A reading group for those interested in Paganism, folklore, the history of witchcraft, and magic. The group is open to anyone who would like to discuss books from a pagan, folkloric, witchy or occult perspective, be they long-time practitioners or just curious about exploring the subject. 

In January we’ll read Smoke Hole : Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass by Martin Shaw. It’s an exploration of how myth and folk stories can contextualise our lives. Helping to act as initiators and guides, in a society that often lacks spiritual and community leaders to guide us on our way. It’s a passionate little manifesto, interspersed with really evocative retellings of three traditional stories. It also serves, almost incidentally, as a guide to how we might unpack fairtales, folk stories, and myths in a spiritual or psychological context.

The book is available from Five Leaves Bookshop for 15% off but feel free to get it elsewhere (including the library) if you’d prefer. To access the discount, email your order to bookshop@fiveleaves.co.uk or come by the shop. 

From the publisher:

Today, as we are confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our lives – identity, technology, love, seduction, politics – celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole – three ancient myths that serve as metaphors for our world today. Assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a pandemic that brought loneliness to an all-time high, Martin argues that we are losing our sense of direction, our sense of self. He invites us to use these stories to help find ‘a commons for the imagination, a place to breathe deeper, feel steadier and become acquainted with rapture.’ Smoke Hole is a passionate call to arms and an invitation to use these stories to face the complexities of contemporary life, from fake news to parenthood, climate crises, addictive technology and more