The Woman of Wyrrd: The Arousal of the Inner Fire

by Lynn V. Andrews

More than a million readers have followed Lynn Andrews on her journeys into the sacred mysteries of the Sisterhood of the Shields -- and this may be the most startling episode yet. Guided by Agnes Whistling Elk into a world of power and magic, Lynn Andrews enters the sacred Dreamtime and emerges as a young woman, Catherine, in medieval England. There she encounters Grandmother, the Woman of Wyrrd, who becomes her teacher -- a woman who offers to take Andrews's ordinary life and build it into a remarkable one full of power, goodness, adventure, and love. In this dazzling spritual adventure, Andrews tells the fascinating story of Catherine's introduction into the secrets of the Sisterhood, her initiation into its rituals and cermonies, her confrontation with death when she dishonors that tradititon, and her terrifying attemp to recover the soul she loses to a dark brooding man who enters her life. In The Woman of Wyrrd, Lynn Andrews reveals the many secrets she has learned about working with the energies of Mother Earth, restoring feminine power and potential, and ultimately tapping into a life without fear.

Genres: Spirituality, Fantasy, Fiction, Indigenous, New Age, Womens, Magical Realism

257 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Lynn Andrews is the author of the Medicine Woman Series, which chronicles her three decades of study and work with shaman healers on four continents.

Reviews

[etherealfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Words are a sacred tool and must be honored as such. When used carefully, words have magical healing properties. When used to judge, to hate, or to separate, words are deadly. The words you will be using in this workbook are your basic tools for healing on this journey. Treat them with respect. Honor your words." ~ Lynn V. Andrews

Books completed:

--- Medicine Woman, 1981
--- Jaguar Woman and the Wisdom of the Butterfly Tree, 1985
--- Star Woman, 1986
--- Crystal Woman, 1987
--- Windhorse Woman, 1989
--- The Woman of Wyrrd, 1990
--- Shakkai, 1992
--- Woman at the Edge of Two Worlds, 1993

Loved the books - every one of them. Treat them as mythology or as absolute truth. It makes no difference, the larger truth is as real to me as the Cosmic Christ. And to me, that is real! Beautifully written, loved her relationships with her spiritual teachers. For me, these books were real medicine, true spiritual healing.

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with most of Andrew's books it is hard for me to class this as non-fiction. Much like Dion Fortune's books The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic, I think it should be classed as teaching through fiction.

[Caitlyn Smallwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

she started talking about how spiritual guidance came from Star People (aliens) 300,000 years ago and i gave up. also the story of a white woman who's profiting off of the lessons of native women, which isn't great.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a while since I have read, and then reread, this book. I am strongly drawn to traditional medicine and the mystery of having lived many lifetimes. This is the most engaging of all of Lynn V Andrews books for me about shamanic journeying and personal healing.

[J Crossley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lynn V. Andrews writes about her regression to a previous medieval lifetime in The Woman of Wyrrd: The Arousal of the Inner Fire. Lynn is guided by Agnes Whistling Elk through Dreamtime. Lynn emerges as Catherine, a young woman in medieval England. As Catherine, she meets Grandmother, the Woman of Wyrrd, who teachers her young apprentice about love and magic. In Catherine’s adventure, she learns of rituals and ceremonies, the ways of nature, mental skills, and of tradition. She faces death when she dishonors the tradition. She falls for a brooding man, but he rejects her love in order to follow his own magical path. Through Catherine, Lynn expounds upon the many secrets she learned through the energies of the Earth, of the potential of feminine power, and about living a life without fear.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a fable about being open to synchronicities (like this book being on the shelf in the common room when I was in the hospital for testing) and out-of-the-ordinary sources of wisdom rather than a literal description of the author's experiences. If you are more spiritually minded than I. perhaps both a literal and a symbolic interpretation would work.

"'I learned that our fear creates our own negativity. Negativity from other people as a thought form can certainly come into my field, but it's not going to harm me unless I allow it to. I can send it back to the person who sent it to me.'" p. 78

[Teragon Bearyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying it’s pretty outlandish. It’s got some good messages and some of it I thought was a beautiful way to talk about nature and human experience. Buttttt, there were pages I quite literally rolled my eyes. Some of it is very empowering and some of it feels kind of I don’t know juvenile? It was an alright book nothing to write home about im donating it to a thrift store as I have no interest in reading it again.

[Amanda Papenfus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this on clearance and wasn't sure what to expect, but then I read about 30 pages on day one. Though a true story, the way Lynn reads about her Dreamwalking reads like fiction. Besides being entertaining, there was a lot that I can apply to my own spirituality.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 1996. Lynn writes of her own personal experiences even though it comes across as fantasy to some people. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan on rereading it again.

[Susan Jost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty out there but right up my alley. If you're interested in shamanism, past lives and women as healers, then this is a good fit. If not, you'll likely be "wyyrded" out by this, haha.

[Grace Fitzjohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

No book has ever been so magical to me. I cannot begin to describe the beautiful atmosphere that this book created for me.

[Dara Grey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is bad. Cringe bad, writhingly awful; I picked it up from an estate sale cheaply and on a minor whim, and then slogged through finishing it because of my curse that I usually have to finish reading even the worst books once I start them to avoid being plagued with nagging curiosity about how the darn thing ends.
Main Character is a super special yt shaman princess lady with super special magic Native American women as teachers and supporters who are there to take care of miss Main Character and do everything for her to help her on her super special magic path of... sleeping a lot and having vividly detailed dreams. Like, building a special magic dream lodge for her (not having her build her own, no of course not), and feeding her, taking care of her when she gets in over her head, and rescuing her when she gets...lost in her dreams...over a dude. This is written at about maybe a 5th grade level?
It starts with and dips in and out of Special Yt Indian Shaman Princess fantasy, then mixes in Mists of Avalon self-insert fanfic, then as if that weren't godawfully cringe enough, proceeds to rip off Carlos Castañeda WORD FOR WORD in some places and conceptually all around that. Just when I thought that was all bad enough but getting used to it, along comes Super Handsome Unavailable Hot Young Wizard! Main Character goes completely maudlin over his unobtainability and gets spirit sickness or something that means of course, not one but two sets of her magical sidekicks, excuse me, teachers, have to step in save her from her own melodrama. To top it all off, there's some brief mild romance novel-y dream smex near the end thrown in for good measure too.
Two stars instead of just one because there's a sprinkling of decent concepts in it, but you'd be better served reading the originals (Castañeda and others) for that.
For a story that talks so much about empowerment, it sure does revolve heavily around an effortless self-centeredness supported by a whole cast of other people who are just there to facilitate a lot of weird navel-gazing, and nothing like actual character development or taking action in the real world to challenge or change existing power systems or structures. This was written over 30 years ago so I understand norms were different then, but it's absolutely peak New Age yt female boomer dreck.

[Caroline Roesch · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started to read a book yesterday and for the first time in my life, after suffering through 23 pages, I threw it in the garbage with disgust. My daughter looked at me in shock, "Did you actually throw a BOOK in the GARBAGE???"

My love affair with books has long been known. I have about 1,000 books in storage that I haven't unpacked yet. My daughter got me a book for my birthday that she let me open early. I hugged it and kissed it because the joy I felt in getting the last book in my favorite new trilogy was all-encompassing. I told you, it's a love affair.

No human being should ever open their eyes onto the words of those pages. I want the 50 cents that I spent on it back. It's everything you hate about white women pretending to be Native American. It's a woman who writes as a 3rd grader would write, describing what they see around them, with a few poetic sentences thrown in to spice it up. It's a woman trying so hard to be spiritual and write poetically and failing to do anything but make me dry heave.

So I'm doing humanity a favor. It's gone. Forever. Now if only I could scrub my mind of the filth that coats it's walls, staining the memories of great authors who knew what the hell they were doing. Wish me luck.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Although it is non-fiction, I couldn't help comparing it to my favorite fantasy novels. I felt it contained numerous profound messages within a story that is told in a very engaging way. I am looking forward to reading other books by Lynn Andrews. This book has changed my life. After being introduced to the Woman of Wyrrd, I feel as though she is now a close friend.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

The teachings on the luminous fibers are quite wonderful in this book. The writing is a bit clunky - I'm not sure if it is because Lynn is writing from a young teen's perspective as well as trying to convey a different time period, but it's a bit disjointed at times. I wish there was more specific information on the old European traditions of shamanism but I enjoyed it.

[Roxy Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book that brings ones search for their inner self and inner understanding out into the physical world. About femininity, spirituality and their combined power this book made feel confident.

[Kani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same story from Lynn Andrews; more to learn from plants and animals and the life of spirit in the body. I liked the time and place of middle england: i must have been there too because it seemed familiar, or maybe it's just the plot line so similar to her other books. still it was a fun read.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great series. Each book is very different in setting and plot. The tone varies from book to book, but gives the same mythical feeling.

[Mignon Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring book that will activate your own internal insights!

[Tracy Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of all the Lynn Andrews books that I have read. Loved the time that she journeyed back to and the lessons learned. Always gleaning much wisdom from Agnes and Ruby. Loved it.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, Deep, Moving!

[David Rainey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another journey of self awareness and spirituality. Good lessons to be learned from all of her writings. Nice change of settings also with the ancient peoples of England.

[Jane Mettee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read most of her books in the 1980s and loved them. This one did not capture my attention at the same level. Maybe it is just me but it was kind of the same story rewritten but not as captivating.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

top 5 1991

[Shamana Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concepts but the narrative was stilted and the dialogue formal. Lots of telling and not showing.

[Bonni Cardoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!