How do stories assist us in the making of a real human being? In troubled times how could we forge a deeper life? Join the Lumen Christi Institute as it welcomes Dr. Martin Shaw for an event celebrating the release of his new book Liturgies of the Wild.
“My anger is the effervescence of my pity,” declared writer, polemicist, and literary brigand Léon Bloy. Bloy played a leading role in the French Catholic Revival (c. 1885-1915), though he also influenced thinkers from Cèline to Grahame Greene to the controversial Michel Houellebecq. This winter, the Lumen Christi Institute will host a reading group on The Pilgrimage of the Absolute, (Le Pèlerin de L’Absolu) a remarkable compilation sampling widely from Bloy’s works on mystery, money, and the modern world. Please join us if you are interested in discovering and discussing one of the few writers who “knew how to administer the sacrament of literature…”
In this event for UChicago students, acclaimed mythographer and storyteller Dr. Martin Shaw will explore both the theory and practice of mythmaking.
First, Shaw will guide us through the “ancient technologies” of myth, and its relationship to initiation rites and oral storytelling. Then, Shaw will tilt directly into the telling of an Irish fairy tale, The Birth of Ossian. Shaw will locate us in the deeper dimensions of how a modern person approaches an ancient story.
The theory of mythopoetics will take place in the Gavin House seminar room. But because any good story requires the proper setting, The Birth of Ossian will be told in the Gavin House back yard, where fire pits will blaze, patio heaters will burn, and hot chocolate will be served to all.
An optional pre-event dinner will be served at 5pm. Copies of Liturgies of the Wild are included for all registrants.
