Women Who Run with the Wolves

Women Who Run With the Wolves (1992) is the most well-known book by author Clarissa Pinkola Estés. It became a New York Times bestseller and appeared on the bestseller lists of USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal. Other books by the same author include The Gift of Story (1993), The Faithful Gardener (1996), and Untie the Strong Woman (2011). Estés has also recorded numerous audiobooks on related topics. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology and is a Jungian psychoanalyst. In addition, she is a poet, Latina storyteller, and political activist.

Women Who Run With the Wolves is classified as both folklore/mythology and gender studies. It draws heavily on folk tales and mythology from around the world to explore the themes of the Wild Woman archetype, the forces that stand in the way of female self-awareness, and the necessary growth cycles of life, death, and rebirth. The author posits a natural affiliation between the Wild Woman archetype and the wolf. Having established this association, she guides the reader through a number of experiences intended to expand the neophyte’s awareness and warn her of the pitfalls and adversaries that stand in the way of reclaiming her own inner Wild Woman.

The process begins when the bone collector, La Loba, reanimates a skeleton into a living wolf, which then transforms itself into a human woman. This fable establishes the woman-wolf connection. As the newly vivified woman runs laughing into the darkness, she initiates the quest that the rest of the book will describe.

The road ahead holds many pitfalls for the woman intent on rediscovering herself. The story of Bluebeard describes the dark predator who wants to destroy curiosity and initiative in females. In order to evade such predators, a woman must develop her intuitive powers. These are elucidated in the story of “Vasalisa and Baba Yaga.” The Wild Woman will not only search for herself but also a suitable mate who values her dual nature and accepts the cycle of life, death, and rebirth intrinsic to all love relationships. These concepts are explained in the stories of “Manawee” and “Skeleton Woman,” respectively.

A woman brave enough to assert her primal nature will face ridicule and rejection from those who don’t understand her mindset. This phenomenon is exemplified by “The Ugly Duckling.” Self-diminishment is also a hazard when the inner predator disparages a woman’s body image and her artistic aspirations. These concepts are described in the stories of the “Butterfly Woman” and “The Red Shoes.”

Staying true to oneself during this journey is a difficult process when others try to steal one’s identity. The destructive patterns of mental confusion, sexual repression, suppressed rage, and shameful secrets all conspire to rob the Wild Woman of her authenticity. The stories illustrating these principles are “Sealskin, Soulskin,” “La Llorona,” “The Little Match Girl,” “Baubo,” “The Crescent Moon Bear,” and “The Woman With Hair of Gold.”

The entire journey of self-discovery is encapsulated in “The Handless Maiden” as a way of reinforcing all the principles introduced in prior chapters. The book’s final section brings the wolf-woman story full circle when a woman becomes wise by seeing the world through the eyes of a wolf.

All page number citations are taken from the Kindle edition of this book.