Hannah Irish, PhD. When Dr. Irish was a little girl, she knew that magic was all around her. It was in the ocean, the mountains, the sky, the trees she and her brothers played in, the canyon they climbed down in their backyard, and the creek that ran through it. However, between her evangelical upbringing and the dominant American narrative, as an adult she has found herself on a journey to rediscover the sacred in both Nature and the feminine.

Her journey began in college, where she majored in English and theater. A storyteller at heart, Dr. Irish believes in the transformational power of story, individually and collectively. Stories, and specifically mythology, with the language and images therein, are the building blocks of culture, and religion, and, thus, they have the unique power to transform people and society. This led her to pursue a PhD in mythological studies.

As an editor, writer, and educator, Dr. Irish’s areas of focus include: the sacred in Nature; reconnecting to Nature through embodiment and ritual; storytelling; comparative mythology; world religions; ecological frameworks; feminist frameworks; and depth psychology. Formerly, she has served as an editor for academic, professional, and creative journals. She has published several articles in the mythological studies field, and has presented at the AAR’s Pacific Northwest Regional Conference and the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology’s biannual conference. Her scholarly interests, partnered with her day job, led her to iRewild Institute, with whom she works as an editor, as well as a contributor in the area of eco-spirituality.

Dr. Irish’s personal passions are stories, relationships, and enjoying Earth’s infinite gifts. A Pacific Northwesterner born and raised, she can often be found walking through the woods, watching the sun set over the ocean, sitting around a campfire, or gazing at the night sky. No matter where she is, seeing wild animals always brings her joy, and reminds her of her sacred relationship with the Earth, her embodied home. She also enjoys reading, cooking, and traveling, coffee, wine, and sushi, and creating memories with those she loves.

Articles

Additional Publications

A Midrashic Look at Queen Michal: The Tragic Lover-Hero of the Davidic Narrative. Proceedings of the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology Volume 4, MATERNAL THINKING: Gifts, Mothers’ Bodies, and Earth, Spring 2023.

Continuing the Incarnation: Re-Mythologizing Jesus as Embodied Eco-Feminist and Archetypal Christ. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Dec 2022.

The Virginity Myth: Tracing the Mythological Roots of American Purity Culture. Immanence Journal, Fall 2018.

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