Women Who Run with the Wolves

I ran out to buy this book about two weeks ago after a wonderful post by my mentor, Shantrelle P. Lewis. I had never heard of the book, which is considered a classic, but, as I searched through the pages built upon womanly wisdom I was amazed at the style of writing and the sheer passion of each word that Clarissa Pinkola Estés had chosen. The article that introduced my mentor to the book was written in the June 2009 issue of Ebony Magazine featuring Jada Pinkett-Smith. It wasn't Jada's words that touched my mentor but her husband Will's.

excerpt:"Jada Pinkett Smith-Unscripted" June 2009 issue,Ebony Magazine:

When he first met her, he says, “I could see the range-from the White House to the ghetto. I could see the untapped resources. I just felt like I was looking from a helicopter shot at a mountain range and I can see the diamond two miles beneath the surface.”

Calling forth the diamond in Jada led Will to a book he calls “my understanding women bible,” (Women Who Run With The Wolves). "There is a Native American story in the book about this old hag. The story was called ‘Singing Over The Bones’ says Will. “And this woman was in this vast wasteland of all these broken bodies and bones. She was singing these bones back to life.”

“What I got from it is the idea that if you kill one part of a woman, you kill the whole, he explains. “The woman was singing over the other dead parts of herself and she was bringing the fullness back to life. She was an old hag because she had tried to kill certain parts of herself, and in killing those parts of herself, she killed the whole-the amount of resentment that comes in with women that try to kill parts of themselves to try to fit in their husbands’ limited view or try to squeeze into their husbands’ limited capacity.”

Will says he has worked hard not to hamper his wife’s spirit or development. “There is no other option if I want the full glory of everything my wife has to offer me emotionally, and spiritually and sexually, and all of that. If I want that then I have to increase my capacity for what I am able to handle from my partner.”



+Pick up your copy at your local bookstore or here

Book Club: Afro-Futuristic Odyssey

I was introduced to Octavia E. Butler a few years ago while in undergrad. My favorite college English Professor, Dr. Gregory Hampton was such a Butler fanatic that he organized a conference with her as the keynote speaker, “New Frontier: Blacks in Science Fiction,”spring 2003 at Howard University,and between his "Can you dig it!" moments he shared his gift of Butler knowledge with the class.

My favorite book thus far is "Kindred" because "Bloodchild" gave me so many sleepless nights and a loss of appetite. The mere thought of insects disturbed me! Yet, as I have grown older and more knowledgeable of the craftsmanship and symbolism in Butler's work I am intrigued by every word she writes. So, I am going back to research all of her writings. I welcome you to join me on this Afro-futuristic odyssey. If you have any articles or other resources on Butler please feel free to send them my way. Check out Octavia E. Butler's books below in chronological order:

Patternist series:
Pattern Master (1976)
Mind of my Mind (1977)
Survivor (1978) [Butler later disowned this book as one that she regrets ever made it to print. It's currently out of print and sells for extremely high prices because of its rarity]
Wild Seed (1980)
Clay's Ark (1984)


Xenogenesis novels:

Dawn (1987)
Adulthood Rites (1988)
Imago (1989)
And the two collected versions of all three novels:

Xenogenesis (Hard cover, 1989)
Lilith's Brood (Trade Paperback, 2000)

Parable novels:

Parable of the Sower (1993)
Parable of the Talents (1998)


Stand Alone novels:

Kindred (1979)
Fledgling (2005)

Short fiction:

Bloodchild and Other Stories (1995)

Book Club: "The Temple of My Familiar"

I may have stated this a few times; but, one of my all time favorite authors is Alice Walker. For years I have been debating with the lovers of Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston that my Alice was "it"! It was a tie between Morrison and Walker because they both give me what I need but for different reasons. You know like different medicine for different symptoms. I am a lover of literature and I have read works from India to Europe and back to America and I love it all! In an effort to support the arts I have decided to share some of my favorite books/authors on “POPULARized”. If you've read “The Temple of My Familiar” or any other Alice Walker classic let me hear your thoughts, as I have read them all, and if you haven't read her work please pick one of her books up so we can discuss it.

This is one of my favorite parts in “The Temple of My Familiar” it’s called “The Gospel According to Shug":


"HELPED are those who are content to be themselves; they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of self-discovery will be constant.
HELPED are those who love the entire cosmos rather than their own tiny country, city, or farm, for to them will be shown the unbroken web of life and the meaning of infinity.
HELPED are those who live in quietness, knowing neither brand name nor fad; they shall live every day as if in eternity, and each moment shall be as full as it is long.
HELPED are those who love others unsplit off from their faults; to them will be given clarity of vision.
HELPED are those who create anything at all, for they shall relive the thrill of their own conception, and realize a partnership in the creation of the Universe that keeps them responsible and cheerful.
HELPED are those who love the Earth, their mother, and who willingly suffer that she may not die; in their grief over her pain they will weep rivers of blood, and in their joy in her lively response to love, they will converse with the trees.
HELPED are those whose ever act is a prayer for harmony in the Universe, for they are the restorers of balance to our planet. To them will be given the insight that every good act done anywhere in the cosmos welcomes the life of an animal or a child.
HELPED are those who risk themselves for others' sakes; to them will be given increasing opportunities for ever greater risks. Theirs will be a vision of the word in which no one's gift is despised or lost.
HELPED are those who strive to give up their anger; their reward will be that in any confrontation their first thoughts will never be of violence or of war.
HELPED are those whose every act is a prayer for peace; on them depends the future of the world.
HELPED are those who forgive; their reward shall be forgiveness of every evil done to them. It will be in their power, therefore, to envision the new Earth.
HELPED are those who are shown the existence of the Creator's magic in the Universe; they shall experience delight and astonishment without ceasing.
HELPED are those who laugh with a pure heart; theirs will be the company of the jolly righteous.
HELPED are those who love all the colors of all the human beings, as they love all the colors of the animals and plants; none of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.
HELPED are those who love the lesbian, the gay, and the straight, as they love the sun, the moon, and the stars. None of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.
HELPED are those who love the broken and the whole; none of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.
HELPED are those who do not join mobs; theirs shall be the understanding that to attack in anger is to murder in confusion.
HELPED are those who find the courage to do at least one small thing each day to help the existence of another--plant, animal, river, or human being. They shall be joined by a multitude of the timid.
HELPED are those who lose their fear of death; theirs is the power to envision the future in a blade of grass.
HELPED are those who love and actively support the diversity of life; they shall be secure in their differences.
HELPED are those who KNOW."
— Alice Walker