Reclaiming the word “wild” is an act of sovereignty.
Wrenching this term back from the clutches of the patriarchy which uses it to define chaos, out-of-control, and “crazy”, is activism that benefits us and the Earth.
If you’re reading this, chances are you might have a wild mind.
Before we go any further, let’s define wild and mind.
By wild, I mean undomesticated and untamed, the same way we talk about “wilderness”.
The wild, or wilderness, in Nature is a miraculous entity, born of elements and time.
This “wild” isn’t cultivated or created by people. In the best circumstances, it’s something we protect and revere, like national parks.
But “wild” can also refer to chaos, a haphazard lack of control that is unsafe, a frenzied, unpredictable state that usually destroys what’s in its path.
I don’t mean wild like that.
Not at all.
For the rest of this essay, when I say “wild” I mean a wilderness, an elemental miracle, untamed, undomesticated.
Now let’s look at “mind”.
Mind is different from brain.
The brain is an organ. It functions like a circuit board or a supercomputer.
Whereas the mind is an entity with personality and proclivities, a bouquet of tendencies, emotions, memories, qualia, and the conscious and subconscious; it’s how we “are”.
The brain affects the mind, yes.
The mind and the brain can both change, grow, improve, starve, stagnate, or atrophy.
But the mind defines our intelligence proclivities, the way we understand the world around us, offer our wisdom, and relate to one another.
So, a wild mind is a wilderness, a sanctuary of Nature; an undomesticated territory of wisdom and personality that determines how we understand the world around us and relate to one another.
In the same way that a wild woodland doesn’t grow in rows, produce flowers in time for consumer holidays, or is ever a “just right” manicured garden, the wild mind is untamed, loyal only to the elements and rhythms of Earth.
Many of us seek out the wilderness, marveling at its natural beauty and appreciating the way it soothes and regulates our nervous systems.
A wild mind does this for us, too.
How can you tell if you have a wild mind?
The same way that you can tell whether you’re in a mall or a wilderness.
Is your mind free to respond to the rhythms of Nature?
Is your mind a wonder to behold? Do people feel better for having been it its proximity?
Is your mind beautiful? Is it a sanctuary? Does it regulate your nervous system?
Yes? Then you have a wild mind.
The alternative is that the mind is a manmade mall, controlled by canned air, built for the use of others, existing to satiate a human desire for stuff and status; paved and stressful.
Oof. I hated even writing that.
A wild mind is a habitat, a harmony of elements that makes certain beauty inevitable.
For example, Darkwood is, well, dark, as in shaded, so it’s a great habitat for ferns, moss, and rhododendron.
Those plants just grow here. I don’t have to interfere or help them in any way for it to be miraculously beautiful.
But if I tried to grow something like roses, it would be an ill-fated frustrating waste of time; an uphill battle.
Same with my wild mind.
My wild mind produces the Darkwood pedagogy, the anointing oils, these Arche-telegram essays, and miles of poetry the same way this land grows ferns — if left alone, it is inevitable, effortless, and beautiful.
But hang on.
None of us are just one or the other; strictly wild or not-wild.
But we do get to decide which one gets more acreage.
I mean, we all gotta pay taxes and deal with certain domestications in life. It’s normal.
When your wild mind gets more acreage than what’s domesticated, you get to experience the unique ways that you understand and orient to the world, and we get to experience your brilliance.
When we can employ our wild mind to handle things like taxes and domesticities, the chores have a flow, a timing, and an alignment.
When we see, think, and create through the wild mind, we are, by nature, outside of the proverbial box.
You know what’s a box? The friggin’ mall, surrounded by a paradise paved.
When you commit to your wild mind, give it lots of acreage, treat it like the sanctuary and miracle it is, you get the joy of being in wilderness within yourself.
So, guess what.
Mystery Schools nourish the wild mind.
Mystery School can include any program or pedagogy that connects you to your own unconventional wisdom through unconventional means.
For me, the massage therapy program I attended in New Mexico in the 1997 was a Mystery School.
And I’d say that programs like the Black Mountain College and the Esalen institute could be in this ilk, too.
In fiction, Mystery Schools have included Hogwarts, Avalon, and EarthSea.
Mystery Schools all support and give sanctuary to the wild mind where imagination, experimentation, and honoring what’s outside the box is the norm.
Lemme say that again.
Where imagination, experimentation, and honoring what’s outside the box is the norm.
The wild of the mind needs more than the mundane rhythms of office hours, tax seasons, spring breaks, and consumer holidays.
Like a horse in a pen yearning to unleash her strength as she gallops across wide open space, we wanna see what our wild minds can really do, and what else a life can be.
In Mystery School, you are a unique snowflake in a blizzard of other magical, unconventional beings, ready to refine and study something that some might call “crazy”, a waste of time, unproven, or mumbo jumbo, but is straight up scholastic to your wild mind.
The Mystical Year is a Mystery School.
The Mystical Year teaches you how to embrace your own nature, your wild mind, and then wield it.
It does this through a one-of-a-kind pedagogy based on archetypes, the Wheel of the Year, and sensory wisdom.
It’s specific, which will help you align with it (or not).
These are The Darkwood School’s tools:
- anointing oils & scent
- archetypes
- The Wheel of the Year
- creative writing
- ritual
- divination
- sacred noticing
These tools will teach you a language rich in symbol, meaning, and wild. You can use this language to express yourself and your process with precision and poetry.
And by the way, Mystery School is school, not a weekend workshop, not a drop-in class. You commit. For a year.
And by the end of the year, your wild mind has more acreage.
Lots more.
Your tongue is fluent in a potent language, your senses attuned in ways that guide and inspire you.
You learn to enjoy your wild mind, seek it out, and wield it for your own benefit and the benefit of the whole world.
Enrollment in The Mystical Year is open.
And it’s a little different this year, more inclusive and accessible.
It’s designed for beginners and also seasoned Darkwood scholars.
Think of The Mystical Year like a subscription to your favorite magazine — themed content designed to enliven and inspire you year after year.
And if your business or art needs the attention of your wild mind, consider the Mentorship program, a comprehensive mystery school that supports your Work.
Is 2026 is the year to tend and expand the wild acreage of your mind?
Only you will know.
love and mystery school,
xo
kv
PS: me in my aunt & uncle’s sunflower field in 1997, headed out to Albuquerque to attend massage school.
