The work of Clarissa Pinkola Estés bridges science and art, psychology and poetry, mythology and psychotherapy. In all these roles, she acts in the ancient Latina tradition of a cantadora--"keeper of the old stories."

Estés is a woman of Mexican descent who was adopted by a Hungarian family. She grew up near the Michigan state line and spent as many hours as she could in the woods, orchards, and farmlands near her home. "I learned about the sacred art of self-decoration with monarch butterflies perched atop my head, lightning bugs as my night jewelry, and emerald-green frogs as bracelets" she writes in Women Who Run With the Wolves.

Estés also excelled in academics, earning a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and intercultural studies. She is a Jungian psychoanalyst and past executive director of the C. G. Jung Centers for Education and Research in the United States.

Estés became known to the general public through her book Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. Her original manuscript was rejected by 47 publishers over 20 years. Since its release, the book has been translated into 18 languages. It spent over 99 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists, and over 2,000,000 copies are in print worldwide. "Wolves and women are relational by nature, inquiring, possessed of great endurance and strength" Estés writes. "They are deeply intuitive, intensely concerned with their young, their mates, and their pack. They are experienced in adapting to constantly changing circumstances; they are fiercely stalwart and very brave."

Yet both wolves and women are often portrayed as devious and even dangerous. Women have been pressured into a social role that represses their instinctual nature. Treated as property, women are taught to be "refined" and to silence their opinions. They are instructed in ways to attract men and then live in psychological and financial dependence. "The modern woman is a blur of activity," states Dr. Estés. "She is pressured to be all things to all people. The old knowing is long overdue."

One way to restore that knowing is by telling stories. Women have a way of knowing that is distinct from mens', writes Dr. Estés, and traditional theories in psychology seldom tap into this perspective. Myths, folk tales and legends can do a better job by penetrating womens' minds at many levels, both intellectual and emotional.

In traditional cultures, stories were devices that taught people about the meaning and purpose of life and guided them through the mysteries of birth, sex, love, and death. Stories can instruct, entertain, and awaken intuition. In addition, Dr. Estés believes, hearing certain stories can remind women of what they already know, help to restore their creativity, and rekindle their natural compassion. Stories can literally heal.

An example is the story of the ugly duckling, published in 1845 by Hans Christian Andersen and retold in Women Who Run With the Wolves. In the story, a mother duck hatches an egg, and what emerges is a creature she can hardly believe is one of her own. The young bird looks nothing like a duckling; even the mother wonders if she has hatched a turkey by mistake. The other ducks hiss, bite, and peck at the ugly ducking until he decides to run away to escape further ridicule. He wanders the countryside for months and eventually takes refuge in a pond populated with swans. There, seeing his reflection in the water, the bird discovers that he looks exactly like these beautiful creatures. All along, he has been a swan and not a duckling. In that moment, he finds his true identity and his true family.

In Estés retelling, this story becomes a tale about what happens to people who fail to conform to society's expectations. "When culture narrowly defines what constitutes success or desirable perfection in anything--looks, height, strength, form, acquisitive power, economics, manliness, womanliness, good children, good behavior, religious belief--then corresponding mandates to measure oneself against these criteria are introjected into the psyches of all members of that culture," writes Estés. For her, one lesson of the story is that we can endure rejection even by our family of origin and finally find the kinship that allows us to feel at home.

Other books by Dr. Estés include The Gift of Story: A Wise Tale About What Is Enough and The Faithful Gardener: Myths and Stories About That Which Can Never Die. She is also featured in Theatre of the Imagination, a thirteen-part series broadcast on public radio stations throughout America.