“Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species. Though the gifts of wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to ‘civilize’ us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. Without Wild Woman, we become over-domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped.
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D., Jungian analyst and cantadora storyteller, shows how woman's vitality can be restored through what she calls ‘psychic archeological digs’ into the bins of the female unconscious. In Women Who Run With the Wolves, Dr. Estés uses multicultural myths, fairy tales, folk tales, and stories chosen from over twenty years of research that help women reconnect with the healthy, instinctual, visionary attributes of the Wild Woman Archetype. Dr. Estés collects the bones of many stories, looking for the archetypal motifs that set a woman's inner life into motion. In these stories, we focus on the many qualities of Wild Woman. We retrieve, examine, love, and understand her, and hold her against our deep psyches as one who is both magic and medicine.”
The Details:
In this six month journey, we will take a deep dive into the Wild Woman Archetype. Meeting once per month from June to November, we will inhabit these myths and fairy tales, mining them for understanding of our own Wild Woman who abides within us. Using my training as a psychologist, my knowledge of archetypes, and my lived experience reclaiming my Wild Woman, I will guide us in reflection, discussion, and exploration.
Each month, there will be assigned chapters to read ahead of our LIVE meeting. Two weeks before each monthly session, I will send out journal questions along with invitations to engage in rituals and various practices designed to help you connect with your Wild Woman. Then, we will meet to discuss the monthly reading, journal prompts, and rituals. We will share our insights, discoveries, and questions. I will also create a private Facebook group for greater community, accountability, inspiration, and support.
Please know are welcome to attend each session regardless of how much reading or work you have completed. You are always welcome. Also know, participation in group discussion is encouraged but never mandatory. Sessions will be recorded so you can replay or access later if you have to miss a session.
Schedule and Readings:
Dates: Monthly meetings will occur on the following Sunday afternoons: June 27th, July 25th, August 22nd, September 19th, October 17th, and November 21st.
Time: 1:00pm — 2:30pm Central Time
Required Reading: Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.
June 27th: Resurrection and Initiation of the Wild Woman (Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2)
July 25th: Intuition, Union, and Hunting (Chapters 3, 4, & 5)
August 22nd: Belonging, the Body, and Self-Preservation (Chapters 6, 7, & 8)
September 19th: Homing, Creating, and Sexuality (Chapters 9, 10, & 11)
October 17th: Boundaries, Battle Scars, and the Underground (Chapters 12, 13, & 14)
November 21st: Shadowing, the Soul, and Story (Chapters 15, 16, Afterward)
Live Online Meetings:
This workshop will meet monthly over Zoom. Sessions will be recorded so you can replay or access later if you have to miss a session.