"Scatterlings" is Shaw's third book in the Mythteller Trilogy. It is centered around a retelling myths from his place in Western England. A number of quotes stood out to me, and I'll speak to them below.

“Being in the presence of something great provoked a feeling of dismay in me" (page 21). I remember this feeling as a child—when witnessing something great, wanting to be a part of it, and feeling a little ashamed when I wasn't. Luckily, in adulthood, I have an easier time appreciating things that aren't me/mine.

“Old powers still reside meshed in the hills and cliff faces and the streams of England” (page 24). I remember reading Stephen Jenkins' musings on the denuded magicless British landscape and something just felt wrong to me about his description. I've only been there once, for a week in Wales and a week ambling back to London about a decade back—but the place felt rife with powers from the "old gods" to me. I'd love to return someday, and I don't doubt Shaw's claims.

“Especially prized has been the capacity to name, abundantly and gracefully, dozens of secret names for beings you had spent your whole life strutting past” (page 28). As the expression captures, "terms of endearment" build relationship and connote affection. In using latin or common names for others, we don't build anything except some kind of generic putting in the box. A good name describes the teller as much as the recipient, and speaks to the meaning shared between the two. These are not easily come by.

“Fabrications have intelligence and yearning at their core; what they lack is something rooted in deep personal experience” (page 92). One of the themes in this book is truth, and the multifaceted nature of reality. This quote simply hints at something larger.

“All it takes is a lit candle, or a snowflake at the window, or rain on the roof and the hermit wakes, with its immense ‘in’-ness, from behind our daily face” (page 121). This reminds me of Christopher Alexander's "Pattern Language" and a book I haven't yet read, "The Hygge Life" by Gíslason and Eddy. As a New Englander that visits costal California, I often like to gloat about what we have that they don't. Coziness requires a gradient, a distinct threshold between inner and outer. This can be achieved by a down jacket in a blizzard, or by a sauna on a frosty evening, or by a wood-fired cabin at the edge of the field at dusk. Coziness requires a felt-sense of the difference between where you are and that spot a few inches or feet away from you that is so very different. Self-observation is an artifact of the phenomenon.

“The thefts within initiation are to reveal a psyche not immobilized by external pressure (they break taboo) and liberating some hoarded energy for the good of the cosmos” (page 128). This quote reminds me of the fire of youth that Bill Plotkin speaks of. Adolescents are supposed to get into some trouble; this is part of the cycle of cultural renewal. Our adolescence is about building an ego; adulthood is about being able to give it away.

“Different lands prefer different stories” (page 132). As David Abram points out in the introduction, we need to attend to the animacy of place, and should pay attention to the habitat in which a myth likes to romp. On the other hand, as Brian Morton points out in his essay in the Fall 2020 issue of "Dissent," what is often called cultural appropriation can also be a form of deep empathy, and is a form of solidarity.

“Storytellers have also ways had a hinge vocation between worlds, cultures, spirits” (page 133). In college, I called my area of study "cross-cultural communication." I've always seen myself of a bridger of worlds. Maybe I'm a storyteller? The sentiment of this quote matches up with the way that Martín Prechtel describes Mayan shaman, living on the edge.

“The origin of all true ritual is fidelity to the senses” (page 139). This sentiment reinforces the power of ritual, in backing its truth.

“[Storytellers] are in the business of revival, of bone-gathering, of bringing back to life something many thought was lost” (page 141). To look at stories as living being changes the art of the storyteller. Although this quote almost sounds like something a necromancer would say, I think many would agree with, as Kirby Ferguson would say, "everything is a remix."

“It may be that stories are being forced to love from their old geographical habitations because they have something important to say about this wider crisis [of climate change]” (page 145). Stories are migrating and becoming displaced by climate change, just like everyone else.

“Doug von Koss...claimed that every time he received rapturous applause he imagined it as nourishing rain for an enormous oak tree that stood just behind him, a world tree... He did the same with a harsh dressing-down” (page 165). As a former performer, Shaw speaks on multiple occasions on how to develop a healthy relation with the praise and attention of celebrity. This sentiment reminds me of the Green Light Meditation, where benefit is directed to the universe rather than claimed for one's self.

“[Story] rolls around like a sow in mud and picks up fragrant lumps of cultured soil and toddles on, drunk and frisky” (page 171). This is a delightfully piggy metaphor about story. Story's can grow and change, and contain elements that tell you about the path they've traveled.

“A real mythology is held at least equally by the condor, doe, green river creek, and red-dirt dreaming” (page 176). Shaw is pointing out that myths aren't just human, and they're not just about humans. Sure, we recite them, but they're not ours. Simultaneously, many of the stories we tell (such as those told by Disney), lack the truth of true myth.

“[English] bends with the aggressive winds of the conquerors, then sleep around, acquires some elegant new phrases, and saunters into a new century” (page 187). Languages evolve as well. I'd love to learn more about this, and Shaw cites a book called "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue" by John McWhorter that I think I'll look into.

“We often pray for celestial or divine intervention; could it be that we occupy the dreams and concerns of the gods, spirits, and devas” (page 202). Just as Robin Wall Kimmerer asks, "does nature love us?" it's important to ask, "does God need us?" Even if we're in the midst of a cosmic energetic food chain (rather than a keystone species), that doesn't mean we're unimportant. After all, we says prayers at our meals for the beings that feed us. Wouldn't the gods do the same? ( )