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In the text healing wise there is an interesting story to demonstrate this point about a midwife who when thanked profusely for her assistance in birthing states, “I’m there to help her remember HER power; not to display mine. I am there to support HER to deliver the baby; I don’t deliver. …The more invisible I am- the more I can really help.” In my view, the statement of this midwife was a perfect expression of “Christness”.If you want to call it that…But I prefer to call it the awareness of a consciousness that it is indeed “at one” with all things and therefore, in assisting the “other” the midwife was only assisting herself. Isn’t God/Goddess- the one in the many and the all that is- invisible? I found her remark to be profound.

I believe that in the pursuit of seeking wellness and balance for our body, at some level we are also seeking the same for our inner state of being. All of us are wanting to feel “good” about ourself. When we do not feel good on the inside it is as much an obstacle for us as experiencing dis-ease on the outside; in the body itself.

Susun makes the statement in the text, “Flexible and common, claiming no healers, having no universities, no institutions, the Wise Woman tradition is hard to see. I feel it as an invisible thread humming with wholeness, ancient and vibrant, stitched through my life, stitched through the lives of all who went before and all who come after me. An invisible tenacious thread.”

This same approach could be applied also for inner awakening and spiritual growth as I see it. Indeed, we are all interconnected. In truth, spirit is an “invisibility” that permeates us all whether we acknowledge it or not. Some may be more attuned to this than others. This is ok. Regardless, we are all threads upon the web of life. Susun articulates some of the principles of the wise woman tradition- I use the term principles for lack of a better one. Although there seems to be some sort of “path”, it is a path one carves out as they walk it. In this way- there are no rules or “healers” or anointed ones- rather, all set themselves to the task before them in the spirit of the recognition of oneness over personal self…in the spirit of selfless service.

Susun states, “Nourishing is an invisible process. …Wise women nourish in invisible ways, helping others to empower themselves without saying, ‘Hey, look at me healing you. Look at me teaching you!’” This remark embodies the idea of at-one-ment in my view. Nourishing is not to be an arrangement where one seeks the gratification of self satisfaction. Rather, it is a mode of sharing- recycling so to speak the one power and energy we all carry within.

“Mothers are invisible…Virtually all health care given is provided by mothers who care for their families…But this is not measured nor paid for, and anyway, isn’t that what mothers do?” This remark makes me thing about the ceaseless giving of our own mother Earth. The spirit of the goddess constantly in action. Creating, sustaining and destroying for continued growth of all her children. As the earth gives without conditions- shouldn’t we too?

“A woman making dinner is invisible…To claim that she is engaged in healing her family and community and keeping her universe in balance is a lot to claim for dinner….” Well- this one really hit home. What about all the times I disdained at preparing yet another mundane evening meal when I would much rather be out DOING SOMETHING IMPORTANT. Who wants to rejoice at the prospect of more dirty dishes and screaming children at the dinner table. Yet, from personal growth and experience I can tell you that the implication of Susun’s remark is very accurate. The now moment is all that we have. While making a meal, doing laundry, or cleaning the toilet we have an opportunity to hold in our consciousness the awareness of peace, healing, love…Doing any task in this spirit indeed heals not only family and community- but sets forth a vibration that goes out to the entire universe. In this light, what more important job is there to do?

“Spoken words are invisible…The Wise Woman tradition flows from experience rather than faith in books; from creativity rather than dogma; from many unique individuals creating new ways to heal/whole…it is nonrepeatable, nonreplicable, ever changing.” There is a big difference between intellectual apprehension of a thing and the direct perception of its reality through experience. As a book hound, I well understand that although much food for thought can be gleaned from books and studies, none of it can become a dynamic expression of yourself until you own it as part of your own being consciously. This is a learning that comes from the heart, from being humble in the sense that one is teachable- listening for the best response in the situation one is presented with rather than being on automatic reaction to it. This kind of word is indeed invisible because it comes from within.

“There is no visible stucture in the wise woman tradition…There’s no president, no guru, no chairman of the board…You can’t get a degree or certificate…You can’t be tested on it, because there are no right or wrong answers.” In truth, this is so because life is a process of growing, learning, evolving. The Wise Woman tradition emphasizes the process we experience in the school of LIFE- as opposed to the level of status honored in conventional schools. This is not in any way to devalue universities, courses and other modes of education. It is to take it a step above the intellect and make learning not for the sake of collecting data, but for the sake of making it USEFUL in one’s life. And practicality only comes from application in any endeavor regardless.

The symbol of the wise woman tradition is the spiral. The spiral represents the beginning and ending of all things in a perpetually infinite universe. To some points of view there are beginnings and endings; but to the Wise Woman view there is only the process. It regenerates, takes away the old to make room for the new. Death becomes the doorway of life- and life becomes the experience of the soul that has for the present attained itself a body! The Wise Woman tradition encourages the experience of the void. Why? When the rest of the world “needs to know”, “have an identity”, “be something”. The answer is because in the void, in the nothingness is everything. All possiblity exists without limitation. We fear death mainly because it is a state of unknowing. We can’t control it. The Wise Woman tradition yields to the process of letting go rather than holding on. The whole cosmos is in constant expansion and motion and yet we all seem to think if we fight hard enough- work long enough- even attempt to reverse aging- we can somehow remain predictable and constant. We can be “stable” and find “security”. People need to think about that. I know I do. Most every day in fact. What is this all about? What exactly are we here for? If we can’t take anything with us but our own self – then what is the real priority? My body is also what I am- but what happens when I need to let it go?

I learned alot from these and other insights expressed by Susun. The most striking thing I think I discovered however is how similar our sense of physical well being relates to our inner being. We do not live an “either/or” existence. Instead, we experience both the visible and the invisible every day. For me, the Wise Woman tradition is less a school of thought than a way of being. Personal being that is. I feel that being more aware of my actual “being-ness” for myself; only opens the door to greater opportunities for growth and self discovery on all levels. With that I would like to end with some comments from Susun herself on this point, “Chaos, permeability, and nonsense are honoured in the Wise Woman tradition, not instead of, but in addition to honoring order, boundaries, and logic. Life and death co-exist; there is no pitched battle; there are no enemies in the Wise Woman tradition. The next time you have to make a choice between, try this: change the ‘or’ to ‘and’ and look at your decision from a place of inclusion. Let new vistas appear. Let the spiraling path of the Wise Woman tradition become more visible to you.”