Women Who run With the Wolves

My musing on Red Shoes has led me back to that classic resource Women who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Chapter 8, titled 'Self-Preservation: Identifying Leg Traps, Cages, and Poisoned Bait' contains 'The Red Shoes'.

"There is an old women's teaching tale about the plight of the starved and feral woman. It is variously known by the names "The Devil's Dancing Shoes," "The Red-Hot Shoes of the Devil," and "The Red Shoes." Hans Christian Anderson wrote a story by the same name"(p215)

She speaks of a 'loss of instinct' and warns to 'guard the treasures of our basic natures'. This theme was certainly present in 'The Lollipop Shoes'. I am looking forward to exploring further this chapter. In rereading I hope to discover what is drawing me to this little story.

The Kate Bush site GaffaWeb has a discussion about Red Shoes and compares the Magyar-Germanic version from 'Women Who run With the Wolves' to the Hans Christian Anderson version.