A Pile of Stones- Tales From a Devotional Polytheist

by Suzanne Thackston

Reading these short stories feels like an act of devotion in itself, even an act of prayer. The narratives blend fiction and myth (and – one suspects – quite a bit of personal religious experience), and yet the feelings they bring forth, feelings towards the divine, are every bit as real and powerful as those elicited by ritual and worship. Gain new appreciation of deities you may never have connected with before, and fall in love all over again with the complex light and dark sides of your most beloved and familiar gods.

Artemis, Demeter, Hekate, Dionysos, Persephone, Poseidon, Athena, Hera, heroines and nymphs, legendary queens. The depths of the sea and the far side of death. Festivals celebrated two thousand years ago and two weeks ago. Transformations, epiphanies, tragedies, sacred rites and mysteries. Difficult truths and unexpected blessings. All infused with a nuanced understanding of divine nature encompassing the breathtakingly cosmic down to the most everyday associations.

These are not just stories, they are jumping off points for deep contemplation and spiritual engagement. But they are also wonderfully told tales that will entertain and captivate, and can be returned to again and again with pleasure.

(From the back cover.)

157 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2023

About the author

Suz Thackston is a strange old mystic who has always been obsessed with horses and cannot resist a myth or faery tale. After homeschooling her now-grown sons, she has time to talk to trees, listen to the voices of the woods and rivers and write stories. She lives on a little farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Maryland with her nice husband, a sweet dog, a couple of indolent mares and too many bossy cats. She can be found wandering in starlight and mist most nights. At some point she'll absent-mindedly step through a tree door or a looking glass or a deceptive pond and disappear into Other. It's really where she belongs.

Reviews

[Galina Krasskova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hauntingly beautiful collection of stories. I particularly liked the story of Prokris, the one about the little bears, and the one of Medeia. The only sour note for me was equating Greta Thunberg's conceited stupidity with the prowess an inspiration of Athena. That is though, one line in a book of over 100 pages.

I'm not sure if these are stories or poetry, but there's a dark and heady lyricism that runs through them like fragrant blood hued wine. It's a worthy offering to the Gods.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

My darling Suz is an amazing Storyteller... a true weaver of tales. I loved this book from the gitgo, savoring every delicious carefully crafted word. I found myself nodding, smiling, and pondering All The Things as I read.

I will be coming back to this book regularly.

[Suzanne Thackston · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's probably uncool to review your own books, but I've never really figured out how to be cool. The personal bits of this book are pretty raw and it was hard to go that deep and be that honest. Some of the stories are all fiction, but even those are based on personal experience through journeying and ritual. Most of them are creative non-fiction or re-tellings of myths.
I sure hope you like them.

[Rose Eleusis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgive me for being biased, but this book is fucking fabulous.

A while back, I read Dark Horses and was blown away by how REAL the story felt. My feelings about A Pile of Stones are the same.

Some of the stories in are ones that I've already read in anthologies and blogs. Others are new to me. And boy am I glad to have them all in one place. I already know that I'll come back to these writings time and time again. Someday, when I'm an old priestess sitting beside my Demeter shrine, I'll think to myself, "What did Suz have to say about ___ again?" And then I'll take A Pile of Stones off the shelf and reread a couple of stories. This book is a treasure.

Also, fair warning, I laughed and cried quite a bit. You're going to have to read some of these several times in order to understand them. In a good way.

I never realized just how much I needed to experience mythology in this personal, powerful style until I met Suz Thackston. She just *gets it,* probably because she's spent a heck of a long time in service to the Theoi. Here, the Gods and heroes of Greek mythology (and anti-heroes- hellooooo Medea!) are living people that leap off the page. Not as fictional characters, as they are in so many contemporary mythology books, but as forces of raw Power. Each lovingly-crafted piece is rich with personal gnosis. It feels as if I'm experiencing the the Gods for myself. Because I have. Because the author has.
And you will, too, if you follow Their siren song into the world of Other.

[Edward Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suzanne Thackston's stories will teach you, in the gentle, resonant voice of a living mentor, about the Theoi and about what it is to be devoted to Them, to live our mortal span woven into the fabric of a world enchanted, which will ring true as well for those in many other polytheist traditions. Some of the stories are set in the present day, and are semi-autobiographical, others are set in antiquity, depicting ancient life with accuracy and empathy, while some take place outside of time and beyond the confines of personality. They are smoothly crafted, quick to read and deeply moving, infused not just with Thackston's talent for writing, but with her talent for living.