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

This book is more than a collection of stories, it’s a call to reconnect with the parts of ourselves we often silence. The author weaves myths and folklore together with powerful insights about identity, intuition, and womanhood in a way that feels both ancient and relevant today. While it’s not a quick read, it’s the kind of book you sit with, reflecting, underlining, and returning to when you need a reminder of strength and purpose. I appreciated how it encouraged self-reflection and spiritual grounding, helping me see how faith, resilience, and creativity can coexist beautifully. It’s a deeply meaningful read for anyone wanting to understand themselves on a deeper level and embrace a more authentic, grounded way of living. Pro tip: read it slowly, one story at a time, it’s best absorbed with quiet reflection and an open heart.

Have you ever had a book come across your path numerous times? You hear about it, read clips of it on blogs or message boards but never get around to picking it up? "Women Who Run with the Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes is one of those books. It sat on my wish list for months. It wasn't until I read about it on during my studies on society and women that I decided to finally borrowed the book from the library. I am glad I did. Two chapters into the book I realized: I don't want to borrow this book, I must own it. "Women Who Run with the Wolves" is well written and makes you stop, look, listen, and pay attention with your soul. You will need time to read this book to get its full value. It is not reading time that makes it a long read, it is thinking time. This book will address the feelings, thoughts and emotions that you have at the core of your existence. It is a starting point to being honest with yourself. In the simplest of terms it is the handbook on womanhood, intuition, and creativity. Many books on being a woman or understanding a woman seem to tell you about women and womanhood from the outside looking in. This book starts at the core of a woman and shows you layer by layer what the essence of a woman is all about. It is honest and can help a lot of woman and girls understand themselves and live fuller and more meaningful lives. It addresses our needs, joys, fears, hopes, dreams, emotions, creativity, intellect, intuition, customs, views on our self, and society. It hits so close to home that it will feel as if Dr. Estes wrote this book specifically for you. She is like a mother sitting you down and sharing her knowledge with you one beautiful word at a time. I enjoyed the stories and myths that were added to this book from various cultures. It is a great way to understand how ways of being are transferred from generation to generation. She shows us the positive and the negative. The book shows that although women are from various cultures, backgrounds, and races that at the core we are similar in experiences, fears, and love. We have a bond that crosses all these lines. Dr. Estes's book helps to connect the dots. It addressed unanswered questions in the back of my mind and uncovered feelings that were hidden. I slowly found ways to untangle other emotions and thoughts that I deemed crazy but were normal and shared with women across time. As a result look at myself and other women with new understanding. Giving this book to a young woman will be a gift that she will cherish and use throughout her adulthood. I have given copies of this book to women and many have called me to talk about it. We were able to talk about things women don't usually share and help each other. The book is an excellent bridge to create and deepen bonds with other women. I have been stopped in the street and at restaurants by people who are intrigued at the title and my presence when reading it. I have met women who have finished the book and gave me their thoughts on how it has helped them. I would like to thank Dr. Estes for taking the time and having the love in her heart to write this book. It is a book that will help create more stronger and grounded women. It is a book that I will carry with me always

This book is mind blowing I wish and hope more women read this book.

Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés explores the various archetypes of the feminine soul. She reveals many alluring stories of female triumph and chaos. She offers varied stories that every woman could relate to. Estés challenges the reader to explore ways in which they were muzzled by society and cultural norms. Estés calls you to get in touch with your intuition. Her reimagined stories inspire and insight the mind. So, there's no wonder why women who run with wolves enjoy critical acclaim and tiktok stardom. Book quotes - These include not only the encouraging of one woman to inform on another and therefore expose her to punishment for behaving in a feminine and integral manner, for registering appropriate horror or dissension to injustice, but also the encouraging of older women to collude in the physical, mental, and spiritual abuse of women who are younger, less powerful, or helpless, and the encouraging of young women to dismiss and neglect the needs of women who are far older than they. - Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés - Page 241 Trying to be good, orderly, and compliant in the face of inner or outer peril or in order to hide a critical psychic or real-life situation de-souls a woman. It cuts her from her knowing; it cuts her from her ability to act. Like the child in the tale, who does not object out loud, who tries to hide her starvation, who tries to make it seem as though nothing is burning in her, modern women have the same disorder, normalizing the abnormal. This disorder is rampant across cultures. - Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés - Page 243 Injury to instinct, normalizing the abnormal, is what allowed mothers to wipe the stains of that oil spill, and later, the further sins of factories, refineries, and smelters, off their little children, their laundry, the insides of their loved ones as best they could, and while confused and worried, the women effectively cut away their rightful rage. Not all but most had become used to not being able to intervene in shocking events. There were formidable punishments for breaking silence, for fleeing the cage, for pointing out wrongs, for demanding change. - Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés - Page 245

This is like a bible and a right of passage for every woman. You have to read it understand the symbolism of every word. Incredible!

A book every woman should read, took Clarissa Pinkola Estes 30 years to write and indeed in my opinion it is a masterpiece. Coming from a tradition of story tellers Ms Clarissa is a Jungian Psichoterapist who collected and rewrote fairy tales later explained trough symbolic keys... beautiful if you like fairy tales and believe narrative has healing powers.

Great book for all women out there, and a must share with all. A book that should pass from generation to generation. Great way to explain the archetype of women and to understand the between the lines of stories and fairytales.

I am not going to review the contents. Just want to warn everyone against buying the mass market edition. It has the worst bookbinding I have ever seen. I am on page 60 and all the pages so far have cone off the book. I will need to buy it in another edition if I want to read it comfortably

the book is absolutely magnificent to read. as woman, i wish i had read this book earlier in my life. the author uses the mythology of many many fairytales and guiding the reader into the deep recesses of growing as a woman from birth to full womanhood. its like having a mother taking you by the hand and explaining the sacredness of femininity and how to navigate it. simply magnificent. (but the copy of the book i recieved was not properly glued and the pages were falling off so i had to reglue it.)