Liturgies of the Wild

‘One of the master storytellers of our time’ – Dr Gabor Maté, author of The Myth of Normal

*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

‘One of the master storytellers of our time’ – Dr Gabor Maté, author of The Myth of Normal

From 'one of the greatest storytellers we have' (Robert Bly), an urgent invitation to allow the oldest stories – and the Greatest Story – to reshape our own.

There’s an old Irish belief that if you aren’t wrapped in a cloak of story you will be unprepared for what the world will hurl at you. You remain adolescent at just the moment a culture worth its salt requires you to become a real, grown, human being.

In Liturgies of the Wild, acclaimed mythographer, storyteller and Christian thinker Martin Shaw argues that we live in a myth-impoverished age, cut off from the deep wells of story and meaning that once prepared us for life’s challenges.

Drawing on the 'ancient technologies' of myths and initiatory rites, Shaw invites readers to rediscover the ancient stories that shape the human soul — and to encounter Christ as the ultimate, transforming story providing a road to wholeness, maturity and connection. Within these pages, Shaw:

Teaches us to read a myth the way it wants to be read;

Provides vivid retellings of tales powerful enough to carry you through life’s travails;

Shows you how to gather and reshape your own thrown-away stories.

Most vividly, Shaw shares his own spiritual journey and how these ancient technologies led him – unexpectedly – to Christ, 'the True Myth,' by way of a thirty-year journey and a 101-night vigil in a Dartmoor forest.

Blending nimble storytelling in the tradition of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien with scholarly depth, Liturgies of the Wild s a thrilling counsel of resistance and delight in the face of many modern monsters, providing a transformative journey into story, spirit and self-discovery.

Ebury Vine: The Home Of Christian Living. Drawing on the deep roots of Christianity to cultivate curious minds and inspire faith-informed growth.

About the Author

Dr Martin Shaw is a writer, mythographer and Christian thinker who has authored seventeen books. He holds a visiting position at the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University and is a fellow of the Temenos Academy. He founded the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University and is director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK. For thirty years Shaw has been a wilderness rites-of-passage guide, working with men and women seeking a deeper life.