New books and limited edition t-shirt
New book: Red Bead Woman Acclaimed scholar and mythteller Dr Martin Shaw has committed to writing this jewel of a tale from the Taiga of Siberia. For the last ten years he has followed faithfully wherever this story has wished to take him. And it is only now, after hundreds of oral tellings, that he was put it into the written word. And alongside this story and commentary are brand new drawings - scattered like seed throughout. This book depicts an ancient story for troubled times, beginning with
Two Roads: The Pastoral & Prophetic
Where Two Roads Meet: Interview with Martin Shaw Watch All Those Barbarians video Watch Wolferland video
First signed copies of Courting the Wild Twin sent out
"I've been signing the first orders and leaving them in a rose garden," says Martin Shaw, who is on lockdown at his Dartmoor cottage in the UK. "My friend Michael Martin then collects them and they get out to the world. It's good to see his distant but joyful face! "I want to thank you for supporting Cista Mystica, my small press. We have a major plan of action to be announced soon. In the meantime, please enjoy some free audio here on my website, and consider having
Keeping the smoke hole open: seek vigil not isolation
In Siberian myth, when you want to hurt someone, you crawl into their tent and close the smoke hole. That way God can’t see them. Close the smoke hole and you break connection to the divine world. Mountains, rivers, trees. Close the smoke hole and we become mad. Close the smoke hole and we are possessed by ourselves and only ourselves. Close the smoke hole and you have only your neurosis for company. Well, enough of that. Really, c’mon. We’re grown ups. Let’s take a breath. We may
East Anglia sell out: final Into the Marvellous tour
Martin Shaw was in conversation with the Grand Dame of Painting, Maggi Hambling at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival on November 8. Says Martin: "I Loved every minute of it. A real pirate queen of the deep sea, way out from land." It was then on to Cambridge for an afternoon and evening hosted by the Cambridge Storytellers - The Storyteller and the Shaman. Tickets were in great demand and it was another sell out success. This was the final leg of the UK Into the Marvellous Tour.
Taking the Snakes Back to Ireland: sell-out events and a secret book
A magical wild week in Ireland filled with poetry, story and music saw all events sold out and an article in the Irish Times. And as he travelled across Ireland, Martin left 50 copies of his latest book Bardskull, an edition that can’t be bought with no ISBN number, in copses, under stones, by raggedy little wells, in shopping centres, taverns and rivers - each copy a snake attempting to return to Ireland. Says Martin: “There’s older ways to enter Ireland than ferry tickets or passport waggles,