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If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging
"I love this book. Truly, it's mind-blowing in the most profound and exhilarating sense." —Manda Scott, author of Boudica and Into the Fire
This is the second edition of a uniquely empowering, international word-of-mouth bestseller about wild landscapes, female mythology, and the challenges facing modern women. It is a book for any woman who has ever lost her way and who sees a wasteland at the heart of modern existence and longs to live a more authentic, rooted life once again.
Sharon Blackie is a writer, storyteller, and psychologist who lives in the hills of Donegal, Ireland.
This is the second edition of a uniquely empowering, international word-of-mouth bestseller about wild landscapes, female mythology, and the challenges facing modern women. It is a book for any woman who has ever lost her way and who sees a wasteland at the heart of modern existence and longs to live a more authentic, rooted life once again.
Sharon Blackie is a writer, storyteller, and psychologist who lives in the hills of Donegal, Ireland.
400 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2016
1685 people are currently reading
17695 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Blackie
17 books768 followersDr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning and internationally bestselling author, and a psychologist with a background in mythology and folklore. Her highly acclaimed books, lectures and teaching programs are focused on reimagining women’s stories, and on the relevance of myth and fairy tales to the personal, cultural and environmental issues we face today.
As well as writing six books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestselling If Women Rose Rooted, her writing has appeared in anthologies, collections and in several international media outlets – among them the Guardian, the Irish Times, the i and the Scotsman. Her books have been translated into several languages, and she has featured in programs by the BBC, US public radio and independent filmmakers. Her awards include the Society of Authors’ Roger Deakin Award, and a Creative Scotland Writer’s Award. Her most recent book, Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond was published by Virago in October 2024.
Sharon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Member of the UK Association of Jungian Analysts, awarded ‘in recognition of the importance of lifetime achievement and contribution to Jungian ideas in the world’. She has taught and lectured at several academic institutions, Jungian organisations, retreat centres and cultural festivals around the world. She is online faculty for Pacifica Graduate Institute, California, where she teaches a Graduate Certificate Course on ‘Narrative Psychological Approaches to Finding Ourselves in Fairy Tales’ and other programs.
Sharon’s much-loved publication ‘The Art of Enchantment’ is a Global Top Ten Literature Substack.
Sharon lives in Cumbria, in the far north of England, with her husband, dogs, hens and sheep. She is represented by Jane Graham Maw, at Graham Maw Christie Agency.
As well as writing six books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestselling If Women Rose Rooted, her writing has appeared in anthologies, collections and in several international media outlets – among them the Guardian, the Irish Times, the i and the Scotsman. Her books have been translated into several languages, and she has featured in programs by the BBC, US public radio and independent filmmakers. Her awards include the Society of Authors’ Roger Deakin Award, and a Creative Scotland Writer’s Award. Her most recent book, Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond was published by Virago in October 2024.
Sharon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Member of the UK Association of Jungian Analysts, awarded ‘in recognition of the importance of lifetime achievement and contribution to Jungian ideas in the world’. She has taught and lectured at several academic institutions, Jungian organisations, retreat centres and cultural festivals around the world. She is online faculty for Pacifica Graduate Institute, California, where she teaches a Graduate Certificate Course on ‘Narrative Psychological Approaches to Finding Ourselves in Fairy Tales’ and other programs.
Sharon’s much-loved publication ‘The Art of Enchantment’ is a Global Top Ten Literature Substack.
Sharon lives in Cumbria, in the far north of England, with her husband, dogs, hens and sheep. She is represented by Jane Graham Maw, at Graham Maw Christie Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 537 reviews
November 20, 2016
What a wonderful book! I found it so life-giving, filled with beautiful Celtic stories and the stories of women leading healing lives, helping others, rooted in the land.
Being from New York City, living in the Bronx, I feared this book would have little to offer me but I was wrong. There is even a section on how to appreciate the earth as a city dweller. The rest of it made me dream of another way of living. I wanted to move to rural Ireland immediately!
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.
I also felt better able to deal with my own aging process, something that has been hard for me to accept. The idea (familiar to me but forgotten, pushed aside) that age has something of its own to offer the world, something valuable is a source of comfort and inspiration.
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 recommend this book for the myths and stories, for the women within it, and for the sharing of
Blackie's own journey. I hope everyone who reads it finds it as comforting and exciting as I did.
Being from New York City, living in the Bronx, I feared this book would have little to offer me but I was wrong. There is even a section on how to appreciate the earth as a city dweller. The rest of it made me dream of another way of living. I wanted to move to rural Ireland immediately!
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.
I also felt better able to deal with my own aging process, something that has been hard for me to accept. The idea (familiar to me but forgotten, pushed aside) that age has something of its own to offer the world, something valuable is a source of comfort and inspiration.
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 recommend this book for the myths and stories, for the women within it, and for the sharing of
Blackie's own journey. I hope everyone who reads it finds it as comforting and exciting as I did.
June 28, 2017
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.
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.
The author was also pretty privileged and didn't in any way acknowledge this. I don't know about you, but I don't have a fancy corporate job to give up in order to buy a cottage in the middle of nowhere and find myself....
This may be just the book for you at just the right time - especially if you were struggling with something and wanting to start afresh. But, for me, while there was much I enjoyed, it didn't quite hit the mark.
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.
The author was also pretty privileged and didn't in any way acknowledge this. I don't know about you, but I don't have a fancy corporate job to give up in order to buy a cottage in the middle of nowhere and find myself....
This may be just the book for you at just the right time - especially if you were struggling with something and wanting to start afresh. But, for me, while there was much I enjoyed, it didn't quite hit the mark.
August 11, 2020
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.
but so much about this book I didn't like. I don't like the purple prose style that aims for profound but so often lands in corny. I don't like this idea that you are lost in "the wasteland" of modern industrial patriarchal society where you make a lot of money but are disconnected from what really matters, then have an awakening and use that money to buy a cottage or a croft somewhere sparsely inhabited and connect to "your" land. how sustainable is that? it feels very elitist. the whole path of work for the man and be successful and make a lot of money, then move to a remote countryside location and hold retreats for wealthy women to come and reconnect to the earth - if that's the master plan, slowly connecting each woman back over decades so she can do her part to heal the earth through retreats and creative writing workshops and horse therapy...I don't know. it seems like things are more urgent than that.
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.
I don't know, it seemed like a book I would like, and there was some food for thought but a lot of it just annoyed me.
but so much about this book I didn't like. I don't like the purple prose style that aims for profound but so often lands in corny. I don't like this idea that you are lost in "the wasteland" of modern industrial patriarchal society where you make a lot of money but are disconnected from what really matters, then have an awakening and use that money to buy a cottage or a croft somewhere sparsely inhabited and connect to "your" land. how sustainable is that? it feels very elitist. the whole path of work for the man and be successful and make a lot of money, then move to a remote countryside location and hold retreats for wealthy women to come and reconnect to the earth - if that's the master plan, slowly connecting each woman back over decades so she can do her part to heal the earth through retreats and creative writing workshops and horse therapy...I don't know. it seems like things are more urgent than that.
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.
I don't know, it seemed like a book I would like, and there was some food for thought but a lot of it just annoyed me.
October 6, 2019
I loved this book to no end. The author digs deep into the realm of the Elder goddess and the people we were before today. Reviving their glory and an evocation of healing through folklore and Earth Speak. She touches on many vital subjects without losing focus. Every area is elegantly cast under the same headliner. All weaving to a red-lettered point that strikes the mainline. Giving life to the meadows of the mind and blood of the self. I read this book twice and will read it again. Highly recommend! Thank you, Sharon!
January 7, 2021
What a disappointment. I almost couldn’t finish this. Congratulations to everyone who enjoyed this book, I wish I was you. There is Celtic mythology in every chapter with very little analysis about how the stories relate to the female psyche. Instead, the author takes readers on her personal journey from leaving a stressful corporate job to finding the perfect cottage in the middle of nowhere where she can settle down and just be. Spoiler alert, she is never happy and has to move from remote cottage to remote cottage to remote cottage. This is just a boring memoir and I feel like I’ve been cheated into reading it.
I will say that Sharon Blackie is able to write about eco feminism in a beautiful way. I completely agree with her in thinking that feminism can sometimes force women into becoming men instead of putting us on equal footing with men and celebrating what makes us women, and not men. I agree that the world is literally burning up because the patriarchy only allows for one half of the population to make decisions, and that without the voices of women nothing will change. I don’t agree with or appreciate the way Blackie continues to whine (I hate when people use this word when talking about women but in this case it’s true) on and on about cities and the corporate world. Not everyone thinks living in a city is like living in a Wasteland. Not everyone hates their career. Are corporations mostly responsible for the state of the environment? Yes, absolutely. But to bash modern living over and over again by calling it a “Wasteland” and comparing professional clothing to “straight jackets” while offering your readers (who by this point are very concerned about what they can do to help) nothing but “move to a remote cottage and live a zero waste lifestyle!” isn’t helpful at all. Blackie may have the right idea, but she seems to think that the only way to save the world is to go back to a time when we all lived in farming communities with no modern technology. I’m sorry but that’s not possible and we need to think of a better, more useful solution than just complaining about how burnt out corporate life made you.
I just want to throw this book in the trash and never have to think about it again. If I seem emotional in this review it’s because I’m so, so, so angry at what this book claimed to be and failed to achieve. I’m so upset at what this book could have been, and the message the author could have conveyed. I’m sad because I know someone is going to read this and use it as proof in their minds of why feminism doesn’t work which means that instead of educating people, Blackie just created more work for the rest of us.
I will say that Sharon Blackie is able to write about eco feminism in a beautiful way. I completely agree with her in thinking that feminism can sometimes force women into becoming men instead of putting us on equal footing with men and celebrating what makes us women, and not men. I agree that the world is literally burning up because the patriarchy only allows for one half of the population to make decisions, and that without the voices of women nothing will change. I don’t agree with or appreciate the way Blackie continues to whine (I hate when people use this word when talking about women but in this case it’s true) on and on about cities and the corporate world. Not everyone thinks living in a city is like living in a Wasteland. Not everyone hates their career. Are corporations mostly responsible for the state of the environment? Yes, absolutely. But to bash modern living over and over again by calling it a “Wasteland” and comparing professional clothing to “straight jackets” while offering your readers (who by this point are very concerned about what they can do to help) nothing but “move to a remote cottage and live a zero waste lifestyle!” isn’t helpful at all. Blackie may have the right idea, but she seems to think that the only way to save the world is to go back to a time when we all lived in farming communities with no modern technology. I’m sorry but that’s not possible and we need to think of a better, more useful solution than just complaining about how burnt out corporate life made you.
I just want to throw this book in the trash and never have to think about it again. If I seem emotional in this review it’s because I’m so, so, so angry at what this book claimed to be and failed to achieve. I’m so upset at what this book could have been, and the message the author could have conveyed. I’m sad because I know someone is going to read this and use it as proof in their minds of why feminism doesn’t work which means that instead of educating people, Blackie just created more work for the rest of us.
August 13, 2024
به عقیده من روزی در ذهن خانم بلکی تفکری شکل گرفت که با توجه به شرایط زندگیشون و محیط اطرافشون یواش یواش این تفکر بزرگ و بزرگتر شد تا اونجا که خودشون تصمیم به تغییر گرفتن و حتی بعد اون تصمیم گرفتن این تفکررو با بقیه در میون بزارن اما چیزی که خانم بلکی در نظر نگرفتن این بود که از اونور بوم افتادن و خودشون هم در این راستا با شکست مواجه شدن.. مدعی دوستی با زمین و محیطزیست هستن که خودشون نتونستن تو اون شرایط دووم بیارن و سه بار نقل مکان کردن، دوستی با طبیعترو صرفا در این میبینن که صبح از پنجره خونشون به کوه زل بزنن یا غروب برن دم آب تو چشمهای فُک خیره بشن اما از اون طرف انواع و اقسام حیواناترو تو مزرعه پرورش میدن و از اسیر کردنشون هیچ ابایی ندارن، افسانههارو زیادی جدی گرفتن و واقعا معتقدن جهان حول چندتا ساحره پیر و دانا میچرخه که باید الگوی زندگی همه خانمها باشن، در عین حال که شعار برابری زن و مرد میدن ولی دلشون میخواد خانمها محور اصلی دنیا باشن و کل جهان به گِردشون بچرخن و بسیار نمونههای دیگه که واقعا نمیفهمم اصلا چرا این کتابرو نوشت؟! خانم بلکی قطعا الگوی مناسبی برای هیچ انسانی نیستن و تنها نکته مثبت ایشون این بود که تو دهه ۴۰-۵۰ زندگی که عموما تفکر جمعی بر اینه که “از ما دیگه گذشته” تغییر رو شروع کردن که متاسفانه با ناآگاهی و مسیر اشتباهی که رفتن از نظر من موفق نشدن.
این کتاب اضافهگویی و جزئیات پر و بال داده شدهِ بی مورد، زیاد داشت که واقعا از حوصله خارج بود. احتمالا هیچ آقایی این کتابرو نمیتونه بخونه اما توصیه میکنم خانمها هم سمتش نرن و وقت و انرژیشونرو برای کتابهای بهتری در زمینه توسعه فردی و اجتماعی بزارن.
این کتاب اضافهگویی و جزئیات پر و بال داده شدهِ بی مورد، زیاد داشت که واقعا از حوصله خارج بود. احتمالا هیچ آقایی این کتابرو نمیتونه بخونه اما توصیه میکنم خانمها هم سمتش نرن و وقت و انرژیشونرو برای کتابهای بهتری در زمینه توسعه فردی و اجتماعی بزارن.
May 10, 2016
Life changing. This book can be life changing.
The author, Sharon Blackie, could have been following my life and the journey I have been on over the past 2 decades (and more).
Better still, now I have words to explain why I have felt more at home, more connected to the world in this land far from the land of my birth. Why moving to England from far off Kansas felt like moving home again.
Here, I have found my rootedness. And while I may have been growing in the wrong environment to start, I've shaken the dirt off my roots and planted myself where I need to be.
Strictly speaking, this isn't a book for Pagans. It is a book for anyone who wants to find themselves again.
Read a more indepth review at Writings of a Pagan Witch.
The author, Sharon Blackie, could have been following my life and the journey I have been on over the past 2 decades (and more).
Better still, now I have words to explain why I have felt more at home, more connected to the world in this land far from the land of my birth. Why moving to England from far off Kansas felt like moving home again.
Here, I have found my rootedness. And while I may have been growing in the wrong environment to start, I've shaken the dirt off my roots and planted myself where I need to be.
Strictly speaking, this isn't a book for Pagans. It is a book for anyone who wants to find themselves again.
Read a more indepth review at Writings of a Pagan Witch.
October 10, 2017
I have never met Sharon Blackie but we are twitter friends, sharing a love of storytelling, fairy tales, mythology and psychology. Our common interests caused us to occasionally touch minds across the geography that divides us, and so I became aware of her book If Women Rose Rooted as she tweeted about it. The title is inspired by one of my favourite poems by Rainer Maria Rilke:
If we surrendered
to earth’s intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.
Instead we entangle ourselves
in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused.
So like children, we begin again...
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly.
It sounded like the kind of book I would love, and so I ordered a copy and began to read as soon as it arrived.
If Women Rose Rooted is a beautiful, intelligent and unusual book. It combines a breathtakingly honest memoir about one woman’s journey towards wisdom, with tales drawn from Celtic mythology and folklore, and interviews with fascinating and inspiring women who are all working to live in harmony with the earth. Unashamedly political as well as spiritual, this is a book which celebrates the strength and power of women, and connects modern-day feminism with ancient gynocentric mythologies.
It is also beautifully written:
‘If women remember that once upon a time we sang with the tongues of seals and flew with the wings of swans, that we forged our own paths through the dark forest while creating a community of its many inhabitants, then we will rise up rooted, like trees. And if we rise up rooted, like trees … well then, women might indeed save not only ourselves, but the world.’
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.
If we surrendered
to earth’s intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.
Instead we entangle ourselves
in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused.
So like children, we begin again...
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly.
It sounded like the kind of book I would love, and so I ordered a copy and began to read as soon as it arrived.
If Women Rose Rooted is a beautiful, intelligent and unusual book. It combines a breathtakingly honest memoir about one woman’s journey towards wisdom, with tales drawn from Celtic mythology and folklore, and interviews with fascinating and inspiring women who are all working to live in harmony with the earth. Unashamedly political as well as spiritual, this is a book which celebrates the strength and power of women, and connects modern-day feminism with ancient gynocentric mythologies.
It is also beautifully written:
‘If women remember that once upon a time we sang with the tongues of seals and flew with the wings of swans, that we forged our own paths through the dark forest while creating a community of its many inhabitants, then we will rise up rooted, like trees. And if we rise up rooted, like trees … well then, women might indeed save not only ourselves, but the world.’
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.
December 29, 2022
My biggest issue with this book is that there is no room for queerness in Blackie's feminism, to the point that it seems outright TERF-y. All of the focus on periods and menopause as being essential to womanhood as well as calling "rational thought" masculine was a real put off and made me worried about internalizing too much of this book.
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.
Beyond my issues with the feminism aspect, so much of this book was dedicated to the personal history of the author, interviews with different women, and repetitively talking about the connection between "the divine feminine energies" and the earth that I felt the connection to real environmental issues was missing, and I would have also enjoyed more context for the selected myths.
If you love granola feminism but hate trans people, you'll probably enjoy this book. But if you're looking for intersectional feminism and a deeper dive into myth and the environment, look elsewhere and please report back when you find it because that's what I was looking for too.
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.
Beyond my issues with the feminism aspect, so much of this book was dedicated to the personal history of the author, interviews with different women, and repetitively talking about the connection between "the divine feminine energies" and the earth that I felt the connection to real environmental issues was missing, and I would have also enjoyed more context for the selected myths.
If you love granola feminism but hate trans people, you'll probably enjoy this book. But if you're looking for intersectional feminism and a deeper dive into myth and the environment, look elsewhere and please report back when you find it because that's what I was looking for too.
July 24, 2017
I love the premise of this book, but the execution leaves much to be desired.
I appreciate ecofeminism in general, but the Celtic folklore did not speak to me. (It definitely will to some.) I found the stories to be rambling at times and felt the book could use a heavy edit. The author's biographical vignettes were confusing and a little disjointed - I lost interest in these parts.
Great title, and wonderful poems and sentences in some parts. But I think this book is suffering from 'too much' syndrome.
I appreciate ecofeminism in general, but the Celtic folklore did not speak to me. (It definitely will to some.) I found the stories to be rambling at times and felt the book could use a heavy edit. The author's biographical vignettes were confusing and a little disjointed - I lost interest in these parts.
Great title, and wonderful poems and sentences in some parts. But I think this book is suffering from 'too much' syndrome.
December 14, 2021
Well I've come as far as I can with this book.
This would have worked better had Blackie just stuck with the folklore stories alone. I would have been happy with that. But the rub with this book comes from her cross contamination of good folklore story-telling with her "bullshitty" personal stories of incessantly moving around, all while embracing the "womb of the earth" narrative! This got pretty tiresome after a while. I don't care! Yes, good for you, you've lived in remote settings and "survived"!
This was mediocre pseudo-feminism and is another one for library donation.
This would have worked better had Blackie just stuck with the folklore stories alone. I would have been happy with that. But the rub with this book comes from her cross contamination of good folklore story-telling with her "bullshitty" personal stories of incessantly moving around, all while embracing the "womb of the earth" narrative! This got pretty tiresome after a while. I don't care! Yes, good for you, you've lived in remote settings and "survived"!
This was mediocre pseudo-feminism and is another one for library donation.
February 9, 2017
Beautiful sensitive writing. However as I am not Celtic in origin I found myself wondering if I was the intended audience? For any colonized diasporic people (such as latinos) I think her strong connections and rootedness with her history and land may be difficult to relate to. My ancestors are scattered and I don't know what my homeland might be... Europe, north Africa, Caribbean, South America... ? Any and all of the above! It is still Women who Run with the Wolves for me. However this is a lovely read for those interested in folklore and ecology, and it certainly made me want to visit Scotland!
May 12, 2023
If women remember that once upon a time we sang with the tongues of seals and flew with the wings of swans, that we forged our own paths through the dark forest while creating a community of its many inhabitants, then we will rise up rooted, like trees.
And if we rise up rooted, like trees . . . well then, women might indeed save not only ourselves, but the world.
If Women Rose Rooted is a heroine's Journey to Authenticity and Belonging, a memoir examined in light of the feminine power in Celtic mythology. Author Sharon Blackie, besides being a writer, is a psychologist and mythologist who believes in the power of story and our cultural narrative to shape our lives. She thinks that native myths, fairy tales, and folklore are relevant to the personal, social, and environmental problems we face today. Rather than a patriarchal mythology of the Greeks and Romans and the Judeo-Christian tradition of western civilization, she goes back to her roots, the mythology of the Celts. Once upon a time women were the guardians of the natural world, the heart of the land. The Celtic woman . . . is the one who determines who is fit to rule, she is the guardian and protector of the land, the bearer of wisdom, the root of spiritual and moral authority for the tribe. While many Westerners, seeking a broader understanding of native wisdom, have embraced Eastern religions or mysticism or the teachings of indigenous peoples, Blackie never felt at home with them. The worldviews of these other cultures are rooted in lands and histories that have little relationship to her own, however much she may respect and appreciate their wisdom. She found the native wisdom she was seeking in the mythological tradition rooted in her own ancestry and place in the British isles. There are many of us, especially here in the U.S., who share her roots in the British isles, myself included. Though my own ancestors have been in this country since before the Revolutionary War (and fought in it), my heritage is predominantly from the British isles, with a good part of it, like Blackie's, Scottish. I have always been drawn to the stories and history of these isles, but am more familiar with Arthurian tales than the Celtic myths, except for where they overlapped and some odd fairy tales. I found her lyrical re-telling of the myths compelling. Blackie writes beautifully.
I also found her personal story compelling. She is on the journey of finding her right place, both literally and figuratively. She knew her corporate job in the 'Wasteland' was suffocating her, and she longed for a place she could live closer to nature. She thinks she has found it at different times, but ends up moving on for one reason or another - first in Ireland, then America, then the Scottish highlands, then the remote Hebrides of Scotland, then Ireland again. She dives headlong into a relationship with the land as a crofter (what we in America might call a homesteader) - gardening and raising various livestock - and taking endless walks, while running a couple of home-based businesses and writing. It's no wonder she becomes overworked and exhausted. She has a relentless work ethic and pushes herself to live up to her many responsibilities, which she continues to pile upon herself. Eventually she breaks. Interspersed with her own story are interviews with other women who have succeeded in one way or another in re-rooting themselves in land and community while contributing to the betterment of the planet and society.
I found myself applauding her intentions and identifying with parts of the book, though in a much more modest way. My husband and I, too, wanted to move closer to nature and the wild (and if having a bear break into your crawl space qualifies, we succeeded). While I don't live on an island or near the sea, the mountains and forests definitely called me for as long as I can remember. I think the ancient landscape of Scotland must be some lingering ancestral memory. Feeling your place in the landscape is a theme of this book, and she includes a few city dwellers in her stories. It is concern for the environment and the planet as a whole which the author feels is an intensely feminine calling and that it is time for women to do whatever small part they can to positively affect their own land and community. She calls to women to step into their power and take back their ancient role as the earth's guardians.
The timing of this book seems to be particularly apt, as we witness the words and actions of the current U.S. administration, and reaction to it, including the #metoo movement. We see the toxic traits of an unbalanced patriarchy - the devaluing and demeaning of women; the cavalier destruction of the environment as an open-ended resource for extractive energy companies for short-term profit with the accompanying slackening of protective regulations and disregard for sacred indigenous lands; and the blatant ignoring if not outright denial of climate change and what steps could be taken to ameliorate it. Add to that the jingoistic militarism at the expense of diplomacy; the attitude of dominance and the suppression of minorities; and the idealization of wealth and encouragement of individual and corporate greed rather than the emphasis on the common good. The message of If Women Rose Rooted couldn't have arrived at a better time.
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.
This book may at first glance seem too radical for some. After all we can't all run off and live in the wild (there would be no wild left) or grow and produce our own food. This is not what the author intends. However, we can get outside and get out of our heads more. We can follow our own desire for rootedness, and we don't have to live in the places of our ancestors to carry their love of place. We can understand how myths point to an integral relationship with the land as well as represent a metaphor for personal transformation. We can learn to appreciate and value whatever small patch of land we're on. Maybe we can just save the world.
And if we rise up rooted, like trees . . . well then, women might indeed save not only ourselves, but the world.
If Women Rose Rooted is a heroine's Journey to Authenticity and Belonging, a memoir examined in light of the feminine power in Celtic mythology. Author Sharon Blackie, besides being a writer, is a psychologist and mythologist who believes in the power of story and our cultural narrative to shape our lives. She thinks that native myths, fairy tales, and folklore are relevant to the personal, social, and environmental problems we face today. Rather than a patriarchal mythology of the Greeks and Romans and the Judeo-Christian tradition of western civilization, she goes back to her roots, the mythology of the Celts. Once upon a time women were the guardians of the natural world, the heart of the land. The Celtic woman . . . is the one who determines who is fit to rule, she is the guardian and protector of the land, the bearer of wisdom, the root of spiritual and moral authority for the tribe. While many Westerners, seeking a broader understanding of native wisdom, have embraced Eastern religions or mysticism or the teachings of indigenous peoples, Blackie never felt at home with them. The worldviews of these other cultures are rooted in lands and histories that have little relationship to her own, however much she may respect and appreciate their wisdom. She found the native wisdom she was seeking in the mythological tradition rooted in her own ancestry and place in the British isles. There are many of us, especially here in the U.S., who share her roots in the British isles, myself included. Though my own ancestors have been in this country since before the Revolutionary War (and fought in it), my heritage is predominantly from the British isles, with a good part of it, like Blackie's, Scottish. I have always been drawn to the stories and history of these isles, but am more familiar with Arthurian tales than the Celtic myths, except for where they overlapped and some odd fairy tales. I found her lyrical re-telling of the myths compelling. Blackie writes beautifully.
I also found her personal story compelling. She is on the journey of finding her right place, both literally and figuratively. She knew her corporate job in the 'Wasteland' was suffocating her, and she longed for a place she could live closer to nature. She thinks she has found it at different times, but ends up moving on for one reason or another - first in Ireland, then America, then the Scottish highlands, then the remote Hebrides of Scotland, then Ireland again. She dives headlong into a relationship with the land as a crofter (what we in America might call a homesteader) - gardening and raising various livestock - and taking endless walks, while running a couple of home-based businesses and writing. It's no wonder she becomes overworked and exhausted. She has a relentless work ethic and pushes herself to live up to her many responsibilities, which she continues to pile upon herself. Eventually she breaks. Interspersed with her own story are interviews with other women who have succeeded in one way or another in re-rooting themselves in land and community while contributing to the betterment of the planet and society.
I found myself applauding her intentions and identifying with parts of the book, though in a much more modest way. My husband and I, too, wanted to move closer to nature and the wild (and if having a bear break into your crawl space qualifies, we succeeded). While I don't live on an island or near the sea, the mountains and forests definitely called me for as long as I can remember. I think the ancient landscape of Scotland must be some lingering ancestral memory. Feeling your place in the landscape is a theme of this book, and she includes a few city dwellers in her stories. It is concern for the environment and the planet as a whole which the author feels is an intensely feminine calling and that it is time for women to do whatever small part they can to positively affect their own land and community. She calls to women to step into their power and take back their ancient role as the earth's guardians.
The timing of this book seems to be particularly apt, as we witness the words and actions of the current U.S. administration, and reaction to it, including the #metoo movement. We see the toxic traits of an unbalanced patriarchy - the devaluing and demeaning of women; the cavalier destruction of the environment as an open-ended resource for extractive energy companies for short-term profit with the accompanying slackening of protective regulations and disregard for sacred indigenous lands; and the blatant ignoring if not outright denial of climate change and what steps could be taken to ameliorate it. Add to that the jingoistic militarism at the expense of diplomacy; the attitude of dominance and the suppression of minorities; and the idealization of wealth and encouragement of individual and corporate greed rather than the emphasis on the common good. The message of If Women Rose Rooted couldn't have arrived at a better time.
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.
This book may at first glance seem too radical for some. After all we can't all run off and live in the wild (there would be no wild left) or grow and produce our own food. This is not what the author intends. However, we can get outside and get out of our heads more. We can follow our own desire for rootedness, and we don't have to live in the places of our ancestors to carry their love of place. We can understand how myths point to an integral relationship with the land as well as represent a metaphor for personal transformation. We can learn to appreciate and value whatever small patch of land we're on. Maybe we can just save the world.
February 9, 2021
Why I read it: It was recommended as being similar to ‘Women who Run with the Wolves’ + I’m looking for feminine non-fiction books for some extra empowerment and inspiration.
What I liked about it:
There was a lot to unpack. The actual myths and stories. The personal story of the author. The stories of other women who escaped the system and connected with nature. The descriptions of nature. The eco-heroine’s journey. The feminist call to smash the patriarchy. I did not really like all of it. But it was a pleasant book to spend time with.
The thing I liked the most was the authors journey. How she felt the calling to change her life in her 30s. How she failed few times to do so. And even when she thought she nailed it things still shifted. That eased the stress and need to figure everything out as soon as possible.
The second best thing for me was the considerations about feminine ways of being and feminine ways of power. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot is there a feminine way to be a backend software engineer. While the book haven’t given me an answer I liked the idea of power to make others feel comfortable and open up their vulnerabilities. This definition is very different from the usual strict, dominant, closed power. So maybe there is a similar aspect to software engineering I haven’t thought about.
What I disliked:
As much as this book resonated with me emotionally, it made me feel sceptical rationally.
The book depicts one way of femininity – connected with nature, stories and heritage – and finds multiple examples of women that thrived when following this path. But these multiple examples still adds up to like 10-15 women in total. This makes me think about all the other aspects and ways of being that were completely ignored.
The book began by blaming the patriarchy for a lot of things. Which felt quite black and white and therefore off-putting for me. I was relieved it was not the sole purpose of the book.
Quote: ‘It is never too late to be what you might have been’.
What I liked about it:
There was a lot to unpack. The actual myths and stories. The personal story of the author. The stories of other women who escaped the system and connected with nature. The descriptions of nature. The eco-heroine’s journey. The feminist call to smash the patriarchy. I did not really like all of it. But it was a pleasant book to spend time with.
The thing I liked the most was the authors journey. How she felt the calling to change her life in her 30s. How she failed few times to do so. And even when she thought she nailed it things still shifted. That eased the stress and need to figure everything out as soon as possible.
The second best thing for me was the considerations about feminine ways of being and feminine ways of power. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot is there a feminine way to be a backend software engineer. While the book haven’t given me an answer I liked the idea of power to make others feel comfortable and open up their vulnerabilities. This definition is very different from the usual strict, dominant, closed power. So maybe there is a similar aspect to software engineering I haven’t thought about.
What I disliked:
As much as this book resonated with me emotionally, it made me feel sceptical rationally.
The book depicts one way of femininity – connected with nature, stories and heritage – and finds multiple examples of women that thrived when following this path. But these multiple examples still adds up to like 10-15 women in total. This makes me think about all the other aspects and ways of being that were completely ignored.
The book began by blaming the patriarchy for a lot of things. Which felt quite black and white and therefore off-putting for me. I was relieved it was not the sole purpose of the book.
Quote: ‘It is never too late to be what you might have been’.
December 15, 2019
I wanted to like this book, I really did. It has all the things I love: feminism, ecology, mythology, Celtic goddesses! But after getting a quarter of the way through, I was thoroughly depressed and bored by the rambling prose :-( as other reviewers mentioned, I think this book would have benefited from a heavy edit, making the narrative more focused and less rambling. I was reading this book at the same time is a good friend, and we both put it down about a quarter of the way through :-(
March 26, 2017
I took my sweet time with this book and read it over several months in order to savor and digest Sharon Blackie's beautiful prose and the subject matter itself. I plan to buy a paper copy to underline, dog ear and tote around, since there is so much goodness here.
March 29, 2023
Even before I read the last chapter and googled the author, I already knew she would have uprooted and moved somewhere else. The Scottish Highlands are filled with some of the most progressive and savvy communities out there, moving in next door and wondering why the locals don't all walk barefoot through the bog and stare out to the sea with a mystical sense of purpose is going to be met with bombastic side eye, criminally offensive side eye. The whole approach to the present day celtic nations felt belittling.The understanding of femininity and womanhood in this book is exclusionary and every person the writer interviews has the same voice on paper, so I can only assume they were heavily edited. That being said, I liked the traditional folklore isolated in the different font...but that makes up like 20 pages of what is otherwise an unnecessarily long biography about a woman I don't know and wouldn't want to sit next to at a wedding.
May 7, 2020
I really wanted to like this book, to get lost in the mythology and find ways of embracing my feminine power towards becoming more authentic or what have you, but this book didn't lead me there. It reads far more like a autobiography than a guide to living a nature centered life. I am a proud feminist and it irritated me that the author spent much of the book isolating and blaming men for the state of the world/her self worth. We have to work TOGETHER and not play the blame game. I did enjoy the details of the Celtic landscapes she visited and the interviews with various movers and shakers of the world, but overall it was a tough and long read.
February 6, 2017
This is literally the most inspiring book I have read.
This is the "antidote to the swashbuckling adventure that is the hero's journey: it is a woman's journey, based on a woman's way of being in the world".
Every woman needs to read this book. It will speak to your soul, it will stir up your long forgotten ancestral wisdom. It will have you connecting with instincts you didn't realise were divine, or it cement the notion that you are on the right path.
I can't really praise it highly enough, have a read, the Goddess is waiting.
This is the "antidote to the swashbuckling adventure that is the hero's journey: it is a woman's journey, based on a woman's way of being in the world".
Every woman needs to read this book. It will speak to your soul, it will stir up your long forgotten ancestral wisdom. It will have you connecting with instincts you didn't realise were divine, or it cement the notion that you are on the right path.
I can't really praise it highly enough, have a read, the Goddess is waiting.
March 17, 2022
Sharon Blackie is a legend in her own mind.
The book has three facets - autobiography, folklore/myth, and travelling around meeting women who are living in alternative/off grid/eco-feminist/whatever circumstances. I don't think Blackie really made these three ideas into a cohesive whole, and the book got more predictable with every page.
The author seems rather unaware of her privilege in being able to live in remote cottages on the Celtic fringe, and at times plays fast and loose with traditional stories in order to bend them to the needs or her own ideas.
The book has three facets - autobiography, folklore/myth, and travelling around meeting women who are living in alternative/off grid/eco-feminist/whatever circumstances. I don't think Blackie really made these three ideas into a cohesive whole, and the book got more predictable with every page.
The author seems rather unaware of her privilege in being able to live in remote cottages on the Celtic fringe, and at times plays fast and loose with traditional stories in order to bend them to the needs or her own ideas.
September 25, 2019
Deeply heart-felt, poetic, and inspiring, but I couldn't help but feel small twinges of distress at some of the cis-gendered/biological definitions of women/woman included, particularly when coupled with the "essential nature" and "calling" of a woman. It was not overly saturated, or even very frequent, but it popped up here and there enough to make me pause, and wonder if the author has a place for transwomen in her call to uplift and re-enchant the world.
Now, I'm cis and I call my reproductive organs my "lady bits," but that's because I'm a lady, and they are my bits. :P If I had different reproductive organs, they would still be my "lady bits," you know? I resonate deeply with the call to be a memory-keeper, a weaver of stories, and a creator, but I want to decouple the idea that the gift of creation is intrinsically mine because I have a uterus, and replace it with the idea that the gift of creation is intrinsically mine because I am human, separate from whatever bits my body bears.
Anyway, those were the small, dim points along the path of this book; unfortunately when you stray into feminist works, and modern day spiritual/psychological/ecological ruminations, you have the tendency to run into TERF (or, what is it now, "gender critical") bullshit, and it really ruins your day and your reading. :/ I'm only cautious, but optimistic, and want to believe this author has more to say in support of trans women/all women.
Now, I'm cis and I call my reproductive organs my "lady bits," but that's because I'm a lady, and they are my bits. :P If I had different reproductive organs, they would still be my "lady bits," you know? I resonate deeply with the call to be a memory-keeper, a weaver of stories, and a creator, but I want to decouple the idea that the gift of creation is intrinsically mine because I have a uterus, and replace it with the idea that the gift of creation is intrinsically mine because I am human, separate from whatever bits my body bears.
Anyway, those were the small, dim points along the path of this book; unfortunately when you stray into feminist works, and modern day spiritual/psychological/ecological ruminations, you have the tendency to run into TERF (or, what is it now, "gender critical") bullshit, and it really ruins your day and your reading. :/ I'm only cautious, but optimistic, and want to believe this author has more to say in support of trans women/all women.
January 28, 2021
I found this book incredibly frustrating. Each chapter seemed to be split into three parts, an incredibly tedious and drawn out description, a somewhat interesting folklore story, and a fascinating personal exploration at the end. But to have to go through this cycle every chapter was so frustrating I probably would have given up on this book if it hadn’t been for my reading challenge and my stubbornness of always finishing books. I think had this book been edited to slim it down it could have been quite captivating. I loved the idea behind it but really struggled with its execution.
November 1, 2018
I loved reading the myths but found it hard to slog through the sobbing over the "Wasteland." I was left wondering why she spent so much time wallowing in it and apparently never learned she was a big part of it. Not too impressive for someone with an advanced degree in psychology.
October 12, 2021
Sharon Blackie was such warm company whilst reading this book in the early hours of morning. I had never looked into the Celtic culture prior to this so I'm glad she opened the door to me; having roots in the Celtic culture in my own ancestry. Reading the different mythologies and then hearing Blackie unpack the meanings and metaphors moved me to tears multiple times, and I found it hard to put the book down. It was empowering and intriguing if even at some times a bit slow. A read I will likely return back to in the future and have recommended to many since reading.
August 30, 2022
BOOK REVIEW 📚
I just finished listening to this on @audible and about half way through I knew I needed a hard copy too!! This was an amazing listen and I'm going to read it as well. My hard copy will likely be tabbed and annotated!!!
"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.‘ Quote from If Women Rose Rooted
This work was a beckoning to my soul. I've felt a pull to discover my Celtic roots (Scottish & Irish) and this was a great resource!!!
I've also purchased another book of Sharon Blackie's called "The Enchanted Life ".
If you are searching for something deep inside, absolutely read or listen to this!!!
#sharonblackie
#ifwomenroserooted
#readingchallenge
#readingtime📖
#read
#bookphotography
#bookishcanadians
#audible
#bookreviews
#bookrecommendations
#books
I just finished listening to this on @audible and about half way through I knew I needed a hard copy too!! This was an amazing listen and I'm going to read it as well. My hard copy will likely be tabbed and annotated!!!
"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.‘ Quote from If Women Rose Rooted
This work was a beckoning to my soul. I've felt a pull to discover my Celtic roots (Scottish & Irish) and this was a great resource!!!
I've also purchased another book of Sharon Blackie's called "The Enchanted Life ".
If you are searching for something deep inside, absolutely read or listen to this!!!
#sharonblackie
#ifwomenroserooted
#readingchallenge
#readingtime📖
#read
#bookphotography
#bookishcanadians
#audible
#bookreviews
#bookrecommendations
#books
March 27, 2016
I have received this book through Goodreads Giveaway.
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 feel I received this great collection of stories just at a right time to get grounded and to find my roots in every day life.
I truly recommend this book to all who search for sense and strength in history and myth of female heroines (that we all are).
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 feel I received this great collection of stories just at a right time to get grounded and to find my roots in every day life.
I truly recommend this book to all who search for sense and strength in history and myth of female heroines (that we all are).
August 26, 2019
Through the lens of mythology from the Celtic nations, this book explores the dispossession of women and provides stories and exercises to reclaim power. I am a huge proponent of storytelling as a method of working through trauma, and for anyone who feels a connection to the Celtic nations, this is an excellent way to know yourself better. This was exactly the book I needed at exactly the time I needed it.
October 31, 2024
Rarely do I listen to an audio book and then immediately order the hard copy to re read, but that is exactly what I did with this book. There's so much in it's pages to devour, to pause over and reflect. I'm looking forward to a second reading even more now.
February 19, 2023
با اینکه داستان های اساطیری دوست ندارم ولی کتاب خوبی بود و با خوندنش تحربه خوبی کسب کردم 🌱جمله هایی داشت که باهاشون به فکر فرو رفتم و این عالیه…
Read
August 23, 2025DNF.
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