I have been reading Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and came about this quote worth sharing about the relationship between story and soul:
"...to further our kinship relationship with the instinctual nature, it assists greatly if we understand stories as though we are inside them, rather than as though they are outside of us. We enter into a story through the door of inner hearing. The spoken story touches the auditory nerve, which runs across the floor of the skull into the brainstem just below the pons. There, auditory impulses are relayed upward to consciousness or else, it is said, to the soul...depending on the attitude with which one listens.
Ancient dissectionists spoke of the auditory nerve being divided into three or more pathways deep in the brain. They surmised that the ear was meant, therefore, to hear at three different levels. One pathway was said to hear the mundane conversations of the world. A second pathway apprehended learning and art. And the third path way existed so the soul itself might hear guidance and gain knowledge while here on earth.
Listen then with soul-hearing now, for that is the mission of story."
I finally understand why stories matter so much. Real life stories told by a friend, stories written down for generations, good novels, captivating story-telling, my grandmother's daily journal (of who did what and when), and yes, even those quickly written blog posts hold a mission: soul-hearing. Stories shared and stories heard point us to wisdom. Wisdom is not something that can be learned or studied but is gained when we kindle our relationship with the instinctual self.
We rekindle the fire of the instinctual self by living inside a story. When we live inside the story, we listen with our soul-hearing. Our soul-hearing listens for clues, for signs, for understandings in the patterns of life. Our soul-hearing looks for synchronicity. Our soul-hearing finds our inner knowing in places outside of us only to reveal its constant presence within.
In the story, any story, the outside is allowed in, and the inside, out. In the story, we find the Self and are surprised at her familiarity.
I went and found this book and am reading it too Nicki. It is amazing! I think it will take me awhile to process it all but can feel it speaking to me already.
ReplyDeleteYes, I feel the same way. I want to slowly move through it so that I can savor each idea that really speaks to me. So glad you picked it up too since I have been thinking of you as I read it! Peace, Nicki
ReplyDeleteI have been meaning to read this book. Now, I know I will one day. There are many things that get in the way of my intuition, and this sounds like the very book I need to hear my soul.
ReplyDeleteA poem by Mary Oliver of similar theme? I just stumbled across and was surprised. Jill
ReplyDeleteBone
1.
Understand, I am always trying to figure out
what the soul is,
and where hidden,
and what shape
and so, last week,
when I found on the beach
the ear bone
of a pilot whale that may have died
hundreds of years ago, I thought
maybe I was close
to discovering something
for the ear bone
2.
is the portion that lasts longest
in any of us, man or whale; shaped
like a squat spoon
with a pink scoop where
once, in the lively swimmer's head,
it joined its two sisters
in the house of hearing,
it was only
two inches long
and thought: the soul
might be like this
so hard, so necessary
3.
yet almost nothing.
Beside me
the gray sea
was opening and shutting its wave-doors,
unfolding over and over
its time-ridiculing roar;
I looked but I couldn't see anything
through its dark-knit glare;
yet don't we all know, the golden sand
is there at the bottom,
though our eyes have never seen it,
nor can our hands ever catch it
4.
lest we would sift it down
into fractions, and facts
certainties
and what the soul is, also
I believe I will never quite know.
Though I play at the edges of knowing,
truly I know
our part is not knowing,
but looking, and touching, and loving,
which is the way I walked on,
softly,
through the pale-pink morning light.
from Why I Wake Early (2004)
Mary Oliver
That was one of the first books I picked up some ten years ago, as discontent started to bubble-up from within me. Little did I know then what role this wisdom would play in guiding me along the rocky road ahead.
ReplyDeleteI never did read the book from cover to cover... it was overwhelming to me at the time. I picked it up and used it much like I might use the Bible, or some other spiritual textbook... asking a question and then opening it to find my answer on whatever page that was chosen for me.
You wrote: "Our soul-hearing finds our inner knowing in places outside of us only to reveal its constant presence within.
In the story, any story, the outside is allowed in, and the inside, out. In the story, we find the Self and are surprised at her familiarity." This is beautifully insightful. Thank you.
Jill, Thanks so much for the Mary Oliver poem. I especially like "though I play at the edges of knowing, truly I know our part is not knowing, but looking and touching and loving." Yes! Somehow through the senses we play at the edges of truth. I play at the edge of my soul. I also found the title of poem to be interesting in relation to Women Who Run with the Wolves since Pinkola Estes invites us to go and collect bones so we can find the wild woman archetype within. Peace, Nicki
ReplyDeleteMermaid,
ReplyDeleteYes, me too! There are so many things that get in the way of my intuution. That is why I am so pleased to find this book again. I feel like if I can collect my intuition then I will be stepping into my true self. Peace, Nicki
Stream Source,
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how this book has appeared again in my life. Just as I come out of a dark period, I am able to begin to pull the pieces together with her guidance. It is such a thick book, isn't it? There is so much I want to let settle within me. And it is such a book full of wisdom that I want to share it with all the women of the world! I am also amazed at how better able I am to spot the wild woman in others. It is quite exciting to see her in a friend or even in another blogger. Peace, Nicki
Nicki, I haven't read this book in awhile, might be time to re-read. Thanks for the passage (and thanks to Jill for the Mary Oliver poem also.) I love this idea of soul-hearing and soul stories. I am drawn to myths from all the world's religions for partly that reason, even though I have rejected the 'doctrines' of most for myself at this point. This idea of the levels of hearing also makes me think of chanting, and the idea that certain mantras like Om cut right to the heart of the universe, and help us merge and experience it beyond language...
ReplyDeleteNicki this is really powerful. Stepping into the story and listening with our soul...not to be mistaken for being stuck in a story that does not serve us...but healing stories, hearing stories...stories that nourish and replenish our energetic stores of love compasssion, connection. I have this book and haven't read it for many years. Maybe its time to pick it up again. I was a much younger woman back then. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteI never thought of chanting in quite that way. It is quite beautiful, isn't it? Quite mystical. How could one word, one sound take us so deep, so beyond the world of language? I think of how the Tibetan singing bowls have a similar effect on me and I never thought of them as a sort of soul-hearing, and yet that is exactly what it is (for me).
Like you, I am drawn to all the stories/myths from the vast number of religious traditions because they seem to be able to speak through time and without explanation. Something happens in the mental and emotional landscapes when we hear and connect with a sacred story.
Still contemplating what the purpose of doctrine really is. Seems like the intention of it has to do with understanding the story/stories, but I am not really sure. It makes me sad how doctrine so easily becomes dogmatic -- a world that is full of color seems to be limited to only black and white, this way or that.
Thanks for provoking some interesting thoughts. Peace, Nicki
Laura, I am struck by your comment: "being stuck in a story that does not serve us anymore." Makes me really pause to think about what stories I might be stuck in. What patterns/themes no longer serve me well? I think the thing I love about Women Who Run with the Wolves is that I finally have found stories that really speak to me. They speak to the part of me that has been silent all these years. I am delighting in the transformative nature of these new (but such old) stories about what it means to be human and wild and a woman. Peace, Nicki
ReplyDelete