At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives—identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic—celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole: three metaphors to help us understand our world, one that is assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a health crisis that has brought loneliness and isolation to an all-time high.

Smoke Hole is a passionate call to arms and an invitation to use these stories to face the complexities of contemporary life, from fake news, parenthood, climate crises, addictive technology and more. Shaw urges us to reclaim our imagination and untangle ourselves from modern menace, letting these tales (The Handless Maiden, The Bewitched Princess, and The Spyglass) be our guide.

Let's take a breath.

We may have to seek some solitude, but let's not isolate from the marvellous.

High alert is the nature of the moment, and rightly so, but I do not intend to lose the reality that, as a culture, we are entering deeply mythic ground...
 

What needs to change? Deepen? What kindness in me have I so abandoned that I could seek relationship with again?

It is useful to inspect my ruin.

Could I strike up an old relationship with my soul again.

You don't need me to tell you how to keep the smoke hole open. You have a myriad of ways...
 

Where is the beauty-making in all of this?

That is part—part—of the correct response. The absolute heft of grief may well be the weave to such a prayer mat.

Bewfore we burn the whole world down in the wider rage of climate emergency, of which this current moment is just a hint, could we collectively seek vigil in this moment?

Cry for a vision?

It's what we've always done.

We need to do it now.

"His storytelling and use of language are dazzling, and through the prism of entrancingly poetic and vital tales of challenges and great testing, he illuminates the power, comfort and absolute necessity of the old stories. This is an important book: thought-provoking, heart-healing and life-enhancing; showing us how myths and metaphor can reconnect us to the wild, help us rediscover a sense of awe and find startling beauty in the strangest and most terrifying of times. Stories are always for those at a crossroads, says Martin Shaw, and as we all find ourselves at a monumental crossroads now, we need to look back to the old stories and let them show us the way forward... This is a book with a deep magic and a crucial message for our troubled times." —Fiona Mountain, author of The Keeper of Songs

"Martin Shaw's work is so very beautiful. A new animal. His love of images is deep and contagious." —Coleman Barks, author of The Essential Rumi

"Shaw has so much wisdom and knowledge about the old stories, it emanates from his pores." John Densmore, The Doors