The Revelation of the Selkie Elder: Tia's Story

We sat in circle. 11 Selkie's* reunited to take part in the reveal of the images that had so naturally come through when we gathered with myth and dance and an open gaze one moon cycle before.

It was time for her to be revealed. One woman held up the photo, and by the exacerbations that echoed through the circle, and the tears that immediately came to Tia's eyes, I knew without doubt that I had chosen the right image.

I had decided to choose just one image to print in large for each Selkie woman. At the reveal, I requested each woman choose one of the 11 images at random and write a poem on the back, of what she saw, then share the image, along with the poem, to the others.

The single photo I chose for Tia, was not an easy photo to choose. It wore scars and age and a fierce gaze that pierces through false agenda. And I had many other photos to choose from - ones where her hair fell down in perfect waves and the face was soft and sensual. To go for the pretty and primed (and still divinely wild) or choose the one with impact, bold truth that carries darkness?

Well, my work is to reflect women their own power, to go to the depths rather than meeting superficial beauty standards. My work is one of transformation, not of reinforcement. This carries the possibility of women being blinded by the layers of conditioning that prevent them from being able to see their own wild power reflected. People seem to love the light and be confronted by the dark.

Not Tia.

The woman held the image high and proud. She read the poem she had written on the back, her voice strong and unbreaking:

Seal woman.

Bone woman.

Earth woman.

Warrior woman.

Mother woman.

Wise woman.

Womb woman.

From within the deep,

rising to the stars,

from the soul who weeps, and to the winged heart.

guided by the ancients, angels hold you high,

the water, the sea, fire within me

air surrounds her, earth becomes us.

Then, there was silence. In the air, was pure respect.

Later, I asked Tia to share her experience of receiving this image.

She recognised this woman within herself straight away and her heart cracked open and tears came. Seeing her in the physical form for the first time, in front of a group of beloved sisters, and being seen and accepted as the "dark-light," was transformative, as if stepping out from behind the shadow.

To Tia, this woman is the "weathered and worn, battle-scarred warrior" within. Tia shared " I never wanted to go to battle but that is what life has handed me" and this strong woman within has carried her through it all, including birthing 4 babies uninterrupted at home, abuse and mistreatment, her daughter's suicide attempts, burnout, the despair of loved one's drug addictions, shame, helplessness and hopelessness. She has seen it all.

She has been the fierce protector that would kill for her kin, that would kill to survive. She has earned every scar, transforming all of her experience into wisdom. The face that Tia once saw as "stress" now holds a place of deep respect and reverence - she has become the "raw wise unfiltered elder." She is the one who shows up in Tia's incredibly potent work, holding space for somatic embodiment and channeling the unseen.

Tia shares, in the past, she may have thought she looked "ugly or deadly" but in this moment she could see beyond the physical and feel an overwhelming love for her, a pride in her scars. Instead of ugliness she saw "life, experience, wisdom, woven in with the delight, playfulness, laughter, embodiment." All of the stories, all that she had ever worn, was right THERE before her.

Hearing the story of the woman in this photograph, I was completely captivated. The way that Tia was touched by seeing herself reflected, filled me with a deep sense of purpose.

This is the power of witnessing, and finding the courage to be with the parts of ourselves and one another that aren't deemed acceptable or safe by societal standards. It is here, out of the darkness, that true power is born. Can we open out eyes to see it? Can we claim the gifts of the soul that are hidden in the shadow?

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Tia holds Somawairua dance portals. an interweaving of her gifts as a somatic dance teacher, intuitive healer, energy worker, and lover of conscious dance and embodied spaces. She opens these dance portals at her divine home in Kerikeri and also brings her work across the North Island. Stepping into one of her spaces, you can feel the protective energy that she calls in creating a strong container, allowing you to drop deeply into process. The dance leads you through the darkness, through the shedding and out the other side, rebirthed. This is true movement medicine. You can find her at SomaWaiRua - NATIVE HEALING HERBALS

or on instagram @somawairua

*Selkies are mythological seal women originating from the Northern Isles of Scotland who shed their seal skins in the light of the full moon to celebrate in woman form. The Selkie tale depicts the domestication of womanhood and the journey of rewilding and reconnecting to our wild sisterhood. It is a story that touched the core of my being and holds much inspiration behind my art. I recommend the recount of the tale in The Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, or If Women Rose Rooted by Sharon Blackie.