Narrator: There is a shadow that trots behind us, a primal, instinctual presence that lingers in our days and haunts our nights. We are often taught to fear this part of ourselves, to feel shame for its untamed desires. Society encourages us to be civilized, to smooth over our rough edges, and to silence the howl that rises from deep within. But no matter how much we suppress it, that shadow remains, and as author Clarissa Pinkola Estés suggests, it is "definitely four-footed."

In her seminal work, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, Estés embarks on a "psychic-archeological dig" into the ruins of the female underworld. She argues that for centuries, the natural, instinctual psyche of women—the Wild Woman—has been plundered, suppressed, and forced into unnatural rhythms, much like the pristine wilderness of our planet. Using ancient myths and fairy tales as medicine, the book provides a map for women to reclaim this vital, life-giving force and return to their truest, most powerful selves.

Narrator: At the heart of Estés's work is the understanding that the wild soul, though damaged or forgotten, can be brought back to life. This process of resurrection is powerfully illustrated through the story of La Loba, the Wolf Woman. According to myth, La Loba lives in a hidden place in the desert, where she spends her days collecting the bones of creatures, especially wolves. When she has gathered an entire skeleton, she sits by her fire and sings over the bones. As she sings, the bones begin to knit together, flesh covers them, and the wolf is brought back to life. It leaps up and runs off into the canyon, transforming into a laughing woman who runs free toward the horizon.

This story is a metaphor for the inner work required to reclaim the wild self. Estés explains that we all begin as a bundle of bones, a dismantled skeleton lost in the desert of a culture that devalues our instinctual nature. Our work is to become La Loba—to gather the lost parts of ourselves, the forgotten dreams, the suppressed instincts, and the silenced truths. The act of "singing over the bones" is about using our soul-voice to breathe life back into what has been lost. It is a process of re-creation, of patiently and lovingly reassembling our true nature until it is whole and can run free once more.

Narrator: Every woman’s psyche contains an innate predator, a destructive force that Estés calls the contra naturam, or the anti-natural. This force works to sever a woman from her intuition, kill her creativity, and keep her in a state of naivete and powerlessness. Estés uses the chilling fairy tale of Bluebeard to personify this internal saboteur. In the story, a wealthy and charismatic man named Bluebeard marries a young woman and gives her the keys to his castle, forbidding her from entering only one small room.

Her curiosity, a vital tool of the psyche, leads her to unlock the forbidden door, where she discovers the corpses of Blue-beard’s previous wives. The key becomes stained with blood, revealing her transgression to the predator. Bluebeard represents the part of the psyche that promises riches and comfort in exchange for obedience and ignorance. The forbidden room holds the devastating truth of what happens when a woman’s life force is destroyed. Estés argues that to defeat this predator, a woman must stop being "nice" and overriding her intuition. She must use her curiosity to uncover the truth, no matter how horrifying, and call upon her inner strength—symbolized by the wife’s brothers who arrive to save her—to confront and dismantle this destructive force.

Narrator: Once the predator is identified, a woman must retrieve her most powerful tool for navigation: her intuition. Estés presents the Russian fairy tale of Vasalisa the Wise as a story of initiation into the deep intuitive powers of the feminine. Vasalisa is a young girl sent by her cruel stepmother into the dark forest to fetch fire from the fearsome witch, Baba Yaga. Her only guide is a small, magical doll given to her by her dying mother.

The doll represents the innate, inherited intuition that resides within every woman. It cannot do the work for her, but it can guide her. Baba Yaga, the wild hag, is not purely evil but a fierce teacher of non-rational knowing. To receive the fire—symbolizing consciousness and power—Vasalisa must complete a series of impossible tasks, such as sorting a pile of poppy seeds from dirt. Each task is a lesson in discernment, patience, and trusting her inner guidance. The journey teaches that reclaiming intuition is not a passive event but an active initiation. It requires facing fear (Baba Yaga), listening to the small, still voice within (the doll), and completing the difficult inner work of separating what is life-giving from what is not.

Narrator: A common wound for the wild woman is that of exile—the feeling of not belonging, of being an outsider in one's own family or culture. Estés uses the story of The Ugly Duckling to explore this profound pain. The duckling is born different and is pecked, shamed, and ostracized for not fitting in. He endures a lonely and brutal winter, surviving on sheer will alone. His journey is one of suffering and perseverance, driven by an innate knowledge that he belongs somewhere, even if he doesn't know where.

Finally, in the spring, he sees a flock of magnificent swans and is drawn to them. Expecting to be rejected once more, he bows his head and sees his own reflection in the water: he is not a duck, but a swan. He has found his people. Estés explains that many women who possess a strong, wild nature feel like ugly ducklings. The story is a promise that if they can endure the exile and continue searching, they will eventually find their "pack." This is the "Scar Clan"—the timeless tribe of those who have survived great trials and found their true kin, the ones who see and celebrate their unique beauty and strength.

Narrator: In the realm of relationships, the wild nature requires an understanding of love that transcends romantic fantasy. Estés turns to the Inuit tale of Skeleton Woman to illustrate the true nature of enduring love. In the story, a fisherman accidentally snags the skeleton of a woman on his fishing line. Terrified, he drags her back to his igloo. There, by the warmth of the fire, he slowly and carefully untangles her bones. As he sleeps, a single tear escapes his eye, and the thirsty Skeleton Woman drinks it. This act of compassion gives her the power to sing flesh back onto her bones and restore herself.

The story teaches that love is not about finding a perfect, flawless partner. It is about having the courage to face the "bony" parts of another person and of the relationship itself—the fears, the wounds, and the past traumas. It requires the patience to untangle these complexities with care and the compassion to offer a "tear" that can bring healing. True love, Estés argues, embraces the full Life/Death/Life cycle. It understands that relationships must undergo periods of death and rebirth to grow, and that this transformative process is what ultimately creates a deep and lasting bond.

Narrator: Ultimately, the journey of the Wild Woman is a journey of "homing"—a return to oneself. This is captured in the Celtic and Inuit stories of the Sealskin, Soulskin. These tales tell of selkies, or seal women, who can shed their skins to walk as humans on land. A lonely man often finds a sealskin, hides it, and persuades the selkie to be his wife. Though she may have a family and a life on land, she eventually grows pale and listless, overcome by a deep longing for the sea. Her life depends on reclaiming her sealskin and returning to her true home.

The sealskin symbolizes a woman's soul, her connection to her wild, instinctual nature. When she gives it away—whether to a relationship, a job, or a culture that demands she conform—she loses her vitality and sense of self. The journey to find the lost soulskin is the journey home. Estés emphasizes that this "home" is not necessarily a physical place, but a state of being found in intentional solitude, in nature, and in creative pursuits. It is the act of returning to one's own innate cycles and rhythms, which is essential for psychological and spiritual survival.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Women Who Run With the Wolves is that the wild, instinctual nature of the feminine is not a relic of the past to be romanticized, but an essential, living force that is the bedrock of a woman's psychological and spiritual health. Its suppression is the source of a deep and pervasive discontent, while its reclamation is the path to vitality, creativity, and wholeness. The book is not a simple prescription but a collection of "story-as-medicine," providing the tools for a lifelong journey of descent and return.

Estés leaves her audience with a profound challenge: to become conscious of the stories that shape their lives. Are you living a story that has been handed to you, one that keeps you small and caged? Or can you find the courage to become your own La Loba, to venture into the desert of your psyche, gather the bones of your own lost stories, and sing them, with all your soul, back into vibrant, laughing, and untamable life?