Untie the Strong Woman

Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul

 

“Have You Forgotten? I Am Your Mother. You Are Under My Protection.”


“There is a promise Holy Mother makes to us,” proclaims Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, “that any soul needing comfort, vision, guidance, or strength can cry out to her, flee to her protection, and Blessed Mother will immediately arrive with veils flying. She will place us under her mantle for refuge, and give us the warmth of her most compassionate touch, and strong guidance about how to go by the soul’s lights.” Untie the Strong Woman is Dr. Estés invitation to come together under the shelter of The Mother—whether she appears to us as the Madonna, Our Lady of Guadalupe, or any one of her countless incarnations. In this unforgettable collection of stories, prayers, and blessings, Dr. Estés shares:

“The Drunkard and the Lady”—a story of unexpected miracles that arise from the mud and soil
“Guadalupe is a Girl Gang Leader in Heaven”—a poem of resistance and hope
“No One Too Bad, Too Mean, or Too Hopeless”—the fierce Mother that never gives up on us
“The Shirt of Arrows”—a love that is invincible no matter how many times we are wounded
 “The Black Madonna”—she who stands at the juncture between two worlds and protects us as we enter the dark places

 

Why does the face of Our Lady appear in the most humble and unexpected places? Why does she burst forth into every culture no matter how hard authority tries to suppress her? It is because no bonds can restrain the power of her love, nor prevent her from returning to those who need her most. With Untie the Strong Woman, Dr. Estés invites you to encounter the force of Immaculate Love—“So that your memory of Her is renewed, or that the knowledge of her miraculous, fierce, enduring ways is drawn into your heart for the very first time.”

 


Contents

 

First Words

Our Ancestral Great Mother

Opening Blessing:  Totus Tuus, I Belong to You, Blessed Mother

 

Chapter Two

How the Great Woman Was Erased:  Our Part in Restoring Her

Untie the Strong Woman

 

Chapter Three

She Is the Inspiratus for Souls Who Suffer

The Drunkard and the Lady

 

Chapter Four

In Humble, Helpless Love with Her

Guadalupe Is a Girl Gang Leader in Heaven

 

Chapter Five

Rise Up!  Even From Bloodshed, Says La Conquista, Our Lady of the Conquered

Massacre of the Dreamers:  The Maiz Mother

 

Chapter Six

“Shirt of Arrows:” She Teaches Protection of the Vulnerable:  No Exceptions

The Memorare, Remember!

 

Chapter Seven

The Uses of Broken-Heartedness, Mater Dolorosa Ever Bends Near

The Use of the Seven Swords Through the Heart

 

Chapter Eight

Many Kinds of Prisons:  The Last Woman Standing

“Our Lady Behind the Wall”

 

Chapter Nine

Carrying the Name of the Mother

A Man Named Mary

 

Chapter Ten

Forged in the Fiery Furnace

The Black Madonna

Chapter Eleven

No One Too Bad, Too Mean, or Too Hopeless

How the Motherfuckers Became the Blessed Mothers

 

Chapter Twelve

No Racism, No Discrimination, No One Is An “Untouchable”

The Great Woman Appears to Us Daily

 

Chapter Thirteen

Her Names Without Classic

Litany of the Mother Road:  Chant of Her Incandescent Names

 

Chapter Fourteen

Compassionate Mother:  Restoring The Soul After Shock

Post-Abortion Compassion:  “The Children She Got That She Did Not Get”

 

Chapter Fifteen

The Lasso of Our Lady…For Saving a Life

The Drowning Man

 

Chapter Sixteen

Holding Fast to the Soul

God Has No Hands:  Comforting Maria, The Ritual of Pesame

 

Chapter Seventeen

The Great Mother Inspires the Little Mothers

The Marys of Mother Africa

 

Chapter Eighteen

Refusing the Holy:  No Room for You Here

The “Oh Yes, There Is Too Room for You Here” Ritual of La Posada

 

Chapter Nineteen

Letter to the Young Mystics Following Holy Mother

Our Lady of Guadalupe:  The Path of the Broken Heart

 

Chapter Twenty

Los Inmigrantes, We Are All Immigrants:  The Undousable Creative Fire

They Tried to Stop Her At the Border

 

Chapter Twenty-One

Mi Madre, Tu Madre, La Madre de Ella, La Madre de El, Nuestra Madre:  My Mother, Your Mother, Her Mother, His Mother, Our Mother

The Truth About How Very Hard it is to Get Into Heaven

 

Chapter Twenty-Two

That You Be Watched Over and Kept Safe Until We See Each Other Again

Closing Blessing:  Have You Forgotten?  I Am Your Mother

 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Beautiful Words About the Mother

Some of the Ways Other Creative Souls Understand Relationship With Mother

 

Chapter Twenty-Four

Aymen, Aymen, Aymen…And A Little Woman

The Highest Prayer