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 Est s, "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. Est s 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. Est s 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. Est s 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