Returning to Self & Reclaiming Your Selkies Soul

In the old stories, the selkie returns to the sea.
She does not ask for permission.
She does not apologise.
She simply slips back into the skin that was always hers.
For many women, the tale of the selkie is not just a myth, but a mirror. A soft, salt-slick reflection of what it means to lose your truest self in the tides of motherhood, caretaking, expectation and everyday life—and to find a way back.
In folklore, the selkie’s skin is her soulskin—her instinct, her wildness, her knowing. To lose it is to become disconnected from the self. To reclaim it is to remember.
This guide is for those ready to remember.
1. Understand What Your “Sealskin” Really Is
The sealskin is symbolic. It is not a single thing, but the whole of your most essential self. It is what you were before the world told you who to be, before roles, responsibilities, or self-criticism took root.
In the myths, it’s stolen. In life, it’s often handed over slowly, piece by piece:
The creative spark dimmed for the sake of practicality.
The need for solitude buried beneath constant availability.
The desire for a wild life traded for routine, stability, acceptance.
To reclaim it, we must first recognise where it was lost.
Prompt: Ask yourself, How have I dimmed my passions and interests? What parts of myself have I forgotten or lost? What still calls to me in the quiet?
2. Make Space for Your Reawakening
Selkies only emerge from the sea under certain conditions—moonlight and music, stillness and solitude. Your own return will also need sacred space.
Set boundaries, even gently. Decline what doesn’t nourish and seek out that which heals. Claim time that is only yours—whether it’s for silence, walking by water, or tending to creativity. This is not indulgence, but essential for cultivating wellbeing and empowerment.
Action: Create a daily ritual—even ten minutes—that is purely for your restoration. Light a candle. Brew tea. Paint. Write. Breathe.
3. Reclaim the Sensual & Sensory
Selkies live through their senses. They are tactile beings—fur, water, wind, skin.
Many women, particularly in long caregiving or domestic phases, become untethered from sensuality—not just sexual, but the simple pleasure of feeling alive in a body.
Practice:
Expose your body to natural sensations; the tingle of cold water, moss beneath your feet, wind upon a bare face and blowing through your hair, the grit of sand between fingers and toes. Engage and notice all five senses.
Dress not for others, but for yourself. Wear clothes than feel good against your skin such as silk or linen. Wrap yourself in colour. Adorn yourself with jewellery that makes you feel powerful, protected and represented.
Engage in movement that connects you to your body- dancing, yoga, running. Whatever makes you feel most alive.
Prioritise pleasure. In a world where bodies are policed, pathologized, and commodified, choosing to prioritise your own pleasure becomes an act of rebellion. This is not simply about sexuality but honouring all bodily desires to reclaim autonomy and allow for self-discovery.
Your sealskin is not just metaphor. It lives in texture, sensation, and the physical reminders of who you are.
4. Return To The Water
Water is the element of the subconscious, the wild, and the in-between. In Scottish folklore, it is the border between this world and the Otherworld—a place of deep wisdom.
It is the home of the selkie and a place of healing. Find your water, whether that’s:
Paddling in the shallows of a tide-churned beach.
Walking along a salt-sprayed clifftop path.
Following a river in the glen.
Wild swimming at sunset.
Dancing in the rain.
A bath by candlelight where you can submerge and dream.
Let the sound of water fill your ears and absorb its negative ions. Go to the water’s edge and let it wash away your worries.
5. Honour the Grief of What Was Lost
Reclaiming your sealskin often brings grief. For the years you abandoned yourself. For the longings ignored. For the dreams shelved.
Let it come. Let it wash through.
There is no healing without mourning. But in honouring that sadness, you also prepare the soil for something more vibrant to grow.
6. Embrace the Return
When the selkie finds her skin, she does not hesitate. She knows the sea is waiting.
And while in the old stories, she often leaves everything behind, in our stories, there is a gentler path. Reclaiming your authentic self doesn’t always mean leaving everything behind. The return to your sealskin is not a retreat, it’s a rising- like a neep tide. It is the conscious integration of all you are and have been.
To embrace your return is to:
Accept your wildness without apology.
Make peace with your cycles of transformation.
Begin again, not from the beginning—but from where you are meeting yourself at this moment in time.
You are allowed to live differently now.
You are allowed to belong to yourself first.
And you are allowed to re-enter your life as your reclaimed self —in all its light and darkness.
The selkie doesn’t leave because she doesn’t love.
She leaves because she loves herself enough to go.
At Boho Silver, we want to honour this journey and create jewellery that acts as modern talismans for sea women, for artists, for mothers rediscovering themselves, for wild spirits who love adventure.
So slip your sealskin over your shoulders again. Wear your silver like it is moonlight. Step back into the tide and realise how wonderful it is to just be you.



