,
for it breaks through the earth into trees,
and rises,
when I bow my head,
faint as a fragrance
from the soil.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Rilke’s words reflect a deep and full-sensory knowing about the wild life-force, eros, Shakti energy of Mother Earth, Gaia, and the “Heaven and Earth” expressions of the Great She by so many names and faces, over as many (or more) millennia.
The Many-Named She who is the partner in Sacred Marriage to the Many-Named He.
Rilke’s musing is very apt for the newly birthed Spring in the Northern Hemisphere … or the newly birthing, whenever and wherever it’s occurring.
“To whom shall I turn, if not the One whose darkness is darker than night, the only one who keeps vigil with no candle, and is not afraid…,” Rilke muses.

We get a sense of why Many-Named She — the Primordial Creatrix power the Divine Feminine — is associated with that same breakthrough liberation from that which oppresses our Divine nature.
Just like that force of Nature which moves the long-gestated seed to release itself from its underground husk and find its way upwards, through the soil and towards the light of expression … of a new Greening.
Life, rebirthed, renewed, resurrected.
Freshly Phoenixed … or at least readying to Phoenix!
“…for it breaks through the earth into trees, and rises … faint as a fragrance from the soil,” Rilke continues, bowing his head to meet the rising Lifeforce emanating all around him.
These are exciting and transformative times.
Neither old maps nor old fears can guide us … or not guide us well, or reliably.
These minimally charted grounds of new territory, of uncertainty, of the unknown (or much lesser known and not very well remembered) are not the comfortable domain for the conditioned mind, either.
The wisdom of the body, the intelligence of the heart, the intuitive way of knowing … these are surer guides for such territory as we find ourselves in now.
Life has been trying to remind me of this over the recent cycle of greatly transformative years.
The wisdom of the body. The intelligence of the heart. The Intuitive ways of knowing.
These are the gifts of the right brain, the awakened heart-field, long associated with the Feminine … the Via Feminina.
As we’re called to deeper remembering of the Feminine Way, we realize more and more that all is energy, all in its way speaks, and we ask … and then watch what arises within and around us.
We look for and follow the clues.
The long-range strategic plan or, god help us, the ‘life plan’, are the works of the conditioned mind. The ego. Not a bad thing, but perhaps best taken with a bit of humor, seeing through their certainty into their folly.
The Feminine way, on the other hand, reveals itself clue by clue, step by step.We align with core virtues or qualities or intentions, and let the spirit of these pull us forward.
Like a treasure hunt of sorts. But since energy is always shifting, Life is dynamic, it’s what really makes the most sense.
We must become fluent again in Her language.
The deep Feminine Wisdom — the Great She called by many names over many, many millennia — offer us a powerful lantern.

Of these many faces, many names, some are known, some are resting deep in the roots of ancestral memory, and some are re-emerging now, like the Black Madonna, like Sophia, like Durga … arising because the gifts, the rememberings, are needed now.
That’s how it happens.
And like Spring-time … whether season of the Earth or season of the Soul … She stirs us awake, when it’s our time for renewal and Greening.
She is our Initiatrix and our inspiration, reminding us of wholeness, of depth, of deep, deep roots that reach into underground wellsprings of wisdom and nourishment.
Stirring us awake, or to a new rung-on-the-spiral of renewal, rebirth, restoration … reawakening.
Explore. Stir. Strengthen. Green.
You can explore and stir the re-emerging Divine Feminine & the rising in Spring (or transforming with the Autumn equinox of the Southern Hemisphere) with the Sophia’s Children musings (see the recent posts, or the Nav Bar above).
What’s stirring alive within you?
What wants to grow and green within and from you?
Explore more deeply with a reading, consultation, or Feminina-stirring program:
Current Specials – Intuitive Astrology, Consultations, Programs
Feel free to share your reflections and questions in the comment section or — if you feel Her stirring you alive and want to explore that more deeply — send me a direct email (info ‘at’ sophias-children ‘dot’ com).
Big Love,
March 21, 2016 at 7:27 pm
Reblogged this on Love Earth Visionary.
March 21, 2016 at 8:27 pm
“The wisdom of the body, the intelligence of the heart, the intuitive way of knowing…these are surer guides for such territory as we find ourselves in now.” Yes, yes, and yes. Lovely article, all of it.
The part about old fears not able to guide us….so true: the stories are changing. What ‘worked’ before does not work now! Amen to that. While I grieve the old stories, I re-practice patience with that process, of completing the endings before the new beginnings. (I always like composting analogies, but I’m not yet good at them. Composting not just the past but the old fears, the old stories…fertile ground for the new seeds…)
A line often in mind, “remember: all change is good.” But I admit I prefer the one on tap now! Quite a remarkable choice point. Scribbling out those new maps!
lots of love,
Dayna
March 22, 2016 at 5:13 pm
Thank you, Dayna. These words of the Via Feminina, the Ways of Wisdom (and Feminine Wisdom at that) seem to have vibrated a chord with readers … this is so lovely!
And we remember it again and again, given that we’re living IN this world, culture, time … lots of discordant stuff wafting around and being stirred, wittingly and unwittingly (as you know).
Yes, expeditions into the unknown … mapping various way-markers … like the adventurers of old (and the mystics, always).
Happy re-storying, composting, mapping … 🙂
Love,
Jamie
March 23, 2016 at 6:43 pm
How excellent! <3
And to you! Few extra deep breaths this week, methinks.
xxxo
March 21, 2016 at 8:40 pm
This quote Jamie resonates for me strongly in light of my recent challenges:
The wisdom of the body, the intelligence of the heart, the intuitive way of knowing … these are surer guides for such territory as we find ourselves in now.
Thanks for this reminder and lovely intro to the Spring mysteries.
love, Linda
March 22, 2016 at 5:04 pm
Thank you, Linda. I’m glad that bit spoke to you … and a few others, apparently. So I’m glad the Muses flowed it through me. That said, it’s been just that journey into remembering for me as well. I continue to practice and live into it. 😉
It is beautiful to see it that way … as Mysteries, and part of the Great Mystery. Lovely.
xo Love, Jamie
March 21, 2016 at 9:42 pm
Enjoyed this Jamie. I read this out loud so baby can hear these words as well 🙂 Blessings, xoxox
Ashley
March 21, 2016 at 9:47 pm
Enjoyed this Jamie. I read this out loud so baby can hear these words as well 🙂 Blessings, xoxox
Ashley
March 22, 2016 at 4:47 pm
I’m glad you enjoyed this musing that arose, Ashley P. And how lovely that you shared it with Baby! Never too early … 😉 Lots of love to you three. Jamie
March 21, 2016 at 11:38 pm
thank you thank you thank you. such an enigmatic birthing we encompass! your sharing expands my understanding…even if I remain ‘clueless’. It is all there. I embrace. ‘The wisdom of the body; the intelligence of the heart’. The stories ARE changing, what was is no longer…let them go. Open to what we do not know, yet yearn for…the wisdom of Gaia, the feminine, the balance,,,we birth the new upon this powerful entrance into now.
thank you.
xoxo ~e
March 22, 2016 at 5:02 pm
You’re welcome, Elena. 🙂 Clueless … perhaps that’s a version of ‘Beginner’s Mind’, eh? The Wise State of Being (vs. overly Clue-Full, which would be like the too-full wine-skin that has no room for new wine?). Just musing ‘aloud’ here. 🙂
It’s a different way, though, to be sure … to follow the clues, ask and respond, be in conversation with Life and in service to something other than worn-out culture-conditioned agendas (I hit THAT wall going 1000 miles an hour, so, you know, there’s *that* wisdom-from-experience ;).)
More of an adventure … keeps things fresh. As David Whyte and John O’Donohue called it … living at the fierce (alive) edges of life. I think I’ve blogged that somewhere here. 😉
xoxo Love,
Jamie
March 22, 2016 at 9:57 pm
bingo, well said. so many different concepts of ‘To Be or not To Be’ – yeah? 🙂 we get there after all of ‘that’ only to find out there is no ‘there’!! what a ride – livin’ on the Edge…xoxo~e
March 23, 2016 at 5:42 pm
And we know there’s a whole different sort of ‘edge magic’ for the Dwellers of Those Edges, yes? 😉 xoxo Love, Jamie
March 23, 2016 at 10:56 pm
oh yes…the edge of all that…could be, would be …plus a little dab of fairy dust..