Archetypes To Live By Series
The Archetype of the Weaver
Why We Need Her NOW
Looking around at the world we live in, what is it we need most?
Accountability? Love? Equity? Honesty? Peace?
It is impossible to deny that these and so many others are necessary. There is no way to choose. Gone are the days that people actually meant, “All you need is love, do-do,do-do-do”.
Unless that is the tough love of a wise and steady, stable and kind parent, love is NOT all we need. The transience of our lives, with jobs taking us hither and yon, ridiculous amounts of overscheduling for children, and our personal lack of energy for healing relationships, we often do not stay connected with our roots. And some of us never were connected in the first place.
And this disconnect comes at a price. Unless we have a tendency to make friends of older generations and provide that for our children, we are likely NOT getting what we need let alone offering that to our children as well.
Where do we see the healthiest cultures, worldwide? Where do people live the longest and claim to be happy, in commited lifestyles, and cared for?
The Blue Zones talks about this extensively. And yes, its about the food, for sure. The Mediteranean diet has it perks-would that we all could manage that. But, its not just the food. It’s about connection. I’d like to explore what that means.
- it means having deep friendships, beyond the separation of generations
- it means sticking with people, repairing broken relationships, and allowing them to be in our lives, however “safe” looks like in that circumstance.
- it means raising children, or being the best darn aunt or uncle on the planet.
- it means finding places to serve in the community, making friends and commitments outside our families.
- it means having people in our lives who are truth-speakers who are NOT of our generation.
- it means we rest when we need to rest, and work hard when we need to work hard, living in a way that we would want the children around us to. (or doing our best)
There is so much that it means. Most of us find our ways to connect with people, but what we don’t find, often, is connection with people who are not our age, who are not our generation at all. They are part of the older generations.
We don’t make the time to sit with them, work with them, and listen to their stories, learn about their particular value systems, and do it enough that it becomes our own story.
But it needs to. And it needs to when we are still young, still able to make changes without so very many consequences.
The Weaver Archetype is a powerful She-Archetype.
- She is aged
- She is wise
- She is a truth-teller, but uses few words
- She is tough, and her body shows wear and imperfections
- She has not missed anything, thus not suffering from FOMO
- She has a deep sense of contentment from which she lives
Especially when we are young, we are taught that “old” people-especially women-have nothing to offer. Women-in our cultural memory-rarely offered anything. But women who have gone through the transition of menopause are no longer fertile, their bodies bend, get smaller, the breasts sag, and their worth-in our broken culture-deteriorates with each year.
The Weaver is one of these women. Her magic is subtle, yet powerful.
Her rhythmic, slow, movement teaches us that steady attention is where the true rewards of life are.
The imperfections in her work teach us that we can forgive ourselves for being human, and embrace what we are, body and soul…just the way we are.
Her use of but few words teaches us that brevity and even silence are as powerful as many words.
Her lack of anxiety teaches us that we will never miss out on what truly matters. Life shows up how it needs to, ready to teach us. We don’t have to go looking for it.
Her long, grey hair and gnarly hands teach us that wisdom comes in colors and shapes that we may not enjoy, but require anyway.
Her bent-over hobble teaches us the wisdom of holding steady and determined intentions.
When we encounter the weaver, we are in a place in our lives that it is needed. When we say “yes” to her council, we are doing the hard work of life, often saying “no” to the more glittery, attractive options.
And it is worth it. Because she knows how to grow bigger, more powerful hearts, full of love. She teaches us to be our truest self, honoring commitments to ourselves first.
What if we had a healthy dose of that? Maybe we’d need a little sugar to get it down, but I think it would be well worth the encounter with her reality.
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