My Book Review > Women Who Run With the Wolves", by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
âWomen Who Run With the Wolvesâ is a book on the instinctive nature of women: the âwild womanâ who secretly lies inside each of us. A Jungian psychoanalyst, Clarissa Pinkola Estes sees the âwild womanâ as the archetype (universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious; Wikipedia) of womenâs Psyche. Sadly, as a result of modern life and because of social pressure, we forget or ignore the âwild womanâ; and because of this we are weak, we make mistakes, we feel lost and are way too often victim of abuse... There is no alternative but to look for the âwild womanâ: sheâs strong, and she knows! How can we find her? Well, sheâs in every story and fairy tale. Because âA story is not just a story. In its most innate and proper sense, it is someoneâs lifeâ. âStories are medicineâ. They are our guide, they show the way. âIf you donât go out in the woods, nothing will ever happen and your life will never beginâ. âA woman cannot make the culture more aware by saying âChangeâ. But she can change her own attitude toward herself, thereby causing devaluing projections to glance offâ. âTo realize the injury, and yet memorize it, allows thriving to come forth. Thriving is what was meant for us on this earth. Thriving, not just surviving, is our birthright as womenâ.