Stories
According to Crow tradition, a man must fulfill certain requirements to become chief of the tribe: command a war party successfully, enter an enemy camp at night and steal a horse, wrestle a weapon away from his enemy and touch the first enemy fallen, without killing him. Joe Medicine Crow was the last person to meet that code, though far from the windswept plains where his ancestors conceived it.
During World War II, when he was a scout for the 103rd Infantry in Europe, he strode into battle wearing war paint beneath his uniform and a yellow eagle feather inside his helmet. So armed, he led a mission through German lines to procure ammunition. He helped capture a German village and disarmed — but didn’t kill — an enemy soldier. And, in the minutes before a planned attack, he set off a stampede of 50 horses from a Nazi stable, singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode away.
Joseph Medicine Crow (October 27, 1913 – April 3, 2016) was a war chief, author and historian of the Crow Nation of Native Americans. His writings on Native American history and reservation culture are considered seminal works, but he is best known for his writings and lectures concerning the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. He received the Bronze Star Medal and the Légion d’honneur for service during World War II, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
He was the last surviving war chief of the Crow Nation, and was the last living Plains Indian war chief. He was a founding member of the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth.
From the Sacred Path Cards, we have this Dreamtime Smoke Signal story by Jamie Sams.
On a night years ago, I was floating in a natural hot spring looking up into the fullness of Grandmother Moon high above me in the starry night. I had built a Fire twenty feet in front of me where the ravine was flat and treeless. I had gone to this special place alone to seek some answers for my hungry heart.
The tears of frustration rolled from my eyes and sent silver circles into the effervescent waters of the pool. I sought the answers of how to return to the city and deal with the lack of substance I found in those who were trying to be “somebody” instead of being who and what they were.
Then, I saw an ancient Medicine Man walk to my Fire and lift an old red trade blanket. He walked toward me and dipped the blanket into the pool, wrung it out, and moved back toward the Fire. As he turned toward the Fire and began to sing, I recognized Grandfather Taquitz, who is one of the Ancestors who guides my path. Grandfather Taquitz beseeched the spirits of the Four Directions. The energy began to build as he sang the chant in which he called to the Great Star Nation to hear my prayers and speak to my heart.
Each time I spoke an internal prayer, Grandfather Taquitz would move the trade blanket over the Fire and then raise it, allowing the Smoke Signal that represented my prayer to rise in the indigo night. At first, a stray Cloud Person or two drifted by and then others came to see which Two-legged and which Ancestor spirit had called them.
The Chief Cloud Person was to the right of Grandmother Moon and began changing form as the Smoke touched his face, producing the faces of Buffalo, Wolf, Eagle, and Bear. My Allies had come to greet me and give me answers! I was overjoyed and nearly missed the exit of Grandfather Taquitz, who held a gleam in his eyes and a knowing smile traced across his mouth.
I floated in the warm waters of my Earth Mother’s womb and heard the messages of my Medicine Helpers with my heart. Buffalo told me that Two-leggeds who hurt one another were those deluded by the fear of scarcity. These humans had lost their trust in Great Mystery and the Field of Plenty. Their need to be important was based upon the fear that their talents were not equal to those of others.
Wolf spoke and told me that the Pathfinders of my world would never need to boast about who they were or where they were headed. Those who broke new ground for others to follow were to busy to be hurt by another person who claimed, out of envy, to be who they were not.
Eagle spoke to me and said that true freedom was only to be found by those that found illumination through the truth that lived inside their hearts.
Bear then appeared and spoke of the strength I needed to find inside of myself in order to Walk My Talk in the city, away from the womb of my Earth Mother. Bear said that the tomorrows are met when each person seeks strength in the truth of today.
Knowing that my intent had reached the Sky Nation through Grandfather Taquitz’s Smoke Signals and songs gave me new inspiration and purpose. I was ready to hold my truth high and to use my intent to touch the hearts of my fellow Two-leggeds. I no longer needed to be hurt by lies or to take on the pain of those that “talked their walk” instead of being the beauty that Great Mystery had created them to be.
From the Sacred Path Cards, we have this Dreamtime Medicine story by Jamie Sams which helps to bring understanding of the Shield of the West in the Medicine Wheel.
The Bear came to me in a Dreamtime waking state several years ago and lumbered through my awareness to take me on a Dreamtime Medicine Walk. I found myself in a forest high in the Rocky Mountains by the old burial ground near Creede, Colorado.
The Bear wandered up to the spring above Moonshine Mesa and drank deeply of the cold, pure water coming from the Earth Mother’s breast. Then Bear turned to me and spoke.
“We used to use words like you Two-leggeds,” she said. “we retreated into our silence at the end of the Second World. When the Earth was cleansed by the great ice mountains your people had finally come together in clans and families. They had heard the tundra Wolf’s song and started to use words of their own.”
“We knew that you humans would not be alone and that humans would survive if they could communicate with one another. We Creature-beings had to leave the Two-leggeds alone so they could learn their own sounds and how to use communication.”
“Unfortunately, that was also the time that Two-leggeds shared so many of the opinions of others that they started to judge their personal truths. They began to worry about what others thought and failed to find their own answers within their hearts.”
I understood that Bear was trying to show me how we Two-leggeds sought approval, entangling ourselves with the fear of being different. If new ideas presented a threat, it could be hard for individuals to follow their personal truths.
Bear continued, “It was during those days of the ensuing cold that humankind learned to eat meat. In the first world, the Two-leggeds had been vegetarian. Fruits, berries, roots, and wild vegetables were plentiful until the cleansing of the First World.”
“When the great ice mountains moved across Mother Earth’s face, the plants, which had sustained all creatures, vanished. The Two-leggeds were starving until they learned to eat meat. The Creature-beings, who understood the need for balance and sharing, offered their bodies as food to the Two-leggeds. My Creature Ancestors gave the warmth of their bodies’ fur and the instinct of survival to the Two-leggeds. Then through consuming the meat of Bear, the West Shield’s lessens were learned.”
“I have a memory of the way our gift was received by a female Two-legged.” Bear said. “She was called Alona. Alona ate of the meat of Bear and sank into a fulfilling, deep sleep. She saw the memories of our Bear Clan and learned the three paths of the West Shield.”
I listened as Bear continued. “In the dream, Alona watched Grizzly as she ate all that she could find in the way of berries, honey, and fish from the stream. This giantess was filling up for hibernation time when she would have to live off her stored fat.
“Then Alona saw Grizzly go into her cave to sleep through winter’s white robe. In her dream Alona followed Grizzly and slept at her side. In the Spring when Grizzly awoke, Alona followed her into the deep green forest. Grizzly seemed very intent on rediscovering the forest and noting the changes in her favorite hollow logs. The deep winter sleep had propelled Grizzly into a new state of awareness.”
“Mama Grizzly had left Alona to her thoughts and had gone to forage through the forest continuing her routine,” Bear said. “It was only when Alona was left to her own devices that a tiny, still voice spoke to her silent heart, and showed her the value of Grizzly’s lessons. Alona saw that in tasting the fruits of all ideas, you could expand one’s outlook on life, just as Grizzly had done by eating all manner of foods.”
“Then Alona remembered the retreat into the cave. Grizzly had taught her to go into the silence of her own Sacred Space to digest her ideas. The ideas that did not sustain her could be eliminated and the others would nurture her during the time of looking within. Alona realized that she could best meet her goals when she acted on the ideas that were most nurturing to her.”
I looked at Bear’s big brown eyes and smiled. I was beginning to understand the West Shield in a new way.
“So the three pathways to understanding how to look within and reach our goals are like the actions of Grizzly in Alona’s dream, right?” I asked.
“Right,” Bear replied. “Now you tell me how you see those paths.”
I thought for a moment and then spoke. “The first path is to enter the stillness of our Sacred Space. Basically, it is being willing to receive the answers made available to us through the experience of daily life. That is, allowing our female receptive side to come forward to magnetize or receive in the silence. So it is Entering The Silence.”
“Correct,” said Bear. “And the second path?”
“Well, I suppose the next step is digesting the answers that come and learning to feel which ones apply. So the second pathway is integrating the information and discerning what our personal truth is,” I replied.
“Right again,” said Bear. “It is on the second step, which nurtures the answers received, that the third path becomes evident.”
“Oh, I understand,” I said. “It is because the third path is structure based on personal truth. If we have a knowing about our digested ideas, we may then formulate a plan on how to attain our goals, that’s the structure. If our goals are based on our personal truth and desire, they will be approached with joy. They will be goals we want to nurture because they are truly our own, not ones that others have expected of us. That’s right, isn’t it?”
Bear chuckled and rolled over scratching her back on the boulder next to the spring. “You have the idea,” she mused. “All the actions of Grizzly will allow each person to tap their inner-knowing and like Alona of long ago, my Clan can give the strength necessary to meet each tomorrow with joy. There is no need to fear the unknown that future holds if you follow Grandmother Grizzly and digest the knowing of your personal truth.”
I thanked Bear for the lessons and began the journey of understanding my personal West Shield. May this sharing also aid you in your joy-filled sojourn to the land of the Bear and the lessons of the West.
In the very earliest of times,
When both people and animals lived on the earth,
A person could become an animal if he wanted to
And an animal could become a human being.
Sometimes they were people
And sometimes animals
And there was no difference.
All spoke the same language.
That was a time when words were like magic.
The human mind had mysterious powers.
A word spoken by chance
Might have strange consequences.
It would suddenly become alive
And what people said wanted to happen
Could happen ~
All you had to do was say it
Nobody could explain this:
That’s the way it was.
~An Old Eskimo story
True-Hearted Woman lived with her husband on an island in an archipelago populated by the Ojibwe. She loved her handsome young husband deeply and worked hard to provide for him. She even performed his tasks by night, to cover up his laziness and lack in providing equally well for her.
Now it happened that the husband of True-Hearted Woman fell in love with an Odawa woman he met on a visit to the mainland. His request to the elders of his village to take a second wife was denied, since they knew well enough who was fishing by night. But he did not release his desire.
In those days the women were excused from their daily work in camp and from caring for their children one week out of every month, if they were not with child. Women thus in their ‘moon’ traveled to a special woman’s camp on a nearby island. It happened that one month True-Hearted Woman believed she would be carrying a child. She spoke of it only to the Mashkikikwe, the Medicine Woman, who recommended that she go to Woman’s Island to take a rest from her wearying labors in the camp, until she knew for sure.
When the husband of True-Hearted Woman took her over to the woman’s island in a canoe, he realized that he had found the way to fulfill his hidden desire. After he let True-Hearted Woman go to the camp, he destroyed the small canoe left on the beach for her return at the end of the week, leaving her stranded on Woman’s Island all alone.
He returned to his own camp, tearing his clothes and blacking his eyes and telling a wild tale of evil spirits who had killed his wife. He told the people that he had only narrowly escaped with his own life. They believed the story and from then on they did not travel to Woman’s Island.
Who can know the thoughts of True-Hearted Woman as the weeks went by and she realized how deeply she had been betrayed. She faced a long terrible winter alone upon the island, with only her knowledge of the Midewiwin, the medicine society, her guardian spirits and her own young strength to comfort her and make her brave.
By the following spring, the husband of True-Hearted Woman had brought the Odawa woman that he had so desired back to his own camp to be his wife. But his ways soon belied his handsome face and words and she had no intention of working any harder than custom required. Before too long, she had left him for another man and he bemoaned his ill fortune.
He thought that if he brought an offering to the spirit of True-Hearted Woman, who could wish him no wll for what he had done to her, perhaps she might be appeased and his fortunes would change. So he traveled to the island with fear for the spirit which he now believed inhabited it.
He was shaking as he stepped on to the shore. When he saw a movement in the trees, he quickly let an arrow fly, but as he approached he found only True-Hearted Woman, dying from the arrow he had himself released.
Holding her in his arms as her spirit passed, he was filled for the first time with real remorse. Suddenly he heard the cry of a wounded animal coming out of the woods.
Following the sound he found the small lodge that True-Hearted Woman had built, within which she had survived the cruel winter. Inside the lodge he found an infant wrapped in skins – his son.
When he returned to his own island carrying the tiny boy, he admitted to his people all that he had done. He yielded to their judgment that he might be killed, only pleading with them to raise the child to be as brave as the mother, True-Hearted Woman. He wept real tears for the love of his son. The people felt pity for him and let him live. By all accounts he raised the boy well.
Woman’s Island was renamed True-Hearted Woman’s Island and all who visited there left a white stone upon the beach in honor of her bravery and her love. Even the white settlers who fised in those waters came to do the same and long afterwards the stones were used to build the first light-house for the islands. The name of True-Hearted Woman and the story of her bravery has never been forgotten.
~ A Voice From The Earth
Let me sing to you the Song of the Twenty Powers within the Song of the Universe. It is like an Orchestra whose members have played together, since always. Each member of this Orchestra has its instrument, its sound, its light, its energy, its harmonic vibration called orende. Each has its giveaway to the collective sound even though it has its separate distinct sound.
Within this Orchestra called the Everything there are twenty sections or parts, the Twenty Sacred Powers. This Everything Orchestra has a Great Spirit within every member and within every instrument, and how it plays the sound and songs of Beauty and Light is indeed a Mystery. This Great Mystery has existed Since Always and will continue For Always, even as it is playing now.
This Great Mystery, this Everything Orchestra and its twenty sections, is the Great Wheel, the Universal Medicine Wheel of the Twenty Sacred Powers. Each Power has its sitting place on the Wheel within the Orchestra so that its orende can contribute in a perfect harmonic way to all the songs and sounds that resonate within the Wheel as well as those that go otu from it in an ever increasing circle of Light. Let us listen and see if we can hear our Song…
The first part of this Song also contains all other parts. It is the Zero, the Nothing That is Everything, the Great Mystery, the Great Spirit of this Everything Orchestra. Light is an energy or power which includes cycles of four as it manifests itself into this sacred Twenty Count Medicine Wheel.
The first Power is Grandfather Sun who sings His song of Illumination and Enlightenment from His sitting place in the East on this great Medicine Wheel. The Sacred Fire burns here singing of our Fire From Within
Across from Him in the West is His mage, the second Power, Grandmother Earth. She sings the song of Introspection and chants the Mysteries of Death, Life, Rebirth and Movement. Hers is the song of the beauty of Change.
To her right is the third Power and Her first children, the Sacred Plants. They are sitting in the south singing the songs of Trust and Innocence, the songs of the Give-Away. The Waters are singing the songs of Carrying the Myths of Our Lives, the joy of having Pleasure Within Our Emotions in everything we do.
Sitting in the North across from the Plants and the Waters are the Sacred Animals. They are the fourth Power and the second children of the Sun and the Earth. The song they sing is one of Balance and Harmony, and they carry the sacred chant of Wisdom and Logic. For this is the chant that is carried on the sacred Winds which sometimes blow fiercely through our minds like hurricanes bringing awakening and at other times blow gently whispering Clarity.
These Powers of the Four Directions are dancing with the Four Elements carrying the Song into the South of the Center of the Wheel where we Humans are sitting, playing our instruments and dancing our Dance of Life as the fifth Power. Sometimes our instruments, our bodies, are out of tune and our Song and Dance become disharmonious.
So we must turn to the Southeast where the sixth Power is sitting, singing the Power of the Ancestors’ song. Their song is of the Beauty of the Concepts of Self as a Spirit, a Soul, who can sing and play in harmony if we will learn the Enlightenment chant and begin to SunDance. They teach us this SunDance in order that we might learn songs of Self-Acceptance, Self-Appreciation, Self-Pleasure and Self-Love.
As they sing their song and play their music, we begin to hear from the seventh Power of the Southwest. This is the Power that is the most difficult to hear because it comes from within us and yet is outside us. Here sits the Power of the Sacred Dream. It sings to us the songs of the Beauty of Symbol, of the Beauty of Experiencing Life and chants of the Memory Circle. And when we hear this chant, we begin to Awaken. We begin to realize that the Past, the Present and the Future may appear to be different songs, but they are really different lyrics within the same song.
To know all the lyrics and melody of this song we must turn to the Northwest, to the eighth Power, for here sings the Circle of Law. At first we seem confused. There appears to be more than one instrument playing and we hear many different songs. They seem almost dissonant, so we listen more closely. They are playing about the Laws of Cycles and about Patterns and Paradox. Here resonate the Sacred Image and Rules and Laws chants. We begin to see and hear that within this Circle of Law chant is our Book of Life and all the songs that we have ever sung and all those that will be our future songs.
We are playing and dancing almost in perfect harmony, but we are a little bit out of rhythm. We are drawn to the cadence of the ninth Power in the Northeast, the song of Pure Energy and Movement. This ninth Power is dancing and flowing with the rhythm of all the other sounds, catching them and turning them like a Great Choreography. Change is here as well as the beautiful harmony of Female/Male Balance. We begin to perceive that maybe our Song is written here.
It seems as though the Circle is complete, but then we Awaken further. We feel pulled by spinning, whirling sensations, as though winds of a tornado are sweeping us towards the North of the Center of this Great Orchestra. This Power is elusive, the sound from this tenth Power is on a very high scale. For a brief moment as we are singing our song, playing our music, dancing our dance, we fall into perfect rhythm and harmony and realize that this tenth Power is the Great Measure of Intellect, all possibilities within ourselves. It lies within every note, song, sound, light, presence and Power within this Great Orchestra. We are conscious of it and yet unconscious of it. We seem to be part of it and yet not part of it. We struggle to remain in harmony, for we know intuitively that it is here that all of the energies, all of the instruments, sounds and songs are collected and blended together into a Collective Unified Circle.
Now we dance at a Gateway. We see, hear and sense the experience of this great SunDance. We realize that if we can dance through this Gateway an even greater song is being played. This song is coming from within the Circle and from outside the Circle at one and the same time. A Double Energy is coming from each of these Powers on this Wheel of Life.
We turn again to the East and we hear many voices, many songs and instruments harmonizing with Grandfather Sun’s song. These are the Grandfather Stars, the eleventh Power. They are singing the song of Inspiration and the chant of the Heyoehkahs. These songs are Sacred Teachers, and the Light coming from them begins to reveal to us our own Illusions.
We have sung many songs and danced many dances in many lives, and we had thought there that was but one. That was our feeling of separation. We turn to the West so we might hear the Looking Within chant that is coming from the twelfth Power, the Grandmother Planets. All the songs and dances from this Power speak of many lives, of all our brothers and sisters, throughout the planets and worlds of this Universe and of all the other Great Orchestras. They are singing to us the Grandmother songs of the Power of Woman. Especially they chant Everything is Born of Woman. We begin to spin and dance with this Beauty.
We seem to be playing faster now, more smoothly. We can no longer separate the instrument from ourselves, the sound from the music. It is a part of us. Deep within our hearts we realize that the song and dance have always been there, and we sing for joy as we turn toward the South. We hear beautiful lyrics, a sweet gentle voice singing to us from the Heart of the Plants. We realize their Spirit is singing to us the Song of Nature. This is the thirteenth Power, our Earth Mother. Her song is so beautiful, for it carries the Light and the Spirit of all the Plants straight into the fibers of our Being, traveling straight into our Hearts. Here is the beautiful song of the Blessed Beauty Way chant.
Our hearts begin to soar like an eagle as we spin towards the North and become the dance within the Winds of the fourteenth Power. We see that this fourteenth Power swims as the dolphin carrying us through the rivers of life and flows into the great Lakes of Memory, for this Power is the Earth Father. He teaches us the dance of the Snake so that we might be close to the ground and hear the songs of the Rock People. He teaches us to love to dance with the 4-leggeds, the animals, through the flowers and the trees and hear the songs of the Plant People in a world of magick. We feel the Medicine of this sacred chant and we realize that this is indeed the Sweet Medicine chant ant that within it are the songs of the Spirits of all our Sacred Animal brothers and sisters.
We dance with joy. We begin to see through the eyes and hear through the ears of all our brother and sister humans, now realizing they are our Mirrors if we choose to look into them. In fact, everything around us, every Power within this Orchestra is a Mirror, reflecting back to us our own Inner Light, which is carrying the songs of Our Soul on the Sacred Winds. We can see this Great mirror reflected back to us from the East at the Center of the Circle. It is the fifteenth Power, the Souls Of All Humans. It sings the Gathering Together Circle song and chants the Sacred Rainbow chant of the SunDance Way. It sings to us: Little Sister, Little Brother, sing the Look Within Yourself Songs, see the Beauty Of All That Is. Open your eyes and look around you and see the many Mirrors and the many Powers. When we look through the eyes of our brothers and sisters, we can see the Whole Universe.
We can play all the songs, know all the music, dance all the dances. They sing to us to go beyond all that appears to be by going within the song of the sixteenth Power of the Southeast. These are the Enlightened Souls and they sing a Song and carry a Light that is a Great Rainbow. They sing the Many Paths chant. Their powerful song says: You, Little Brother, Little Sister, are the Way, the Light and the Truth. Look within yourself and find the Light. Know that Truth can be found from anywhere on the Wheel and that towards the Center of the Wheel is The Way. They begin to teach us how to find our Way. They sing the Honor Your Brothers and Sisters Way chant.
They play the sounds of All The Ways Will Gather Together Within The Rainbow Circle Dance. You must Dream. You must awaken within the song of the seventeenth Power of the Southwest. Hear the Great Kachina Powers, the Dream Teachers. They are chanting Dance Your Dream Awake and Walk in Beauty. Dance to the Sacred Medicine Way chant and the Sacred SunDance Way chant.
Their chants are as infinite as the Stars within the Great Sky and all of them are the Sacred Dream of the eighteenth Power of the Northwest. In this place on the Great Wheel we hear the Great Magick chant, for within this Power are the Chuluamadahey, Keepers of the Keys to the Books of Life of all Humans. Their most sacred chant is the Children’s Fire chant, which sings that Nothing Must Be Done To Harm The Children, including Grandmother’s children. They sing gently to us that within us as within all Humans is a Child. They sing the Become As A Child song. They sing the Honor The Child Within song.
As they sing, they point to the Northeast to the Light that Speaks with a Voice of Thunder, the ninetheenth Power. Here are the Great Hokkshidehheys and they are singing the Cosmic chant, the chant of Total Balance and Harmony of All Things Within The Everything. They sing to our Highest Spirit Selves. You Are, they chant, You Are.
There is a Flash of Lightning and a Clap of Thunder. In an instant that becomes infinity, we are imploded into the Sound of the Lightning and exploded into the Light of the Thunder. We soar through the Gateway of Infinity, flowing through time, space and dimension, awakening finally in the West of the Center of the Circle. We have met the twentieth Power, the Great Mystery, the Great Spirit. You and I, all things, have now become One With The Everything.
The Song is finished.
This award winning short film tells the story of a boy, a shaman and the drum that changes his life forever.
There is an old woman who lives in a hidden place that everyone knows in their souls but few have ever seen. As in the fairy tales of Eastern Europe, she seems to wait for lost or wandering people and seekers to come to her place.
She is circumspect, often hairy, always fat, and especially wishes to evade most company. She is both a crower and a cackler, generally having more animal sounds than human ones.
I might say she lives among the rotten granite slopes in Tarahumara Indian territory. Or that she is buried outside Phoenix near a well. Perhaps she will be seen traveling south to Monte Alban in a burnt out car with the back window shot out. Or maybe she will be spotted standing by the highway near El Paso, or riding shotgun with truckers to Morelia, Mexico, or walking to market above Oaxaca with strangely formed boughs of firewood on her back. She calls herself by many names: La Huesera, Bone Woman; La Trapera, The Gatherer; and La Loba, Wolf Woman.
The sole work of La Loba is the collecting of bones. She collects and preserves especially that which is in danger of being lost to the world. Her cave is filled with the bones of all manner of desert creatures: the deer, the rattlesnake, the crow. But her specialty is wolves.
She creeps and crawls and sifts through the mountains, and arroyos, looking for wolf bones, and when she has assembled an entire skeleton, when the last bone is in place and the beautiful white sculpture of the creature is laid out before her, she sits by the fire and thinks about what song she will sing.
And when she is sure, she stands over the criatura, raises her arms over it, and sings out. That is when the rib bones and leg bones of the wolf begin to flesh out and the creature becomes furred. La Loba sings some more, and more of the creature comes into being; its tail curls upward, shaggy and strong.
And La Loba sings more and the wolf creature begins to breathe.
And still La Loba sings so deeply that the floor of the desert shakes, and as she sings, the wolf opens its eyes, leaps up, and runs away down the canyon.
Somewhere in its running, whether by the speed of its running, or by splashing its way into a river, or by way of a ray of sunlight or moonlight hitting it right in the side, the wolf is suddenly transformed into a laughing woman who runs free toward the horizon.
So remember if you wander the desert, and it is near sundown, and you are perhaps a little bit lost, and certainly tired, that you are lucky, for La Loba may take a liking to you and show you something – something of the soul.
~from Women Who Run With the Wolves
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes