If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging

It comes from conviction, from understanding and owning our stories, from a strong sense of who we are and what our place is in the world.

No matter what women might achieve in the world, the fundamental message of the sacred texts of the world’s largest religious grouping, which for 2,000 years have supplied the foundational beliefs of our Western culture, is that men should not trust women, and that women should trust neither themselves nor each other.

And so, inevitably, my symptoms of panic returned: this time, with perfect resonance, taking the form of hyper-ventilation: a constant gasping for breath. I was thirty-seven years old, and it seemed to me that I was right back where I had started, seven years before. The Wasteland was all around me, and I was living in it again. But beyond a vague

acclaimed nature writer Jay Griffiths, author of the bestselling books Wild and Kith,

Whatever it takes, whatever might be lost along the way, I need to cut myself loose from this increasingly meaningless life, and find another path.

We all need allies to help us on our journey. Our European folk and fairy stories are full of them, and many come in human form: the wise old woman in the woods who offers advice, the fairy godmother who offers gifts . . . The kind of allies we’re talking about here are different from the friends and family who might support us as we struggle along

It took me a long time to accept that I would not be failing by leaving this marriage – I would be failing myself by staying.

Planting a seed so that sometime, when they need it, they’ll remember these things. Because it’s time for us to rise up and take back our role as caretakers and stewards not just of the land but of the children, too.

Above all songs, she’ll love to hear ‘The Sealwoman’s Sea-Joy’, written to express the delight of the Selkie who finds her lost skin.