The Winds of the Womb
I’ve been debating whether or not to post this now, as we’re about to head out on our annual family vacation to visit relatives in the midwest and east coast. But I will be online while away, and am interested to hear how this strikes some of you. The teachings offered here are some of the more odd and esoteric ones related to women’s energy bodies that I have come across. But they also resonate deeply for me, and thought they might for many of you also.
As I mentioned in my last post, I came across the idea of ‘winds of the womb’ while re-reading The Second Ring of Power, by Carlos Castaneda. In it, Castaneda encounters four women apprentices of Don Juan, his own teacher (who at this point in the series, has ‘left the world’.) Amidst the occult battles and bizarre events that characterize so many of Castaneda’s books, these women share with him some of the unique teachings for women offered as part of this lineage (real or fictional – and there’s much debate about that!)
The winds of the womb teachings are based on the idea that women have a unique connection to the wind, based on the energy center located in our womb area, what I think of as part of the 2nd or sacral chakra (and the actual physical womb is not what we’re talking about – this energy center is present whether a woman has had a hysterectomy or not.) There are four kinds of wind, and every potential woman sorceress best channels one of the four kinds of wind. ‘Sorceress’ or ‘warrior’ are the words Castaneda uses in his books – you can substitute witch, shamaness, siddha mistress, mystic, woman of power, or anything you like. The point is, we are talking about a unique use of power, not simply power in the physical, seen world.
There are four kinds of wind, each corresponding to one of the four directions, and a different time of day:
- The breeze, associated with the east, and with morning. It brings “hope and brightness”, and is “gay, sleek, and shifty.” It “gets into everything” and is sometimes “mild and unnoticeable” while at other times it is “nagging and bothersome.”
- The hard wind, associated with the north, and with midday. It is “energetic and commandeering and impatient”. It is “blasting full of energy but also full of blindness”. It breaks through barriers, but sometimes inflicts collateral damage.
- The cold wind, associated with the west, and with the afternoon. This wind tends to be “moody, melancholy and pensive”, and can “chill you and make you cry.” But it has “such a depth to it” that it is “more than worthwhile to seek.”
- The hot wind, associated with the south, and with nighttime. It is “happy and abandoned and bouncy”. It also “warms and protects and envelops”. Its power goes “together with the darkness”, and all that the darkness represents.
These winds aren’t just metaphorical, although they can certainly be thought of that way – as descriptions of temperament, or personal styles. But presented here they are literally about how a woman, particularly an occult woman, gathers and stores personal power. Or to use another vernacular, how we connect to Source, and how we process and manifest what we receive.
I think these teachings initially captured my attention because I love the wind, but haven’t really read a lot that connected the wind specifically to women. In astrology, earth and water are considered feminine/yin elements (at least as I learned them) and air and fire are masculine/yang. Water is the element usually associated with the 2nd or sacral chakra in chakra teachings. In qi gong and Chinese medicine, water is also associated with the reproductive organs, through the kidney meridian, and air is not even considered one of the elements (which are earth, fire, water, wood and metal.) The male god Vayu rules the wind in Hinduism, and he is one of the more macho ones in that pantheon.
As for the womb, it’s not really about the physical organ – it’s the center in the energy or subtle body that we’re talking about here (I came across one of the more unique names for this center in a recent Qi Gong book I was reading – the ‘Uterine Palace’!) And of course men have this center too, sometimes referred to as the hara. But in pretty much every set of energy body teachings I have come across, this center functions differently in men and women. I said a lot about this in my 2nd chakra series, so I don’t want to repeat all of that here, but I think the most relevant part of those teachings in terms of these wind themes are the ideas that:
– Energetically, women attract and store energies and power in this energy center, and therefore its health is central to our overall energy and physical health. (Interestingly, this is being mirrored in contemporary pharmaceutical research, which is discovering that women often react differently than men to medication, including those for anxiety and depression, or even cholesterol drugs, because of subtle hormonal differences that cascade through our entire system. In other words, physical gender differences that used to be thought only relevant to reproductive health issues, are now known to impact our entire physical body.)
– This energy center is a universe unto itself, or rather, can be an entrance directly to source through the doorway of creation. This is the root of the tantric and dakini teachings, as far as I’m concerned.
In addition to the health implications of the first point above, one story in The Second Ring of Power demonstrates another way this center acts as a collection point. Towards the end, Carlos and one of the women in the book are saying goodbye to a particular power place, and want to capture the gifts of that place permanently in their being. Carlos has been taught a ritual for pulling these energies into his heart area, and storing them there. He notices that his woman companion pulls them into her belly instead, capturing them in her Uterine Palace (sorry, I just couldn’t resist using that phrase!)
This reminded me of a statement I once read by a yoga teacher, that men are actually better suited to heart-based devotional spiritual paths, and women to power-based occult paths. On the surface this goes against the psychological stereotype that women are more emotionally-based and men more power-driven. But there is a deep truth to it I think, if we pull back from social conditioning and think metaphysically. I’m not sure I can exactly describe it, but try and see (really see) the energy bodies of men and women you know, and let me know what you discern. Of course, I have to add my usual disclaimer that whenever I talk about gender differences I am never implying absolutes – it is a spectrum, and we all draw on all sides of ourselves in our path.
Ok, back to the winds. As I said, I do think these 4 types of winds have metaphorical value, as representations of temperaments. But in Castaneda’s tradition, they go much beyond this – they are about methods of accessing power, and styles of manifesting it.
Here’s one sorceress, dona Soledad, describing her first encounter with the wind, as part of her training:
“[The wind] came directly to my womb. I was lying on top of a flat rock and the wind twirled around me…It felt like a bird that had landed on my stomach…I was stark naked but I was not cold because the wind was warming me up…[It] was alive; it licked me from my head to my toes. And then it got inside my whole body. I was like a balloon, and the wind came out of my ears and my mouth and other parts I don’t want to mention…I lay quietly and let the wind do whatever it wanted with me. It was then that it told me what to do…with my life, my things, my room, my feelings. It was not clear at first. I thought it was me thinking…When we are quiet, though, we realize that it is something else telling us things.”
She goes on to say that she learned to distinguish and work with all four winds, but that she learned her own wind was the hard, north wind. Owning this truth was the equivalent of owning her personal power. She had always had a harsh destructive side, and before beginning her apprenticeship this had most often came out in her relationships. As she aged, she increasingly turned it in on herself, and it almost devoured her. Owning her connection to the ‘hard wind’, and learning how to, 1) connect with it, 2) receive guidance from it, and 3) transmute it into raw power moving through her being, were the essence of her journey. The other women in the book have similar stories, each of them an example of a different wind.
Make of it what you will. For the record, I’m not advising laying down naked on a rock in the desert during a wind storm:-) I think these teachings spoke to me both because of my love of the wind, and because they centered on the womb energy center as archetypal space, as a doorway to other levels of reality. The wind becomes these women’s messenger in a way – a link between those other worlds and their physical bodies in this dimension. And they can ride the wind through the doorway to gain knowledge and insight from other planes, or they can pull the wind through them, and use it to manifest in this world.
I’d love to hear if you relate to this in any way, and what wind type you think you might be. I’ll be checking in while on vacation, and hopefully get a new blog share post out once I return (which I’ve been meaning to do for awhile now.) Namaste-
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Mommy Mystic 
I have read the first Castaneda, now I definitely have to read this…no question. I certainly am “hot wind” everything about my dosha is fire…never air, so if I was to associate to a wind it would be this one. I have been thinking a lot on second chakra lately and need to write some posts, although I don’t think I could say it as beautifully as you. Maybe you would like to guest post for me one of these days?
Also, I studied Maya Abdominal Massage that is taught by a modern teacher but the knowledge came from the mayan midwives, cunandera’s and healers and their is a lot of discussion of the winds and the energy they carry affecting a woman and her core. Both positively and negatively. For them mostly negative and no matter how hot they often say to sleep with those windows closed.
Hi Mom: Ruach, the word translated into spirit in Genesis 1:2 is also translated into wind. the Spirit / Wind moves over the face of the Waters, which is Tehom. Interestingly, Marie is a root word for ocean or water as reflected in terms like marine or marina. The Hindu Ramakrishna may really bring this to light when he states, “The Unamnifest (associated with infinity or the endless) is an infinite serpent and Shakti is simply the graceful and powerful movement of that serpent….the Unmanifest shines forth as Shakti and Shakti is simply the lumionous darkenss of the Unmanifest. Mother Essence (Nature) and Mother Energy are not two.” In the New Testament, The Holy Spirit (Sophia) comes upon Mary, which is also stated in a Gnostic Gospel, The Gospel of Philip, which states “since when did a woman ever conceive by a woman….Mary is the power that no one has defiled.” I don’t think that its so much that Sophia had intercourse with Mary, but that, as Ramakrishna states, Sophia is the creative movmeent of the Unmanifest…much as Shakti is seen as the creativity of Brahmin, or in the case of Ramakrishna’s statement, Ananda, who is the Goddess form for the Endless or INfinity.
As a young child, and even today, I often perceive an airy / watery power about women. when a young child, I called it a woman’s scent. Extremely powerful…and it created a sense of vulnerability for me. I often think that women are suppressed because men sense that power and are scared shitless of it. I also see women as the containers of evolutionary potential. Hence women are suppressed for in their wombs, in their waters of wind/change, is the potential of the downfall of the status quo. Hence, in western myth, there are a preponderance of women, including Mary, who have to go into hiding to protect thier child due to him being a threat to the status quo or ruling powers. In todays world, this is reflected in the domination of the Psyche, which is notorously female, via educational techniques designed to stifle creative acts, the suppression of art, unless it is being used for commercial purposes, etc.
See, the Psyche is a mirror of the physical power of women. Hence it is notorious for us to say we concieved this idea, work of art, etc. Coneption is a female power. so, this writing is my conception…in a sense, since you stimulated the unfolding of this writing, you are its father. I’m a little off track, but hope I’m making some sense.
I just read a really interesting book that referenced Castaneda… it connects the womb to the moon and to dreaming. If you are interested it is called “The Woman’s Book of Dreaming” and I took a lot from it.
I’m so happy I ran into your blog 🙂
Om shanti
Dina – I think I am the hard wind, although I am still mulling it over. The Mayan massage sounds fascinating! I should probably have mentioned that working the winds is considered quite a tricky path in this book too…there are dangers involved…but that seems to be the way of everything in Castaneda’s books.
Burl – fascinating as always. Thanks for the references. I had not thought of the holy spirit in terms of winds/air but you are so right that makes so much sense. Shakti I think of more as being related to fire. I am with you on the women’s power thing though, and how it impacts some men. And women too actually. I think there is a general fear/disassociation from nature/earth/creation that is a more general issue….
Pema – ooh, sounds great, thanks for the reference. And welcome:-)
thanks for your comment, I am still messing with the ability of replying directly. feel free to email me directly anytime. I think we might make a good partnership. I am done with children as well, but won’t go into my birth saga here. I would love for you to write a guest post for me. And I am working on some essential oils to balance each chakra which maybe you can cross-post over here.
D
Interesting you mention Shakti as Fire. You’re right. When I had that sense of woment’ power as a child, I used to refer to it as “wet fire.” Again, this wass perceived in a child’s mind…which in a sense could be positve for as a child we can combine what the modern adult world sees as duality.
Uterine Palace — that sounds like the translation of the Japanese word for womb, 子宮, which literally means “child palace”. It’s where the divine seed of life comes down for the life in this world.
I’m just wondering which of the four archetypes I belong to? The “nagging and bothersome” breeze? Not sure — what do you think? 🙂 And which group do you identify with?
What a wonderful post and comments–isn’t it amazing how we find each other through the web? I have a medical history that includes 10 abdominal surgeries–and recently became aware of how I turn a scorpionic sting onto my own self rather than direct it outward. It is as if I have been attacking the most inner sanctum of Female Energy–but a microcosm of what women and men have been doing to each other for thousands of years. Somehow I managed to have two healthy, beautiful children in the middle of all that.
Your post has really “hit home.” I just began reading the book about Sahkti that was on your recommended reading list!
Dina – sounds good, I will touch base directly when we get back from our trip in a couple of weeks.
Burl – ‘ wet fire’, interesting. You know kundalini is sometimes described as ‘liquid fire’ when it is moving up the shushumna channel?
Akemi – how did you get the Japanese characters in there? I like ‘child palace’ too – what is interesting is that in many of these 2nd chakra teachings, there is this idea of being able to expand our womb outward to encompass whomever we want, even the whole world, i.e. the world is a palace that we can create as a safe protected womb space if we so choose (man or woman, but women having a special role in this, particularly at this time in history.) That is really how these teachings and the things going on in the world connect for me these days…as for the winds, you don’t seem ‘nagging and bothersome’ to me, but I can definitely see you as a happy breeze, a lightworker. I think I am more of a shadow worker, bringing things to the surface that are possibly hidden (have you read The Shadow Effect? I am just starting.) In that sense, I think I am more hard wind, not sure yet.
Cate – oh what great insights! I am glad you have found the Shakti book – it is pretty ‘out there’, but the practices it describes are perfect for rebuilding and restoring this area and our creative energies (in all forms). And it is one of the few books I have found describing these practices in detail, outside of a guarded lineage. The times they are a-changin’.
On my macbook, I installed the Japanese characters from its multi language option. Once I do this, I can switch to Japanese when I want it, to write my Japanese blog or to comment or to make documents with these characters. East Asian languages have special way to input on the keyboards. Mac uses slightly different rules from PC for minor characters, so I spent awhile to learn it.
The womb – 2nd chakra thing. Hmm, we sure create our own life and that creative energy comes from the 2nd chakra mostly. Is this what you are talking about? The four groups seem to have more than this, however. . .
I’m not sure if I am a hard or cold wind but I feel more like a shadow worker right now with light goals. Part of me really wants to be the breeze cause I have this illusion it would be easier. I’ve read a Sorcerers’ Crossing but no Castaneda books yet would you recommend Second Ring to start off with or another Castaneda book?
Akemi – I think creative energy as we usually think of it is just part of it. Usually when we talk about creating something, we are thinking in terms of creating something outside ourselves. Even when talking about creating our lives we are usually talking about creating the external elements, the structure of our lives. This idea of projecting a womb-space is more about the nurturing side of the sacral chakra I think. The phrases uterine palace and child palace made me think of it. It’s an ancient magic that got lost at some point I think, or mostly lost, it still exists in some form in many traditions, but the full implications have been lost, and that’s connected to patriarchy and what the last few thousand years have been like here (or maybe what they’ve always been like here, I don’t know, there are differing opinions on that.) I’m not saying patriarchy caused the loss of this magic, I think it’s much more complicated than that. But anyway, it’s being reclaimed, for both men and women, and I think it’s big part of the shifts going on now. It’s a potential shift at both the individual energy body level, and more importantly at the way the world functions. It could be a womb-space, a divine palace, instead of a nightmare, like it is for so many.
Par – I’d recommend starting with Journey to Ixtlan or Tales of Power. The Second Ring of Power has some fascinating women’s teachings, but otherwise is not a favorite of mine. The first two center around Don Juan, Castaneda’s teacher, and he’s absent from The Second Ring of Power.
I love the phrase, “Uterine Palace” and the expansiveness it suggests! Maybe we need a related word for its outer entrance. 🙂
I’m not really getting how the wind works as a doorway to accessing universal power, especially if I’m not naked on a rock to notice it that keenly. It did make me think of how much more in tune people used to be with the weather and what different winds meant. Certainly, different kinds of winds make me feel different things. Perhaps when our own particular wind blows, we have an opportunity to harness something if we’re aware of it.
I think I’m probably most like the Hard, North wind, though I think I’d rather see myself differently. Either that or the Hot wind, except that I’d never use the word “abandoned” to describe myself. Maybe I have to grow into that. 🙂
Great post! (Enjoying Occult America, by the way! Thanks for the rec!)
Cheers!
Alexis
I love this topic. Where else on the internet can you get into a discussion with powerful women about the wind and the womb? Nice goin’, Lisa.
I can’t think of the wind without thinking of Irish mythology. The wind plays a huge role in their mythos. It is said that when the wind blows, the Sidhe are riding. The Sidhe are the fairy folk, both male and female, who inhabit the air. These ancient inhabitants of the land are said to bestow the gift of art, music, and poetry. They are the air spirits, supernaturals, “ghosts,” shadowkins, and when the wind howls, they are the wailing banshees.
In ancient hermetic traditions, the literature speaks of sylphs, or nature spirits who direct the wind. Because they inhabit the air, one can breathe them in as an aid to spiritual journeying.
Over time, sidhes and sylphs have joined the ranks of those powerful female archetypes you mentioned — the sorceress, witch, shamaness, siddha mistress, mystic, woman warrior. Regardless, where there is smoke, there is fire. There certainly seems to be a lot of smoke around the subject of female power, along with fear of the erotic and sensual fires of the womb.
I can understand this fear to a degree. The mystic allure is so powerful and interesting that if we look too long at it, we run the risk of losing interest in ordinary things. Castaneda certainly did. I love this statement: “It was not clear at first. I thought it was me thinking…When we are quiet, though, we realize that it is something else telling us things.”
I know which of the four winds I relate to most. Which do you think I am? I agree that you are a hard, strong wind, one not likely to buckle under pressure.
Alexis – I wouldn’t think of you as the hard wind from what I see of you, but of course you would know better. Your nature seems more naturally supportive/nurturing/light oriented, like the breeze or hot wind. I think it’s hard, because we have to abstract from personality characteristics to some extent to see it, and they all have ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ manifestations. I do think this is about magic really, so it’s about connecting to the wind with another level of our awareness. Glad you like Occult America, I thought it was really insightful. And humbling too, as history always is, because it reminds us all the ideas we think are ‘new’ have been around in some form for a long time!
Brenda – love the Irish mythology stuff! I don’t know much about that. Yes, the Castaneda tradition is so ‘out there’ that staying grounded is the real challenge. And in the books Don Juan basically tells Carlos that over and over, and that he is indulgent in that way, in terms of swinging from denial to ungroundedness/craziness, so he is warned, but based on the books (and other things I’ve read about him), maybe he never got the message. Or maybe in the books he just chose to present himself that way. I guess we’ll never know for sure. Anyway, I think of myself as the hard wind too, so interesting that so far, that is what several people have thought they were. I wonder if it’s because that’s the only one I offered an example from? I would think of you as one of the gentler, more nurturing ones from what I know of you actually, like the breeze or hot wind. But I don’t know. I suspect people that know me in RL would also think of me that way, as the breeze, as my persona is very upbeat for the most part. I let my heavier side hang out here:-)
I didn’t comment right away when I read this because I wasn’t sure what I thought about it. This is the first time I have heard this idea of the “winds,” and I liked it although I’m not sure which wind resonates the most with me. In general, though, I think that we all have certain ways of doing things, certain characteristics that we may or may not want to admit about ourselves. The part in the post about connecting to our person power stood out to me because sometimes there is something about the way we use our personal power that we don’t want to acknowledge. It’s interesting that each description above includes (for lack of better words) the positives and negatives of each wind. I guess you have to take the light with the dark.
Lisa, Really enjoying this post and the comments. So much insight to contemplate especially the idea about women being more suited for power based spiritual paths and men more heart-based paths. Isn’t that funny, really? So often we might fall into the thinking that women are more heart-based. Nurturing? Mothering? Well, maybe that is its source. But a closer look at this idea makes me pause and contemplate my understanding of power, that power is beauty, that there is a different meaning and experience of power beyond its negative, destructive force. Living in Scotland with its wind, I have learned to embrace its power, physically and spiritually, even though I find it annoying when I want to walk and it holds me back. I am always amazed at the power of the wind to dry my clothes quickly, even on a sunless day. I really like Brenda’s comment about the Irish myths because I can so relate to how the landscape and the elements hold stories and power and change and spirit. Thank you. Peace, Nicki
Dear Lisa. I have read all the Castaneda books years ago, I have read about the women and the winds but wasn’t ready to ‘hear’ it obviously. I have not much to add as I am just taking it in. What I love about these posts is that it pays attention to all the ‘other’ things that can be in our lives, all the nature things that can add so much more value and richness to our lives.
I find it amazing to regard the wind like a power enriching experience rather than something that is helpful for my washing :). xox Wilma
Amanda – I’m not sure what I think of this post’s topic either. But I think you hit upon why it interests me also, and that is that there is a lot we leave unexplored when it comes to our personal power, and how we use it. And spiritual lingo often shies away from the idea of power, and that it has both light and dark manifestations, and that we need to own it to discover all our layers.
Nicki – I love what you wrote about power and beauty, and not simply equating power with destructive force. As I wrote to Amanda, I do think this is what happens in alot of spiritual talk – the vernacular is peace and compassion and the ‘meek shall inherit the earth’ etc., and the other side, which I think is in the teachings also, about power, isn’t always clearly explored. And that power, especially in the earth-based traditions, is often thought of as something women are especially connected to, and then there has been this fear and repression of that aspect, in both men and women really, that closes us off from a big piece of ourselves. So I do think owning and connecting to this power is what this post is really about, whether through the wind or not (the wind just being the vehicle in this particular teaching.) And there is a risk to it, a danger, just like those powerful Scottish winds. Thanks for helping to bring that out.
Wilma – That’s great that you can dry your clothes in the wind. I’m in the US midwest right now, in farm country, and there are wind turbines everywhere! So there’s a lot of differents kinds of power in the wind. that’s for sure.
I think I most associate with the cold wind. It can be moody, malancholy, and make me cry, but there is depth to it. I often feel cold and worn by the afternoon, but if I pay attention to its message, it usually brings a deeper message to the surface.
Great post! I think I may be the Breeze. As a matter of fact, in our last women’s circle there were four of us, and I was easily able to assign each woman with a different wind.
I love the wind too … it changes us, makes us aware, makes knees weak and hair wild … It also helps me to focus, become more introverted, reflective and quiet.
~Nicole
Definitely the breeze. Which one is the most annoying? I’m probably that one.
Wow, this is intense, and strangely, it speaks to me, really speaks to me, so I’ll have to research into this on my own. Thank you for writing about it, and you write about it so thoughtfully and thoroughly.
It is only in the last year that I’ve been thinking about my own personal power (and where it comes from), which if very much connected to my own journey. I could see my wind — and I’m not sure which one it would be — would affect me in this manner, how it would guide me, so to speak, because I am aware of some force guiding me, leading me, talking to me. I’m trying to learn this too — how to harness and work with my power — in order to fulfill my potential.
Much love, and thank you again for the intriguing post.
Hello Lisa,
I enjoyed all the comments and mythological sharings. I am reminded of this excerpt from one of my posts:
In Hindu mythology, Brahma the creator, first showed himself as a golden embryo of sound. He was a vowel, vibrating outward, the sound echoed back upon itself and became water and wind. In Sanskrit, this power is called Matrika Shakti, the inherent creative energy behind the letters that make up words. It is said that each letter of the Sanskrit alphabet has a corresponding sound vibration both in the subtle energy channels of our bodies and in the cosmos. When these sound vibrations resonate with a corresponding vibration within us they create thoughts, then these thoughts gradually manifest the grosser forms of feelings and then speech.
I think that the connection between Matrika Shakti and the different kinds of winds that affect a woman, each according to her emotional type is reciprocal. I also think that we alternate between types at different phases on the spiritual journey and a combination of types too. Of course as you mention, men experience this too.
Thanks for this fascinating topic. Hope you are having a wonderful family vacation!
Namaste!
Hi all, thanks for all your wonderful comments and insights. I have just gotten back from our trip, so am still sorting things out at home. I hope everyone is well and will be connecting again here online soon…
How interesting! I’m probably the cold wind…thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for this site. It’s interesting and provocative, and I’m supportive of women taking back the power that was bestowed upon them at the time of their spirits’ inception. I think that one must be mindful to never try to steal what was not hers in the first place and to use her powers to secure, spread, and invite love into every corner of every space in our shared energy field that we call earth.
I have to agree with you, men are more heart/spiritual centered and women more power centered. I like the term Uterine Palace. I’m a hard North wind person, and actually part of learning to live with a Native American (something I started in my late 40s) has been to learn my ‘medicine’ (power used to help or serve others) which according to my spousal equivalent is directly connected to the wind.
Wow! Thank you. Very interesting recap. You have inspired me to go back and read the 2nd Ring of Power when I am finished with Abelar’s book
I am definitely a “hard wind”. This explains my self destructive tendencies. I always felt I had reason to attribute the provocation to outside circumstances, as I was vulberable and the circumstances were rough. But I realize that my whole life I’ve been balancing a deep vulnerability with working on developing and owning my power without hardening myself.
I practice Chi Gong, so we work a lot with the womb. But I have not heard similar interepretations of different types of energies in the womb. I recently found some shamanic Dao books, which I want to go through and am curious what they have to say. Curisously or not in the past, a lot of the sexual Daoist practices have been oriented towards the men and women were more in energetic provider role. Interestingly, a source of sexual energy (and thus power) in Daoism are the ovaries. The energy is gathered in a couldron under the navel. Yet, somehow, it feel there are male approach nuances in these teachings. I am investigating more on the matter, as there seem to be experienced female practitioners that have a couple of decades experience now and can relate a lot better the energetic work for women than the writings and teachings of male Chi Gong authors. Some of these ladies seem to be sheding a lot of dogma.
Why I love shamanism is that, in some aspects, it gives nuanced approach to energy practices. I’ve investigated practices about clearing the womb from energy lines (Abelar mentions recapitulation as a tool to regain overall lost energy and you also refer to that in your other posts). And, I am still in process of doing my recapitulation.
Yet, I mostly read about and talk with practitioners that they have increased manifestation/ attraction power and flow of ennergy. But, I have not found any more specific teachigs about the different energetic types of wombs and different types of personal power. I am very curious about the subject…
Have you since writing the article encountered more information?
Thank you!
Hi Milena, you refer to contemporary female chi gong authors as ‘shedding a lot of dogma’ and in my research I find that this is occurring in energy traditions throughout the world. I have researched shamanic practices, chi gong, tantric practices, kundalini yoga, and various energy medicine traditions and across the board there is a a rediscovery of feminine energy body teachings. In some cases these were always a part of the tradition but were never emphasized much and so are harder to find. In other cases the subtle body anatomy maps taught and the corresponding practices were primarily based on the male subtle body, and only now are women adapting them to the feminine energy body. So it’s in process right now, and there are not a lot of consolidated writings about it. It’s a book I’d love to write!! Time will tell if that book is meant to be mine or someone else’s…
As for your question about whether I’ve found more teachings on the different energetic types of wombs – not specifically on wombs, but really I feel that how ‘womb’ is used in this and some other traditions is to refer to an energy center rather than the physical uterus, i.e. what I consider to be the second or sacral chakra. So in that sense yes, I have explored in more depth since writing this various tantric teachings that relate to the second/sacral chakra. Some of the books related to this are in my women’s energetics book list, and others I’ve come across more recently. Perhaps attempting to summarize some of this is a future post.
Merry Christmas and Happy holidays, Lisa!
Thank you so much about the detailed explanation. Very inspirational read. I love how well rounded you are. I’ve investigated some of the books when I found your blog couple of years ago. They’ve been great resource for my own inner blossoming and healing. I hope you might share soon in another post a bit more of your newest discoveries about the sacral chakra, tantra and your what you’ve read. And I look forward to may be you writing a book about the feminine energy body, if you get inspired. 🙂
With your response, you actually gave me clarity about one of the practices that I am doing. As I started off with yoga and transitioned to Dao. There is a Daoist practice, womb/ovarian breathing, with which I’ve had a bit of challenge. It is a variation of the micro cosmic orbit (the smaller wheel). The first step is filling the womb with energy from the ovaries. I have a challenge consistently having sensation and feeling my energy filling the womb while doing it. Now, after reading your reply, I have intuitive feeling how to approach the practice. Anyhow. Thank you and happy holidays!!
Hi Lisa!
As you can see I am digging into your blog more than ever….the “Fall in love with your feminine power” course is really a roller-coaster ride and I want to dig deeper!
I do have a special thing about wind, or did…when I was a child (4-6 years), I was convinced the wind was in love with me, and somehow it protected me. I really enjoyed the strong, loud and scary windstorms. I did not think about it why. Sometimes, when there is a strong wind I can feel a lot of charge around me (electric storm?) and I feel sort of empowered. My pupils dilate and I look a bit weird (according to a friend). I never gave any thought of this until now.
I think I am probably cold wind, but I have the feeling that it is not something permanent. If I think of my experience as a child, I would say, it comes into you, and transforms into something you turn it into. The wind is one, it is up to you where or how you let it out. You give it a direction. Well…very interesting anyways.