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Humans 101
Resurrecting the Wild Woman
On intuition, instinct, and feminine power
What does it mean to be a “wild woman?” If you’re visualizing someone baring her chest at Mardi Gras in exchange for beads, that’s not what I’m talking about. A wild woman is someone who has a keen sense of intuition, follows her instincts, feels empowered to protect herself and her pack, and has the confidence to pursue what she desires—and not the things that society tells her she should want. I’m talking about the desires she can feel in her bones.
This version of a wild woman has been drastically domesticated. And it’s time to let her out of the cage.
Each year, I host a Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés book club. It’s a classic piece of literature that reflects on the wild woman archetype through a collection of stories. These stories prompt the reader to consider what it means to be a woman and how to reclaim a sense of sovereignty that many feel has been lost.
We decided to read it in my Facebook group, and when I opened it up to others, more than 700 women joined. Far fewer appear to be actively reading, but the fact that more than 700 had intended to read a book with women across the world is telling. These women can feel that something is missing. It’s their connection to the wild — and they want it back.
Estés explains what she means by the word “wild”:
So, the word wild here is not used in its modern pejorative sense, meaning out of control, but in its original sense, which means to live a natural life, one in which the criatura, creature, has innate integrity and healthy boundaries. These words, wild and woman, cause women to remember who they are and what they are about.
She points out that even if our wild, instinctual self seems like a long-gone relative, she is not dead. She is in our bones. We can call her back by “collecting the bones” and “singing over them.” In practical terms, this means getting in touch with our desires, pursuing the things that light us up, learning to trust our instincts, and living in harmony with nature. Thank goddess, there is a path home.
But how did we lose this wild self?
