Women Who Run with the Wolves summary

In fact, in myth, and in fairy tale, women and wolves are often connected. We see this everywhere from Red Riding Hood to ancient stories of babies who were abandoned at birth, then breastfed by she-wolves until they could fend for themselves. 

In tales told in Mexico and among Native Americans, there is a place mentioned only in whispers: it is a place in the desert where, through the barrier of time, the spirits of women meet and join with the spirits of wolves. There is a figure mentioned in these stories, too: La Loba, the she-wolf. 

Each human psyche contains multiple beings. Not all of these beings are easily tamed, and not all of these beings wish us well. But before trying to banish them, we’d be wise to think, What if each of these less desirable beings also had some spark of good in them, some lesson to teach us? Instead of banishing these malevolent entities, the Wild Woman learns to work with them. 

Let’s talk about one of the most fearsome beings that lives within us: the natural predator, the contra natura aspect of the psyche. Contra natura means against nature – the predator is the force that wants to sever the woman’s connection to her deepest, wildest self. One such predator is the fairy-tale villain Bluebeard.

The slavic story of Vasalisa begins with a mother on her deathbed. She gifts her daughter, Vasalisa, a doll. Vasalisa’s father remarries, and no matter how hard Vasalisa tries to please her new stepmother and stepsisters, they mistreat her. 

One night, they send Vasalisa into the woods to beg for more fire from the witch, Baba Yaga. Vasalisa goes and takes her doll in her pocket. At every fork in the road, Vasalisa gives her doll breadcrumbs, and it instructs her whether to turn left or right. When she arrives at Baba Yaga’s hut, the witch proposes a deal – she tells Vasalisa she will give her fire if she can separate a pile of dirt from a pile of poppy seeds. 

The tale of the Ugly Duckling is a familiar one: among a pack of fluffy yellow ducklings, one stands out. His siblings tease this ugly duckling. Even his mother eventually tires of him and tells him she wishes he would go away. 

He leaves, and is taunted for his ugliness everywhere he goes. In the winter, the river he’s paddling in freezes over. A kindhearted farmer rescues him before he freezes to death. As spring arrives, the duckling sees a flock of swans – swans he has already longingly observed from a distance. Feeling like he has nothing left to lose, he flaps over to them.