Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype

by Clarissa Pinkola Estés Ph.D.

Overview

First published three years before the print edition of Women Who Run With the Wolves made publishing history, this original audio edition quickly became an underground bestseller. For its insights into the inner life of women, it established Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés as one of the most important voices of our time in the fields of Jungian psychology, myth, and women's mysteries.

Drawing from her work as a psychoanalyst and cantadora ("keeper of the old stories"), Dr. Estés uses myths and folktales to illustrate how societies systematically strip away the feminine spirit. Through an exploration into the nature of the wild woman archetype, Dr. Estés helps listeners rediscover and free their own wild nature.

The magical storytelling, myths, and commentary on Women Who Run With the Wolves continue to inspire a new level of self-knowledge among listeners young and old.

Note: These CD-ROM-format enhanced CDs contain audio, music, and video clips and are meant to be played on your computer, using an Internet connection, speakers, and Real Player programs, which are free for download. Enhanced content is exclusive to CD version

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781564558459
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/01/2001
Edition description:	Unabridged
Pages:	2
Sales rank:	332,864
Product dimensions:	5.57(w) x 5.15(h) x 0.39(d)

About the Author

Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, PhD, is an internationally recognized scholar, award-winning poet, diplomate senior Jungian psychoanalyst, and cantadora (keeper of the old stories in the Latina tradition). In addition to her international bestseller Women Who Run With the Wolves, Dr. Estés is a managing editor and columnist writing on politics, spirituality, and culture at the newsblog TheModerateVoice.com, and she is a columnist at The National Catholic Reporter online.

Table of Contents

	The Bounty of Wild Woman
	Foreword	xvii
	Introduction: Singing Over the Bones	1
	The Stories
1.	The Howl: Resurrection of the Wild Woman	21
	La Loba, The Wolf Woman
	The Four Rabbinim
2.	Stalking the Intruder: the Beginning Initiation	35
	Bluebeard
	The Natural Predator of the Psyche
	Naive Women as Prey
	The Key to Knowing: The Importance of Snuffling
	The Animal Groom
	Blood Scent
	Backtracking and Looping
	Giving the Cry
	The Sin-eaters
	The Dark Man in Women's Dreams
3.	Nosing Out the Facts: the Retrieval of Intuition as Initiation	70
	The Doll in Her Pocket: Vasalisa the Wise
Task 1	Allowing the Too-Good Mother to Die
Task 2	Exposing the Crude Shadow
Task 3	Navigating in the Dark
Task 4	Facing the Wild Hag
Task 5	Serving the Non-Rational
Task 6	Separating This from That
Task 7	Asking the Mysteries
Task 8	Standing on All Fours
Task 9	Recasting the Shadow
4.	The Mate: Union with the Other	111
	Hymn for the Wild Man: Manawee
	The Dual Nature of Women
	The Power of Two
	The Power of Name
	The Tenacious Dog Nature
	Creeping Seductive Appetite
	Achieving Fierceness
	The Interior Woman
5.	Hunting: When the Heart is a Lonely Hunter	127
	Skeleton Woman: Facing the Life/Death/Life Nature of Love
	Death in the House of Love
	The First Phases of Love
	The Accidental Finding of Treasure
	The Chase and the Hiding
	Untangling the Skeleton
	The Sleep of Trust
	Giving the Tear
	The Later Phases of Love
	Heart as Drum and Singing Up
	The Dance of Body and Soul
6.	Finding One's Pack: Belonging as Blessing	164
	The Ugly Duckling
	Exile of the Unmatched Child
	Kinds of Mothers
	The Ambivalent Mother
	The Collapsed Mother
	The Child Mother and the Unmothered Mother
	The Strong Mother, The Strong Child
	Bad Company
	Not Looking Right
	Frozen Feeling, Frozen Creativity
	The Passing Stranger
	Exile as Boon
	The Uncombed Cats and Cross-Eyed Hens of the World
	Remembrance and Continuance No Matter What
	Love for the Soul
	The Mistaken Zygote
7.	Joyous Body: the Wild Flesh	197
	Body Talk
	The Body in Fairy Tales
	The Power of the Haunches
	La Mariposa, Butterfly Woman
8.	Self-Preservation: Identifying Leg Traps, Cages, and Poisoned Batt	213
	The Feral Woman
	The Red Shoes
	Brutal Loss in Fairy Tales
	The Handmade Red Shoes
	The Traps
Trap #1	The Gilded Carriage, the Devalued Life
Trap #2	The Dry Old Woman, the Senescent Force
Trap #3	Burning the Treasure, Hambre del Alma, Soul Famine
Trap #4	Injury to Basic Instinct, the Consequence of Capture
Trap #5	Trying to Sneak a Secret Life, Split in Two
Trap #6	Cringing Before the Collective, Shadow Rebellion
Trap #7	Faking It, Trying to be Good, Normalizing the Abnormal
Trap #8	Dancing Out of Control, Obsession and Addiction
	Addiction
	At the Executioner's House
	Trying to Take Shoes Off, Too Late
	Returning to Life Made by Hand, Healing Injured Instincts
9.	Homing: Returning to Oneself	255
	Sealskin, Soulskin
	Loss of Sense of Soul as Initiation
	Losing One's Pelt
	The Lonely Man
	The Spirit Child
	Drying Out and Crippling
	Hearing the Old One's Call
	Staying Overlong
	Cutting Loose, Diving In
	The Medial Woman: Breathing Under Water
	Surfacing
	The Practice of Intentional Solitude
	Women's Innate Ecology
10.	Clear Water: Nourishing the Creative Life	297
	La Llorona
	The Pollution of the Wild Soul
	Poison in the River
	Fire on the River
	The Man on the River
	Taking Back the River
	Focus and the Fantasy Mill
	The Little Match Girl
	Staving Off Creative Fantasy
	Renewing the Creative Fire
	The Three Gold Hairs
11.	Heat: Retrieving a Sacred Sexuality	334
	The Dirty Goddesses
	Baubo: The Belly Goddess
	Coyote Dick
	A Trip to Rwanda
12.	Marking Territory: the Boundaries of Rage and Forgiveness	346
	The Crescent Moon Bear
	Rage as Teacher
	Bringing in the Healer: Climbing the Mountain
	The Spirit Bear
	The Transformative Fire and Right Action
	Righteous Rage
	The Withered Trees
	Descansos
	Injured Instinct and Rage
	Collective Rage
	Stuck in Old Rage
	Four Stages of Forgiveness
13.	Battle Scars: Membership in the Scar Clan	374
	Secrets as Slayers
	The Dead Zone
	The Woman With Hair of Gold
	The Scapecoat
14.	La Selva Subterranea: Initiation in the Underground Forest	387
	The Handless Maiden
Stage 1	The Bargain Without Knowing
Stage 2	The Dismemberment
Stage 3	The Wandering
Stage 4	Finding Love in the Underworld
Stage 5	The Harrowing of the Soul
Stage 6	The Realm of the Wild Woman
Stage 7	The Wild Bride and Bridegroom
15.	Shadowing: Canto Hondo, the Deep Song	456
16.	The Wolf's Eyelash	462
	Afterword: Story as Medicine	466
	Addendum	474
	Notes	479
	Education of a Young Wolf: A Bibliography	507
	Acknowledgments	514
	Index	519

Editorial Reviews

After describing the familial and cultural obstacles that modern women face in expressing their wisdom and creative energy, the Jungian analyst unfolds a mesmerizing group of myths and folktales that reveals feminine power not often encouraged or seen by others. Helping women move beyond the expected roles of nurturer or innocent child, these stories fill the air with courage and potential—not to dominate others but to become open to one’s gifts and to give them tangible life in the world. The arresting sensuality of the author’s voice adds fitting intensity to her message that authentic living requires that a woman unconditionally accept her passions and sexual drives, do the work of cultivating them, and protect them from being squelched or subverted by others. T.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2010 - AudioFile

Folklore, fairy tales and dream symbols are called on to help restore women's neglected intuitive and instinctive abilities in this earthy first book by a Jungian analyst. According to Estes, wolves and women share a psychic bond in their fierceness, grace and devotion to mate and community. This comparison defines the archetype of the Wild Woman, a female in touch with her primitive side and able to rely on gut feelings to make choices. The tales here, from various cultures, are not necessarily about wolves; instead, they illuminate fresh perspectives on relationships, self-image, even addiction. An African tale of twins who baffle a man represents the dual nature of woman; from the Middle East, a story about a threadbare but secretly magic carpet shows society's failure to look beyond appearances. Three brief, ribald stories advocate a playful, open sexuality; other examples suggest ways to deal with anger and jealousy. At times, Estes's commentary--in which she urges readers to draw upon and enjoy their Wild Woman aspects--is hyperbolic, but overall her widely researched study offers usable advice for modern women. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Women Who Run with the Wolves isn’t just another book. It is a gift of profound insight, wisdom, and love. An oracle from one who knows.”—Alice Walker
 
“I am grateful to Women Who Run with the Wolves and to Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. The work shows the reader how glorious it is to be daring, to be caring, and to be women. Everyone who can read should read this book.”—Maya Angelou
 
“An inspiring book, the ‘vitamins for the soul’ [for] women who are cut off from their intuitive nature.”—San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Stands out from the pack . . . a joy and sparkle in [the] prose . . . This book will become a bible for women interested in doing deep work. . . . It is a road map of all the pitfalls, those familiar and those horrifically unexpected, that a woman encounters on the way back to her instinctual self. Wolves . . . is a gift.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“A mesmerizing voice . . . dramatic storytelling she learned at the knees of her [immigrant] aunts.”—Newsweek
 
“The work of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, rooted in old and deep family rites and in archetypal psychology, recognizes that the soul is not lost, but has been put to sleep. This volume reminds us that we are nature for all our sophistication, that we are still wild, and the recovery of that vitality will itself set us right in the world.”—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul

From the Publisher