5 Books For Mythic Living

Book Reviews - World Book Day Special

‘Stories Of The Sun’ is officially here. A book that seeks to connect the reader to the earth, nature and heritage through the sun and all her stories. It’s a book that can be classed as what has become known as ‘mythic living’, which involves using myth, legend and folktale as a guide for our lives.

I’ve been walking the mythic living path for over a decade now - rewilding myself through story and archetypes, using them as a way of working through life’s ups and downs - but it wasn’t until around four years ago that I heard it referred to as mythic living.

Mythic living has its roots in Jungian psychology and it is argued that myth and the archetypes (characters) it encompasses, exist on an independent plain to ours. We tell the stories that sing to us through the earth and ancestral DNA. If you’d like to do a deep dive into this, Sharon Blackie has a page on her website that explains its many forms, here.

You could argue that it only pertains to mythologies, however I and others, use folktale, legends, wonder tales and fairy tales in the same way. Stories make us human, they are medicine for the soul and a way of the world tapping us on the shoulder and reminding us to look up and reconnect with our biophilic nature.

For World Book Day, I’m taking the opportunity to share five books with you that encompass this ethos and can help you on your journey to rewild yourself through story.

1. Stories Of The Sun - Dawn Nelson - I know you’d be disappointed if I didn’t include my own book, right? As previously mentioned ‘Stories Of The Sun’ uses nature narrative, folklore and stories to reconnect with our largest and most vital star.

   

   For millennia we have looked to the sun to provide us with light, food and warmth. Yet, in our attempts to increase the productivity of each hour, we have skewed our days and stretched them through the use of candles, electricity and LED bulbs, our faces glowing in the unnatural light of screens and electronic devices.
   
   Within the pages of this book lies the chance to reconnect with our primal life force through folklore, exploration of ancient cultures, myths, legends and tales of our past. By understanding the power of our ancient star through the wisdom of those who walked this land before us, we can hope to unplug ourselves from the synthetic glow that surrounds our lives and reconnect with the Stories of the Sun.

   As it would be highly unethical to review my own book, below are some of the reviews from the advance reader copies sent out by my publisher, to give you a taste of what people are saying so far.

   ‘This book had everything I wanted it to have and more, well written and engaging in every way’ - Demelda Penkitty, Goodreads.

   ‘Well done on the book!! It really is beautiful and I hope it flies as high as it deserves’ - Helen Thompson, Substack Subscriber

2. Hagitude - Sharon Blackie - Sharon Blackie was the first person to name for me, what I was doing as ‘mythic living’. She too has been living through story and mythic imagination for decades. It was ‘When Women Rose Rooted’ that I first read and whilst I haven’t enjoyed all of her books, ‘When Women Rose Rooted’ and ‘Hagitude’ are two that I would highly recommend.

   

   ‘There can be a perverse pleasure, as well as a sense of rightness and beauty, in insisting on flowering just when the world expects you to become quiet and diminish.’ Sharon Blackie
   
   For any woman over fifty who has ever asked ‘What now? Who do I want to be?’ comes a life-changing new book showing how your second half may be your most dynamic yet.
   
   Rich with the combination of myth, landscape and eco-feminism that took her earlier work If Women Rose Rooted to cult status, Hagitude reclaims the mid years as a liberating, alchemical moment – from which to shift into your chosen, authentic and fulfilling future. Drawing inspiration from mythic figures and archetypes ranging from the Wise Woman and the Creatrix to the Henwife and the Trickster, as well as modern mentors, Sharon Blackie radically rewrites the future for women in their mid and elder years.

   As you can see this book is billed as being for women over the age of fifty, but in my opinion it has plenty to teach all folk, of all ages and is a great book for looking at the archetypes for older women, that once we thought only dwelt in story books. I wrote more about this book here.

3. Smokehole - Martin Shaw - Another follower of the Mythic Path, in this book Martin Shaw looks at how we might learn lessons from the COVID19 pandemic. I found this book so helpful and hopeful when coming out of those very strange times.

   

   At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives - identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic - celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole: three metaphors to help us understand our world, one that is assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a health crisis that has brought loneliness and isolation to an all-time high.

   Smoke Hole is a passionate call to arms and an invitation to use these stories to face the complexities of contemporary life, from fake news, parenthood, climate crises, addictive technology, and more. Shaw urges us to reclaim our imagination and untangle ourselves from modern menace, letting these tales be our guide.

   Again, I haven’t loved all of Shaw’s work but ‘Smokehole’ and ‘Courting The Wild Twin’ are two highlights for me.

4. Storyland - Amy Jeffs - Brilliant from start to finish, this books takes the jigsaw pieces of Britain’s mythic past and puts them together in a coherent, accessible and highly entertaining format.

   

   Soaked in mist and old magic, Storyland tells a history of Britain and the politics of its people through medieval eyes. Grounded in research, related as fiction, it begins before the Great Flood, with a troop of African giants quarrying stones. Later, the first migrants enter the Atlantic, calling themselves the Scoti and Britons, followed by the English and the Normans, crossing the North Sea. 

   Storyland is ancient Britain as you have never seen it before. It is filled with places we know today and characters half-remembered: Lear in Leicester, Merlin in Stonehenge, Grim in Grimsby, St Columba on the River Ness. Storyland is a tale of legend, landscape and the yearning to belong.

   In addition to the wonderful retellings of ancient stories, the wood cut illustrations are perfection, bringing to life the gods, goddesses, giants and magicians of Britain’s wild past.

5. Britain’s Landmarks & Legends - Jo Woolf - Jo Woolf’s latest book looking at Britain’s Landmarks and Legends takes a more tangible route to seeking out Britain’s mythic past. I love looking at the landscape and discovering, lynchets, barrows, ditches and holloways, all telling stories. This book is the perfect guide for those who want to find a story whilst out and about.

This beautifully illustrated book reveals the secrets and stories of fifty icons of Britain’s landscape.

Some are natural wonders, such as Cheddar Gorge, Sherwood Forest and the white cliffs of Dover. Others were made by our distant ancestors: the standing stones of Avebury and Calanais, the Uffington White Horse, the burial mounds of Sutton Hoo.

Discover how they came to be, the legends and traditions that surround them, and how they have inspired famous writers and poets. Reconnect with our ancient landscape with this fascinating and surprising guide.

All five of these books dwell on my bookshelf and I often refer to them and dip in an out of them. They are old friends and new who walk with me on my path.

You can buy all five of these books in all good bookshops. If you would like to buy a copies online, please consider visiting my page on Bookshop.org where I have gathered some of the books I read and recommend. Here you will find a plethora of myth, legend and folktale.

And don’t forget to support your local library too. See if they have a copy to borrow.