Sit At The Feet Of Wise Women And Listen To Their Stories

Wise women are weavers of history, transmitters of values, affects and universes laden with symbols. Let us sit at the feet of our mothers, grandmothers or aunts to listen to them with the heart, as a ritual, as a way to connect with our past, to gain new strength for the present.

This type of oral inheritance, passed on to us by older generations, often has a stronger impact than the simple genetic or even material inheritance that we can receive from our parents or grandparents. In these stories, there is a clear intentionality, we sow values, principles and a whole universe full of magic, spirituality and inspiration that we will never forget.

“Wait quietly until a wind worth taking off comes along.”

––

In anthropology, we are reminded that women have always been a great transmitter of culture. It is she who has gathered at her feet and on her skirts younger generations to offer them the gift of words and the offering of a story, a tale or a legend.

The female voice has served for many years, not just as a wonderful learning medium, but as a breath that gives strength and inspires younger minds towards change, towards a more equitable, bolder and more sensitive evolution. .

We suggest that you reflect on this subject.

The woman, storyteller

We often turn our gaze to neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Tunisia or Libya, and we imagine the classic woman, submissive, voiceless, without vote, locked in a very patriarchal culture. But if you think about it, you are wrong. Because the woman has never been silent. In fact, we could hear his cries and see his faces claiming the need for a change during the Arab Spring of 2011.

They have always been there, with their presence, their wise gaze and above all their voice, like the iconic storyteller

On the other hand, it is very common for women to tell stories of women because it is in these tales that the life story is integrated. These are oral legacies that are often overlooked in the public sphere because they are uncomfortable and too revolutionary. Hence the importance of these intimate and complicit spaces where grandmothers, mothers or aunts bring together the youngest to explain to them what another woman has been able to do.

These are exceptional moments when the use of words acts as a critical awareness, as a channel of progress and of this impact which starts from the subjective and the emotional, to reach the public and real sphere.

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Stories as therapies

Listening to a meaningful and inspiring story acts like a real “quantum leap” for us. That is to say, it impels us towards a higher state, towards this insight which allows us to become aware of a truth to initiate a change.

“Does history repeat itself? Or does it repeat itself only as a penance for those who do not know how to listen to it? ”

-Eduardo Galeano-

Thus, we cannot forget the way our brain reacts when it listens to a story transmitted orally: we only keep the message, our mind is also responsible for leaving an emotional imprint, thus reinforcing a significant and permanent memory. This explains why even now, even in adulthood, we remember with such precision the stories our grandmothers told us in childhood.

The use of words is the art of all therapy, it is the tool that allows to energize, to confront and to promote self-discovery and change. So we cannot deny that all of these stories handed down by women since ancient times involved some form of healing and personal growth for subsequent generations.

A tale always hides a series of values ​​and emphasizes vital priorities from which we draw inspiration. It costs nothing to sit at the feet of wise, elderly women to listen to their stories from the past, those that tell us of another era and other times where personal experiences that are familiar to us often take place.

Because love always speaks the same language, because disappointments are experienced in the same way in the past or in the present. Let us listen to their voices, participate in this heritage that must not be lost and look for moments of complicity with them to revel in their experiences, their beautiful looks, where time is inscribed and a wisdom that we all deserve. -s.

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