What is a W.I.T.C.H.?
February 18, 2021
Why Sovereignty?
Portrait of a Dangerous Woman
First, what does it mean to be sovereign?
If the empowered Feminine could be described in one word it would be: shameless. The Feminine is she whose ways cannot be prescribed or controlled, she who follows her own flow, she who knows that her vulnerability is the birthplace of real power.
Lucy Pearce
Sovereignty is the ability to belong to one's self. This isn’t taught in school and you’ll be hard pressed to find much written on the subject because women who belong to themselves are hard to control. They know their value, have boundaries and speak truth to power.
This makes them dangerous in the best sort of way.
To claim sovereignty is to be self-referential, rooted in your own authority. A sovereign woman is identified by confidence, as she is no longer willing to doubt herself based on the fear that others will critique, judge or shame her choices or decisions.
She is called shameless because she lives by what feels true, what feels resonant inside her being, rather than what others deem appropriate.
She has freed herself from the burning altar of other people’s expectations and approval. There is no need to play small, stay silent or caretake in the name of subservience or to maintain a “good daughter/mother/wife/person” status. She is free to follow her inner guidance while embodying her integrity.
Why is sovereignty essential to the W.I.T.C.H.?
This way of life requires living in integrity: ensuring that my inner self and outer self are integrated. Integrity means having only one self. Dividing into two selves—the shown self and the hidden self—that is brokenness, so I do whatever it takes to stay whole. I do not adjust myself to please the world. I am myself wherever I am, and I let the world adjust.
Glennon Doyle
Re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul.
Walt Whitman
Self-deprecation. Deep modesty. Self-doubt. These are the results of living in fear of judgement, caged in a system that judges women for speaking out, standing true.
Our lives are not our own as long as we fear being transparent. When we allow ourselves to shrink with fear of being judged or shamed for speaking up, standing up or standing OUT from the status quo, we have lost the very essence of what makes us feel most alive: our authenticity.
Our authenticity IS our practical magic.
It is key to our resilience, our radiance, our confidence. It is a prime recovery tool when sad, overwhelmed, anxious or depressed. It is our greatest asset in maintaining our vibe and attracting our tribe. Without it, we feel cut off from our joy and wonder, and our sense of connection.
A woman in total control of herself doesn’t need anyone to control her. She trusts her intuition and inner guidance. She won’t rely on any system (including both the patriarchy “out there” and the one “in here”) that devalues her.
And control, in her world, doesn’t mean power-over, it means power-with: a supreme radiance that comes from a self-trust that revels in the empowerment of all beings.
She would rather die listening to her own soul than live in bondage to a system demanding her mediocrity and compliance.
Why is it important to the world?
Passionate, free-thinking women have never been appreciated by the religions of the world. Because passionate free-thinking women raise passionate, free-thinking children who grow up to be passionate, free-thinking adults, who are very difficult to manipulate, and almost impossible to control.
Marianne Williamson
Wild women and wildlife, along with the wild, sacred spaces of our planet, are endangered species. After millennia of surviving a patriarchy that would plunder the natural resources of both inner and outer lives, humanity has begun to cry out for the balance that comes from the Feminine.
It takes a brave heart to reach for her, to claim her despite the forces that insist on perfection and control, but in kitchens and studios and gardens and boardrooms across the planet, and in our very souls, we have begun to cultivate sanctuary for her.
We dare to speak of what is vulnerable and receptive, what is nurturing and authentic, what is divinely cooperative and creative instead of competitive and coercive. We brazenly demand a juicy life, one in which we are allowed to embrace our own wildish nature, rather than live another day in the dry and thirsty land of conformity.
We bravely step up, step forward, howling with insistence: we will no longer live without her, knowing it is up to us to protect our greatest nature.
If we don’t engage our practical magic on behalf of our planet, what becomes of our forests, our rivers, our animals, our children? If the wild outer spaces and wild inner nature are not resurrected and preserved, where do we find inspiration, sustenance and refuge?
The Wild Woman. The Dangerous Woman. The Sovereign Woman. She is our hope. And she is rising. In us. Through us. One warrior, one healer, one brave badass at a time. In an era when so many are clamoring that the end is at hand, the truth is that the beginning is near. If you choose it.
For there is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.
Hallmarks of Sovereignty:
- Withstands discomfort
- Generated from within
- Hard won in this society, not easy
- Nurtured by self-trust
- Relies on self-definition
- Strengthened through action
- Protected by boundaries
- Balanced with empathy, not care-taking
- Enlivened by vulnerability
- Upheld by truth
- Best friends with radical self-acceptance
- Cousins with self-forgiveness
Benefits of Developing Sovereignty:
- Unhealthy guilt is diminished
- Shame loses its power and life loses its smallness
- Authentic relationships are strengthened and more are attracted
- Resilient in the face of change, disappointment and pain
- Less inclined to compare to others, less susceptible to the “not enough” pandemic
- Life and success become self-defined
- Belonging becomes embodied instead of “out there” somewhere
- Your value becomes a birthright, instead of an achievement through earning
- Self-centered: you become the eye of the storm, centered in your sacred core
- Able to identify the inner Patriarchy, develop Defense against those dark arts
- Mediocrity, apathy and anxiety become less sticky