10. Book Club: Relationships and Union With the Other (Ch. 4, Women Who Run With the Wolves)

This is our Book Club episode where we discuss a chapter from our current book choice: “Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. In this episode, we discuss chapter 4 “The Mate: Union with the Other”.

Podcast Episode Summary:

This chapter focuses on how to identify relationships in your life that are nourishing to your wild self, whether romantic or platonic.  This chapter is also about the internal spiritual journey and learning how to unite to and love your own wild woman self. In this chapter Dr Estes features the story of “Manawee”, which is about a marriage proposal made out of love for the wild nature. In this episode we share personal stories from our journeys of uniting with our wildish natures and finding relationships that honor and love that part of us too.

We want to acknowledge that this story is gendered, talking about a male seeking female partners, but know that in story medicine each part of the story really represents energies in the world and archetypes that live within each of us. We’re studying this story through the lens of how a masculine energy might unite with a feminine energy both within ourselves and externally in relationships of all kinds, romantic or in friendships, and regardless of anyone’s gender identity. But we do also really appreciate the extra work our non-binary listeners do when you are presented with gendered language, and know that we appreciate you. In our episode we do our best to respect the full spectrum of gender identification and relationships.

We would love to know:

How does the theme of this chapter help you live with a full heart and a free voice?What is one quote from this chapter that stood out to you that you would like to explore more?What is one nugget you want to take away with you?

Other works mentioned in this episode:

“The Book of Runes” By Ralph H. Blum"Finding Your Own North Star" by Martha Beck

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How to Connect with Emma:

Find out more about Emma at: https://www.wildauthenticity.com/Download Emma's free guide: 3 Habits to Calm Your Fear and Get You WritingCheck out Emma’s online course, Find Your True Self Again at https://www.wildauthenticity.com/trueself 

How to Connect with Caitlin:

Find out more about Caitlin and schedule a free consultation at: https://caitlinbosshart.com/Follow Caitlin on Instagram: @caitlin_bosshart Follow Caitlin on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caitlinbosshartlifecoaching/

Attributions:

Theme music: Wally Ingram, Stevie Blacke and Tom Freund. You heard portions of their tracks “Shine a Light” and “Udu ULove” from their record Spadé. 

Original cover art created by: Caitlin Bosshart