Confessions of a Bone Woman: Realizing Authentic Wildness in a Civilized World

LOCAL AUTHOR

Intuitive and spiritually engaging, Confessions of a Bone Woman is one woman’s authentic story of realizing her life’s higher purpose in becoming a spiritual elder. This is a memoir like no other, leading the reader along a subjective path of wonder, opening their mind to where primal instinct and vivid dreams connect to the animal kingdom, symbolism, reincarnation, and all things metaphysical, helping the reader embrace the true spirit of healing and self-discovery.

As a young girl, Lucinda Bakken White’s soul is broken when her mother remarries, changing life dramatically. Forced to leave behind her carefree spirit and nurturing connections of family and place that once provided the rich profound early connection she once had with nature, the author finds life further disrupted when her step-father enforces unfamiliar influences that see her plummet into a disconnected world of false values, where personal appearances and possessions unwillingly replace free-spirit.

It’s not until Bakken White realizes that living “the dream” of material success and popularity didn’t provide her with the personal value she had hungered for, confessing, “I know Wolf appeared in my dream as a symbol of my authentic wildness. Her haunting lonely howl was calling me back to my original self,” reigniting her call to the wild. And for the first time, she discovers the divine connection between animal and human when she unearths an ancient buffalo bone. This bone becomes a talisman she keeps close to her in order to stay attuned to harmony, describing bones to be symbolic where, “In my research, I read that, symbolically speaking, flesh is temporary and represents life on Earth. Bones, on the other hand, are regarded as eternal like the soul and never die.”

Bakken White creatively weaves her readers through each chapter using sharp imagery that explores the alignment and unity between human, animal, and universe, making this memoir incredibly captivating. It’s hard not to be absorbed reading passages such as, “In many native cultures, Owl is considered a bridge between worlds: flying through the ethers communing with Spirit and walking on the earth plane with two legs like a mortal.”

What I loved most was the teaching by way of comparison of the distinct patterns and parallel behaviors humans have in common with carnivores. “Wolves thrive in cooperative family lifestyle, reminiscent of ancient indigenous tribes.” It’s a lesson in reconnecting with what is important and meaningful and not taking for granted the abundance of beauty and significance nature grants.

This is a beautiful spiritual homecoming, taking us back to our roots, teaching the truths and importance of how closely aligned humans and nature are and how easily our lives get caught up in the superficial materialism of the money-driven, egotistical world that encompasses us if we allow it.