She’s the one who disappears in the morning mist, in her walk through the depths of the forest, following the small, unwalked path through the thick bushes that takes her straight to the lake. She’s the only one who understands the whispers of trees, the language of animals and the spirit of rocks. As she gazes far away on the water’s hypnotic mirror, an eagle lands on her shoulder, scratching her flesh with his strong claws. Two drops of red, boiling blood appear on the skin. She’s alive.
Her presence fascinates you, yet you can barely see her. If you want to follow her through the woods, as soon as she senses your eyesight, she walks and turns, runs and climbs, the earth, the rocks, the unseen path. She disappears.
She is the One who knows.
The one who senses.
The one who sees.
The one who runs.
The one that lives in Nature’s rhythms.
The one who creates and destroys.
The one with wolf blood flowing through her veins.
She’s rather feared than loved.
The Huntress. The Witch. The Fairy.
The Wild Woman.
The wild woman archetype is perhaps the most repressed, ignored, and misunderstood archetype. If the Mother and the Artist are easier relatable for what a woman is socially expected to be, the Wild Woman is still controversial, unknown, and feared. Her spirit is what patriarchal society and religious oppression tried to kill for centuries.
Key qualities of the Wild Woman
The key qualities of the Wild Woman archetype are independence, self-sufficiency and freedom.
Her personality is strong and well-defined, she owns her own life and she knows what she wants. She doesn’t seek to obey to societal norms and she refuses to become what other people are expecting her to be.
She doesn’t get distracted from other people’s influences and competition. She knows who she is, she values her free spirit and she’s focused on her goals.
The wild woman of our days is financially independent, she doesn’t rely on a man or her family to live. She lives on her own terms. She doesn’t need a man to feel fulfilled, nor a family of her own. She is self-sufficient and she can equally live happily as a single woman or in a relationship that respects her freedom and independence.
She’s a fierce woman’s rights advocate, she’s committed, reliable, trustworthy and competent. When she works on a project that speaks to her heart, she’ll put her blood and breath into it to bring it to life.
The wild woman is sexually awakened and uninhibited, she’s free to express herself.
The dominant chakra in the wild woman archetype is SOLAR PLEXUS, which means she feels in her full power, she’s able to envision her future and create it. Whatever her past was, she’s healed and able to heal it without being pulled back.
Archetypal representations of The Wild Woman
You can find the Wild Woman’s spirit represented in deities such as Artemis, Diana, Freya, Inanna. As a nature spirit she’s The Fairy. As a mysterious, magical, woman she’s the Witch and Baba Yaga.
I am particularly drawn to the Wild Woman archetype as I started to reconnect to my inner essence and remember who I really am. After a lot of inner work that involved raising over other people’s expectations, letting go of old programming, I discovered the connection with the Wild one as my true feminine nature.
I remember to this day my childhood dream was to become a Fairy when I’ll grow up. The image that always attracted me was the Fairy Queen and the White Which.
If you ever felt a special connection with the spirit of the fairies, the witches, the animals, and forests, or you ever felt your wild blood boiling through your veins, you know the wild woman lives within you.
The Wild Goddess – Artemis
Artemis is the virgin Greek goddess of the forests, the wild animals, the hunt, the childbirth, fertility, and the Moon.
She was born from Zeus’s affair with titan Leto. As a firstborn child, she was the midwife of her own mother helping her to birth her brother Apollo, the God of arts, poetry, and healing.
The six wishes of Artemis granted by Zeus:
- to never get marry and fall in love – to not get distracted in her mission
- to own a bow and arrows
- to wear a hunting costume and the freedom to wear man clothes
- the purpose to bring light into the world
- to own all the mountains so she can live in the forests
- to be accompanied by 60 young nymphs to help her in her mission
Artemis was the bringer of life and death. The protector, and destroyer. She was the protector of the forest, wild animals, pregnant women, and girls up to the age of marriage. She was a protector of chastity. But she was also the bringer of sudden death to those who were in her protection. We’ll look at the significance of this in a moment.
Artemis’s spirit animal is The Deer. Other animals around her are the Bear and the Heron.
Power objects: bow and arrows, hunting spears, torch, lyre.
What Artemis teaches you about the wild feminine
Let’s look at the main Artemis qualities: she’s virgin, hunter, protector, light-bringer and killer. She protects young girls, birth, and animals. She kills. Animals, men that did wrong, and sometimes the young she was supposed to protect. She’s not the representation of perfection. Like all ancient deities, she has the bright side and shadow side well visible.
Virginity – teaches you about the independent, self-sufficient, free-spirited woman in a world dominated by man. Virginity is symbolic, is about the woman that is whole and complete by her own, not needing anyone else to feel fulfilled. It is not necessarily about physical virginity, however, it can be.
Single – to not be distracted by love and relationships. She’s focused on her purpose of bringing light to the world. For that, she is not willing to place her whole energy into relationships and family.
If you embody Artemis archetype it doesn’t mean you can’t get married and/or have kids. But it means life is so much more to you. You have so much more to show to the world. You have a side project, a small business, a career, a cause to fight for. Something to pour your heart and soul in, and what makes you, you. You have the wild woman within.
Protects the young – If we look at the young symbolically, Artemis is the one who protects the new, the beginnings, the purity and enthusiasm of new projects. She brings you passion, courage and drives you forward to achieve your dreams. You can connect to her energy whenever you are in the waxing Moon stages and you need support in bringing your dreams to reality.
She kills. She may kill projects that are not right for you. Or, if you’re not enough commited to your dream, she might kill your dream once for all. You need to show determination when you really want to achieve something. If you only say to yourself that one day you’ll start that business but you never get your hands dirty doing the work, you’d better let Artemis kill your business dream for you.
She removes your enemy. Artemis energy is very powerful. If you are committed to your dreams and you need extra support to make them happening, connect with Artemis and ask for help. She’s the one who kills your limiting beliefs, your pull-backs, and other people’s voices in your head, so you can focus on doing what it takes.
Connected to Nature. Artemis loves the forrest, the woods, the mountains. This is what gives her energy and keeps her passion alive. Artemis reminds you that there is power in connecting to Nature, that you can recharge yoursel and also bring new energy, fresh ideas and aliveness into your body. Allow the Nature to nurture and recharge you.
Updated: 9 November 2020 | 17 May 2023