The eventual achievement that our suffering has meaning makes suffering more bearable. The area of wounding is a direct route to the numinosum.  The archetype at the core is both the one that causes the suffering and is also the one that can cause the healing through increased consciousness of that area of suffering.  The way to heal is to go more deeply into the complex that is causing the suffering.  Then there is a possibility of direct contact with the archetype at the core and therefore a possibility of redemption.  A supportive relationship can also help the individual come into relationship to the difficult part of herself.

The wounds and the suffering are what softens the heart and enable each of us to give and receive compassionate love for self and other.  The tenderness of vulnerability is very beautiful.  Betsy Perluss (2013) wrote: “Our suffering is often the catalyst for our spiritual search, and that in itself can make the suffering meaningful and therefore more endurable.”

Following the “symptom,” such as affect (a mood, or a yearning) or compulsion (such as alcohol, or clothing shopping) is an important way to connect with the wild woman of the psyche – we can get curious about, “what does she seek”?  Other ways to connect to her and invite numinous encounter are dreams, visions, or daydreams, or being in the natural world can also be awe-inspiring.  A relationship with another person “when they respond to us they see the element of the divine in us and we see that in the other person.  It is a soul spark,” (Corbett, 2012a, n.p.).  The connection to the body can be numinous; in particular a weak area (such as a physical symptom like a throat constriction, nausea, or serious illness like cancer or Alzheimer’s) can allow for the numinosum to come in, as there is another presence that affects the body – we can ask, “who is the god-goddess at the core of the symptom”?  Being engaged in creative activity when energy comes through us that we experience as something other than ourselves connects us to her presence.  Children, and caring for and responding to children, can be a connection to the Divine Child.  Sex and sexuality can be a source of numinous encounter.  Potentially any simple daily activity can be imbued with holiness.  The depth psychological approach is to bring back a sense of the sacredness of all things; recognizing that they are all manifestations of the divine in various forms.  What matters is not the content but the emotional quality that arises from the experience.