10.15.2022



It looks like I forgot to announce here the publication of Spirits, Spells, and Storytelling: 13 Days of Hallows the Old Mermaids Way. The 13 days begin October 21 and go through November 2nd. I'm not sure you could get the paperback in time for October 21st this year, but you could easily get the e-book. 


Here's from the back cover: Join Kim Antieau and the Old Mermaids for their annual celebration of all things wild and marvelous with 13 days of beauty, meditations, food, creative prompts, myths, magic, and Old Mermaid tales. All designed to celebrate Hallows/Samhain the Old Mermaids way.


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9.11.2022

The Second Book of Old Mermaids Tales is Out!


I am thrilled to announce the publication of The Second Book of Old Mermaids Tales, a book 11 years in the making! It's filled with short tales about the Old Ems and the Old Mermaids Sanctuary. And it includes an introduction written by Mario Milosevic. 

Here’s the back cover copy: The Old Sea still calls to the Old Mermaids, but their adventures in the New Desert ease their heartache and keep them from missing their former lives too much. This follow-up to The First Book of Old Mermaids Tales is filled with just as much charm, wisdom, and good times as that much-loved volume of short tales. 

Join the Old Mermaids as they continue to build community, learn about their desert home, and welcome all to the Old Mermaids Sanctuary. The Old Mermaids always offer good company, lovely conversation, and spellbinding storytelling. Once you come for a visit, you won't want to leave. 

Available everywhere. Here's the Amazon link.


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3.30.2022

The Annotated Church of the Old Mermaids


Church of the Old Mermaids celebrates its fifteenth birthday with a brand new edition of this beloved novel. A glorious celebration of life, love, friendship, and the power to change, Church of the Old Mermaids challenges us to find the good in others and ourselves. This edition is fully annotated by Kim Antieau and Mario Milosevic, illuminating the sources of the Old Mermaids and bringing new understanding and depth to this classic novel of souls adrift seeking a secure shore in a world of peril and uncertainty.

Myla Alvarez, novice, walks into the Sonoran Desert and begins telling stories about the Old Mermaids who washed ashore onto the New Desert when the Old Sea dried up. In this mystical new world, they lived, created, and walked in beauty. Myla finds sustenance and meaning in their lives and stories. But she worries that Homeland Security may discover the undocumented migrants she harbors at the Old Mermaids Sanctuary. When an old friend reenters her life, Myla begins to doubt herself and the wisdom of preserving the Old Mermaids Sanctuary. Will the Old Mermaids come to her aid?

Full of magic yet rooted in the cruel and beautiful realities of the border and those who live near it, this new presentation of Church of the Old Mermaids is sure to please both new and old readers of this unique and still timely novel.

This new edition also contains an introduction by Mario Milosevic and three essays on mermaids and storytelling by Kim.

A special book deserves a special cover and we are fortunate to have an exclusive and stunning  image by the extraordinary artist Charles Vess for this edition of Church of the Old Mermaids.

The Annotated Church of the Old Mermaids is available in paperback, ebook, and hardcover formats.


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9.13.2021

The Old Mermaids Wisdom Cards & Guidebooks





"The Old Mermaids Wisdom Cards
 are now available along with three different choices of guidebooks. I had wanted to do a tarot deck based on my novel Church of the Old Mermaids for years, but I finally realized the Old Mermaids needed their own unique deck that was not tied to any story but their own. The Old Mermaids Wisdom Cards combine my talents of storytelling and photography with the wisdom of the Old Ems. This is probably the favorite creative project I've ever done. I use these cards every day by asking 'What wisdom do I need?' and then pulling a card. It's always exactly what I needed to hear." —Kim Antieau

When the Old Mermaids washed ashore on the New Desert after the Old Sea dried up, they were strangers in a strange land, alone and unprepared. The Old Mermaids did not let that stop them from finding a way to survive and thrive in their new home. Now, in The Old Mermaids Wisdom Cards, the Old Ems reveal the secrets of living life to the fullest in 65 lush cards featuring Kim Antieau's stunning photographs. The Wisdom Cards do not predict the future or tell you the ultimate fate of your soul. Instead, use the cards to find your true self right now, your true purpose in the here and now, and how to live with a wild and generous heart for the benefit of yourself and your community. The Old Mermaids found their destiny in a new world and so can you. We've given links to Amazon for the books, but you can buy the e-book or print books from any bookstore.

To see all of the choices of The Old Mermaids Wisdom Cards, go here. You have a choice of a tarot sized deck, a round deck, and a mini deck (and you can get them with or without a tuck box and with or without a booklet (the round and tarot sized editions).

For the guidebook, you have four choices: an e-book edition, a compact edition, a black and white edition, and the color edition. You can go here and see all editions by clicking on "see all formats and editions" which is right above the price boxes.
 
e-book
1. e-book






















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8.01.2021

Magic, Myth, and Merrymaking: 13 Days of Yuletide the Old Mermaids Way



Happy Lughnasadh and Merry Lammas! Today marks the publication of our beautiful little book Magic, Myth, and Merrymaking: 13 Days of Yuletide the Old Mermaids Way. 


This is one of my favorite projects ever. It's gorgeous, and we had so much fun creating it. You get Old Em stories along with tips on how to celebrate and live the Old Mermaids ways plus Mario Milosevic wrote 13 poems for the book. 


From the back cover: "Join Kim Antieau and the Old Mermaids for their annual celebration of all things wild and marvelous with 13 days of beauty, meditations, recipes, creative prompts, myths, magic, and Old Mermaid tales. All designed to usher in the New Year with joy, creativity, and love. (This color edition is designed as a small beautiful gift for yourself, your family, and your friends: everyone in your life who appreciates beauty and celebration. A more economical black and white print edition is available as well as an ebook edition.)


It's available as an e-book, too, and there's also a black and white version. Just click on "see all formats and editions" to see it if you're on the color link.


P.S. Amazon is having trouble with its "view a sample" feature, by the way, but it should be fixed soon, we hope. And if you don't want to buy through Amazon, you can get it through any other e-book store or any indie bookstore via Ingram. The black and white version is more expensive through Ingram.


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The Old Mermaids Sanctuary Calendar 2022
















You can now order The Old Mermaids Sanctuary Calendar 2022. It is available exclusively on lulu.com here. You can see which photographs I chose for the calendar here, on my photography website.


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11.09.2020

The Old Mermaids Mystery School is Now a Book!


I have distilled the best parts of my popular online school (The Old Mermaids Mystery School) and created this book. Now it’s all at your pace, exactly when and how you want to dive into these mysteries. Here’s the blurb from the back cover:


Are you feeling overloaded? Surrounded by chaos? Or maybe you’re no longer sure what your purpose is. Perhaps you’ve never known. In a world of noise and chaos, The Old Mermaids Mystery School offers simple steps to connect with Nature, our true selves, and each other. 


In Mystery Schools from ancient times, the Mysteries were based on ideas that were hidden in plain sight. So it is with The Old Mermaids Mystery School. 


When the Old Mermaids walked out of the Old Sea and into the New Desert, changing their fin-ware into skin-ware, they brought with them not only their beautiful magical selves but entire skill sets which enabled them to thrive in their new and changing world.


Now their unique, practical, mystical, and poetic ways of being in and connecting with the world are here in The Old Mermaids Mystery School, a 13-Mystery self-directed program to help you explore ways to swim, walk, and dance with beauty, joy, and authenticity through all the days and nights of your life. 


Each Mystery in The Old Mermaids Mystery School features the wisdom of one of the Old Mermaids. You won’t find any dogma, religion, or exams here. Instead, revel in each of the 13 Mysteries, revealed to you over time, taking you from Sister Sheila Na Giggles’s practical steps on being in the here and now to Sister Faye Mermaid’s “The rest is mystery.”

 

The Old Mermaids offer you peace and sanctuary and a chance to thrive no matter where you find yourself in your life’s journey.


You can get it at Amazon or at any of your favorite bookstores.


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9.16.2018

The Old Mermaids Oracle

The Old Mermaids Oracle guidebook which was originally only available to novices of The Old Mermaids Mystery School is now available to all. This small guidebook is for your use once you make your own set of oracles. Or you can use the book itself as the oracle by asking a question and flipping the pages until you stop on an Old Mermaid entry.

You can easily make your own set for your use, but if you want me to make a set for you or someone else, I will gladly do that. I will choose the materials—usually shell, but I can use gemstones or river stones if you prefer. I will make a set just for you (or someone else). Contact me for prices for 1-5. If you don't want to pay by paypal/credit card, contact me. kim at kimantieau dot com.



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11.17.2015

Church of the Old Mermaids is Now an Audiobook!

The wonderful Elinor Bell narrates Church of the Old Mermaid in the new audio book. Take a listen. She does a fabulous job with this favorite book of so many of my readers. 


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4.12.2014

New Cover for COTOM!



We spruced up the "classic" cover of Church of the Old Mermaids. Same novel you all love, just a more readable cover. Enjoy!


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9.21.2013

Glitter from the Old Sea


Sometimes Grandpa and I would sit in the plaza watching the people go by. He’d nod to this woman or that man and say something like, “I bet she’s from the Old Sea. You can tell by the glitter in her hair.” Or, “He’s definitely from the Old Sea. I hear bells when he walked by. Did you hear them?” —The Blue Tail


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9.04.2013

Mugwort and Mermaids

Last week, I harvested my mugwort. I was humming when I started, but soon I began to sing. I continued singing until I was finished. Yesterday when I walked to the raised bed the mugwort shares with comfrey, meadowsweet, black cohosh, and lady’s mantle, the mugwort told me it was time to harvest. I felt holy as I harvested. Ancient. Doing what witches and other wise women have been doing for all time. 

I have only been growing mugwort for a few years. I planted it when I decided I wanted Druid herbs in my medicinal herb garden. I didn’t want to eat them or medicate myself with them: I wanted to be in their presence. Mugwort was one of the plants that called to me when I visited Mostly Medicinals in Portland, a local herb grower. The proprietor warned me that mugwort could take over and I should be careful with it. I took her admonition to heart. Every year I’ve cut the mugwort before it has gone to seed. Including this year.

Before I harvested the mugwort, I regularly went out and hugged them. And when the neighbor children came over and we walked around my yard, the little girl hugged the mugwort without any prompting from me. When I meditated, sitting next to the mugwort, wise women emerged to share laughter and secrets with me. I always feel as though I’m near power when I am close to the mugwort. I feel as though I am with my elders and I had better pay close attention.

Mugwort is a common European plant that was called the mother of all plants for some time. It was one of the plants in the nine-herb charm of the Anglo-Saxons. It’s genus is Artemisia (think Artemis), and it’s been used all over the world as medicine and food. Pharmacologically mugwort is an aromatic bitter (helps digestion and nutrition), and many herbalists considered it the go-to herb for all kinds of women’s complaints. The moxa used in Chinese medicine is mugwort. Matthew Wood says that constitutionally, highly intelligent, gifted, and artistic people benefit the most from mugwort.

In times past (maybe still?) people apparently put it in their shoes or carried it around their waist when traveling to relieve fatigue and to protect them from wild beasts and evil spirits. It was also considered a power plant and was used by shamans and other healers alike to smudge and clear people and places. And regular folk have been using it in dream pillows to help incubate dreams for a long while.

I read in several sources that mugwort was considered a fairy herb, particularly because of its ability to relieve fatigue (tiredness is often associated with fairy mischief). I was surprised to learn that mugwort was also associated with mermaids. In fact, some sources said mermaids actually gave mugwort to humans. I tried to track down the origin of this particular association. It may have started with a Scottish folktale about a mermaid who called out to the villagers when she learned a young girl was dying. She insisted they give the girl mugwort. The villagers did as the mermaid instructed, and the girl survived.

That was about all I could find. Beyond that, I’m not sure why—in folklore terms—mugwort and mermaids are associated. Perhaps it is because mugwort is considered a “female herb” or maybe it is because mugwort has been used to help people dream; after all, the dream world is a kind of oceanic realm. In Church of the Old Mermaids, Myla has her first encounter with the Old Mermaids via a dream.

It must go deeper (or differently) than that, but I haven’t found anything else that explains this link between mugwort and mermaids, and I haven’t had any lightbulb moments of insight about it. Perhaps after reading this you’ll have some dreamy ideas on why mermaids supposedly gave mugwort to land-loving humans.

Let me know if you do. In the meantime, I’ll put some mugwort under my pillow. Perhaps I’ll dream an answer.

(19th century illustration of mugwort.)




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8.15.2013

Sway

“Old Mermaid Sanctuaries are places where beauty, love, and magic still hold sway, where old is beautiful and young is becoming.”  —The Blue Tail

(This quote can be found along with 364 other Old Mermaids quotes in The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights.)


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7.29.2013

Siren Soup

Sister Ruby Rosarita Mermaid decided to make a pot of chili out of the anasazi and pinto beans she had got­ten from the Old Man who lived with the Old Woman in the mountains. She talked to the beans all the while she cooked. She always talked to the food. “Beans, beans, we’re Mermaid Queens. Make this stew a healing brew.” —Church of the Old Mermaids 


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7.24.2013

Sea Women

I write about mermaids. Not little mermaids. Not those over-sexed depictions of mermaids we see everywhere, with their breasts pointing to the sky and their backs arched like some kind of wannabe Playboy mer-bunny. No. My mermaids are old mermaids. Ancient. They are creators and destroyers, poets and dreamers, artists and musicians, cooks and gardeners, mystics and conjurers, leaders and mediators, witches and sorcerers. They are sirens, calling us to our true wild selves. They are oceanic and powerful, not mere maids, but goddesses all. 


I came to mermaids not as a child but as a grown woman. As a young girl, I wasn’t interested in anything frilly or girlie. At least not that I can remember. I played with trains and printing presses. I wrote stories and books and created an imaginary world where girls and women ruled and had magical powers. Any depictions I saw of mermaids made me think they were powerless, so I wasn’t interested.


Later as an adult, I studied goddess mythology and came across fish-tailed goddesses, but I didn’t relate them to the European notion of mermaids who supposedly lured men to their deaths. Then one winter, I was sitting at my annual writing retreat in Arizona when thirteen women calling themselves Old Mermaids walked out of the Old Sea and into my life. They begin whispering stories to me, so I began writing the novel Church of the Old Mermaids.

I was baffled but interested when these mermaids appeared in my imagination, so I started doing research on mermaids. I learned that one of the first depictions of a goddess was the Syrian fish-goddess Atargatis (who was also known later as Aphrodite). In fact, many cultures had stories of ancient fish-tailed goddesses and myths and legends of mermaid-like creatures belonging to seas, oceans, and lakes. It seemed the modern mermaid was a transformation of the ancient goddess from a powerful creatrix of all life to a kind of fish-tailed Barbie.

During this time, I saw a painting of Yemaya rising out of the ocean—her skin black and her tail bright blue—and I was filled with awe. I could almost hear her head breaking the surface of the water as she rose, could almost feel the drops of ocean and sense the sea shiver as she made Herself visible. I understood then, fully, the power of the symbol of woman as part fish. She was the ocean and she was woman. She was all powerful—the birthplace of life.

Mermaids are ubiquitous these days. Young adult novels are swimming with mermaids. Depictions of them are all over the internet. Is this commercialization of mermaids watering down their power? Or have their powers already diminished over time? After all, most of us have either forgotten or never knew their genesis as fish-tailed goddesses of birth and death. 

My 7-year-old neighbor likes mermaids. The other day she brought over one of her favorite books about a Barbie mermaid, along with several small Barbie-like mermaid dolls. They looked alike, all very thin with bigger breasts than a real woman that thin would actually have. Nothing powerful or goddess-like about these creatures. They struck me as the latest doll form of woman as a kind of monoculture.

Despite the Barbie-ization of mermaids, I wondered why these particular mythological creatures had suddenly become so popular. It could just be the whim of culture or some form of commercialization? 

Then why did they show up to me eight winters ago, before this present mermaid craze? They came into my imagination and I wrote about them. And I keep writing about them. I’ve never written about the same characters or the same world before. Since Church of the Old Mermaids, I wrote a kind of prequel to it, The Fish Wife. And the Old Mermaids are supporting characters in The Desert Siren and The Blue Tail. I’ve put together a book of quotes (mostly culled from the Old Mermaids books) called The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Night. And I have many other Old Mermaids novel in mind. 

Why now? Mermaids come from the watery realms. Carl Jung and others might say they represent the feminine—maybe even the submerged feminine. Perhaps it’s more literal than that. Could it be they’ve stepped out of the Imaginal Realms to remind us that we are the blue planet, the water planet, and our waterways are in trouble? Without clean oceans and rivers, we die, along with most other creatures on this planet. As climate change wreaks havoc on our weather systems and drives water temperatures dangerously high, is it any wonder that a creature from the watery depths rises up and cries, “Answer the call to the wild! It is time. Wake up, now. Wake up!”

Where I live in the Pacific Northwest, Sasquatch is part of the local legends. You don’t have to go far before you find someone who has a story about seeing or almost seeing Bigfoot. But according to some Native American beliefs, Sasquatch only shows up when life is out of balance: You do not want to see a Bigfoot because it means things are either going bad or about to go bad.

Maybe mermaids—in my case, Old Mermaids—are appearing to warn us or to show us that life is out of balance.

I know that sounds like a stretch. One could ask, why are vampires so popular then? What message from the collective psyche do they bring? I really don’t know. But I do believe stories are important. I believe storytellers are voices for the planet: We speak for the planet and all her creatuares. Some stories—maybe all?—come to us from the Imaginal Realms for some reason: to teach, enlighten, warn, encourage. 

When I was 19 years old, I tried to kill myself. I didn’t want to die, but I wanted the awful emotional pain to stop. Afterward, I moved out of the house I shared with three other women and into a tiny attic apartment. For weeks (maybe even a year), I barely said a word to anyone—beyond what was necessary to get through the day since I was working and going to school full time. One night I dreamed about a watery nymph. I remember thinking she was a naiad even though I didn’t actually know what a naiad was. She had water and seaweed running up and down her very white body. She had big soulful eyes. In the dream, we made love all night long. It was a profound healing. When I awoke the next morning, I began to recover and I knew I would survive. Years later, I realized she was probably my first encounter with the Old Mermaids.

Mermaids next appeared to me eight winters ago, just two months before I had two surgeries (when I wrote Church of the Old Mermaids), and they haven’t left me since. I’ve felt like their appearance in my life has been tantamount to a miracle. 

Can they be more than that? Are their appearances or re-appearances on this planet a siren call to us all? Can the stories about them be more than escapist fiction? Can the mermaids—and Old Mermaids in particular—help us uncover or compose our own siren songs—that part of us that is true and valiant and able. 

I hope so. I hope we can finally and forever be full of our powerful true wild oceanic selves—we can be sea women and men—ready to ride the waves of our lives and fix that which is broken and heal that which is sick. 

After all, we are creators and destroyers, poets and dreamers, artists and musicians, cooks and gardeners, mystics and conjurers, leaders and mediators, witches and sorcerers. It is time to awaken and heal ourselves and the world.

(Artwork in public domain, from 1880s poster of a snake charmer; used now as common depiction of Mami Wata, water goddess of the African diaspora.)


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7.20.2013

Sea Maidens










“I was in love once,” Murphy said, “when I was too young to know better. I was working in the Sea of Cortez and our ship went aground. We went to land for a time. I wandered around just as you have been and I met one of the local girls. She was beautiful. But it was more than that. Something about her eyes and the way she was in the world. I can’t explain it. I loved her the moment I saw her. How does anyone explain these things? I didn’t see her often. She would come and be with me and then disappear for days at a time. So one day I followed her.”
“Without her knowing?”
“Without her knowing,” he said. “I lost sight of her for a moment and then I saw her swimming away from shore. I stayed there, waiting for her for a long time, but she didn’t come back. I fell to sleep. When I woke up, I saw her and her sisters on the beach up a ways from me. I got closer to them, without them seeing. They were naked, you understand, so it was only natural I’d want to see more of them.”
Sara laughed.
“In the sand I saw their clothes,” he said. “At least that’s what I thought they were. They were shiny and glittery. Like nothing I had seen up to then—and only once since. When the women had their backs to me, I grabbed the cloth that was nearest my lady love. This gave me away. The other women cried out and grabbed their dresses. Only they weren’t dresses. They wrapped them around their waists, and I can’t be certain, luv, but it seemed I saw a flash of tails as they each dove into the water. Every one of them except my love. I knew the stories of the red cap. I knew about the sealskin women. I knew that if I kept a hold of this beautiful thing I held in my hands, my love would be mine forever.”
Sara looked over at him. 
He nodded. “Yes, I knew what would happen. I wanted her so much, Sara. I thought my life depended upon her being a part of my life.”
“What did you do, O’Murphy?”
“She held out her hand to me,” Murphy said. “And I returned to her what was hers. She kissed me. Then she bent over and picked up the most beautiful shell I’ve ever seen—tiny and shaped in a spiral—and she said, ‘You know what this means, don’t you?’ I shook my head. She pressed the seashell into my hand. ‘Whenever you find a seashell it means a mermaid has found her tail and is free again.’ And then she dove back to the sea and swam away. I never saw her again.”

Artwork: "Sea Maidens" by Evelyn de Morgan (1885)


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7.18.2013

River Maiden

River maidens stared up at Sara from their watery homes. When Juan stood beside her and saw them, too, she knew he was a kindred spirit.

She said, “You can always tell a river maiden from a human woman. If some piece of a woman’s clothing is almost always wet, then she is most likely born of the sea or the river or the lake.”

Juan touched her sleeve. His fingers came away wet. “You mean like this?” he asked.

“Aye,” she answered. —The Fish Wife

Artwork: "A Mermaid" (1901) by John William Waterhouse.


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2.23.2013

Skein

Skein of things

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: Lily handed Myla her ball of thread. “You keep it,” Lily said. “I might lose it. Or a cactus faery might snatch it from me. Or a coyote might sing a song I really like so I’d give it to him in thanks. Or a hummingbird might want to use it in her nest. Or a spider might decide it wants a web made out of red hair. You never know."—An Old Mermaid Sanctuary



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12.07.2012

Familiars












For today’s date from The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: Sara liked the desert immediately. It was familiar in a way she did not quite understand. The silence throbbed in her ears like a distant ocean. In the forests and on the plains they had crossed, Sara had heard and sometimes seen coyotes, but the ones in this desert were different from those. These ones were leaner, more curious. They stopped and watched Sara and the others, seemed to be contemplating whether they wanted to stay and chat for a while. —The Fish Wife


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11.28.2012

Again


From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today: Sara began dreaming again. This time she was swimming in the auld sea as it dried up and she walked up into the new desert, near the Old Mermaid Sanctuary. Her children were running around the patio. The house was full of people. They laughed and sang and worked and played. And the cacti, palo verde, and mesquite moved and danced slowly to music only they could hear. Two desert faeries sat in the sand drinking tea. They looked up at her and invited Sara for a “spot a tea.” Her girls called to her and she went running into their arms. —The Fish Wife


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11.21.2012

Dreams

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today: “I had that dream again the other night,” Myla said. “Where I’m in the Old Mermaid Chapel and the desert is singing to me.” —An Old Mermaid Sanctuary


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11.12.2012

Stories

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: “I’m not going away, Lily my Lily,” Myla said. “And even if I did, even when I’m gone, the Old Mermaids are with you. They’re in your heart. And mostly, they’re in the stories.” —An Old Mermaid Sanctuary


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10.24.2012

What Is Unseen


For today's date from The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights:  Some bird Butch couldn’t see and whose song she didn’t recognize called out from the madrone. Butch smiled. Everything was so bright and clear. The small white flowers on this madrone looked like bells, and she was pretty certain she could hear them ringing. Butch: A Bent Western  

(This isn’t a photo of a madrone tree, but it’s so evocative, and it puts me in mind of Butch. I took this photo along a stream in Sedona.)



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10.17.2012

This is the Place

For today's date from The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: And so it was that the New Woman came to the Old Mermaids Sanctuary one day. She was standing on one side of the wash one moment; then in the next, she walked across the wash and into the sanctuary. She immediately felt at home. She knew this was the place she needed to be. This was what she had been looking for all of her life. And now she was here. —The Second Book of Old Mermaids Tales


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10.09.2012

The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: A Year and a Day Journal

We love The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights so much that we decided to make a companion for it: a BIG sumptuous luxurious "a year and a day" journal. This 8.5 x 11 book has the same cover as The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: A Daily Guide to the Magic and Inspiration of the Old Sea, the New Desert, and Beyond, but we've removed the dates so you can put in your own and we've made one journal lined and one unlined; you can use both for journals or use one for a journal and one for sketching or mix and match. A Year and A Day is a traditional period of time set aside for study or initiation: and you can begin any time. We hope you will find these journals inspiring and beautiful. Everyone who has seen it just oohs and ahs over it. This is a perfect place to tell your own story and find your siren song.  unlined • lined


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10.02.2012

Gifts


From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today: "I gift you with the mysteries of the Old Sea." 


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9.26.2012

Wild Ride

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today's date:

Because I'm a writer, I often see the world in metaphor—the land is like our body, the land is a quilt, the land is our mother. But I feel the world in my bones, too. I breathe the world in and out. I take off my shoes and I step on the grass, on the dirt, on the earth, and feel my soles against the soul of the world. I feel the Earth—Nature—beneath my feet like an ocean wave and I know I should grab a surf board and enjoy the wild ride.  —Under the Tucson Moon


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9.24.2012

Why Does the Dirt Shine?


“Why does the dirt shine?” Lily asked.

Myla smiled. The Church of the Old Mermaids had no dogma, but Myla did adhere to at least one golden rule: Answer all questions put to her by a five-year-old child with honesty and beauty.

“Well, Lily my Lily,” Myla said, “I can’t be sure, but I think those shiny bits of sand are star dust—at least that’s what Mother Star Stupendous Mermaid told the other Old Mermaids when they first got to the New Desert. They had to sleep in the wash for a while, and Mother Star Stupendous Mermaid told them the sand would keep them warm and give them good dreams because it was made from star dust, shed by the stars the way we shed skin. I’m not sure the Old Mermaids believed her, but they did agree that the star dust was much more comfortable to sleep on than they would have guessed.”
—An Old Mermaid Sanctuary





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9.21.2012

The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights


We are so happy, elated, ecstatic, and happy (did I say) to announce the publication of The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights! We found 364 quotes—one for every day of the year—from the Old Mermaids novels (and from my other novels) to create this inspirational, sometimes humorous, sometimes mystical, always mysterious collection. It's available in print or as an e-book. (Here's the kindle version.) Even if you get the e-book, I hope you can get the print book. We just love this book! 
From the cover: Kim Antieau guides you through a year of wisdom, humor, beauty, inspiration, and love in these daily quotes from her own writings featuring the Old Mermaids and some of the other wise and mystical characters from her books and stories. See what gifts Grand Mother Yemaya Mermaid, Sister Laughs A Lot Mermaid, Mother Star Stupendous Mermaid, Sister Sheila Na Giggle Mermaid, and others have to share with you all year long. (Cover art by Nancy Norman.) You can read FAQ and some excerpts here.


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12.07.2011

First Book of Old Mermaids Tales



Green Snake Publishing has published another book in the Old Mermaids' universe. This beautiful little book is perfect to take with you anywhere to look at and read when you need some words of wisdom from the Old Mermaid Sanctuary. This is from the cover copy:

The Old Mermaids left the disappearing Old Sea and stepped onto the New Desert where they exchanged their finware for skinware. With barely a backward glance, the mysterious and mystical Old Mermaids began building their sanctuary from earth, water, straw, and their own breath.

These standalone tales, many excerpts from the novels Church of the Old Mermaids and An Old Mermaid Sanctuary, remind us of the beauty all around us, even on those days when we wonder how we’ll survive, let alone thrive. Sister Ruby Rosarita Mermaid brews a magical storytelling soup to bring peace. A mysterious stranger brings the Old Mermaids an elixir which is supposed to heal all. And then there’s the Tea Shell where the Old Mermaids serve the most marvelous teas, and Sister Sophia Mermaid dispenses bits of wisdom like, “Never try to stop a wave,” “A watched pot eventually boils,” and “This is not the end of the world, it just feels like it.” Despite having lost their home and community, the Old Mermaids support one another, love their new world, and build community with all their new human and nonhuman neighbors. You can be assured when you stop by the Tea Shell for a cup of Essence of Coyote Laughter Tea that no coyotes were harmed in the making of your brew. printkindlenooksmashwords


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11.23.2011

The Fish Wife: an Old Mermaids Novel



I am very pleased to announce the publication of my new novel, The Fish Wife: an Old Mermaids Novel. Like Church of the Old Mermaids and The Blue Tail, The Fish Wife takes place in the Old Mermaids universe where great magic and great heartbreak is possible. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I loved writing it. This is from the back cover:

The women got closer to the water or the water got closer to them. In the semi-darkness, a wave of light filtered through the storm, and the beach shuddered and shimmered. Suddenly Sara saw the women for what they truly were, saw their tails gleam and glimmer, and she looked down and saw her own true self. A gust of wind unsteadied her and snatched her cap from her head. She broke from the line of sea women and tried to run after her hat; only she couldn’t run at first, so she shook off the part of her that was of the sea, as though it was a skirt she no longer needed. She saw the red of the cap bouncing down the beach and she ran after it. She couldn’t lose the hat, especially not minutes after her mother entrusted it to her. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the roar of the ocean. “I have your red cap,” the man said. “I know what that means.”

An ancient Irish curse holds Sara in its grip: Cormac MacDougal steals her red cap which means she must become his fish wife or she and her unborn child will die. One night she can bear her life no longer, and she seeks out her true love, Ian McLaughlin. When she finds him in the arms of her sister, she calls on the forces of nature to destroy all that she loves. She flees the village with Cormac before anyone discovers the truth. She risks everything on a perilous ocean journey away from the only home she has ever known. She struggles to remember the old ways, to conjure up the magic of her ancient mer ancestors. She washes up on the shore of a new world where she encounters the goddess Yemaya, a Vodou priestess, a shapeshifting lord of the manor, and the Old Mermaids. In this strange and beautiful realm, Sara works to build a new life. But has she outrun the curse, or will it finally be her undoing? printkindlenooksmashwords


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