I was an aesthete rather than an athlete, and my only wish was to be an ecstatic wanderer. - Clarissa Pinkola Estés

El duende is literally the goblin wind or force behind a person’s actions and creative life, including the way they walk, the sound of their voice, even the way they lift their little finger. It is a term used in flamenco dance, and is also used to describe the ability to “think” in poetic images. Among Latina curanderas who recollect story, it is understood as the ability to be filled with spirit that is more than one’s own spirit. Whether one is the artist or whether one is the watcher, listener, or reader, when el duende is present, one sees it, hears it, reads it, feels it underneath the dance, the music, the words, the art; one knows it is there. When el duende is not present, one knows that too.

"A woman must choose her friends and lovers wisely, for both can become like a bad stepmother and rotten stepsisters.

In the case of our lovers, we often invest them with the power of a great Mage - a great magician. This is easy to do , for if we become truly intimate, it dislike unlocking a lead crystal atelier, a magic one, or so it feels to us. A lover can engender and/or destroy even our most durable connections to our own cycle and ideas. The destructive lover must be avoided.

A better sort of lover is one finely wrought of strong psychic muscle and tender flesh. For Wild Woman it also helps if the lover is just a bit psychic too, a person who can "see into" her heart."

المرأة الوحشية هي التي تتجرأ وتبدع وهي التي تدمر. إنها الروح البدائية والخلاقة التي تجعل من كل الأعمال الإبداعية والفنون شيئاً ممكناً. إنها تخلق غابة حولنا, ونحن نبدأ في التعامل مع الحياة من هذا المنظور الجديد والأصيل.