Courting the Wild Twin

by Martin Shaw

Master mythologist Martin Shaw uses timeless story-wisdom to examine our broken relationship with the world.

There is an old legend that says we each have a wild, curious twin that was thrown out the window the night we were born, taking much of our vitality with them. If there was something we were meant to do with our few, brief years on Earth, we can be sure that the wild twin is holding the key.

In Courting the Wild Twin, Dr. Martin Shaw invites us to seek out our wild twin––a metaphor for the part of ourselves that we generally shun or ignore to conform to societal norms––to invite them back into our consciousness, for they have something important to tell us. He challenges us to examine our broken relationship with the world, to think boldly, wildly, and in new ways about ourselves—as individuals and as a collective.

Through the use of scholarship, storytelling, and personal reflection, Shaw unpacks two ancient European fairy tales that concern the mysterious wild twin. By reading these tales and becoming storytellers ourselves, he suggests we can restore our agency and confront modern challenges with purpose, courage, and creativity.

Courting the Wild Twin is a declaration of literary activism and an antidote to the shallow thinking that typifies our age. Shaw asks us to recognize mythology as a secret weapon—a radical, beautiful, heart-shuddering agent of deep, lasting change.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mythology, Nature, Philosophy, Spirituality, Audiobook, Psychology

128 pages, Paperback

Published March 11, 2020

About the author

Dr Martin Shaw is an acclaimed teacher of myth. Author of the award-winning Mythteller trilogy (A Branch from the Lightning Tree, Snowy Tower, Scatterlings), he founded the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University, whilst being director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK.

He has introduced thousands of people to mythology and how it penetrates modern life. For twenty years Shaw has been a wilderness rites of passage guide, working with at-risk youth, the sick, returning veterans and many women and men seeking a deeper life.

His translations of Gaelic poetry and folklore (with Tony Hoagland) have been published in Orion Magazine, Poetry International, Kenyon Review, Poetry Magazine and the Mississippi Review.

Shaw’s most recent books include The Night Wages, Cinderbiter, Wolf Milk, Courting the Wild Twin, All Those Barbarians, Wolferland and his Lorca translations, Courting the Dawn (with Stephan Harding). His essay and conversation with Ai Weiwei on myth and migration was released by the Marciano Arts foundation.

For more on Martin Shaw’s work:
cistamystica.com | drmartinshaw.com | schoolofmyth.com | martinshaw.substack.com

Reviews

[Brian Beatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy Joseph Campbell, James Hillman and the myth work of Robert Bly, this is a book for you. For full effect, read it in the woods. Or how I did, during a storm full of lightning and thunder.

[Quirine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not fully connect with this book until the last chapter - that one really resonated deeply with me. Some beautiful language & insides. But the way the two stories were dissected reminded me a lot of Women Who Run With The Wolves and that one was much more substantial imo!

[Miz Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim volume is a master class in the power of fairy tales for transformation and healing, not just self but world, and the deep art of storytelling. The two tales "Lindworm" and "Tatterhood" are personal favorites but less well-known outside of storytelling circles. This is a book I know I will return to whenever I'm in need of sustenance.

[sophie blyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is sublime. Shaw’s prose is magical, achingly gorgeous and so crucial. something in this speaks to me so deeply, the genius of the analysis and connection between mythology and soul is illuminating. i will be returning to this book whenever i feel the fatigue and meaningless of modernity weighing on me.

some of the innumerable heart-rending quotes:
‘it is an unnecessary misery to feel that the honeycomb of previous centuries is not available. it is.’

‘but that pesky alchemical insistence within myth never goes away, that we acknowledge deeply the wound but can’t languish there as it’s final articulation, it’s last alliteration. beauty is created not just by desire but by diligence. by circling again and again like a hawk round the well to what truly sends you both dizzy with admiration but also utterly focused in service. be mastered by beauty is what i’m saying. be defeated by it. rise to it in the weepy faithfulness of your response.’

‘attend to the grace. start to gaze through a divine and subtle lens at your life and everything changes. it doesn’t last for long, and the profundity of that realisation can be the beginning of gratitude.’

[Annagrace · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The radical agency of beauty,” the cover says.

“What you exile will grow hostile toward you,” the story says.

This small volume might be quickly read but it asks questions that linger— difficult questions of the reader’s origin story and of our relationship to the earth and to our old, original longings. Using two ancient tales of exile and magic, and full of sentences I had to repeat aloud because of their beauty, Martin Shaw shows in Courting the Wild Twin the healing possibilities within story, and storytelling as a communal practice of spell-breaking. A book to return to again and again, especially in heartbreak, and especially if you, like me, are often unsure of how to keep dreaming into a world experiencing collapsing climate and catastrophic change.

Relationship and relatedness.

Communication with beauty.

Image versus concept, and hearing instead of merely seeing.

And this question: what are the twelve secret names of that which claims you?

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half? Some nice language/thought jewels, but half the time I didn't know what he was talking about. It wasn't what I expected.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insanely beautiful. A journey into the other world to bring back your wild spirit, the one that knows how to fall in love so deeply with the natural world that we spark the possibility of saving it and our lost selves both.

[Freda · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Find something to adore and keep talking to it.”

[Bárbara Teixeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Li este livro em duas horas pois não conseguia largá-lo - algo que não acontecia há muito tempo. Foi como se tivesse entrado num estado de transe no qual me deixei apenas ser devorada e absorvida. Simplesmente não conseguia parar de ler.

Chorei, ri, e fui capaz de trazer à memória, ainda que por um breve instante, algo bem escondido no fundo de mim... lembrei-me dos meus próprios sonhos e medos e senti-me profundamente tocada pelo autor e pela sua mensagem.

Não sei se o impacto das suas palavras se deveu a toda a minha circunstância e vida atual, ou se o silêncio da noite potenciou esta viagem. O que sei é que recomendo este livro a qualquer pessoa curiosa que se interesse por mensagens escondidas, mitos e contos de fadas.

[Tracey Ormerod · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world drowning itself in dualisms, Shaw's call-to-action is weighty yet simple: like the blind oracles of old, listen closely and find a third way.

[Laine · Rating 5 out of 5]

šīgada THE grāmata. citāts pēc citāta.
Bad storytellers make spells. Good storytellers break them.
relatedness breeds love, and love can excavate conscience.
without relatedness we dwell in the Moon palace: safe but we touch nothing. hertbreak gets us there. the earth is only three steps down; instigated by longing to connect, for opinion, passion.
keep an eye on the miraculous. its not for us to bloe the candle out; only the gods can do that.
your wild tein is incorrigible, melodramatic, and has only your best interests at heart.
the greatest poems are not written by the woman who got that last kiss; they are written by thr woman who didnt.

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this sounded right up my street. I really liked the concept, the idea of old folklore and mythology tying neatly into modern psychology. However, I think this could have been executed a bit better. I thought the writing was beautiful in some parts but in other parts it was overdone and it took the experience away. I also don’t think this should be classed as fiction, personally I think it belongs in the self help category, which again, I didn’t love. I really liked the atmosphere in the first half of the book but unfortunately I lost interest in the second half.

[Jessey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook which was read by the author and I enjoyed every minute. That being said, I came to realization that I have poor audiobook comprehension and look forward to reading an actual print copy in the future.

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of strange book, not really what I expected. I enjoyed the fairytales a lot, they were not ones I had ever heard before, and the analysis of them within the context of the "wild twin" rhetoric was interesting. Some really great, thought-provoking ideas throughout the text, HOWEVER, there were a number of points where I lost the thread. Part literary analysis, part philosophical essay, part environmental lecture, part history lesson, part self-help book... it asks a lot of its lean 120 pages. But the writing is lovely and lyrical, and I was engaged enough that I'll seek out more of Shaw's work, and try to track down some of the referenced sources for more context, and I guess, as a scholar and teacher, that's one of the best possible outcomes for the author.

[Chris LaTray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this a couple years ago and just revisited it again, only this time via audio. Shaw reads the book himself and that makes all the difference. It doesn't hurt that I am a much-changed person from when I absorbed the book the first time. These past two years have been an eternity, haven't they? This book is a wondrous place to find a new way at looking forward by looking back. If that last sentence makes sense to you, then you're ready for Martin Shaw....

[sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this very difficult to get through, but ultimately am happy to have read it and have exposure to a somewhat niche discipline. It made me reflect on traditional / ancient practices of storytelling and sitting with texts for longer than just the time it takes me to read and review. Reflection is also important!

[Fantasy boy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to rate this book 2 stars on Goodreads.

Not a terribly written book or a very dull non fiction but I don’t think it is as useful as learn knowledge from new fields or interesting enough to forget it is a non fiction.

4.5 out of 10. I can find more books that are similar and interesting.

[greeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to hang out with everyone who gave this book 5 stars.

[Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh em gee! loved it!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

New ideas for me to ponder.

[Ryan Cullom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring and fresh — worth reading for the myths alone. Feels a bit unfinished, but a few good ideas I will take with me.

[Gabrijela · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is rich in poetic language and eloquent thought. Dr Martin is an exceptional storyteller with a compelling sensibility. I, however, expected a more Jungian approach in text analysis - tackling archetypal psychology and tapping into cultural and folklore relevance more often. Nonetheless, this is a very good read for anyone interested in mythology.

[Tina H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shaw is a gifted storyteller. I enjoyed this entrancing book, though I'm not sure I understood all of it.

[Claire Coetzee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The words in this book are poetry and myth crafted together to heal some long ago aching part of our collective hearts. May I read it again whenever I am feeling heavy and lost.

[Tim Weed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Shaw is amazing. I need to listen to this again, at least once more. The writing is amazing, and the author is fantastic as an audible narrator. The perspective is life-altering, and so good! Enough said. Trust me, you don't want miss this one, or his other masterpiece, Smoke Hole: Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass

[Gabrielle Jarrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Martin Shaw is a professional story-teller, a wilderness guide, and a writer/translator of myth and meaning. I found Courting the Wild Twin interesting (such a bland adjective) and somewhat dis-organized. He suggests we have a twin (mythically) who went her/his way at our birth and live in the wild. At some point, we must connect with that twin or our lost childhood self, in order to be whole. I would've liked more depth on that idea. It's very Jungian to discover and unearth all the buried parts of ourselves, to make them conscious, and to unite them with our adult/conscious self and personality.
Shaw writes of how to be a story-teller, which I tried to transfer onto being a story-writer, but was unsuccessful. Uniting with the wild earth, nature, or the outside world is key in Shaw's beliefs. He is very gender-inclusive which is a delight. It's the first time I read of "the castration of the earth" vs. the oft-heard "raping of the earth." However, my disappointment in his book over-rode my delight.

[Pamela Pinskey-Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book after it came highly recommended by a number of friends. I was perplexed by it. Confused and lost in the words and stories I did not find it as amazing as the reviews proclaimed, UNTIL I watched a podcast where Martin Shaw (during lockdown) talks about this book. At that time it totally turned around what I had absorbed and where he was coming from and made sense. I don't know if I hadn't been lucky enough to have caught the podcast if I would have given this 4 stars most likely 2-3 ... sometimes you just need a path to follow to find the light at the end of the tunnel, in this case that was me.

[Amanda Ashworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are two folktales shared within the book. I enjoyed them, and Dr. Shaw’s comments on them were insightful. However, the last third of the book where I expected to hear more in-depth content about the wild twin (what the book is allegedly about) was a very chaotic and unorganized sermon about climate change. I finished the book feeling highly disappointed and like he spoke little to nothing about the subject of the wild twin at all. His prose is poetic and there were several word gems found throughout, but there were many moments where I stopped and thought, “What in the world is he talking about?”

[Noah Letner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an experience. Easy reading? No. Engaging? Yes. Thought provoking? Indeed.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

My book. The book meant for me. For my heart. Exquisite. A feast. I could not praise it highly enough.