Courting the Wild Twin

Dr Martin Shaw is a mythologist, storyteller and teacher. Creator of both the Oral Tradition and Living Myth courses at Stanford University, he is also director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK. Shaw is author of the award winning Mythteller trilogy and The Night Wages, and the coauthor of Courting the Dawn: Poems of Lorca. Life Cycle, his conversation and essay on the artist Ai WeiWei, was recently released by the Marciano Arts Foundation. David Abram described Shaw's work as "piratical brilliance."Alongside this, Shaw has spent 20 years as a wilderness rites of passage guide, working with returning veterans, at risk youth and hundreds of others in establishing a deep connection with nature during a four-day fast in a wild place. His book Wolf Milk is a reflection on this ancient practice. Core to all of Shaw's writings is the four-year period he spent living in a tent, exploring remaining pockets of English wilderness.

'Courting the Wild Twin beckons us to step through the doorway that stories create, and reveals a pathway to awakening our relationship with the world around--and with ourselves.'--Dee Dee Chainey, author of A Treasury of British Folklore 'Martin Shaw turns words into stories and stories into unpredictable excursions in search of the Wild Twin within each and all. He reveals the importance of this often exiled, yet deeply necessary inner otherness, the very part that holds the secret sense of rapport and essential relatedness that entwines human nature with the heart of Mother Nature.'--Michael Meade, author of Awakening the Soul 'This remarkable, powerful, provocative and timely book is about the same size as your smartphone. Carry it in your other pocket, and every time you reach for your phone, take this out instead. Give your imagination, your activism, your poetic/mythic self some soul food. That's what I did, and it delighted me every time.'--Rob Hopkins, author of From What Is to What If 'A book that comprehends the forests of the soul, written with fierce courage and audacious wildness.'--Jay Griffiths, author of Wild 'Courting the Wild Twin revels in the fabulous--the alchemy of story, primaeval nouse and narrative. Shaw is proof of William Blake's adage that "Truth can never be told so as to be understood and not believed." A thrilling exploration of ancient ambiguity, this book digs deep into the miraculous mulch of myth.'--Dan Richards, author of Outpost 'This magical book underlines the ability of storytelling to rewrite reality while functioning as a practical--and highly personal--guide to the rewilding of the self.'--David Keenan, author of For the Good Times 'Terrifically strange and thrilling. One for all you storytellers.'--Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley