The One who Knows – Archetype of the Wise Old Woman by Ann Moir-Bussy

In an earlier column we explored the concept that an older woman or elder becomes a Seer of other Realities – she opens herself to flowering and to seeing dimensions that she had closed her eyes to because of the constant diminishing of women in society. Closely linked to this is another archetype of the Older Woman who is “The One Who Knows”.

There is an ancient story that ‘La Que Sabe” (the woman or goddess who knows) created other women from a wrinkle in the sole of her divine foot. We might wonder why she would do this. Her aim was to ensure that women became knowing creatures. In other words, they are made from the essence of the skin of the sole.

 If you walk in bare feet the sole of your foot feels everything – the skin of the foot is sentient – all feeling, and if you walk in nature, you absorb the energy and knowledge of nature – you become a sentient being.

Many women in traditional cultures do not wear shoes. I’m not sure if the Chinese tradition of not wearing shoes in the house emanates from the same tradition. And I had not realised before that shoes actually blindfold the feet and stop us from touching one’s roots.

This Old One – the One who Knows is deep within us and she thrives in the deepest psyche of women – she is similar to the wild woman within, the dangerous old woman we have spoken of in previous columns. For this Wild woman we have spoken of before lives in the place where the mind and instincts are united. The One Who Knows embodies the instinctual and the sacred, and the masculine and the feminine.

We reiterate what has been said in so many ways that as Elders we have a task – that is, to show that we have been breathed upon, that we have, over the years been gifted with numerous ways to grow and to acknowledge that we are becoming the One Who Knows. We must show it, sing it out, live it, and give out what we have received through our sudden knowing, knowing in our body, our dreams and all our journeys of sorts.

In no way does this make us better – rather, we have been given a responsibility to pass on with humility what has been taught to us.

Recently I came across a beautiful story, that to me, along with the numerous myths of the dark goddess and the journeys of descent, illustrates this – it is the myth of The Hummingbird and the Condor:

 The story comes from the Andes where the Condor is the king of all the birds – it is the largest bird in creation, with powerful wings and the ability to fly beyond the clouds where no other bird can fly. Even the eagle and the hawk cannot reach the heights of the Condor.

 One day, when the Condor had come to earth and was parading among all the other birds, a little voice said, “I want to challenge you”. The Condor turned to see a tiny hummingbird, who then said, “I challenge you that I can also fly to the sky and beyond”. The Condor laughed and said, “Don’t be silly, you will die before you get there”. As the hummingbird persisted the condor eventually gave in and said, “We shall meet at dawn, but you will not be able to do it”.

All the birds had gathered at dawn and the Condor said, “Well, where is the hummingbird?” No response. All the birds looked, and after a few attempts, the Condor laughed and presumed he was too scared and then circled up and away, through the clouds and up to where the gods lived.

As he landed, he heard a voice – “What took you so long?”. And to his utter amazement, there was the hummingbird. He insisted that the hummingbird go with him to meet the gods, for he had indeed achieved what they all thought impossible. The gods honoured her and then said that now she must go back and teach other birds. They gave her three gifts to take back – the gift of initiative, the gift of creativity and the gift of leadership. “And you must teach the others this”.

The Condor looked in admiration at the hummingbird and said, “Let us then return”. And the hummingbird replied, “Yes, I will just get between your feathers again’!!

And on return she shared with everyone all she had learned and became a great leader.

Yes, like the hummingbird we need the courage to fly with the powerful Condor. As in other stories and myths we have shared, we must embrace the powerful masculine energies, and at the same time allow our creativity and inner feminine wisdom to work together with them. As elders, we embrace the dark and the light, the masculine and the feminine, and never forget that we can support others to discover their initiative, develop their creativity and become the leaders the world needs so much.

Ann’s new website will be available in two weeks and there you can find and register for the many series of sessions that explore these archetypes. If you would like to be notified email me on annmb.ab@gmail.com or phone on +61 0400474425