If Women Rose Rooted : A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging

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We are guided deftly on a life-changing journey from the wasteland of modern society to a place of nourishment and connection. Beautifully written, honest and moving, If Women Rose Rooted is a passionate song to a different kind of femininity, a rallying, feminist cry for the rewilding of womanhood; reclaiming our role as guardians of the land. While I'm all up for this kinda stuff and was interested in what the author had to say, in the end I just found it too long and way too baggy - an edit would have been good. I also kind of knew a lot of this stuff (as a Welsh person who had the Mabinogion read to her in primary school), which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I guess I just could have done with something more or a different angle on it. Also, while the writing was fine, it didn't go beyond that - it wasn't like reading Jay Griffiths who writes on similar subject matters but really gorgeously - it didn't really do interesting things, or challenge stuff or make you think. I thoroughly enjoyed this read, as a call to reconnect with Mother Earth to be the powerful women we were all born to be. I put this book down determined to face my own life more deeply and forge a deeper connection with the world. I hope this inspiration lasts even after the memory of this book has faded. The women in this book showed me how deeply connected to the earth and each other our lives can be. It made me feel that it's never to late to deepen our lives, my life, and a sense that life can be renewed at any stage.

I didn't like the author's personal path of oh, I'm on my second husband and my second remote celtic home and we're connecting to the land through a heavy reliance on animal agriculture! and also we are starting a publishing company without knowing anything about publishing! and look, I've brought all my type A ideas about success with me and I'm working on the publishing company and the magazine I started and taking care of these dozens of animals and we have the money to build a huge heated barn and totally remodel the house and we're exhausted and burned out. I mean, to me, this is a story of extremes. not all of us get this disconnected or buy into capitalism's definition of success, and so maybe we don't need to live on a croft on the furthest western edge of ireland or in a cottage by a waterfall to reconnect. Who will listen any more to their long, slow songs; who understands the language of stones? Not these people, for sure. They don't even know that the stones are alive.” This twelve-Module self-study 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? This is the core of our task: to respect and revere ourselves, and so bring about a world in which women are respected and revered, recognised once again as holding the life-giving power of the earth itself.’She dreams of a night sky from which the stars have not fled in horror, and of wild-pawed, stinking foxes yapping in a moonlit wood. She can see it; she can almost taste it.” I really like the idea of viewing environmentalism through a lens of feminism and the study of myth and the history of a place. The idea of women as essential stewards of the land and of that stewardship being intrinsically linked to knowledge of history, including the history of mythology and the environment, was very appealing to me. But this book just didn't deliver that in my opinion. Distinctive and didactic poems, paintings, and music come into my life when I am deep into soul-searching, shadow work. This book arrived exactly when I needed it. It is gut-wrenching, beautiful, powerful, and very important. Women have long been told to 'know our place'. This powerful and inspiring exploration of the female relationship with landscape turns the diktat around, showing us what may be gained from doing just that." — Melissa Harrison, author of Clay and At Hawthorn Time The book left me determined to belong to some community that is working towards the saving of the earth. Also to appreciate my own heritage more. It's hard to think of a mythical heritage in the Bronx! I may have to look to my own Celtic roots. But there are also the stories my father told me, the world of the lower East Side in the 20s and 30s to the world this city has become.

For women who feel separated from their true feminine self, this is a rallying cry to rediscover those ancient roots and be part of the life force again .’ cygnus review Sometimes, if you have grown up in certain ways, a fear of being seen to fail can outweigh the personal cost of continuing to live in impossible circumstances.” Non-Fiction Books» Society & Culture» Popular Beliefs & Controversial Knowledge» Folklore Studies / Study of Myth (Mythology) the premise of a heroine's journey, in contrast to the hero's journey described by campbell, where women reconnect with the earth and get in touch with their gifts to heal the world, ok. the utilization of ancient celtic stories to connect women with celtic heritage to their own cultures and landscapes, ok. the basic premise of the patriarchy being out of balance, masculine energy dominating feminine energy, sure, I agree with that. the concept of rape as the primal offense against the feminine, sure. It is a Call to Life – a full, authentic life. It is a Call to rise from the half-sleep of our existence, and take up our part in the great unfolding of the world. To become a Voice of the Wells. We must answer the Call, or forever be lost in the Wasteland. For many women, that Call occurs at midlife. Dante expressed it perfectly, in the opening lines of The Divine Comedy: ‘Midway upon the journey of my life I found myself in a dark wood, where the right way was lost.’ Most women experience major change in these middle years: physical change or professional; social or psychological; changes in our family and our relationships. Our children leave home. We are overtaken by disillusionment and dissatisfaction. We find ourselves unhappy in our jobs, in our marriages. We develop physical illnesses, anxiety or depression. Rage and grief threaten to overwhelm us. We begin to contemplate our own mortality. We question who we are, who we might have been, who we might yet become. We question our spiritual values and our material values. We begin to wonder what we are doing with our lives, what meaning we might find. We open our eyes a little wider, and take in the world beyond ourselves. For the first time, we see the Wasteland for what it is.”

Beautifully written, honest and moving, If Women Rose Rooted is a passionate song to a different kind of femininity; a rallying cry for women to reawaken their natural power – not just for the sake of their own wellbeing, but for love of this threatened earth.

I love this book. Truly, it’s mind-blowing in the most profound and exhilarating sense. This is an anthem for all we could be, an essential book for this, the most critical of recent times. I sincerely hope every woman who can read has the time and space to read it.’ ~ Manda Scott, Boudica and Into The Fire What I would have liked to have seen in this book is a pronunciation guide for the Gaelic names and words (impossible combinations of letters!) and an appendix with the names and brief identities of the mythological characters and places. There are footnotes for sources which is helpful. My husband David Knowles and I founded literary publisher Two Ravens Press (now under new ownership) in 2006, and in 2012 launched EarthLines Magazine, a full-colour print publication for writing about nature, place and the environment. In general I enjoyed this - it's all about connecting with the Earth and connecting with Celtic heritage. It interlinks personal stories, Celtic myths, and meetings with other like-minded people. It's kinda like Women who Run with the wolves - so if you like that book, you'll like this one too.

A beautiful, intelligent and unusual book … I’m hoping this book will become the anthem of our generation, encouraging all women to surrender to the earth’s intelligence and rise up, rooted, like trees.’ Kate Forsyth, author of ‘Bitter Greens’, T’he Wild Girl’, and ‘The Beast’s Garden’ I felt no love for this world, no sense of belonging. I felt separate from it, closed in, claustrophobic. Some days, walking through identical grey suburban streets to school, I felt as if I were being buried alive.” My first event in The Bone Cave, in December 2020, was a free live webinar based on If Women Rose Rooted. I spoke about the process of writing it, how the inspiration came about, and how my ideas on reclaiming the mythic feminine have progressed in the intervening four or more years. There was also a chance for participants to ‘ask me anything’ about any issue related to the book.