Welcome to The Antlered Way
Hello, I’m Mitlé
Writer, lawyer, circle holder and feminist; seeking my path of contribution in turbulent times and currently serving as Director of Operations and In-House Solicitor for a global nonprofit advancing midlife women’s health.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve written to make sense of things, to gather thoughts, ask questions, hold longings, and to try and find my place in a world that I struggle to understand.
The Antlered Way is the current iteration of my Substack as I continue to navigate my way through midlife and finding out what living meaningfully means to me in a collapsing world.
I’m foraging for insights and ideas from the women who came before me in my family, from the ancestral goddess and mythical women of Britain, and from the fragmented herstories of the difficult, outspoken, rebellious women who have fought for our rights.
And in a time when many of those rights are being eroded, I’m drawing on feminist theories and legal frameworks as a way to re(dis)cover the meaning-making practices that will resource us so that we can see what is needed and what is ours to do.
I hope that my writing offers a small ‘island of sanity’ (Margaret Wheatley) in these increasingly insane times.
Why The Antlered Way
Elen of the Ways is the antlered goddess of Britain; her stories are elusive but her presence endures in the tracks and sacred sites across the country. Said to guide reindeer along ancient paths, she invites us to follow without knowing, to move with expectancy and not expectation, and to learn to ask our own questions as we walk.
I first encountered her in Sharon Blackie’s If Women Rose Rooted and quickly became enthralled with her, and delighted that her name echoed that of my own great-grandmother, Ellen.
Ellen was a matriarch who endured great loss, and whose resilience carried her through migration, marriage, motherhood, grief, debt and entrepreneurship. She was strong, uncompromising and loved fiercely.
Their shared name felt like a thread pulling the mythic and the ancestral together, guides from two worlds, both calling me to walk with them.
This quiet obsession led me north to the Cairngorms, where I walked with the reindeer herd that has been roaming there since being reintroduced in 1952 (two years after Ellen took her daughters and grand-children to Australia).
Unlike other deer, it is the matriarch who leads them through seasonal migrations, and the only deer species in which the females grow antlers.
For me, their antlers are both symbolic of branching possibilities and the cycles of thresholds; sprouting soft called ‘velvet’, fed by blood and nerves, hardening into bone, then shed and grown anew.
Who Am I?
I am Mitlé Clare; mother of River, daughter of Sally-Ann, granddaughter of Clare and Mitlé, great-granddaughter of Margaretta and Jesse, and Ellen and Anne.
I was born in London, grew up in Suffolk on the ancient lands of the British Celts known as the Iceni Tribe, who Boudicca led in a revolt against Roman rule.
My family lineage is English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish going back to the ancient Celts, Picts and Anglo-Saxons and an abiding connection to the lands of the British Isles.
My matrilineage includes a journey between Australia and England. My Great-Grandmother, Ellen was born in the state now known as Queensland. She came to England for marriage and returned to Australia with my Grandmother Clare and my mother. My mother returned to England when she was 21. I then moved to Australia in 2006 and River was born on Minang/Menang Noongar land in the South West of Western Australia. I returned to England in 2018 with River and my partner, Simon (who was born in Glasgow, Scotland).
We currently live on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, England; a beautiful county with Celtic and Anglo-Saxon cultural heritage and brimming with myths and folktales, standing stones, stone circles and bronze-age archaeological sites. Here, we are cultivating a deep relationship with place and asking the land to claim us.
I have crossed the threshold to post-menopause and continue learning and living Celtic myth, tradition and spirituality, storytelling, ritual and ceremony alongside my long apprenticeship with the art and craft of Circle Holding.
I have never been able to hold a singular vision for my life, but I believe it is our responsibility to use our experience, knowledge and creativity to find our path of contribution.
The Conversations I’d Like To Have
May this space be one where we wrestle with the big questions of our time:
What does it mean to live meaningfully in a collapsing world?
How do we retain our humanity, cultivate courage and kindness, and embody love?
How do we be brave and use our voices, not to argue or convince, but to speak truthfully, to call out what is wrong and stand for what is right, so that our lives align with our values?
How do we honour our ancestors and remember that all humans have lived through hard times, that we are not exceptional, only alive in our time?
And how do we still cultivate awe, joy, beauty, and magic; not as escape, but as essential to being human, as sources of resilience, purpose, and meaning?
I hope The Antlered Way can feel like one of Margaret Wheatley’s “islands of sanity” - a place where you feel safe to share, where your voice matters, and where together we can keep asking, keep listening, and keep creating lives of courage and contribution.
Walk With Me
May The Antlered Way feel like walking the deer trods together; companionship through midlife’s thresholds and these turbulent times. A place to reflect and replenish, to bring our whole selves: our questions and doubts, fears and anxieties alongside our joys and celebrations - without fixing or proving. In this way, may we practice embodying courage and love.
If that speaks to you, subscribe below and join me.
Together, let’s walk the antlered way.
When you Subscribe
When you subscribe you will begin to receive all of my shares straight into your inbox. You can also download the Substack App, which I wholeheartedly recommend so you can read all your favourite publications, leave comments and join the community chat.
The Antlered Way is an evolving space and what’s included may change from time to time. If there’s something you’d like me to include please let me know.
I supported your work because I so appreciate your teaching of circle holding and the way you lead through your own wonderful holding of nourishing spaces. I’ve benefitted so much from being in circle with you and the wonderful humans you draw together. I learn, I see, I know, I grow. So glad to continue this journey over here on Substack and to witness you bring your much-needed book to life.
Lisa Mabberley
Mother, Nurture & Wild
