Untie the Strong Woman Quotes

“The Virgin Mary is a girl gang leader in Heaven.
She is a Hell’s Angel and she rides a Harley.
This I know for I come from people
who think axle grease is holy water.
They hold Mass out in the driveway
under the hood on Saturdays.
The engine is their altar.
They genuflect and say prayers all day,
and baptize themselves in crankcase oil.
The soles of their shoes
always smell like gasoline.
I come from people who think Confession
a necessity only the moment before a head-on collision.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother's Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul

“This work is formed especially to let any soul who longs toward her, walks with her, dreams toward her . . . to know they are surrounded by fellow travelers who do not “believe” she walks with us: From our bones outward, we who are fellow travelers know her and experience her up front and cheek-to-cheek. We are, together, all of us, the sparkling flashes of light on her ocean of love. We are together the flashing of innumerable stars on her mantle. You are not alone. We are together — with and within — her.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother's Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul

“Holy Mother is not meant to be a fence: Holy Mother is a Gate.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother's Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul

“Each soul has to pry their unconsciousness out of the primal ooze and develop consciousness — to allow The Mother of the Heart of the World to take their hands, heart, and head in order to lead them to enact these new life attitudes and practices for themselves out of mercy for others.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother's Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul