Story Compass: An unprecedented journey of discovery with myth and life.
I picked this book to read because it seemed different from the bunch of others I had been sent to review. It wasn't about a specific area of the craft, such as spells, divination or herbal lore. And it had the word 'story' in the title. Stories have always been an escape for me into an inner world which gave me so much, when the outside world seemed harsh, particularly as I grew up.
Carol Day enables the reader to access the realm of story, which provides a rich environment where we can explore ourselves and learn from it.
In my opinion, this is especially important in the craft, where knowing yourself means you can have a much better focus during ritual, and would help with shadow work. It begins with a 'ship's manual' showing how each of our lives is our own story and through this book we can learn to be better at being present - showing up to our lives - and helping others to do the same. This is done cleverly by using the compass directions as a representation of different areas of ourselves and our lives (yourself, your life, ancestors and archetypes), allowing the reader to explore each in turn and at the end, having gone full circle, coming back to where we started with a greater understanding of ourselves and our journey in life, which I particularly like.
It is filled with practical activities, such as creating a 'ship's log' to take notes, along with collecting resources to allow creativity to flow, such as vision mapping, producing sketching maps and putting together a dressing up box. There is an emphasis on grounding in nature, using a tree as an anchor to the here and now as you explore your inner world.
As Carol Day states: 'This book is designed to help you set up safe space and to have a model to work with...that is robust and supportive' (she calls these models the Story Wheel and the presence triangle). 'It isn't a book to teach you how to do it my way...I hope this book gives you confidence to play, follow your own passion and what you are most here to heal then bring yourself or your own calling into the world in an inspired and confident way.'
I can thoroughly recommend this book for anyone that wants to explore their journey in life, for shadow work and for those like me that frequently need to find a way to bring past trauma to the surface in order to acknowledge it and let it go. 5/5 cauldrons.
Comments