posted by KWiz on "Women Who Run With The Wolves", Personal Development, Relationships, Spiritual Growth

Before the new year one evening as I was doing some laundry, I noticed a book my husband had in his library that I’ve seen many times over the years but have never been compelled to pick up. This night, though, the book called out to me. I wrote a post about my experience of being “drawn” to the book as I read the following narrative from the inside jacket cover:

“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…

…In Women Who Run With The Wolves, Dr. Estes has created a new lexicon for describing the female psyche. Fertile and life-giving, it is a psychology of women in the truest sense, a knowing of the soul.”

Well, it is time, now, to begin the journey of this “knowing of the soul.” I will be dedicating each Monday for a reflection and, hopefully, discussion, on this wonderful resource, Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. Why would I want to study this book in a blog? It has made a tremendous impact on me, and I believe it will make that same, if not more profound, impact on others. But don’t take my word for it…following are some reviews (from Amazon.com):

“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

“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

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

Now, here is a reader’s review (from Amazon.com):

“I first read Women Who Run With the Wolves when I was a teenager. I was struck deeply by all of the stories. At the time, the stories that stood out the most in my mind were Bluebeard, Skeleton Woman, and Sealskin, Soulskin. They lived on, in my mind, as I grew, and I never forgot the messages I learned from the stories. That was an incredible influence on my life. The stories and Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ descriptions were the wise women I needed to guide me away from allowing myself to be destructed and instead choosing to be aware. I highly recommend sharing this book with your teenage daughters, and talking with them about the messages. In addition this book helped me to view all the stories that I had enjoyed as a child as commentary on my survival (from sexual abuse).”

And from the blogosphere, E-Nadaha says,

“…the way her writings extract that power buried within is just amazing…”

We’ll begin with the introductory chapter next week, “Singing Over the Bones,” where we will discover the characteristics of the Wild Woman (the healthy, passionate, vibrant woman), how we lose that instinctual nature, and how the telling of stories can help turn us around on the path toward the recreation of ourselves.

Join me as we begin a wonderful journey of rediscovery and reclamation. Please comment and let me know if you’re interested!