Estes argues that at the heart of the story, Vasilisa the Wise, is an initiation of a woman’s instinctive intuition – an innate power that often gets buried but that can be reset no matter a woman’s age. She explains that the story, and all its components, represents a single person’s psyche undergoing initiation. Estes then details the nine rites (tasks) Vasilisa undertakes to restore her wild feminine power.
Like most fairy tales and inner psychic states, linearity is an illusion. In working with these tasks, Baba Yaga can kick us out and then allow us to return time and again. The nine rites of initiation don’t necessarily happen one after the other. Although there is a rhythm, there is not a singular path of our inner wild feminine. The story reminds us that after the awareness or initiation, we are called to tend our intuition over our lifetime. We must keep strengthening the fire. “The skull-light sees what it sees; it is an eternal light, and right out front, shining ahead of a woman, like a presence which goes a little bit before her and reports back to her what it has found ahead. It is her perpetual reconnaissance” (104).
At the end of the tale lays the theme of: “Let Things Die…What must die, dies” (110).
Feeding the Doll – Feeding the Intuition
ACTIVITY: How do you feed your “doll” – your intuition? What are some practices to keep your intuition fresh and/or ready to grow?
Consider some of these prompts to get in touch with your intuition:
- Describe a time in the past when you knew your intuition was speaking to you. This is an experience where you knew the choice to make, even if you couldn’t explain exactly how you knew.
- What was your intuition telling you?
- How did your body respond when you had this intuitive knowing? How did it feel?
- What thoughts did you have that either affirmed or denied your intuitive knowing?
- What did you do? Did you follow your intuition or did you make another choice?
- What was the result? What happened?
- If you did not follow your intuition, is there a more empowering thought you could have had that would have helped you affirm your knowing?
- How have these questions helped you with your relationship to your intuition?
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The Power of Story 