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

A Jungian analyst explores the mysteries of the feminine psyche through stories of "wild women"--the mythological archetype of the strong, primitive woman. Reprint. Within Every Woman There Is A Wild And Natural Creature, A Powerful Force, Filled With Good Instincts, Passionate Creativity, And Ageless Knowing. Her Name Is Wild Woman, But She Is An Endangered Species. Though The Gifts Of Wildish Nature Come To Us At Birth, Society's Attempt To Civilize Us Into Rigid Roles Has Plundered This Treasure, And Muffled The Deep, Life-giving Messages Of Our Own Souls. Without Wild Woman, We Become Over-domesticated, Fearful, Uncreative, Trapped. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph. D., Jungian Analyst And Cantadora Storyteller, Shows How Woman's Vitality Can Be Restored Through What She Calls Psychic Archeological Digs Into The Bins Of The Female Unconscious. In Women Who Run With The Wolves, Dr. Estes Uses Multicultural Myths, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, And Stories Chosen From Over Twenty Years Of Research That Help Women Reconnect With The Healthy, Instinctual, Visionary Attributes Of The Wild Woman Archetype. Dr. Estes Collects The Bones Of Many Stories, Looking For The Archetypal Motifs That Set A Woman's Inner Life Into Motion. La Loba Teaches About The Transformative Function Of The Psyche. In Bluebeard, We Learn What To Do With Wounds That Will Not Heal; In Skeleton Woman, We Glimpse The Mystical Power Of Relationship And How Dead Feelings Can Be Revived; Vasalisa The Wise Brings Our Lost Womanly Instincts To The Surface Again; The Handless Maiden Recovers The Wild Woman Initiation Rites; And The Little Match Girl Warns Against The Insidious Dangers Of A Life Spent In Fantasy. In These And Other Stories, We Focus On The Many Qualities Of Wild Woman. We Retrieve, Examine, Love, And Understand Her, And Hold Her Against Our Deep Psyches As One Who Is Both Magic And Medicine. In Women Who Run With The Wolves, Dr. Estes Has Created A New Lexicon For Describing The Female Psyche. Fertile And Lifegiving, It Is A Psychology Of Women In The Truest Sense, A Knowing Of The Soul.--jacket. The Bounty Of Wild Woman: The Stories -- The Howl: Resurrection Of The Wild Woman -- Stalking The Intruder: The Beginning Initiation -- Nosing Out The Facts: The Retrieval Of Intuition As Initiation -- The Mate: Union With The Other -- Hunting: When The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter -- Finding One's Pack: Belonging As Blessing -- Joyous Body: The Wild Flesh -- Self-preservation: Identifying Leg Traps, Cages, And Poisoned Bait -- Homing: Returning To Oneself -- Clear Water: Nourishing The Creative Life -- Heat: Retrieving A Sacred Sexuality 00 Marking Territory: The Boundaries Of Rage And Forgiveness -- Battle Scars: Membership In The Scar Clan -- La Selva Subterranea: Initiation In The Underground Forest -- Shadowing: Canto Hondo, The Deep Song. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. Education Of A Young Wolf, A Bibliography: P. 501-510. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 471-500) And Index. The Author's Premise Is That Within Every Woman There Lives A Powerful Force, Filled With Good Instincts, Passionate Creativity, And Ageless Knowing. She Is The Wild Woman, Who Represents The Instinctual Nature Of Women. Here, The Author Unfolds Rich Intercultural Myths, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, And Stories To Help Women Reconnect With The Fierce, Healthy, Visionary Attributes Of This Instinctual Nature. Through These Stories And Commentaries, The Author Explores That Inner Female Psyche, Viewing It In Turn As Live-giving, Magical And Medicinal. The Howl: Resurrection Of The Wild Woman -- Stalking The Intruder: The Beginning Initiation -- Nosing Out The Facts: The Retrieval Of Intuition As Initiation -- The Doll In Her Pocket: Vasalisa The Wise -- The Mate: Union With The Other -- Hunting: When The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter -- Finding One's Pack: Belonging As A Blessing -- Joyous Body: The Wild Flesh -- Self-preservation: Identifying Leg Traps, Cages, And Poisoned Bait -- Homing: Returning To Oneself -- Clear Water: Nourishing The Creative Life -- Heat: Retrieving A Sacred Sexuality -- Marking Territory: The Boundaries Of Rage And Forgiveness -- Battle Scars: Membership In The Scar Clan -- Le Selva Subterránea: Initiation In The Underground Forest -- Shadowing: Canto Hondo, The Deep Song -- The Wolf's Eyelash. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. Updated, With New Material By The Author--cover. Education Of A Young Wolf, A Bibliography: P. 507-513. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 479-506) And Index. Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species. Though the gifts of wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to "civilize" us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. Without Wild Woman, we become over-domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., Jungian analyst and cantadora storyteller, shows how woman's vitality can be restored through what she calls "psychic archeological digs" into the ruins of the female unconscious. In Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dr. Estes uses multicultural myths, fairy tales, folk tales, and stories chosen from over twenty years of research that help women reconnect with the healthy, instinctual, visionary attributes of the Wild Woman archetype. Dr. Estes collects the bones of many stories, looking for the archetypal motifs that set a woman's inner life into motion. In Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dr. Estes has created a lexicon for describing the female psyche. Fertile and life-giving, it s a psychology of women in the truest sense, a knowing of the soul. Combining themes from multicultural stories with her own clinical work, the author of this book shows women how to tap into the healing and creative energies of the "wild" woman - the wise and ageless presence in the feminine psyche.