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Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life
RADICALLY REIMAGINE THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE
“There can be a certain perverse pleasure, as well as a sense of rightness and beauty, in insisting on flowering just when the world expects you to become quiet and diminish.”
— from the book
For any woman over fifty who has ever asked “What now? Who do I want to be?” comes a life-changing book showing how your next phase of life may be your most dynamic yet. As mythologist and psychologist Sharon Blackie describes it, midlife is the threshold to decades of opportunity and profound transformation, a time to learn, flourish, and claim the desires and identities that are often limited during earlier life stages. This is a time for gaining new perspectives, challenging and evolving belief systems, exploring callings, uncovering meaning, and ultimately finding healing for accumulated wounds.
Western folklore and mythology are rife with brilliantly creative, fulfilled, feisty, and furious role models for aging women, despite our culture’s focus on youthfulness. Blackie explores these archetypes in Hagitude , presenting them in a way sure to appeal to contemporary women. Drawing inspiration from these examples as well as modern mentors, you can reclaim midlife as a liberating, alchemical moment rich with possibility and your elder years as a path to feminine power.
“There can be a certain perverse pleasure, as well as a sense of rightness and beauty, in insisting on flowering just when the world expects you to become quiet and diminish.”
— from the book
For any woman over fifty who has ever asked “What now? Who do I want to be?” comes a life-changing book showing how your next phase of life may be your most dynamic yet. As mythologist and psychologist Sharon Blackie describes it, midlife is the threshold to decades of opportunity and profound transformation, a time to learn, flourish, and claim the desires and identities that are often limited during earlier life stages. This is a time for gaining new perspectives, challenging and evolving belief systems, exploring callings, uncovering meaning, and ultimately finding healing for accumulated wounds.
Western folklore and mythology are rife with brilliantly creative, fulfilled, feisty, and furious role models for aging women, despite our culture’s focus on youthfulness. Blackie explores these archetypes in Hagitude , presenting them in a way sure to appeal to contemporary women. Drawing inspiration from these examples as well as modern mentors, you can reclaim midlife as a liberating, alchemical moment rich with possibility and your elder years as a path to feminine power.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
764 people are currently reading
4716 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Blackie
18 books764 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 351 reviews
November 30, 2022
I was all set to recommend this. The early chapters where the author discusses elder archetypes, reclaiming the wise woman archetype and no longer accepting the modern patriarchal attempts to invalidate and dehumanize women past child bearing years, especially those women who never gave birth to children, were great. They were interesting and empowering, although it does help to be a Jungian scholar for a good portion of her text (I am not).
However, as other reviewers have noted, she has a chapter in the last 1/3 of the book that discusses transgender people. Out of one side of her mouth she claims transgender rights are human rights and appears to support the transgender community. Then almost immediately, she veers off into a discussion of how treating trans women the same as women assigned female gender at birth somehow impinges on the hard fought rights of those "real" women. She further laments the inability for civil discourse on this topic, and notes how people she knows have been harassed online for expressing these "old lady feminist" opinions. No. You can't both-sides argument against trans rights. Trans rights are women's rights are human rights. Just because you don't approve of the use of inclusive language such as Women+, doesn't mean fighting for everyone's right to exist is wrong or should even be open for debate. I'm incredibly disappointed that a book that started off so strongly empowering and feminist devolved into TERF-dom.
However, as other reviewers have noted, she has a chapter in the last 1/3 of the book that discusses transgender people. Out of one side of her mouth she claims transgender rights are human rights and appears to support the transgender community. Then almost immediately, she veers off into a discussion of how treating trans women the same as women assigned female gender at birth somehow impinges on the hard fought rights of those "real" women. She further laments the inability for civil discourse on this topic, and notes how people she knows have been harassed online for expressing these "old lady feminist" opinions. No. You can't both-sides argument against trans rights. Trans rights are women's rights are human rights. Just because you don't approve of the use of inclusive language such as Women+, doesn't mean fighting for everyone's right to exist is wrong or should even be open for debate. I'm incredibly disappointed that a book that started off so strongly empowering and feminist devolved into TERF-dom.
September 3, 2022
That sure is fourteen pages about the Transgender Debate[tm], which would have been better left on the editing room floor. I mean, *fourteen* pages?
It's a shame, because I was really enjoying the book up until that point.
It's a shame, because I was really enjoying the book up until that point.
September 26, 2022
Hagatude by Sharon Blackie
Is disappointing.
Truly disappointing due almost entirely from my expectations. I really thought it was about women archetypes, myths and legacies of certain older women and their influences on our soc-economic landscapes. This is only sprinkled.
It may be the first time CBC or BBC book recommendation and interviews have let me down. Hagatude is almost in it’s entirety a memoir of their menopause and post-menopausal life. Did I need to know about their husband’s midlife crisis, NO. Did I really need so much information about their cancer, NO. Not more than as a transition point that made them face their own mortality and thus an intro into the next elder woman archetype.
Disappointingly the author has curious views of transwomen. They seem perfectly happy accepting that non-mothers and mothers are both women; and that not having this pivotal experience does not mean one is not a woman. But apparently according to the author or at least how I read it, being trans woman means not truly part of the woman club because of the lack of biology ie. periods, menopause. I do not understand how one biological process not had does not exclude women from the woman experience but another biological process not experienced puts you in a woman's annex - part but apart. The author has a large section about biology. And it’s tedious, especially given how truly “spook” they are. I mean this in the way they have objects they collect and talk at length about -including fox skulls. She talks with animals and inanimate things and sees them as symbols or the universe sending messages. Like you can believe the crow is your dead mother, but not that a woman is born with the junk? Just so disappointing. Everyone has different experiences of womanhood that doesn’t make any experience less or more valuable, nor does it exclude. There is no one way of being.
We could break this book into 3 parts. 1 part Mythology about elder women, 1 part memoir, and 1 part Carl Jung fan-girl love. You could do a drinking game, take a shot when the author uses the Jung or Jung-practitioner. You wouldn’t be able to read any more after 5 or 10 pages.
As much as I thought this would be an interesting feminist book about empowerment in your older age, this author does not seem at all connected to my same reality. It doesn’t even seem to be feminist, just a woman’s book talking about their own experience and interpretations of the world. The author fits the narrative they tell to their reality and comfort level, not all the women archetypes or myths to show other ways of being.
Maybe I’m the wrong age, maybe the author and I are too many generations separated, maybe our realities and understanding of the universe is too different, but this book did not work for me.
It is elegantly written and seems to be well researched and supported in some places. Other places it’s very diary entry, literary review with no clear thesis.
This book is for anyone who enjoys myths, memoirs and Carl Jung. Possibly for those experience pre-menopause, menopause or are post menopausal but you’re going to have to enjoy myths, memoirs, Carl Jung.
Is disappointing.
Truly disappointing due almost entirely from my expectations. I really thought it was about women archetypes, myths and legacies of certain older women and their influences on our soc-economic landscapes. This is only sprinkled.
It may be the first time CBC or BBC book recommendation and interviews have let me down. Hagatude is almost in it’s entirety a memoir of their menopause and post-menopausal life. Did I need to know about their husband’s midlife crisis, NO. Did I really need so much information about their cancer, NO. Not more than as a transition point that made them face their own mortality and thus an intro into the next elder woman archetype.
Disappointingly the author has curious views of transwomen. They seem perfectly happy accepting that non-mothers and mothers are both women; and that not having this pivotal experience does not mean one is not a woman. But apparently according to the author or at least how I read it, being trans woman means not truly part of the woman club because of the lack of biology ie. periods, menopause. I do not understand how one biological process not had does not exclude women from the woman experience but another biological process not experienced puts you in a woman's annex - part but apart. The author has a large section about biology. And it’s tedious, especially given how truly “spook” they are. I mean this in the way they have objects they collect and talk at length about -including fox skulls. She talks with animals and inanimate things and sees them as symbols or the universe sending messages. Like you can believe the crow is your dead mother, but not that a woman is born with the junk? Just so disappointing. Everyone has different experiences of womanhood that doesn’t make any experience less or more valuable, nor does it exclude. There is no one way of being.
We could break this book into 3 parts. 1 part Mythology about elder women, 1 part memoir, and 1 part Carl Jung fan-girl love. You could do a drinking game, take a shot when the author uses the Jung or Jung-practitioner. You wouldn’t be able to read any more after 5 or 10 pages.
As much as I thought this would be an interesting feminist book about empowerment in your older age, this author does not seem at all connected to my same reality. It doesn’t even seem to be feminist, just a woman’s book talking about their own experience and interpretations of the world. The author fits the narrative they tell to their reality and comfort level, not all the women archetypes or myths to show other ways of being.
Maybe I’m the wrong age, maybe the author and I are too many generations separated, maybe our realities and understanding of the universe is too different, but this book did not work for me.
It is elegantly written and seems to be well researched and supported in some places. Other places it’s very diary entry, literary review with no clear thesis.
This book is for anyone who enjoys myths, memoirs and Carl Jung. Possibly for those experience pre-menopause, menopause or are post menopausal but you’re going to have to enjoy myths, memoirs, Carl Jung.
July 7, 2025
I really don’t understand some of the reviews here. They’re genuinely misaligned & disappointing. This book is great & Blackie knows her lane, really
very well. It’s ok to say, “this wasn’t for me” in reviews as much as I’m going to say, for me it totally was. Slamming someone’s work that much, says more about a generation who didn’t need to read it.. yet.
There isn’t enough information about elderhood, for those interested. There certainly isn’t enough written in a positive framework about women who age, nor enough mythical introductions which aren’t preaching from the current fashion of witchstagram (again many who are authentic get drowned out by trolls who have the patience of a pamphlet)
I am so glad this book exists. I am grateful Sharon is doing a podcast & continuing this dialogue. It’s a beginning, not a bible. Under thirty five naysayers need to get over themselves; go back and re read Twilight or something else. For anyone who feels there is no place for discussions about health, vulnerability, men, relationships to & with, alongside Feminism are incredibly misinformed. ➵ Want a book which discusses middle age without writing the word ‘hag’? You are very Welcome to write one.
very well. It’s ok to say, “this wasn’t for me” in reviews as much as I’m going to say, for me it totally was. Slamming someone’s work that much, says more about a generation who didn’t need to read it.. yet.
There isn’t enough information about elderhood, for those interested. There certainly isn’t enough written in a positive framework about women who age, nor enough mythical introductions which aren’t preaching from the current fashion of witchstagram (again many who are authentic get drowned out by trolls who have the patience of a pamphlet)
I am so glad this book exists. I am grateful Sharon is doing a podcast & continuing this dialogue. It’s a beginning, not a bible. Under thirty five naysayers need to get over themselves; go back and re read Twilight or something else. For anyone who feels there is no place for discussions about health, vulnerability, men, relationships to & with, alongside Feminism are incredibly misinformed. ➵ Want a book which discusses middle age without writing the word ‘hag’? You are very Welcome to write one.
Read
September 30, 2022Yet again, a book meant solely for women that caters to trans-identified males. This book is about MENOPAUSE and the life women live after. Something a male will NEVER have to go through and will NEVER understand. I loved this book up until chapter 12, when she prattles on about trans-identified males and their ideas of womanhood (a male can't understand womanhood utside of stereotypes and sexist media) which has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE POINT OF THE BOOK!! She also cites the UK organisation "Mermaids" which has been recently proven to use fake statistics, overtly lie to children, actively encourage medical/surgical intervention to minors, and uphold very regressive ideas of gender roles (stereotypical femininity = woman, stereotypical masculinity = man). Any credibility she had as a "feminist" or pro-women is gone.
Stop the pointless pandering to males in books specifically for WOMEN.
Stop the pointless pandering to males in books specifically for WOMEN.
January 7, 2023
I am a longtime appreciator of Sharon’s work and have taken her classes and seminars. Until this book I would have said that I didn’t feel much of a divide; her ideas have excited and validated me.
But I have to echo what is said in other reviews: her views on trans women are harmful.
At one point she says something about how simple it is, XX and XY chromosomes = women and men. But even during the writing of her book, it was knowledge easily found that it’s actually NOT that simple. I, as a non-scientist, came across this information at least a year ago. And where was the fact checking? Very disappointing.
Then she reports that even a lesbian (gasp!) shared her views, as though finding one person in a more marginalized group who shares your views to bolster your own absolves you of your intolerance.
I’m honestly amazed that someone who speaks out against the patriarchy and who values women’s spaces and who sees how truly marginalized women are cannot see the how her perceived threat - by THE most marginalized segment of society - mirrors the way men under patriarchy are threatened by the women they oppress.
Most uncool. I was very excited for this book and this was so sensationally offputting that I’m still thinking about it months later.
But I have to echo what is said in other reviews: her views on trans women are harmful.
At one point she says something about how simple it is, XX and XY chromosomes = women and men. But even during the writing of her book, it was knowledge easily found that it’s actually NOT that simple. I, as a non-scientist, came across this information at least a year ago. And where was the fact checking? Very disappointing.
Then she reports that even a lesbian (gasp!) shared her views, as though finding one person in a more marginalized group who shares your views to bolster your own absolves you of your intolerance.
I’m honestly amazed that someone who speaks out against the patriarchy and who values women’s spaces and who sees how truly marginalized women are cannot see the how her perceived threat - by THE most marginalized segment of society - mirrors the way men under patriarchy are threatened by the women they oppress.
Most uncool. I was very excited for this book and this was so sensationally offputting that I’m still thinking about it months later.
January 19, 2023
So much wrong with this book. First and foremost, the TERF chapter absolutely disgusted and threw me. And her lack of self awareness about her privilege - rich, white, went to uni when it was virtually free, expects respect but has none for those not like her, the list goes on. She needs an editor to get rid of soooo much repetition - heard the word 'strange' and term 'old woman' in close conjunction more times than I could count. Her reading of the audiobook is also problematic (and horrible) - even on 115%, the pauses were too long, especially those meant for us to chuckle at her wittiness. Does not know how to pronounce some fairly basic college-level words/terms (the 'e' at the end of dilettante is silent, etc.). Sad to see Tantor being a part of this, usually their audiobooks are better. Wants to develop a space for old white British women like herself, one free from scary trans-ladies, but is happy to use (and misinterpret) the mythology of other cultures, such as the use of Baba Yaga (at least she knew she wasn't Russian). Did I mention she's a TERF?
November 18, 2022
This was a struggle to finish. I want to read and explore and understand what the back half of our lives is about. But this is too woo-woo, earth mother/goddess, mother of crows (or was it dragons? there were dragons, I'm sure).
It's lovely to read about the author's friends who decided to chuck their life in the medical field/professional world and live on a lovely farm in Wales/Ireland/The South of France (okay maybe not that last one). But I have a mortgage and a cat with diabetes. I don't see packing it all up for a trip to Donegal, catch my drift?
It's lovely to read about the author's friends who decided to chuck their life in the medical field/professional world and live on a lovely farm in Wales/Ireland/The South of France (okay maybe not that last one). But I have a mortgage and a cat with diabetes. I don't see packing it all up for a trip to Donegal, catch my drift?
October 16, 2022
Only a quarter done (and writing this now bc I plan to savor this book slowly over the next few weeks) but I'm already convinced Sharon Blackie has worked her magic once more and created a spiritual guide book that is at once a pleasure to read and also immeasurably profound. Don't be fooled by the title, this book is not just for menopausal women. It's for any person going through a transition and hoping to come out the other side more in touch with their inner hag.
August 5, 2023
Really loved the connections of mythos with menopause and aging. Hence the stars.
Really, really hated the part where she tried to reserve the unmodified word woman for only cis women. Woman is an umbrella where cis and trans women sit together.
Wish there had been space for trans men's and enbies' stories to be included.
Really, really hated the part where she tried to reserve the unmodified word woman for only cis women. Woman is an umbrella where cis and trans women sit together.
Wish there had been space for trans men's and enbies' stories to be included.
January 2, 2024
What a wonderful book! The perfect antidote to all the current advice being doled out to menopausal and post-menopausal women - how to stay slim, how to stay hormonal, how to stay sexually active, how to stay focussed on work and career, etc etc ... nowadays we're basically being brainwashed into believing that the menopause marks the end of our useful lives and must be staved off at all costs.
Hagitude, by contrast, celebrates the elder years ushered in by The Change, arguing that evolution would never have given human females what amounts to a non-fertile, non-sexual third of our lives if there were no value in it. And what value there is! Drawing on history, myth and folklore, Sharon Blackie introduces us to the independence, the wisdom and the natural authority that is the prerogative of older women, and which modern Western society ignores and sidelines at its peril. She presents The Change as the cauldron of transformation that enables us to slough off all the previous personae we've adopted in order to please others and conform to society's expectations, and to evolve into our true selves. Everything about old age urges us to slow down, listen to our bodies, contemplate our own mortality, and find out once and for all what we really, truly want from life - yes, even right up to the inevitability of Death.
Hags with Attitude - that's what older women can and should be, and this book shows us how to achieve it!
Hagitude, by contrast, celebrates the elder years ushered in by The Change, arguing that evolution would never have given human females what amounts to a non-fertile, non-sexual third of our lives if there were no value in it. And what value there is! Drawing on history, myth and folklore, Sharon Blackie introduces us to the independence, the wisdom and the natural authority that is the prerogative of older women, and which modern Western society ignores and sidelines at its peril. She presents The Change as the cauldron of transformation that enables us to slough off all the previous personae we've adopted in order to please others and conform to society's expectations, and to evolve into our true selves. Everything about old age urges us to slow down, listen to our bodies, contemplate our own mortality, and find out once and for all what we really, truly want from life - yes, even right up to the inevitability of Death.
Hags with Attitude - that's what older women can and should be, and this book shows us how to achieve it!
June 18, 2023
I am so sad that Blackie opted to include gender essentialism in an otherwise beautiful book. This would have been a four star review, with the exception of the confusing and back-and-forth argument (in the TRICKSTER chapter - a nauseating and disturbing choice!) around trans women’s access to women’s spaces, and honouring the exclusionary perspectives held by prominent women in earlier feminist movements (?? People who do good work CAN be wrong and DO need to be held accountable). I hope Blackie educates herself further on gender, and releases some of the misconceptions which she holds about safety and solidarity amongst those who face gender based violence and discrimination. I ultimately couldn’t get past the transphobia and it coloured my experience of reading the remaining chapters, and makes me wary of reading more of her work in the future.
June 11, 2023
Ended up being rather repetitive and threw me for a loop with the rant on the UK “transgender debate” that came out of nowhere, had nothing to do with anything and was an unnecessary reminder of the fact that there are still way too many so-called feminists who don’t see trans women as women and are adding to a harmful rhetoric that sets trans rights back again and again.
Audiobook narration was pleasant enough to listen to, but due to its repetitive nature, I definitely zoned out occasionally in the second half.
Audiobook narration was pleasant enough to listen to, but due to its repetitive nature, I definitely zoned out occasionally in the second half.
December 20, 2022
A good read, particularly touching at the end. Gave me a list of books to now look up too, which is something always likely to endear me to a book. A refreshing and enlightened vision of aging, using folk tales, myths and literature as well as the author's own personal experience and that of other women, to offer another attitude to the latter part of women's lives. Opening eyes to the value of age. Recommended reading
June 6, 2023
As always enjoyed the whirlwind of ideas and images that Blackie's writing involves which offer so much inspiration for further reading, thinking and finding alternate ways of being in the world. Her personal reflections don't hesitate to examine uncomfortable truths both about herself and wider society, around women, ageing and death. Will read again.
November 15, 2022
Another brilliant book written by one of my favourite authors.
I never subscribed to the idea that we have to slip quietly into obsolescence once we reach our midlife. Menopause is not the death of all that is powerful within a woman, we are not just here to birth children and service the needs of others until we end up in a old folks home. Stepping towards and embracing a time in our lives when our power and our energy is finally redirected inwards, towards the dreams we still may hold and wish to bring to fruition, is one of the most potent things we can do for ourselves.
In her trademark mythopoetic style of writing sharing deeply researched folk legends from our very own British Isles, and with a wild and deep attachment to these lands she inhabits, this book will remind you of just how powerful and transformative this midlife journey we are in truly is.
Absolute gem of a book that I encourage all women to read - regardless of how easy or difficult you are finding midlife currently.
I never subscribed to the idea that we have to slip quietly into obsolescence once we reach our midlife. Menopause is not the death of all that is powerful within a woman, we are not just here to birth children and service the needs of others until we end up in a old folks home. Stepping towards and embracing a time in our lives when our power and our energy is finally redirected inwards, towards the dreams we still may hold and wish to bring to fruition, is one of the most potent things we can do for ourselves.
In her trademark mythopoetic style of writing sharing deeply researched folk legends from our very own British Isles, and with a wild and deep attachment to these lands she inhabits, this book will remind you of just how powerful and transformative this midlife journey we are in truly is.
Absolute gem of a book that I encourage all women to read - regardless of how easy or difficult you are finding midlife currently.
November 12, 2022
loved this reckoning of elder hood
This inspiring book came at a time in my life when I am at a crossroads, approaching the turning point of 70 in a couple of years. I sense a change coming, a leaving behind of a certain kind of striving, yet not wanting to give up on my life’s purpose. Sharon Blackie beautifully articulates this luminal time which can come at different ages for different people, brought on by illness, injury, a pull away from the known, or simply a desire to do something different—not retire from life, but follow a new path, forever walking with our old friend, Death, nearby.
This inspiring book came at a time in my life when I am at a crossroads, approaching the turning point of 70 in a couple of years. I sense a change coming, a leaving behind of a certain kind of striving, yet not wanting to give up on my life’s purpose. Sharon Blackie beautifully articulates this luminal time which can come at different ages for different people, brought on by illness, injury, a pull away from the known, or simply a desire to do something different—not retire from life, but follow a new path, forever walking with our old friend, Death, nearby.
February 13, 2023
This was a fascinating book for many reasons. It spoke to a deep rooted spirituality and to the feminist in me. There were flights of fancy and serious political debate. And to date the best definition/explanation of what an 'archetype' is and means, particularly relating to the stages of life that women pass through. If you like folklore, feminist spirituality and personal journey stories this is a very current and relevant book for today.
July 15, 2023
Warning: Author is a TERF. Started reading without realising. She started out by being tokenly inclusive and then bam, grossness. I like the idea of being framed as an elder rather than being elderly. But could not continue.
June 16, 2023
If you are a fan of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, I think you will be a fan of this book. This is the first book by Sharon Blackie that I have read and I really enjoyed it. Her own life experience transitioning from womanhood into menopause was woven throughout her discussion of folk tales, Jungian psychology, and analysis of archetypes. She holds up a mirror to our ridiculous social norms and the view of women after "the change" and calls it what it is. She gifts the reader with permission to be the powerful, wise elder who is free (maybe for the first time in their lives) to shape their time, their space, and their own definition of who they are.
I was pleasantly surprised by her discussion surrounding her cancer experience and her new relationship with death. Having gone through something similar, I was amazed by how eloquently she was able to describe my thoughts and feelings traveling that valley. I will be rereading this every so often when I forget what I need to remember: I need no one's approval, validation, or permission to begin to live my life in exactly the way I feel called in my bones.
I was pleasantly surprised by her discussion surrounding her cancer experience and her new relationship with death. Having gone through something similar, I was amazed by how eloquently she was able to describe my thoughts and feelings traveling that valley. I will be rereading this every so often when I forget what I need to remember: I need no one's approval, validation, or permission to begin to live my life in exactly the way I feel called in my bones.
June 5, 2024
There was lots about this book I was really enjoying. Menopause as an alchemical process ushering us into a rich new part of our life. Celebrating our witchy old hag energy. Women who choose to remain child-free bringing value to their community as elders.
Then she spends half a whole chapter explaining that, while trans people should have the right to be who they are, trans women aren’t “real” women. That cis women should be allowed to discriminate against trans women. Essentially it’s an apology for terf behavior
What a deep and utter disappointment. We need trans folks in our world and I won’t support anything less than unequivocal solidarity for this community. It is trans folks who are at risk and who are being targeted. This community is not a threat to cis people. Trans women are not taking anything away from cis women by existing and expecting to have their full humanity acknowledged.
I categorically recommend against this book.
Then she spends half a whole chapter explaining that, while trans people should have the right to be who they are, trans women aren’t “real” women. That cis women should be allowed to discriminate against trans women. Essentially it’s an apology for terf behavior
What a deep and utter disappointment. We need trans folks in our world and I won’t support anything less than unequivocal solidarity for this community. It is trans folks who are at risk and who are being targeted. This community is not a threat to cis people. Trans women are not taking anything away from cis women by existing and expecting to have their full humanity acknowledged.
I categorically recommend against this book.
April 22, 2023
This book is full of interesting ideas, but also full of old school feminism that leaves little room for trans women, or women who don’t make the same choices as the author. It often came across as arrogant to me, in a way I found off-putting. When she mentioned that no experience is as transformative as having cancer, I wanted to scream “And you’d know this how?” She’s never had kids. Never have a spouse of a child die. Never done lots of things. I just personally can’t stand when people assume their little t truth is everyone’s Capital T TRUTH. Rant over. For now.
What I did like: the idea of mindfully approaching one’s older years. Except my older years and my archetypes are different than hers. And guess what? That’s okay.
What I did like: the idea of mindfully approaching one’s older years. Except my older years and my archetypes are different than hers. And guess what? That’s okay.
July 18, 2024
it was great right up until chapter 7 where she goes into a weird transphobic thing. she uses terf trope to excuse transphobia and to support other terfs. this has no place in a book about aging women and transformation. in fact, it has no place anywhere. i don’t know the author goes from talking about childless women being looked down on to basically saying trans women shouldn’t be part of the discussion on aging women. i’d give it two stars, for the wonderfulness of the first part, but as an ally that chapter made my stomach turn and i can’t rely on anything she said previously or going forward. for the second time in my 54 years i out this book right where it belongs: in the garbage, where it sits in a pile of uneaten dog food. shame on sharon blackie!
January 17, 2023
Wow a lot to dwell on. I love the study of myth and attitudes of women. Mostly I love that as we age we are to fill the important role of elders and not to be cast aside as old folks. The myths discussed were useful in understanding another book that I recently read. Looking forward to other of Sharon's book as her basic life approach is in alignment with mine that we are in a continuous state of transformation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2023
A lot of research went into this homage to women, both real and mythical, through the ages. Women of strength and chutzpah! Valor and intellect. It is inspiring and humbling. I learned of a few I had not heard of before and did research into their lives and contributions. It’s soul-searching while introducing yourself to yourself. Lengthy, but never boring. Put this in the hands of all tonnage (or younger) women. Carry on the tales, keep the life force going.
September 23, 2023
I enjoyed the chance to think about growing into an "elder woman" that this book offered. Sharon Blackie provided a journey through ancient folklore and archetypes, which I appreciated. On the other hand, her worldview is quite different from mine, so there were ideas I couldn't quite fully embrace.
I still came away feeling inspired to look forward to new seasons of my life with Hagitude.
I still came away feeling inspired to look forward to new seasons of my life with Hagitude.
September 19, 2025
4.5/5 another case of the right book at the right time. Thank you Sharon for this beautiful book and everything you’ve shared about your own life. I already want to reread this with a hard copy (listened on audio) and highlight so much!
February 3, 2025
Sharon Blackie is a Scottish-Irish psychologist-turned-writer who's written on mythicism and gender. 2022's Hagitude is Blackie's exploration of the role of elder (her preferred term) women in society, told through various cultural mythical archetypes as well as Blackie's own experiences as she's aged and faced her mortality though a cancer diagnosis. I found this book to be largely meandering (I felt like I was listening for well more than the 10 hour run-time of the audiobook), though interesting in parts.
My statistics:
Book 38 for 2025
Book 1964 cumulatively
My statistics:
Book 38 for 2025
Book 1964 cumulatively
December 11, 2022
Hagitude offers so much and on so many levels.
I went in expecting one thing and was delighted to receive so much more. Sharon Blackie is a great intellectual on all the components of mythology, which she weaves in throughout the chapters as well as citing a vast amount of literature from different era. Woven within also was the story of her recent years, that unfolded during the book’s creative journey process. These unexpected further episodes drew me in further. They made the book that much more relatable, reminding that whatever challenges arise in your life, they are a part of the path you’re on.
Several reviews indicate that several people were triggered by her pages on transgender. Gender fluidity presents a new paradigm within which to view growing old. She does raise a valid point that each person’s interpretation of their elder years is influenced by many societal aspects. How transgender individuals navigate their elderhood will be a learning process covering new territory that’s not yet explored. In a book discussing elderhood, it is relevant to devote some space to explore issues transgender individuals may face. Although some people don’t agree with her views, it remains important and respectful to tolerate all views and not to practice the cancel culture on her just because of those pages that may differ from other viewpoints.
Although the final chapter focuses on the concept of death, it does it in such an uplifting positive way, reminding us that it is a component of life, and in turn swings around to the crucial aspect of the subtitle of a book, reimagining, the second half of life, to make the most of your life, and live a life that matters.
This book covers a lot of ground.
I went in expecting one thing and was delighted to receive so much more. Sharon Blackie is a great intellectual on all the components of mythology, which she weaves in throughout the chapters as well as citing a vast amount of literature from different era. Woven within also was the story of her recent years, that unfolded during the book’s creative journey process. These unexpected further episodes drew me in further. They made the book that much more relatable, reminding that whatever challenges arise in your life, they are a part of the path you’re on.
Several reviews indicate that several people were triggered by her pages on transgender. Gender fluidity presents a new paradigm within which to view growing old. She does raise a valid point that each person’s interpretation of their elder years is influenced by many societal aspects. How transgender individuals navigate their elderhood will be a learning process covering new territory that’s not yet explored. In a book discussing elderhood, it is relevant to devote some space to explore issues transgender individuals may face. Although some people don’t agree with her views, it remains important and respectful to tolerate all views and not to practice the cancel culture on her just because of those pages that may differ from other viewpoints.
Although the final chapter focuses on the concept of death, it does it in such an uplifting positive way, reminding us that it is a component of life, and in turn swings around to the crucial aspect of the subtitle of a book, reimagining, the second half of life, to make the most of your life, and live a life that matters.
This book covers a lot of ground.
April 11, 2024
As a woman navigating the transformative journey of menopause and cancer recovery, this book felt like a heartfelt letter from a dear friend. The author's beautifully written words drew me into her world of archetypes and stories, leaving me challenged, moved and inspired.
Blackie masterfully weaves ancient myths and wisdom traditions, urging the reader to reclaim their power and create a vibrant, post-menopausal life that shatters the limiting expectations society often imposes. As an RE teacher, I was particularly appreciated the profound religious, philosophical, psychological and mythical underpinnings woven throughout the text.
The book also introduced me to a wealth of new artists, thinkers and eco-feminist movements - sparking my intellectual curiosity and leaving me with pages of notes to explore further. I found myself reading slower, savoring each word, unwilling to part with this transformative guide that felt like the counsel of a cherished confidante.
If you, too, are a woman seeking to embrace the profound changes of midlife, this book will undoubtedly become a trusted companion on your journey of self-discovery and empowerment."
Blackie masterfully weaves ancient myths and wisdom traditions, urging the reader to reclaim their power and create a vibrant, post-menopausal life that shatters the limiting expectations society often imposes. As an RE teacher, I was particularly appreciated the profound religious, philosophical, psychological and mythical underpinnings woven throughout the text.
The book also introduced me to a wealth of new artists, thinkers and eco-feminist movements - sparking my intellectual curiosity and leaving me with pages of notes to explore further. I found myself reading slower, savoring each word, unwilling to part with this transformative guide that felt like the counsel of a cherished confidante.
If you, too, are a woman seeking to embrace the profound changes of midlife, this book will undoubtedly become a trusted companion on your journey of self-discovery and empowerment."
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