It is elegantly written and seems to be well researched and supported in some places. Other places it’s very diary entry, literary review with no clear thesis. Heather will offer an experiential workshop on dance movement medicine for the embodied elder. All movement at your own pace and interpretation. Author of A Wild Soul Woman and Reclaiming the Wild Soul, a 2015 Nautilus Award-winner, Mary’s writings have also appeared in numerous other publications and anthologies. Through her books, courses, and talks, she reaches creatives, change-makers, and seekers who long to awaken to their most courageous and Earth-connected selves and have the impact they desire.

Mary will lead a class on the Ancient Irish Keen focusing on its history and context as well as sharing examples. My first novel The Long Delirious Burning Blue was described by The Independent on Sunday as ‘Hugely potent. A tribute to the art of storytelling that is itself an affecting and inspiring story’ and by The Scotsman as ‘… powerful (reminiscent of The English Patient), filmic, and achieving the kind of symmetry that novels often aspire to, but rarely reach.’ 'If Women Rose Rooted', a nonfiction book about women, Celtic myth, place and belonging was published in 2016, 'The Enchanted Life' in 2018, and 'Foxfire, Wolfskin and other stories of shapeshifting women' in September 2019.. There isn’t enough information about elderhood, for those interested. There certainly isn’t enough written in a positive framework about women who age, nor enough mythical introductions which aren’t preaching from the current fashion of witchstagram (again many who are authentic get drowned out by trolls, who have the patience of a pamphlet) A wonderfully inspiring rallying cry, an eloquent and engaging offering of a world of hope and possibilities to all the women about to enter or who are already in, the second half of life.’ THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW BOOK BY THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING IF WOMEN ROSE ROOTED , EMPOWERING WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE.How can we find inspiration from archetypal women in our old myths and fairy tales to help us navigate this transition? Please find below the audio versions of a few of my retellings and reimaginings of stories about older women. Hagitude unearths the stories of the little-known but powerful elder women in European myth and folklore, inspiring readers to imagine that the last decades of our lives might be the most dynamic of all. This moving and uplifting book will inspire a new generation of female elders: women who have reclaimed their Inner Hag, matured into their own unique brand of hagitude and who are ready to pass down their deep feminine wisdom for the benefit of the wider Earth community. In this episode, I talk with Carolyn about her Book of Hag, wrapped around travels into old age and towards ancientness, and the grandmothers from her Weaver’s Oracle, created from thirty years of paintings, mythic tales and work with women’s archetypal mysteries.

I was all set to recommend this. The early chapters where the author discusses elder archetypes, reclaiming the wise woman archetype and no longer accepting the modern patriarchal attempts to invalidate and dehumanize women past child bearing years, especially those women who never gave birth to children, were great. They were interesting and empowering, although it does help to be a Jungian scholar for a good portion of her text (I am not). Menopause, like all times of transition, is a time between stories, when the old story fades and a new one is waiting to emerge. Its invitations are manifold, as we hover on the brink of profound transformation. During this period of intense physical change, it’s also necessary to turn inwards, to embark upon the inner work of elderhood – the work of reimagining and shaping who we want to be in the world, of gaining new perspectives on life, of challenging and evolving our belief systems, of exploring our calling, of uncovering meaning. In the crucible of menopause, we can dream a new life into being. Her passion for teaching and leading springs from her own experience with dance and embodied awakening as a path to health and wholeness. As a young woman dance was crucial in her journey of surviving and integrating lessons from drug addiction, anxiety, depression and loss. As an elder she is committed to creating spaces where movement and music facilitate greater resilience, resource and vitality. She inducts a felt sense of permission and deep presence, inviting each woman to claim her unique engagement with the dance of life. Moya will offer us a workshop on working with the energy of Death. Moya has been apprenticed to Death for a lifetime, beginning with a brush with Death as a child in a near-drowning experience; subsequently, she worked as a nurse in Complementary Therapies with a Specialist Palliative Care Service. She now consciously walks with Death by her side – which, she considers, makes every step sacred. Moya considers Death to be her greatest teacher and friend, and her life is enriched by the presence of Death. Truly disappointing due almost entirely from my expectations. I really thought it was about women archetypes, myths and legacies of certain older women and their influences on our soc-economic landscapes. This is only sprinkled.As much as I thought this would be an interesting feminist book about empowerment in your older age, this author does not seem at all connected to my same reality. It doesn’t even seem to be feminist, just a woman’s book talking about their own experience and interpretations of the world. The author fits the narrative they tell to their reality and comfort level, not all the women archetypes or myths to show other ways of being. Then she reports that even a lesbian (gasp!) shared her views, as though finding one person in a more marginalized group who shares your views to bolster your own absolves you of your intolerance. Carolyn will join us to talk about her Book of Hag, wrapped around travels into old age and towards ancientness, and the grandmothers from her Weaver’s Oracle, created from thirty years of paintings, mythic tales and work with women’s archetypal mysteries. This dynamic book sets out an approach to ageing, that is not about staying at all costs young but instead advocates harnessing your power, learning from myths, archetypes and role models, and plotting a liberating new path to an elder (as opposed to elderly) woman. Bring on inconvenience, I say.’ Yet again, a book meant solely for women that caters to trans-identified males. This book is about MENOPAUSE and the life women live after. Something a male will NEVER have to go through and will NEVER understand. I loved this book up until chapter 12, when she prattles on about trans-identified males and their ideas of womanhood (a male can't understand womanhood utside of stereotypes and sexist media) which has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE POINT OF THE BOOK!! She also cites the UK organisation "Mermaids" which has been recently proven to use fake statistics, overtly lie to children, actively encourage medical/surgical intervention to minors, and uphold very regressive ideas of gender roles (stereotypical femininity = woman, stereotypical masculinity = man). Any credibility she had as a "feminist" or pro-women is gone.

Anne is a Jungian analyst based in England, and is the author and co-author of seven books, including her groundbreaking 1993 volume, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image, with Jules Cashford. Her latest book is The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul. She is passionately interested in the fate of the Earth and the survival of our species in this critically important time of evolutionary change. Her work is devoted to the recognition that we live in an ensouled world, and to the restoration of the lost sense of communion between us and the invisible dimension of the universe that is the source or ground of all that we call ‘life’.

This twelve-Module program explores the ways in which we might flourish at midlife and beyond, in the decades that so often are portrayed as a time of decline. How can we map the territory, prepare ourselves for yet another searing transformation, and move into the second half of life with a new sense of vitality, creativity and vision? I was really excited about the insight this book offers about the later stages of life and some of the characterizations we see about this in folklore and other stories. I found it very compelling until it slipped into a long, sort of meandering tirade invalidating trans women. Stating that trans rights are human rights and in the same breath asserting that they essentially cannot be considered women is weird and gross. I am a longtime appreciator of Sharon’s work and have taken her classes and seminars. Until this book I would have said that I didn’t feel much of a divide; her ideas have excited and validated me. Carolyn Hillyer is a renowned musician and artist who lives and works on a thousand-year-old farm in the ancient belly of Dartmoor, a mist-veiled landscape of wild hills, peat bogs and heather moors in the south-west of England. The inspiration for all her work is drawn from the raw beauty, untamed spirit and primordial memory of this ancestral land. Her creative output includes albums of powerful songs and chants, concerts, books and workshops, paintings and art installations, and traditional drum-making. In her trademark mythopoetic style of writing sharing deeply researched folk legends from our very own British Isles, and with a wild and deep attachment to these lands she inhabits, this book will remind you of just how powerful and transformative this midlife journey we are in truly is.

A tidal wave of wisdom and creativity. I have participated in several programs about menopause and aging but never felt it was an authentic, intimate discovery process. I found this in the Hagitude Program, which has been deeply enriching.’This book is full of interesting ideas, but also full of old school feminism that leaves little room for trans women, or women who don’t make the same choices as the author. It often came across as arrogant to me, in a way I found off-putting. When she mentioned that no experience is as transformative as having cancer, I wanted to scream “And you’d know this how?” She’s never had kids. Never have a spouse of a child die. Never done lots of things. I just personally can’t stand when people assume their little t truth is everyone’s Capital T TRUTH. Rant over. For now.