The Firekeeper's Daughter: Tales of Initiation - Karola Renard

From the vastness of Stone Age Siberia to a minefield in today’s Angola, from the black beaches of Iceland to the African savannah and a Jewish-German cemetery, Karola Renard tells twelve mythic stories of initiation featuring twenty-first-century kelpies, sirens, and holy fools, a river of tears and a girl who dances on fire, a maiden shaman of ice, a witch in a secret garden, Queen Guinevere’s magic mirror, and a woman who swallows the moon.

The red thread running through them all is a deep faith in life and the need to find truth and meaning even in the greatest of ordeals.

‘In her lively and vivid stories, Karola Renard points a finger towards the mythic threads that run through life’s initiations. Connecting with that thread is the beginning of finding the true ground we stand upon.’Martin Shaw

‘Karola Renard has woven a fine cloth with her tales of courageous, loyal and insightful women. Among her lyrical words we travel to meet the girl on a wind-coloured horse; a resourceful northern huntress; lovers of moon and guardians of shrines; maiden, madonna, witch and queen. The stories roam from ice to island to dusty plain, beautifully touching into the ancient power of our shared human mythologies.’ Carolyn Hillyer