yeah...read it several years ago....great book!

Yes, it is by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
I resisted reading it for a long time. But in some weird circumstances I just got a copy of it and I am reading it - at the same time than I am reading 2 other books. I am also reading the chapters out of order, in a more intuitive way.

I mostly do like it but, probably because I had been concidering myself some version of "wolf-woman" way before the book came out, it does not always resonate quite right for me.
I think it is one of those books you have to read at the right time in your life...you have to be open to it.

All this said, I recommend it.

Here is a short passage from the intro(p.5): "It was a time when parents who abused their children were simply called "strict", when the spiritual lacerations of profoundly exploited women were refered to as "nervous breakdowns", when girls and women who were tightly girdled, tightly reined, and tightly muzzled were called "nice", and those other females who managed to slip the collar for a moment or two of life were branded "bad. "

And I would suggest that we all try to stay away from being "nice" and stick to being kind, just, fair, vibrant, smart, playful, giving, strong, etc..

Yeah, took me a couple of years to digest, but I got all the way through it a while back.

I've been thinking ever since about what a fabulous tool it would be for a seminar that I'd like to give at battered women's shelters on self-empowerment and re-learning self-value.

I read this once a long time ago, have it sitting on my shelf looking at me as I write this. I liked how she told stories. The wolf is my totem animal(one of them). I always found this strange, because I am not much of a dog person. But I do see correlations to my own personality and how wolf women behave.

Tammy

Actually, this book was required reading for my shaman's wild women class =)

I also recommend Carolyn McVickar Edwards for her retelling of stories in a woman's point-of-view

Storyteller's Goddess

Sun Stories

etc...

It's one to read and reread... although I find Pinkola-Estes occasionally a bit pedantic, ultimately her gentle and profound wisdom just makes me feel cradled, comforted.. sometimes even a bit reborn.. very thankful for her words.

Yes I have been reading it for some time now. So poweful and healing and I am not even 1/2 way through. In fact I have just about read the first 1/4 twice. Speaks to me. Im glad to of run across this tribe. One of four of my friends, the only one i have met soley here on tribe has it in her "tribes" section and i got excited.

New here. Hello!
I have heard about this book and plan to get my hands on a copy ASAP. It sounds like just the kind of book that I could use at this time of change in my life. Thank you, everyone, for the review of this one and the mention of other recommended reading materials.
-Melo

This was one of those books that I felt was already written inside of me and someone was writing the mysteries of my woman psyche down on pages. Needless to say, one of my copies (I give them away to women) says, ALisa's bible, please return. I have listened to all of her tapes as well and find that her writing, simply put, moves my soul to greater places. But more than that, I am living the archetypes out and whether it was Women Who Run with the Wolves or the life that was already instinctually within me as a woman before I read this, my very work in the world of Priestess Path Apprenticeship but more directly, Women in Power; Initiating Ourselves to the Predator Within, an international program, definitely has been fueled and fed for women by the understandings that Clarissa Pinkola Estes imparts. I am a women's empowerment trainer/magic person/ ceremonialist who makes worlds for women to enter that give her a chance in a ritual setting to safely confront and rise above challenges that have kept her down. I only facilitate Women in Power three times a year because of my other busy schedule but it is always full. It touches upon some very interesting issues about healthy predator/prey instincts and that which we have been hurt by with unhealthy perpetrator/ victim experiences. I cannot even begin to explain here how amazing it all ends up being when we as women begin to own the healthy predator energy. The premise is that some of us vowed (of course) never to be like the perpetrators who hurt us but in doing so forsook the power that we sometimes need in our life to be strong and powerful ourselves in healthy ways leaving us with a more prey energy (think bunny ~ soft, loveable, eating grass). Prey energy actually has its own amazing power and gives away to life often so that we may live. But the ability for us to explore the "other" predatory nature in us is totally revolutionary in this context. It has been an honor to develop this with two other co-founders and I am sure Women Who Run with the Wolves influenced my thinking over these many years. All for now. And since I am a Shadow Work facilitator, yes, sometimes with concepts like these, it leaves one with big question marks and confusion. Huh? Still there is gold there in that~ keep digging. I am here now and again and will check back.

I refer to the book as "My Bible" because I am constantly referring to it in times of need, growth, stagnation, turmoil... practically any circumstance. I was never good at seeing the message in fables/metaphoric tales, but Clarissa's interpretations speak to an inner me that I couldn't understand before. WWRWTWs has taught me not only to understand my powers within, but to use them.

I always knew I had a hidden energy/power, a special (mystic?) understanding of life and the universe. Though it appeared often by it's own will, I could never grasp it to see what/where/how it was. This book has identified this elusive being within myself and opened a whole new level of life understanding for me, and for friends that I've given it to, and for their friends that they passed it on to. One friend has half the women in her workplace reading it and raving about it, discussing it over lunch and coffee breaks!

I'm quite happy to have found this list/group!

Darly

I have read it, and keep reading it. It is timeless.

Yes I own a copy of it and have given a copy of it to my niece when she graduated from high school. I think is is a book that all women should be familiar with in one fashion or another. I plan on telling stories from it to my daughter when she gets a little older when the shoe fits as it fits. My favorite story from the book at this time is the one about Vasalisa and Baba Yaga.

Mary

A very special friend gave me her copy to read... it has been my favorite book ever. There are many great books... but this one always speaks to me, my heart, when I have forgotten... and once I pick it up again, it brings me great medicine. This book will get you through any trying time. It has great power!

get it on audio tape, she narrates it and has a great speaking voice; I keep it in the car for long drives. Anam Cara

Author = Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD.

Love how one can see how myths have MUTATED and now provide strange twists of information that have been lost with the retelling. She attempts to reconstruct many myths to their most original state in order to reveal the "honing advice" as well as to see how we are misinformed. She stays tight and to the point on retelling the myths. No bashing, no social cry of injustice.
While I am one for making cries/screams/shouts for social injustice I love how she keeps the work scholoarly, yet accessible, and informative without a seemingly aggressive opinion. Her focus and balance make the work transformational with out all the hype and assertion. It stands on it's own merit. I love this display of intellect and passion!

Another fabulous book which I read about 14 years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter. Clarrisa Pinkola Estes is not only an incredible writer but an incredible speaker. I heard her once read her stories and it was quite memorable and moving. All women who run with wolves should read this book.

My favorite chapter is "When the Heart is a Lonely Hunter" with Skeleton Woman and all. So beautiful!

I first read that book 13 or 14 years ago when it first came out and it became my bible literally and helped me survive emotionally and spiritually through one of the worst times of my life when I almost lost my life. Sometimes I've come across it in my bookcase and I hold it between my palms and ask"Show me what I need to know". Then the story is revealed. The fun part is interpreting it as a metaphor for your life at that moment. Play and play some more!