Book: Finding Elen: The Quest for Elen of the Ways

I’ve just got a copy of a book I was eagerly awaiting – Finding Elen: The Quest for Elen of the Waysby Caroline Wise.

I first heard Caroline give a talk about Elen of the Ways at the Pagan Federation conference back in the 1990s and I have been quite fascinated with the antlered Goddess of the British Isles ever since. Caroline first wrote about Elen in her now out-of-print book Elen of the Shimmering Ways, published in 1986 by Spiral Press, and then in Guide to Legendary London,which is also quite rare.

This new book promises to share Caroline’s understanding of the history and mythology of this ancient Goddess as well as offering contributions from others including Andrew Collins and Caitlin Matthews along with artwork by Chesca Potter.

Caroline chatted to me about how this book came about: “The figure of Elen in mythology grew into something remarkable for myself and Chesca Potter in the early 1980s – she took in deer aspects. I made a quest to find her. I hope you like [the book], there is not so much a beginning, middle and end, but more of the highways and byways my friends and I were led too… There has been such support from the other contributors, who were there at the beginning when Elen emerged to me and Chesca. A team effort.”

Although I have a huge pile of review books sitting unread, Finding Elen is the one I will be reading before any of the others – and reviewing it on my blog

On Saturday 28 March; Caroline Wise is also running a one-day workshop called Exploring the Deer Mother – Elen of the Ways. This will take place at Treadwells bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Tickets are £45 (£25 deposit, balance due on the day). To book places and find out more information, call 020 7240 8906, email: [email protected] or visit http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Treadwells also has copies of Finding Elen in stock.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/05/goddess-of-week-elen-of-ways.html
Finding Elen: The Quest for Elen of the Ways
http://www.treadwells-london.com/

To read more posts like this visit A Bad Witch’s Blog at www.badwitch.co.uk