The Dangerous Old Woman

The Dangerous Old Woman series #1

by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Dr. Estés asks, "Did you know, you were born as the first, and the last and the best and the only one of your kind, and that eccentricity is the first sign of giftedness? These are two of the crone truths I have to offer you." If you have any doubt, come join us at the fireside of The Dangerous Old Woman for the soul-healing wisdom that will ignite your creativity and support your highest calling in life. Three decades in the writing, The Dangerous Old Woman presents part one of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés' masterwork. In six "inspire 'til you're on fire" sessions, Dr. Estés animates the archetypal patterns of the Wise Woman through her original stories, poetry, and blessings.

Old While Young, and Young While Old

We are born with two forces that give us every lens we need to see who we really the wild and ever-young force of imagination, which contains intuition and instinct, and the wise elder force of knowledge, which holds boundaries and carries the heart of the visionary. Through captivating stories and insights, Dr. Estés illustrates why this twofold way of being "old while young, and young while old" is the secret to holding and replenishing the center, thus living wildly and wisely ensouled amidst life's travails and triumphs.

Your Wild and Wise, Both

"If you are not free to be who you are, you are not free," says Dr. Estés. Begin and deepen the work of bringing your one-of-a-kind legacy into the world following the trail blazed by the Dangerous Old Woman. She who stops at nothing to nourish, protect, and guide us in the offering of all our creative gifts.

Stories, Poems, and Blessings

"The Angelic Ten": Old Guidance for One's Sanity "Standing in My Danger": The Good Meaning of the Word "Dangerous" "Snow White": When Gifts Have Been Poisoned Grandmother "Los Cinco Espiritus, The Five Women Spirits" "The Vashinger and the Return of the Vampires" "The Ruby Red Fox": About Seduction "Las Tres Osas, the Three Old Re-Weavers of Torn Lives" "The Man Who Hated Trees": Nature, the Unrepentant Mother "The Jealous Girls and the Old Woman Under the Lake" "When a Good Mother Dies": What Gifts Ever Remain "The Precious Museum Tree": The Hidden Life "What Did You Dream? What Did You Dream?"

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Psychology, Spirituality, Feminism, Womens, Mythology

Audiobook

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

An American poet, psychoanalyst and post-trauma specialist who was raised in now nearly vanished oral and ethnic traditions. She is a first-generation American who grew up in a rural village, population 600, near the Great Lakes. Of Mexican mestiza and majority Magyar and minority Swabian tribal heritages, she comes from immigrant and refugee families who could not read or write, or who did so haltingly. Much of her writing is influenced by her family people who were farmers, shepherds, hopsmeisters, wheelwrights, weavers, orchardists, tailors, cabinet makers, lacemakers, knitters, and horsemen and horsewomen from the Old Countries.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

PSYCHED to become a crone now.

[S. Harrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a great fan of Pinkola-Estes work. I love her style of storytelling, then unpacking the details of the story in tangible, bite-sized wisdom. She takes classic tales and relates them a modern audience with clarity and impeccable insight.

In this series she discusses cultural perceptions of old women, and how we devalue women as they age. Not satisfied with leaving us in that belittled guise, she also teaches about their power, their ability to perch at the edge of realities and teach their wisdom.

If you don't like the old style of story telling--long, colorful tales that keep you on the edge of your seat, even when you know how they end--her way of teaching may not resonate with you. For me, I could listen to her soothing voice and true heart all day.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio tape and recommend listening to the author to get the full impact. I found this very affirmative of women's gifts, contributions and stages in a women's life. I recommend this for all women to listen to, and for women to listen to with their daughters and women's groups to listen to and discuss.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clarissa Pinkola Estes is. my. RELIGION. I could listen to this woman's musings for the rest of my life. This is the first in a collection of audiobook titles that explore different aspects of what Estes called the "dangerous old woman" trope. This idea of an ancient, powerful, feminine energy that pervades throughout humanity is explored through myths and legends from all over the world. Her vast knowledge and ability to tell a story is remarkable.

If you are into the feminine "woo woo" energy, this is the series for you. But read The Women Who Run With the Wolves first! ;)

[Baroness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moon Howler. Dangerous. Wild. Wicked. Wise.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this as an audiobook, which is an experience in itself as Estes is a storyteller in the old tradition of high drama. It was very good, she had lots of important messages she pulled from stories known since the cradle, and some i've never heard before. She draws attention to what it is we as women today (and men too) put ourselves and our attention into, and how that can be seen via an older time, a different viewpoint. Worth reading.

[Celia Juliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is potentially life-changing. I'd give it 10 stars if I could. I'm excited to listen to the rest of the series. I'm sure this isn't for everyone, but I think you'll know by reading the description and giving a sample a listen. For me, listening has been an enlightening and mind-changing experience. Amazing.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a whole to get past my kneejerk reactions to Estes's mystical worldview, but when I did I found her analyses to be insightful and refreshing. I feel like I could sit with her and just talk about Baba Yaga for days. Her insistence on discussing the personal and the academic together is smart and effective.

[Tj · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many people have praised Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ works with such eloquence that I’ll not bother trying to match them. Instead, I’ll leave it at: I wish I could convince everyone I’ve ever known to read the entirety of her works.

[Sarah Himes Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sincerely I enjoyed this book. The author finds a way to illustrate thoughtful lessons with myths and stories about powerful old women. A few of my favorite thoughts are paraphrased below.

As a woman becomes older, she becomes more aware that she has to live as she is made, not as the culture determines she should live. Many of us have a makeover in midlife. We throw off the weight of expectations, we regrow what has been taken from us, and we thrive.

I may not be in this world to do great and noble things, but I will do everything I do as if they are and will be great and noble things. We aren’t here to be judged by society. When we die, we won’t be judged by how important we were, we will be asked if we used our gifts and kept our promises.

[Pinar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sesli kitap olarak kütüphaneden alarak dinledim. Hikayeleri Estés seslendiriyor. Daha önce de benzer çalışmalarını dinlemiştim. Eser toplamda üzerine tekrar tekrar düşünmeye değer önemli mesajlar veriyor. İsminden de anlaşılacağı üzerine çeşitli hikayelerden süzdüğü yaşlı kadın arketipi üzerine. Dinlemenizi tavsiye ederim. Fakat, seriden diğer eserlerini önceden dinlemiş olsam da, bu sefer Estés'in aşırı abartılı teatral seslendirmesi bana fazlasıyla bastı malesef. Seslendirme akıcı bir şekilde hikayenin içine almaktansa bana çok itici geldi. Belki anadilim ingilizce olmadığı içindir bilmiyorum, yazarın yapay abartısı dinlememi çok zorlaştırdı.

[Nicole Jurisch · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I just couldn’t with this book. I’m apparently the only woman for whom this did NOT resonate. I thought maybe it was her narration style as I was listening, but everyone on Audible loved it too, so it’s a me thing. Maybe I’ll give it a go in a decade or so. Probably not though.

[Christina Soderstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this so, so much. 💗

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A balm for every woman in the scar clan of the sacred heart tribe. Come and be fed, nourished, healed, strengthened, and set free to stand in your danger as only you can.

[Luminea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will never tire of listening to Clarissa's stories and wisdom. They move me, inspire me, and dare me to live a bigger life than I had ever imagined.

[Mollyann Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I will continue to come back to. The audio book is narrated by Dr Estes and her energy can be felt through her voice. A true cantadora

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women who run with wolves at least three times. This book again takes an unconventional look at the myths and stories of the old wise women archetypes we are all so familiar with. Baba Yaga is the ultimate symbol of wisdom and strength. And the story of Snow White really belongs to the Mirror, an ultimate symbol of ego and self-consciousness. She sees the woman of strength who learns to juggle the fire, the woman of spirit who learns to juggle the water, the woman of soul who learns to juggle the earth, and the woman of vision who learns to juggle the wind. Dr Clarissa deeply understands the rhythmic patterns of a woman’s life and the disruption of such patterns that often causes us pain. Then she presents us with the ultimate wisdom from The dangerous wise old woman, the state of your fullness is an instinct and in most cases, rather than dread, it is an excitement.

[PJ]

Ah, I love this! Dr Estés is such a wonderful storyteller, and these are some powerful stories. I will be continuing on to the next, The Power of the Crone.

This is the first audiobook in a series of six. This one contains six stories that have persisted in various forms throughout different cultures. Dr. Estés tells her own personal stories alongside the archetypal ones, while also discussing the various meanings within them. The characters and stories can be viewed through the lens of Jungian analysis (characters as parts of one's own psyche) and also as descriptions of interpersonal and sociological dynamics.

I love Aunt Edna and all the wise old women in these stories and all the legacies weaved, sewn, and bejeweled.

Here's to the dangerous old women within us!

[RachelvlehcaR · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the stories Clarissa Pinkola Estés uses to explain issues and views of ourselves. I could only find this in book in Audiobook format and enjoyed it very much. Listening to her explain the fairy tales I grew up to like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and other stories. It was fun to listen to other stories I haven't heard before. Also, about the experiences she had, especially about the trees and their roots. It helped me to view getting older, being coming a crone, in a different way. There is the last section that I'd heard before from the dreaming book.

[Ann Samford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charissa Park Estes creates her own definition of dangerous that based on maybe historic usage portrays dangerous as a protector and then gives old women permission to live the life with no regrets. Story is important and the author is multicultural Indian from Mexico with lots of other heritages mixed in from friends and family.

I really like the freedom it gives old women to be eccentric and take stands. We have something to say and need to find out voices or our wisdom will be lost. Need to speak out more!

Feels good to listen to this very healing and freeing

[Nancy Reyering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep wisdom, revealed through myths and parables. Dr. Estes asks, "Did you know, you were born as the first and the last and the best and the only one of your kind ,and that eccentricity is the first sign of giftedness? Those are two of the crone truths I have to offer you."

A calling to womankind to disdain the “laundry line full of tinkling cowbells” that distract us from our true purpose and all deeper truths.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved listening to Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes read her book. Powerful message from the best story teller I know. As a Jungian scholar and a woman from a deep tradition of myth and archetypes, Dr. Estes intuition and insights are profound. A must "listen" for women of any age but especially those of us in the second half of life.

[Deanna Ellis joplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was outstanding. Transformative, inspirational and beautiful. One of the best audio tapes I've ever listened to. In fact, I'm going to start over and listen again.

[Alaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got 58% through the audiobook before quitting. I think I am not this book's target demographic. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I considered myself a spiritual person but I don't. I felt zero things when the author was talking about being made of stars, and having a powerful moment sitting under Ursa Major or whatever. But the stories were entertaining enough, and there were a couple quotes that I liked (although I quickly forgot them). I wanted to love it because I just became a grandmother and it seemed relevant, but when she went on about how a probably neurodivergent neighbor was bothered by the activity of her trumpet vines and how it was an example of a man trying to stifle a woman, she lost me. That is a massive stretch. Honestly, I took the neighbor's side because I had a very easy time getting why a lot of bright colors moving around outside my window would feel very chaotic. I don't know that I would have bought a house with bothersome flora, but sometimes a plant is just a plant. Not a fan of this.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was feeling kind of musty and dusty and came across this--available only on audio, which confused me. Only audio? But I was in the mood for Pinkola Estes--to dip back into the river of Women who Run with the Wolves--and began listening. She is such an amazing storyteller, and in dealing with the oral tradition, it began to make sense why she is writing now exclusively for audio. This is how these tales should be told, tales of dangerous old women that thread through the many cultures which are her heritage, born to Mexicans and raised by Hungarians, a Jungian analyst specifically dealing with the soul journey and especially women's deep psychology and development, using folk tales and tracing archetypes. She is also a poet and phrases so beautifully, reads so well, that you are almost with her at the campfire, hearing these ancient tales. I already feel less musty, livelier, wanting to mix it up more, do the unexpected. No doubt I will be seeking out more of these audio books!

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is some really different magical storytelling weaving of fables and psychology and wisdom. I don't even know how to describe, but this both gave me hope of impending empowerment for the final decades and also some really interesting insights that I hadn't thought about before in terms of the the way is fables and fairy tales have been combined and recombined and changed over time in some ways very much changing the lessons they perhaps Were Meant to impart. I was told to consume the audiobook and because the author reads it it's definitely a personal conversation. I found the first half more mind-blowing and she reads A poem to our mother's about reweaving the sails of ships or patching them up even though they're gone that really gave me a new way of thinking of remembering and hopefully passing on a legacy

[Hanna Hixson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If you are born gifted, you will never, ever live a normal life. Normalcy is the enemy of giftedness.”
"We get scarred. Yep, we do. But, it is not enough to say I come to earth with all these gifts but I am afraid, therefore I refuse to create because I might get hurt, might get burned, might get flooded, might have to lie in the grave for a while. Remember: mountains are raised by earthquakes. Desert flower does not open except in oppressive heat…So, to be a visionary, to be a madrina [godmother] who protects and cares for and watches over and gives the lessons of real life, creative life, life that is not colored within the lines…you have to be able to hold paradox, and variation, and dangerousness in harmony."
“Beware: A black heart can be polished to shine like the sun.”

[Heather Durham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this audio series from the library (hooray for libraries!) but I think I may need to buy it, and other audio series of hers, so that I can listen again, and again. Estes' stories —academically and psychologically informed but deeply rooted in magic and myth — read in a voice equal parts soothing and stirring, are the stories we all should have heard from our own grandmothers or aunties throughout our lives. I didn't have those "dangerous" wise women role models in my own family, and have only encountered a few in the course of my life, so as I move toward cronehood myself, I am on the lookout for more, and grateful for them however their stories reach me.

[Bettina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved listening to this. I couldn't find a physical book copy, but that is okay. It was like having story time with a beloved elder and I was just a kid again. Honestly, I felt a power in being a woman for one of the few times in my whole life while listening to this. "Where there is beauty there will be predators." And "Mountains are made from earthquakes." Those are paraphrases of some of the quotes that impacted me. I hope you listen to this, Dr. Estes is a true storyteller. May this mean something for you as it did me.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great. In the last few years (really, after I broke my foot in several places) I've really felt my age. Earlier in my life, I've always felt much younger than my years but not anymore, and I'm not mad about it. I'm embracing my age and the changes in the way I look, feel and engage with the world. I was happy to hear about myths, fairy tales and stories that matched the energy I'm vibing to at this point in my life. I appreciate how beautiful the author makes aging sound. I enjoyed her narration of this book and how powerful she makes older women sound.