Several weeks ago I gave a short talk to a women’s networking group on the power of Fear. I said to the group,
“How many monkeys do you know with successful businesses?”
And the question can be repeated for most goals, “How many monkeys have published a book? Or written a musical album? Or taken care of their family on Thanksgiving? Or changed the modern world?”
What’s funny is that we have an evolutionary tie to apes and the monkey family tree, and in some ways have picked up certain traits from them—but I believe that some hold us back from evolving further as truly intelligent and successful human beings, as well.
We can only reach out true potential by understanding the Essence of Intelligence more deeply and sensuously.
Being named Sofia, after the goddess of wisdom, well, I suppose I took it for granted that I better live up to my name, and so Intelligence, has been held upon a golden pedestal in my life. It’s up there with my other ideals Truth, Balance and Beauty. However, what most people consider “intelligent” doesn’t always match up with the definition of wisdom I’ve developed in my 27 years.
Allow me to explain in this article, my personal definition of true intelligence and wisdom, and how that relates to the archetype of Athena (Grecian goddess of wisdom) and the MindBodySpirit connection I so adore.
What most people call “Intelligence” is related to that Divisive or Dual thinking of the monkey– the ability to pick up mistakes or threats, or use tools by examining, and pulling things apart. To answer questions Right, to solve problems, to meet standards tested for in experiments. It can cause the overwhelm of needing to act, in fight or flight mode and I will explain how.
It is the Strategy of Athena, sword poised, sharp and detached from emotional concerns, the moves that win the game of chess along the Black and White checkerboard. Harsh at times, but that is the Truth, they say. Or is it?
Let me say I’ve always been excited to be seen as smart, or intelligent, and only until recently did I see this mode of thinking as the core of what it means to be Intelligent. It certainly seemed safer than beautiful (opening me up to jealousies) or athletic (opening me up to breaking my first bone– but I’m still safe to this day *laughter*).
Being intelligent can get me out of many scrapes and tricky situations, as well as allow others to be more influenced by my opinion. That means I could help people with my smart thinking. Along with the praise of teachers which replaced some emotional needs of mine, I had a lot of reasons to be SMART and Intelligent in the traditional way in Western Culture.
The problem is that there is a gap— this focus on being emotionalless and detaching the mind from the body, and from the emotions, AND from the spirit of a person can actually be a great disservice when it comes to big scale, the decisions one ends up with, and the lifestyle it creates.
The problem is that it is affected by emotion– by Fear– and yet NOT by happiness or joy.
Athena in traditional depictions never strikes me as happy. Right sometimes, which must feel good, but then it is temporary because there is always another problem.
So many people are affected by perfectionism, by treating everything in life as if it were an either or situation, right or wrong, and we take into ourselves that perhaps people can be right-or-wrong and so the biggest condition in the world is the issue of unworthiness.
We cannot achieve our goals because the Intellectual Paradigm of the past age has been to decided joy is not a part of the factor, so instead it is driven by the fear of being wrong. It is driven by the mind without the assistance of the body or the spirit– a sexless, comfortless existance relating to the major health and sexual problems experienced by a huge number of Americans.
Is that the success we want? To spend everyday looking for the problems to solve, solving them, then being afraid of being wrong at our Essence, so constantly doing and doing to run away from that feeling through detached intellectualism.
Instead we must acknowledge when we are afraid. And instead of fear, we must choose a more preferable emotion.
What do you actually want to feel?
Mentally?
Bodily?
Spiritually?
Do you see you can have it all right now?
That you don’t need to cycle through the relay race to joy, to see it in a cup of tea, in a cloud, in a cat’s eye?
That is what life is about, and it’s multidimensional.
Multidimensional in a simplistic way that we all experience for ourselves and which cannot be qualified by modern science– so to some it is not valuable, not as valuable as Truth.
However I believe in a new age. I believe that fear is outdated. We have new tools that utilize the mindbodyspirit– which is not divided into little boxes but actually a whole Being– that can eliminated fear and keep us out of monkeymind so we can follow the instinctive pull of our true Intelligence
Because before there were monkeys and apes there were other animals. And even ancient humans have another kind of intelligence. The intelligence of looking at the whole of things.
One glance
One thought– the first one.
Instinct
Intuition
Inspiration
Oh how holy inspiration is to a writer, a singer, a dancer, a lover, an intuitive, a coach, a professional muse, like me. It is the Spirit of the All in everything, that whispers to the Core of who I am with it’s divine beauty, and unlimited potential to solve everything, to cure anything, to create wholeness in the blink of an eye.
That is the true Essence of Intelligence as far as I am concerned.
Where does it live?
The mind body or the spirit?
All of the above in union.
Athena was the goddess of my alma mater, Bryn Mawr. We left her favors for our exam. It was one of the reasons I decided to go there, being fascinated with the mysteries of the universe as I was, and hungry for knowledge which would help me make a difference in the world.
Several years ago I saw a Greek scholar from American University speak on Athena and her true nature. She said that Western interpretation left her cold when she was warm, and located her gifts in the mind. Although Athena was born from the head of her father, she was a whole person– and had the abilities of intuition related to the senses as well, included gut feelings, clarisentience, and clear knowing (not from logic but just out of nowhere) called claircognizience. She said Athena was more like Galadriel from Lord of the Rings.
Athens is the location of the original olympic games, showing a pride in physical abilities. It’s no mistake that is it the home of Athena’s temple.
The misinterpretation of Athena is an analogy for the misinterpretation of the intelligence. She was the goddess of civilization–which cannot function without compassion. She was the goddess of heros– who held strength of character, of body and mind.
I’ve already written about this split also shown in the tale of Athena and her sister (turned foe by patriarchal interpretation) in this other blogpost.
Many people would not understand how someone like me could go from graduating magna cum laude in Political Science, writing my thesis on constitutional law, graduating Americorps, creating an amazing resume, and turning away from it all.
I didn’t choose politics as a career intelligently. I chose it because it seemed smart, but it wasn’t me. I wanted to help people, and I wanted to be happy, and those things did not. I wanted freedom, I wanted expression, I wanted magic– but that didn’t seem smart, and yet it was Intelligent.
People acted strangely when I got my Massage License. But although local sessions are no longer my focus, it led to deepen my KNOWING, my intuition and that’s opened the world up to my fingertips. I have knowledge that I use daily for my self, my clients, and my loved ones. And I can walk into any room, and people want what I have.
This is what I KNOW:
No longer do I let people tell me what is a smart decision or not, because I KNOW what is right for me. It’s a knowing that tells me that my spiritual and creative work is essential. That bubble baths are key and that walks save my life. That knowing that tells me there is such a thing as past lives and spirits–if you’ve felt a memory like that or believed your loved ones are still there for you in your heart, then you KNOW, too. That I need to write daily to be sane. That my book must be published although sharing my life makes me feel naked–and if you know me I am so shy about my nakedness no matter what I really look like (pretty good *wink*). That knowing that the sensual is all that life is about, and how golden it is despite the shaming women have gone through. The knowing that jealous is a major problem we must all be talking about. That knowing of my intuition that I need to travel somewhere, or sign up with a teacher or coach, or take a class. That knowing that led me to work with angels and write about it for too magazines, because it shines light. That knowing that tells me everything I know to be true. That we create our lives from within not without. That all of us have an inner intelligence in our essence that guides us to the perfect unfolding of the most magnificent life we can stand to experience.
And it’s always right. For better or worse that KNOWING is righter than any strategy you or I could devise.
Feel it?
Do you know?
It’s always been difficult to describe what I do exactly because I weave together so much. I am a Balancer. I provide what is needed in the situation. I am intuitively spot on and I teach others to hear their intuition and trust themselves so that they also always know what to do. I am a MindBodySpirit healer, and I touch it all. Recently I’ve focused on Money, and healing all past lives all in one go. I teach people how to be more creative and connected to the perfect unfolding of their life, business and projects. I see truth and I translate it.
I am here to help you. You have found me and I know you have a gift. I desire to support those who are ready to hear this call.
Let’s talk in person about what your essential intelligence is guiding you towards, and what fears and other things are getting in the way. I am a professional muse, this conversation will inspire you, and I will tell you if we are a match to work more deeply.
Sending you mermaid kisses from the rock on top of which I am languorously sunning myself. Mmm
Blessings
x Sofia Wren
PS Here’s a bonus recording of an amazing experience I had in Santa Fe two weeks ago if you need assistance feeling something real.
