On Claiming Your Witchy Scientist

Last week I wrote about the false dichotomies we’ve constructed between science and spirit, science and art, science and intuition, science and traditional ecological knowledge—and how community is gathering here in recognition that these schisms need mending. It’s been generating so much juicy conversation, I can’t help but write more.

These divisions are part and parcel of the forces behind the destructive ways we’re treating this glorious planet we call home, the violence we inflict upon each other, our individual crises of spirit.

The workings of the planet require cooperation, reciprocity, mutualism, interdependence. And, we all, in the words of Walt Whitman, contain multitudes. These are the laws of nature. Defying them—by damming and extracting and draining and leveling and denuding; by repressing our own innate complexities through scheduling and producing and categorizing and specializing and stockpiling—is inherently a losing game. And, we’re seeing the results writ large today—with crises of everything. These exigencies all hold something in common: disconnect. Disconnect from the planet, each other, and from ourselves.

There are endless lines of inquiry around the how, when, why of disconnect, and similarly around the what to do about it? Enough to fuel the remainder of my writing career. (And, I’ve already written extensively about these questions.) However, one theme, in particular, is sitting with me today—and that is the idea, presented by Marcus Robinson, that despite all the arenas in which we might be courageous, being publicly vulnerable requires a different kind of courage: It requires a shift from outer-world mastery to inner-field coherence. (That is, alignment and connection…with ourselves.)

I asked readers where they—the edge-walker, magic mama, animal whisperer, earth guardian, artist, mystical healers // scientist, teacher, lawyer, engineer, technologists out there—were broadcasting their true frequency and where they were holding back. The responses were ah-mazing!

For decades, Gabrielle Fabian, a retired molecular biologist—and artist—was told the myth that the two disciplines cannot exist together, let alone in a single individual. She always declared that she was the exception. She’s now, at 70 years young, showing her work boldly.

Jackie Feather is a retired psychologist and academic who talks with trees, reflecting her fundamental belief that all beings have equal value, rights and contributions. She loves that this means she can express her whimsical side: Sometimes I think if we all lived whimsically and our main purpose was to express our ourselves (like a tree or a child) our world would be a better place.

Sumaya Abuhaidar surprised herself by realizing she’d become more comfortable sharing her witchy, earthy side than her smart, over-educated side, saying: Once upon a time, it was the other way around, and now I think I’ve swung too far in trying to bravely share my mystical, horse whisperer, tree hugger (literally) self. I think the point is to vulnerably share it ALL.

I hear you, sisters.

The Gift of Vitality, offered that she’s a pediatrician and energy worker who doesn’t fit into a box. As she’s currently navigating breast cancer her vulnerability is coming out in writing about this experience. She shared: I realized that when I was in a conventional medical practice with my side energy practice I was hiding a lot and I used to say regularly “I live my life in boxes.” It took a lot of brain energy to shift between those identities and ways of the seeing the world and boxes. The boxes are now flattened and in recycling. (I could not love this more! It might be a new mantra.)

In her twenties, Cecelia Caspram pursued a spiritual path—living in an ashram and ultimately studying her way to ordained mystical priest. She left to finish grad school and become a social worker…and then a professional fundraiser, all because she had such a deep desire to love and serve her fellow human beings. Then she burned out—more than once. During that recovery, she received a cancer diagnosis. Her journey led her to understand she needed to live an integrated life. (And she’s doing just that with her Substack, For the Love of Humanity, where she focuses on philanthropy (root meaning: love of humanity) as one of the most human things a human can do.)

And, this is the point: Integration is where it’s at. (Integration in psychology refers to the process of unifying disjointed or repressed parts of the self into a cohesive whole.)

This is borne out by rising interest in integrative approaches like Internal Family Systems therapy (which aims to restore the core Self from parts (the achiever, the protector, the inner critic, the worrier) built to keep us safe in a (sometimes traumatic) world); somatic psychology, which focuses on integration through the body; and psychedelic integration, which focuses on synthesizing insights gained during psychedelic experiences. (And of course, natural systems are inherently integrated—it’s we who are fracturing them.)

The question then becomes: What’s limiting your ability to show up as all of it, all at once? What might it take for you to stand up and declare to the world that you’re a molecular biologist and an artist, a psychologist who talks to trees, a pediatrician and an energy worker?

By reconnecting with ourselves—by becoming kinder, more loving, more compassionate to ourselves—we’re more likely to see the world around us through a similar lens, and begin to heal not just our individual crises of spirit, but our relationships to each other and to this glorious planet of ours.

To flattening and recycling the boxes!

xo Wendy

The Coven is coming…

I’m building The Coven—a circle for the edge-walking, tree-talking, witchy women among us. Launching this September. More soon!

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