KnotWork Storytelling

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and stay connected between seasons on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Join us in the Autumn Writers' Knot!Let the Guides, Gods, and Ancestors Lead Your Creative Journey - Register for the online writing program that begins on September 24!This series of four retreats is storytellers and poets, memoirists and bloggers, novelists and seekers, dreamers and healers trying to find a project that matters.Our StoryAs we prepare for season 4, Marisa reflects on purpose and mission of KnotWork Storytelling.In this episode:A preview of this season's guests, including Laura Murphy and Sophie StrandMarisa's spiritual foundation: studies at the Sacred Center Mystery SchoolA devotion to mythology that goes beyond costume drama An ancestor who refused to be called by “an Irish maid's name” and what that says about the legacy of shame in the Irish diasporaOur MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.comWork With MarisaThis season, Marisa will be taking on a handful of new writing coaching clients. If you are working on a spiritual memoir or wellness professional or a creative entrepreneur who wants to use stories to build your business, set up a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at writingcoachmarisa.comFind more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot: www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, and Facebook.

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and stay connected between seasons on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryCeridwen of Wales was a powerful sorceress with a hand for potions and a ferocious amount of mother love. Her magical cauldron was blessed with “awen,” supernatural inspiration and knowledge. She gave birth to a beautiful daughter, and a woefully ugly son. Ceridwen decided to whip up a potion to offer her son the gift of beauty and the gift of awen… except things didn't go as planned!This story of shapeshifting and rebirth gives us the twice-born hero who would become the great poet-prophet-sage Taliesin.Also in this episodeThis solo episode is sort of Mother's Day celebration, and it gives us a chance to bring together all the stories and guests who have added their wisdom to the great cauldron this season.The archetypes of the cauldron and the alchemist and why they're so important when we're doing creative work. Mythology and folklore weren't crafted for mere entertainment. Most often, they were conceived to explain moments of change and disruption.KnotWork Storytelling will be on hiatus until August or September, but stay tuned for a special announcement this summer! Hint: you'll definitely want to listen in!Join us in New York City!Be part of Bealtaine: Returning to our Senses | Beo Bríomhar Arís, curated by The Trailblazery's Scoil Scairte/Hedge School and presented in partnership with the Irish Arts Center in New York City for this years' Féile na Gaeilge/Irish Language Day on Saturday, May 13. Tickets available now. Be Part of the Heroine's Knot Mythology & Writing Program“Who has a story, a reflection, a collection of words to add to the cauldron?” That's the question I ask whenever I gather writers together in a group dedicated to exploring stories and expressing creativity. Are you interested in join the mythology and writing program, The Heroine's Knot? Be sure to get on the list to find out when registration opens (fall 2023).Our MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.comWork With MarisaThis summer, Marisa will be taking on a handful of new writing coaching clients. If you are an aspiring author, a wellness professional, or a creative entrepreneur who wants to use stories to build your business, set up a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at writingcoachmarisa.comFind more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.OUR STORY:Niall of the Nine Hostages was an Irish king and the first sovereign of the powerful Uí Néill dynasty. Mari Kennedy's telling of the story begins with the birth of Niall, son of a king and an enslaved woman. In the story's most powerful, enduring element, we meet the Hag the Well, and witness her transformation into the shining Sovereignty Goddess.OUR GUESTMari Kennedy is a global gatherer of Celtic women, a yoga, breathwork, and embodiment teacher and Sovereign Woman's coach and Mentor. Six years ago she founded The Celtic Wheel, a global online journey of ritual, myth and practice for women who want to do the sacred work of the feminine. Her work weaves ancient esoteric indigenous wisdom with evolutionary modern science in service to the new more beautiful world she believes is emerging. Her passion across all her work is in uniting the opposites and playing the polarities of being human. Find Mari at www.marikennedy.com, www.thecelticwheel.com, and on Instagram: @marikennedywisdomThe marriage of the king to the goddess is at the core of the indigenous Irish tradition's concept of Sovereignty. The marriage of the feminine and masculine in the individual works on the individual as well as the collective cultural level.Mari looks to Carol Gilligan's definition of patriarchy: it is a way of living that privileges some men over other men and all men over women. Feminism has always been intended to support all people because patriarchy affects everyone in the society.Mari's story stands in contrast to Marisa's version of this story (Ireland's Forgotten Goddess Witch Queen, S1 Ep2) which places Mongfind at the center of the story. Marisa was inspired by Gearóid Ó Crualoich's Book of the Cailleach The marriage of the scholarship, the silences, and the intuitive knowing - and making room for the modern retellings.Work with MarisaMarisa is a writing coach for wellness professionals, entrepreneurs, and aspiring authors. Learn more about her services and book a complementary consultation: www.writingcoachmarisa.comFind more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and join listeners' community.

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryThe twelfth century poet Chrétien de Troyes gives us the story of Perceval, a holy fool from the wild woods who visits the court of the Fisher King and eventually becomes the epitome of the chivalric knight. In this retelling by Tara Wild, he meets three women, each with her own archetypal energy: the Grail Bearer, the Mourning Maiden, and the Loathly Lady. This story comes from Arthurian legend, and remains some of the only native mythology of Britain.Our GuestTara Wild is a women's educator, storyteller and songstress, focusing on uplifting nature-based feminine wisdom & ancestral teachings from Ireland & Britain. She's been on a journey of remembering and reclamation for over ten years, honoring the earth based feminine wisdom left in her blood and bones.She's the creator of The Roundhouse, an online membership community that lovingly guides women into nature based feminine wisdom from the Irish traditions. She also runs courses, events, and workshops that serve thousands of women every year. She's trained as a Women's Moon Circle facilitator with Moon Mná based in Dublin, Ireland, as a Keening & Breathwork facilitator.She journeys to Ireland & Britain regularly for pilgrimage, and currently lives on the ancestral lands of the Ute and Arapaho people in the mountains of so-called Colorado (USA).Find her on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and at tara-wild.com.Continue your journey in Arthurian legend with Tara in her upcoming Women of the Wells workshop.Our ConversationThe power of curiosity and the courage to ask the right question.This is a story of transformation and the quest for spiritual maturity, not about the materialist prize of the grailThe archetypal energies in the story: Grail Bearer is life, the Mourning Maiden is Death, the Loathly Lady is Transformation and Rebirth.The wasteland - in mythology, in the landscape, and in the psyche. What does it mean to live upon land that has lost its heart and in a society that has lost its soul?This story invites us to encounter the wildness of The Loathly Lady and the grief of the Mourning Maiden. We tend to both embrace and reject these intense, difficult women and all they represent.Is the Grail Bearer voiceless, or is she the power of silence?Book recommendation: Circle of Stones: Woman's Journey to Herself by Judith DuerkMythology offers us a map back to ourselves that helps us restore balance in ourselves and in the wider world.Our Music is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle & multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts: billyandbeth.comWork with MarisaMarisa is a writing coach for wellness professionals, entrepreneurs, and aspiring authors. Learn more about her services and book a complementary...

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryAccording to the New York Times, Owen King's new novel The Curator is “a horror-tinged historical fantasy set in a city upended by revolution." Owen joins us to read an excerpt that highlights both the social landscape and the mythology and folklore he created for the story. And yes, it most definitely involves cats.Our GuestOwen King is the author of The Curator, Double Feature, and We're All in This Together: A Novella and Stories. He is the coauthor of Sleeping Beauties and Intro to Alien Invasion and the coeditor of Who Can Save Us Now? Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories. He lives in upstate New York with his family. Our ConversationIn the story, cats are considered as holy creatures by many people in the society, particularly in the lower classes. Owen consciously chose not to sentimentalize or anthropomorphize them and let them do “cat stuff” that hints at magic or higher knowledge.The act of world-building and creating a mythology “from scratch” as a novelist, including the creation of the “oral tradition.” Stories as a way to make meaning in life.The Curator is a heroine's tale, to some extent, not just because it has a female protagonist, but because Dora's ability to move about is limited by her gender in this Victorian-like society. How her character transforms through the course of the story. The various old women and crones in this story - the lady who reflects the truth, the evil twins outside society, and the otherworldly “fate” like beingAudiobooks and the power of a narrator, particularly the “wildly gifted storyteller” Marin IrelandOur MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.comWork with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs.Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and join listeners' community.

Our StoryIn Season 2 of KnotWork Storytelling, Marisa Goudy took Seamus Heaney's translation of the Irish medieval epic poem, Sweeney Astray and crafted Lost in the Wild, At Home Within: A Story of Mad Sweeney. In that retelling of a pagan warrior king driven into exile by a saint's curse, there wasn't time to explore the women's stories. This time, Marisa presents a conversation between Eoran, Sweeney's wife, and the Mill Hag, who played a key part in Sweeney's time in the wilds. Our GuestLoraine Van Tuyl, PhD, CHT, is a licensed clinical psychologist, a shamanic eco psychologist, and a Depth Hypnosis practitioner. She has distilled thirty years of diverse and well-rounded professional experiences into an elegant and seamless integration of modern psychological expertise, ancient healing practices, and nature wisdom. She was born and raised in Suriname, the most forest-covered nation in the world, which inspired her unique Soul Authority™, Re-Naturing©, and Re-TREE-ting© methods. These tools have empowered hundreds of spiritual empaths and transformational leaders in psychology, holistic health, academia, the arts, renewable energy, economics, social justice work, and spiritual entrepreneurship by connecting them to their innate wisdom and healing powers. She is the author of Amazon Wisdom Keeper: a Psychologist's Memoir of Spiritual Awakening and Soul Authority: Liberatory Tools to Heal from Oppressive Patterns and Restore Trust in Your Heart Compass. Find Loraine: website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTubeOur ConversationThis is a dialog between two women with very different perspectives, but it's also a conversation between civilization and the wilderness, between Christianity and the old ways that came before.Speaking as a psychotherapist, Loraine explores trauma around attachment and Gabor Maté - the struggle to be safely attached and also authentically ourselves. How do we connect, trust, and grieve in that context?Gabor Maté's work is particularly relevant to the legacy of collective and individual trauma in Ireland. Kathy Scott's work with Irish cultural organization, The Trailblazery, is devoted to applying these ideas, promoting healing and “post traumatic growth.” Patriarchal conditioning that causes women to focus on the needs of men. Their conversation definitely does not pass the Bechdel Test, which measures whether women in a story discuss something other than men and male interests.Loraine's diverse ethnic background as a woman from Suriname, and her PhD dissertation on diversity and identity. Her work as a healer is focused on reconnecting to nature, beyond dualities and is rooted in a critique of clinical psychology that is based on ego and obtaining objectivesWhat it means to align all the parts of ourselves and be comfortable being both Eorann and the Hag.Lorraine describes the importance of the elements in her healing work, as well as the practice of re-TREE-ting, at the Sacred Healing Well. Learn more:

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryKaty Swift shares a story of Scotland's creation and the cycle of the seasons, featuring the Cailleach, the goddess of winter, and Bride, the goddess of spring. The story is inspired by Donald Alexander Mackenzie's Scottish Wonder Tales from Myth and Legend. Katy's version offers us a vision of the Cailleach as creatrix, and explores why this mother god transformed into fearsome figure remembered in Scotland today.Our GuestKaty Swift is a Socially Engaged Artist and Storyteller from Northumberland, now based in the Scottish Borders. Her work aims to create social and political change with individuals, groups or communities through weaving together Scottish Gaelic folklore, mythology, folk herbalism and creative practices. She recently graduated with an MA in Socially Engaged Art with the University of the Highlands and Islands, where she focused on how ritual and creative practices can help us to process our collective grief for the Earth. Follow Katy on Instagram @katy.swift.storytelling Our ConversationKnotWork Storytelling tends to emphasize the Irish storytelling tradition. Listeners will hear familiar names in this tale - Cailleach, Angus, and Bride who shares so much in common with Brigid - but Katy's tale brings us deep into the unique nature of the Scottish mythological traditionIn our most recent episode about Cessair ended just as the great flood waters rose, which is just where this story began, as the Cailleach, a giant, wades through the waters and creates the land.This story is tied to the Celtic Wheel of the Year, particularly the Scottish Là na Caillich or Auld Wives Day or Ladies' Day, the day that the cailleach falls asleep for spring and summer, which falls on March 25.Once these stories were reminders to trust the cycles of the seasons. Now, these stories are medicine as we grieve as a species, unsure of where we belong in the natural order of things.Katy's own story of eventually falling in love with the stories of the Scottish Borderlands after years of seeking endless summer and studying the stories of Southeast Asia.The importance of liminal spaces in Scottish folklore, including past podcast episode, The Man Without a Story, told by Michael Newton Keith Basso's book Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache, describes how holding a place name in your mouth is to speak the words of the ancestorsThe significance of place names in Scotland and the resurgence of the Scots Gaelic language Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryIreland doesn't have a creation story, but it does have Lebor Gabála Érenn, the Book of Invasions. The first invasion was led by Cessair, a granddaughter of Noah who took her own boat to Ireland to avoid that great Biblical flood.Our GuestCarmen is a marketing consultant who works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs. She gives entrepreneurs the tools to cultivate rich and diverse ecosystems where they can thrive. She believes in connecting with your natural gifts—intuition, curiosity, and discernment—to guide the creation of a sustainable business that meets your needs and goals. Join Carmen on Substack for inspiration on weaving the threads of your life and business into a thriving ecosystem. You can find more information on her website, wildpreneur.com. Follow Carmen on Instagram and Facebook.Our ConversationThe big questions we explore in this episode: What stories get told and passed on. What makes a myth “real”? Who are the “winners of culture”? Which parts of civilisation, culture are we meant to rewrite and rewild? Rather than tearing down the master's house, what if we are meant to build a new boat? Is technology, including artificial intelligence “the next flood”?What's the source of this story? Scholars say it was conceived to further Ireland's desire to establish Christianity and a Biblical pedigree, but the myth may have been rooted into something much older: an older goddess or memory of the floods that would have come with the end of the last ice age. Marisa's inventions: the reason Cessair and family were not included on the Ark and her meeting with the trinity of goddesses who gave Ireland its name: Éiru, Banba and Fódla.The power of sharing your unique story and art and bringing it through your unique lens in this age of ChatGPT and AI, as entrepreneurs and creativesThe stories of navigation and destinations reached and the myths of the rudderless boat, sent beyond the ninth wave to enter a new adventureThe way we look at business is like how we look at our gardens. Ecological consciousness, applied to business and marketing, but also to the very practical way we live upon the earth, like choosing plants that are truly helpful for butterfliesThe work of Mary Reynolds, a “recovering landscape designer,” and author of We Are the Ark. Her work of Acts of Restorative Kindness in order to live in relationship with the earth.Article in the New Yorker, The End of the English Major: liberal arts as a way into so many different ways of knowing.Carmen's guiding principle, a quote from Gurudev Shri Amritji: “We exist in perpetual creative response.” We...

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryThree stories from Turtle Island - from Antigonish in Nova Scotia, Alaska, and the Cape Fear River in North Carolina - speak to expectations of race, ethnicity, and skin color, particularly when it comes to Scottish identity and the Gaelic language. Our GuestDr Michael Newton earned a Ph.D. in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1998 and was an Assistant Professor in the Celtic Studies department of St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. He has written a multitude of books and articles about Gaelic culture and history and is a leading authority on Scottish Gaelic heritage in North America. In 2018, he was recognized with the International award at the annual Scottish Gaelic awards. His most recent book is called Into the Fairy Hill: Classic Folktales of the Scottish Highlands. Read Michael's scholarly articles.Join Michael's online learning community, the Hidden Glen Folk School of Scottish Highland Heritage. Hear Michael's story from season 1 of KnotWork Storytelling, The Man Without a Story.Our ConversationMichael brings together these three stories together because of the way the language and storytelling tradition bring communities together and the way a person of color who speaks the language comes as a surpriseThe Gaelic language spread with the Scottish immigrants and the language was resilient enough to include new populations who didn't look like our expectation of “what a Scottish person looks like.”The imperial nature of the Anglophone world places English as the language of dominance and control. Encounters between different cultures: who is the insider and who is the outsider? Questions of identity, between the Tuatha Dé Dannan and the Fomorians, between the Norse pagans and the nominally Christian GaelsWe're watching people use Scottish identity as a shorthand for white identity, but Gaelic community has always been diverse. The Gaelic tradition is about the language and the culture, not about genetics or surnames. The history of Scottish people being a second class citizen in an Anglo-dominated society - they removed “Mac” from their name, stopped sharing the language with their children. Differences in Scottish and Irish immigration experiences How the academy was created to spread whiteness, Anglo-Saxonness, colonialism and ignores the cultural expression of all others, particularly of the Celtic peoplesYou are a meaningful member of the community when you participate and contribute, not just because of your name and ancestryWhat does heritage mean? What has been submerged? What stories do we wish to tell? What are the underlying psychic wounds related to history and identity?Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our Story“Driftwood Man” is a timeless tale of longing and belonging, existential homesickness and ultimately coming home that is both deeply Irish and unmistakably global. This original story emerged as artist-performer-activist Dee Mulrooney emigrated from Dublin to Berlin and speaks of the longing for home, land, and belonging.Our GuestDee Mulrooney is a multi-disciplinary Irish artist. Inhabiting a female body, and all that itentails, is the main preoccupation of her work. She explores exile, class, displacement, social history, longing and belonging through various media, including painting, drawing, film, storytelling, and performance. She is driven by story and symbolism, how we remember and interpret history and women ́s role and their bodies within that.Dee has exhibited and performed dozens of times in Ireland, England and Berlin. Projects and collaborations include, Bridget ́s Flamin show 2023, HerStory Illuminations 2023, sell out shows at the Dublin Fringe and Cairde Sligo Arts Festival 2022, Burning Woman Festival 2022, Healing Bridges Festival 2022, “Stay with me” Tuam babies exhibition 2021, and many independent shows in Ireland and Berlin. In 2019, she co-formed the feminist “ Holy Cvnt Collective.”Find Dee at deirdre-mulrooney.com, on Instagram, Tiktok, and FB Our ConversationExile and emigration: Dee wrote this story as she and her family were moving from Dublin to Berlin. She is an artist who presents the visceral, fragile nature of the body, who began creating when it became necessary to leave her beloved country to find safe, affordable housing for her familyWhat it is like to walk the earth as a woman always homesick for Ireland. What calls the Irish diaspora and those with a soul connection to that land, and how it is to hold that when you might live on distant, colonized lands.Creativity as medicineOur cultural obsession with perfect health, perfect success, which is so different from the ancestors. What if we rejected anti-aging and embraced “Auntie Aging”?Dee's identity as an artist and as a person with a working class background and how she “makes art in the cracks of the day”The inception and experience of being Growler, the 82 year-old cigarette smoking, cocktail drinking vagina with a tongue like a lash and a heart of gold who is wise as witches, from an area of inner-city Dublin called the Liberties.A celebration of the feminine and women, but also of men and the masculine, and the non-binary times we're living in, too. Dee's collaboration with an Irish publication, The Wild Word, which calls in the stories of marginalized voices: ​​and artist Eva Garland.The inspiration for Driftwood Man came from a puppet made by Christian Wingrove-Rogers.

Please Support Our Show on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryAs the film, the Banshees of Inisherin receives awards across the world, we explore stories of the bean sí, the Irish fairy woman who was considered a harbinger of death. Our guest, Caoimhe Nic Giollarnáith, brings us stories from Ireland's Schools Collection as well as and stories her own childhood.Our GuestCaoimhe Nic Giollarnáith is originally from County Kildare. She has always had a keen interest in Irish folklore and mythology and grew up listening to her father tell stories in Irish about the féar gortach and bean sí. She attended Irish language medium schools and graduated from University of Galway, with BA and MA degrees in Modern Irish. While studying at University of Galway, Caoimhe took Irish Folklore courses taught by Dr. Lillis Ó Laoire. She has over 10 years of teaching experience as an Adjunct Professor and recently earned the Certificate in teaching Irish to adults from Maynooth University. Caoimhe currently teaches Irish language and literature undergraduate courses at Lehman College, City University New York and Irish language classes for adults at the Irish Arts Center, Manhattan and New York Irish Center in Queens. She also teaches one-to-one classes. Her clients include the families of Irish diplomats working at the United Nations and Irish Consulate, New York. In the past, she has taught Irish language courses at Fordham University, Manhattan College and Rosetta Stone. In February 2020, she received a Top 40 Under 40 award from The Irish Echo. Caoimhe is a regular guest on Irish language radio shows on BBC, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and featured in the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) award nominated documentary series GAA USA broadcast on TG4. In June, Caoimhe will be launching her own Irish language classes online and in-person in Manhattan. Our ConversationThe wealth of folklore found at Duchas.ie, the database of Ireland's National Folklore Collection. Find the story from this episode here.The Irish language“talkie” film: Oidhche Sheanchais, from 1935 which features a night of storytelling and keening on the Aran Islands.Death in Ireland and the culture of large funerals and how it differs from the USMeeting the Badb, another face of the bansheeReclaiming the legacy of Peig Sayers, the Irish storyteller whose memoir was required reading for generations of Irish students Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called Healing for Heroines sessions.Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and

Support the Show on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryThe “Pillow Talk” scene opens theTáin Bó Cúailnge, the Irish mythological epic. Queen Medb and King Ailill compare the wealth they brought to the marriage. This private conversation becomes a war that involves all of the greatest warriors of the time.In Marisa's retelling of the story, which originally appeared in her book, The Sovereignty Knot, she highlights the way Queen Medb was known for instigating this great battle, but also for her powerful sexuality and her association with the Sovereignty Goddess.Our GuestLee Chaix McDonough is the founder of Coach With Clarity, where creative, innovative professionals discover how to combine their talents, experience, and intuition with a powerful coaching methodology, so they can create a flexible, meaningful business that serves their people and supports their families — without selling their souls..She is also the host of the Coach with Clarity podcast and author of the #1 Amazon bestseller, ACT On Your Business: Braving the storms of entrepreneurship and creating success through meaning, mindset, and mindfulness.You can follow Lee on Instagram, on Facebook and visit her website: www.coachwithclarity.com.Our ConversationWhat it means to be “a difficult woman”Money stories and the idea of “girl money” or “mom money” that make women's earnings seem less important or worthyWhen Medb is, and isn't, a model of who we want to beThe Princess, Queen, and the Wise Woman - meant to be balanced within usOur psychological desire for the binary, especially when we are under stress and need easeMedb's voracious sexuality; Medb and Aillill as a sex positive couple with an open marriageWork with MarisaSign up for the Gift of the Shapeshifter, a free online workshop on March 1 or 6.Join our creative community, the Heroine's Knot. Our next 13-week program begins March 8.Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called Healing for Heroines sessions.Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and join our vibrant listeners'...

Our storyMitlé Southey retells a classic story from her childhood home, the Fens of East Anglia, collected by Mrs. M.C. Balfour from the 1890s.The moon becomes trapped in a marsh pool. Without her light, the bogles and beasts of the darkness take over the Fens. The local people miss her light. Through a combination of community effort and the wisdom of the old woman at the edge of the bog, they finally find and liberate the moon.Our GuestMitlé is a Circle Holder walking the ancient path whilst contributing to a modern movement. The founder of Circle School, she teaches internationally and has facilitated circles, retreats and courses since 2016. She believes in the power of connection, community and circle to provide a path of integrity back to ourselves, and authentic relationship with the more than human world. As a woman of British heritage, Mitle's circles and courses are deeply rooted in the old Western wisdom traditions and British native mythology. As a former lawyer now learning the old ways, she is seeking ways to fracture the current systems that uphold oppression and is committed to increasing her capacity to hold diverse, inclusive and safer spaces for those marginalised by those systems. When not in Circle, she can usually be found out walking or in a cosy corner with a book and a cup of tea. Find Mitlé at mitlesouthey.com, Instagram, Substack, You Tube, and on The Circle School Podcast Watch her free 10-day introductory course on holding women's circles.Our MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.comWork with MarisaSign up for the Gift of the Shapeshifter, a free online workshop on March 1 or 6.Join our creative community, the Heroine's Knot. Our next 13-week program begins March 8.Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called Healing for Heroines sessions.Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and

Our StoryIn recent years, the rosary has been used to shame and restrain women and sexuality, but what if it is actually the umbilical cord that connects us to The Mother?Support the Show on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryIn recent years, the rosary has been used to shame and restrain women and sexuality, but what if it is actually the umbilical cord that connects us to The Mother?When the rosary emerged in the 11th or 12th century, the Church was telling a story that began with Eve's sin and ended with apocalypse. But ordinary women were living and telling a different story. It was a story that was expressed in a great circle, not in a straight line of patriarchal history.Perdita Finna tells us a story of women's empowerment hidden in plain sight. She unfolds the mysteries of the rosary, reclaiming the prayers and practice as an act of power. Our GuestPerdita Finn is the co-author, of The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary and co-founder of the global community that sprang from that work. Perdita teaches popular workshops on collaborating with the dead, in which participants are empowered to activate miracles in their own lives with the help of their ancestors. Her book Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World is forthcoming in September 2023.You can find more about Perdita on her website wayoftherose.org and her new Substack newsletter, Take Back the Magic, Our MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.comWork with MarisaJoin our creative community, the Heroine's Knot. Our next 13-week program begins March 1.Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called Healing for Heroines sessions.Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and join our vibrant listeners' community.

Support the Show on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryLíadain and Cuirithir's romance is the stuff of medieval tragedy. Two bards fall in love, but Líadain makes a choice that alters their shared fate. They end up at a monastic order, forever bound in chaste conversation--until the night they break their vows.Sinead O'Connor was Marisa's muse for this tale from 700-800 BCE that highlights that it has always been hard to balance career, love, and calling.Main source for this story: Notre Dame Medieval Studies DepartmentOur GuestBethany Hegedus' children's picture books include the award-winning Grandfather Gandhi and Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story, both co-written with Arun Gandhi, as well as Rise!: From Caged Bird to Poet of the People: Dr. Maya Angelou and Hard Work But It's Worth It: The Life of Jimmy Carter. Her books have been included in numerous “best of” lists such as A Mighty Girl's Best Books and Kirkus' Best Books of the Year. A former educator, Bethany is an in-demand keynote speaker, workshop leader, and mentor who speaks and teaches across the country about writing, creativity, resilience, and privilege. She is the Founder and Creative Director of The Writing Barn, a writing retreat and workshop space in Austin, Texas. She is also the host of the popular Courage to Create podcast. Find Bethany at bethanyhegedus.com. Instagram @thewritingbarnOur MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.comWork with MarisaJoin our creative community, the Heroine's Knot. Our next 13-week program begins March 1.Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called Healing for Heroines sessions.Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and join our vibrant listeners' community.

Support the Show on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Support the show, find the in-depth show notes, and get even more stories on our Substack, Myth Is Medicine.Our StoryThe goddess Brigid is known to be a daughter of Dagda, “the Good God.” But who was her mother?Inspired by the mythology and her own intuitive imagination and imbas forosnai, Laura shares own story of Brigid's birth at Newgrange at Brú na Bóinne in County Meath. The child comes from the Milky Way, and follows the way of her mother: the goddess Bóinn.This story continues the tale of Bóinn that Laura shared with us in Season 2, Episode 7Our GuestLaura Murphy is an activist, healer and Poet in Residence for Herstory, the powerful movement in Ireland dedicated to the stories of modern, historic, and mythical women.Laura is a passionate campaigner for Ireland's Mother and Baby home survivors and other issues surrounding equality, environmental and social healing including the recent successful campaign to make Brigid's Day a national public holiday in Ireland.Laura's work is centered around the ancient Irish poetic practice of imbas forosnai, which means “Inspiration that Illuminates.” Comparable to the Buddhist concept of Enlightenment or contemporary “flow-state,” imbas forosnai is said to be a gift of the Goddesses Bóinn and Brigid. It was a practice mastered by the ancient poets of Ireland to bring truth to power and healing to society. Watch the “Is Mise” Lightshow, Brigid's Day in Kildare 2022.Follow Laura on Instagram.Our MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.comWork with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for writers & creative entrepreneurs, as well as 1:1 intuitive tarot sessions called Healing for Heroines sessions.Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot www.marisagoudy.comFollow the show on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and join our vibrant listeners' community.

Our Story Marisa reads an excerpt from her 2020 book, https://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereignty-knot (The Sovereignty Knot), in which she imagines three Irish goddesses, Brigid, the Morrígan, and the Cailleach all walk into a bar and have a chat about what women really want. After the story, Marisa explores: Marisa reads an excerpt from her 2020 book, The Sovereignty Knot, in which she imagines three Irish goddesses, Brigid, the Morrígan, and the Cailleach all walk into a bar and have a chat about what women really want. After the story, Marisa explores: She closes this season of KnotWork Storytelling as she opened it: with a solo episode and her own story that is inspired by Irish lore, but is entirely her own invention. The origins of the Celtic Sovereignty Goddess and the meaning of Sovereignty in Irish and Celtic culture. It's not about toxic individualism or nationalism! The tendency we have to “orphan” our creative work and move on to the next project too quickly The question “what do women want” is drawn from the Dame Ragnell story from Arthurian legend. You'll find a retelling of the story in The Sovereignty Knot. Why, in these difficult times, we need mythology and goddesses like these more than ever. Get a free copy of The Sovereignty Knot Get a free ebook edition of The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman's Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic between November 2 - 6, 2022. https://amzn.to/3ft0LCm (Visit Amazon to get the Kindle edition.) To get a signed paperback edition, including a personalized Sovereignty Note with a one card tarot reading that offers insight into your relationship with the Princess, Queen, and Wise Woman archetypes you'll meet in the book, visit Marisa's website: http://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereignty-knot (www.marisagoudy.com/sovereignty-knot) Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and https://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (join our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story The Cailleach is the longest living supernatural woman in the Celtic tradition. This goddess is a world builder who consorted with kings and is still associated with the landscape today. Our guest, Kate Chadbourne, brings us a story from County Mayo about a man who chose to test himself by setting out on a walk with the Cailleach. She weaves the threads of many other Cailleach stories throughout our conversation. Our Guest Kate Chadbourne is a singer, harper, and storyteller. She's an award-winning songwriter and poet, a scholar and teacher of Irish language and folklore with a PhD from Harvard who performs at venues throughout New England.  Her latest book is “A November Visit,” a gathering of “Novemberish” stories, poems, and seasonal delights, including Irish folklore, a taste of etymology, recipes, and riddles. Kate is the founder of The Bardic Academy, a school for writers, musicians, singers, and young scholars. This year she opened The Celtic Wisdom School which offers online courses that weave together Irish folklore, creativity, and enchantment. If you'd like to learn about Fáilte the Irish Art of Welcome, Kate has a gift for you. Please visit her at http://katechadbourne.com/ (katechadbourne.com) to join the Fáilte Revolution! Our Conversation Samhain is the time for stories of the Cailleach, which “touch the essentials,” and speak to our relationship to the earth, to food, to the elements, to health, longevity, and what you really need in life. We have knowledge of the Cailleach from folk tradition, and also from the 9th century poem, “https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/beare.html (The Lament of the Hag of Beare).” Recorded by Christian monks, in the poem, the old woman laments  “you people only care about money, in my day, it was people we cared about.”  An essential resource: Gearóid Ó Crualaoich's https://bookshop.org/a/832/9781859184127 (The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise-Woman Healer ) The story of https://www.jstor.org/stable/20522313 (Donnchadh Mór )Mac Mánais and the Cailleach in which they engage in a contest to flail the fields (thresh for grain).   “You can never trust a woman who relies on a man for all her butter” - a line featured Marisa's retelling of Mongfind's story (https://knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/irish-goddess-queen-witch-ep-2 (Ireland's Forgotten Goddess Queen Witch S1 Ep 2)) The paradoxes of the Cailleach: she is the old woman, and yet she's the essence of joyful busyness and creation. And, the Cailleach as a solitary figure who is also so dedicated to community. Comhar is the Irish word for shared work or mutual assistance. It's reminiscent of the Quechuan term for reciprocity, ayni. A proverb: Arsa Cailleach Ghaoth Dobhair le Cailleach Mhaigh Eo, “An té a bheas go maith duit, bí go maith dó.” (Said the Cailleach of Gweedore to the Cailleach of Mayo: The person who is good to you, you be good to him.) Kate's vision of the The Cailleach's Conspiracy and how it echoes the story told in S2 Ep 9, Life and Death At the Farm Atop the Hill The shapeshifting nature of the Cailleach. Kate's story of meeting a real life cailleach in Bantry when she was 20 The story of the serving girl, the hard hearted woman, and the woman of the roads “To be a great singer is to be a servant of the song.” Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists,...

Our Story This trio of stories about holy wells, faith, and illness traces the evolution–or perhaps the devolution–of folk belief and the power ascribed to sacred waters and places. Our guest Elizabeth Stack begins with two stories from Tipperary: a teenaged boy cured at St. Patrick's Well in Clonmel and a weeping statue of Mother Mary in Templemore during the Irish War of Independence. Elizabeth closes with a story of her grandmother's family, when a young child died of a mysterious illness in Limerick in 1920.  Our Guest Elizabeth Stack is the Executive Director of the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany, NY. Previously, she taught Irish and Irish American History and was an Associate Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at Fordham. She completed her PhD at Fordham, writing about Irish and German immigrants in New York at the turn of the twentieth century. She has a master's degree in Anglo-Irish Relations in the 20th Century from University College Dublin. A native of Listowel, in Co. Kerry, Elizabeth sees a clear connection between her own experience as an immigrant - she moved to the US in 2009 - and with the important mission of the museum to preserve and share Irish heritage and culture.  Find the Museum at http://www.irish-us.org (www.irish-us.org) on https://www.facebook.com/IrishAmericaMus (Facebook) and on https://twitter.com/IrishAmericaMus (Twitte)r. Subscribe to their https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-PPDoD7UXoHbNJfzBjlSkA (YouTube channel) Our Conversation During the centuries of Penal Laws, Irish Catholicism was a strange blend of paganism and what could be remembered from the Latin church. The Devotional Revolution of the mid-nineteenth century crystalized the version of Irish Catholicism we've known in recent history. This was further with Ireland's first president, Éamon de Valera and his insular vision of Ireland.  The way pilgrims flocked to Templemore in the midst of a war when the town was full of IRA and Black and Tan forces. Michael Collins's role in the investigation of the Marian apparitions. The 1920s, when Elizabeth's grandmother was a child, was a time of restriction when dances at the crossroads were banned and women feared being sent to the Magdalene Laundries. Her stories of growing up contained “a kind of darkness.” She despised and denied Frank McCourt's description of Limerick in Angela's Ashes, but perhaps because it was too close to home. Now, Ireland is more progressive than Irish America. In Ireland, where mass attendance is down and there are few priests, and same sex marriage was accepted by a national vote, you'll find a more welcoming, less structured version of the church. It's a conscious return to the original Celtic Christianity.  Ireland didn't have a witch burning phenomenon because herbal medicine and other forms of “women's healing” were commonplace rather than strange and suspect.  The clash and blend of the matriarchal society and patriarchal government and church. In the tradition of the warrior goddesses who trained Cú Chullain, Scathach and Aoife, women were deeply involved in the 1916 rebellion, but they were excluded from public life in the Irish Republic. The evolution of the Irish American Heritage Museum and its mission of creating empathy for all people enduring hunger, exclusion, and exile. It is not intended to be a shrine to a misremembered past. Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also...

Our Story Before Ethne became a queen of Tara and married Cormac mac Airt, she was a foster child to Buchet, a man known for his tremendous hospitality. In this story, Marisa Goudy imagines Ethne's perspective on this 12th century Irish tale. Our Guest Elizabeth Shaw is an author, consultant, speaker, and facilitator who brings her core philosophies of practical optimism and radical hospitality to everything she does. Whether she's planning a custom Cirque du Soleil show, working as an hospitality consultant for organizations like Toyota and State Farm, a strategic partner for entrepreneurs and thought leaders, or inspiring audiences around the world with her book The Optimist Manifesto, Elizabeth brings a thread of collaboration, service, and whimsy to all she does. Equal parts head in the cloud and feet on the ground, Elizabeth is an optimistic strategist who puts people and purpose at the center of all of her work. Find Elizabeth on her website, on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/inspiringoptimism/ (@inspringoptimism), and https://www.facebook.com/shaw.elizabethc (Facebook.) Our Conversation Hospitality is an Irish tradition that dates back to the Brehon laws and https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0314/1286239-ireland-hospitality-welcome-strangers-medieval-brehon-laws (still echoes in the culture today.) Elizabeth brings her lived definition of hospitality to the conversation: it's about being seen, being welcomed, and being cared for.  Hospitality is about more than feasts, merriment, and the perfect house. It's also about offering care and a safe space. The gender roles associated with hospitality and being the “perfect hostess” Hospitality creates community and depends on community, not on an individual who needs to do it all.  Marisa wrote this story in the first person, a first for one of her KnotWork stories. Ethne represents the movement from the Princess to Queen archetype described in The Sovereignty Knot. Her foster father, the great host, holds the Wise Woman energy. There is a sexual assault at the center of the original story. Rape is a common element in mythology, and Marisa and Elizabeth spoke at length about how to stay true to the source material, and yet tell a story about hospitality that made Ethne a heroine. They didn't want to erase the trauma to tell a “nice” story, but there was a desire to present Ethne as a sovereign being, rather than a victim.  The importance of reciprocity. What it's like to give too much and what it's like to feel like you're not good at offering hospitality.  The Irish word for welcome is fáilte This tale appears in the c. 1160 CE manuscript, The Book of Leinster, and is commonly called http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/buchet.html (The Melody of the House of Buchet.) Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and https://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (join our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story In a departure from our usual format, our guest Christian Bolden tells a personal story of visiting Ireland for the first time as a graduate student. He describes his experience as an African American in Dublin in 2016, a moment when three events captured attention: the US presidential election, the killing of Alton Sterling, and the death of Muhammad Ali.  Christian's story echoes that of Frederick Douglass, the Black abolitionist, who traveled to Ireland on an extensive speaking tour when he was a young man in 1845. Douglass found kinship with Daniel O'Connell, “The Liberator” who devoted his life to the repeal of the Penal Laws that inhibited the rights of Irish Catholics for centuries. Our Guest  Hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, Christian Bolden now resides in Washington D.C. due to the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina. Christian is an inaugural board member of the African-American Irish Diaspora Network (AAIDN) with a mission dedicated to fostering relationships between African Americans and Ireland through shared heritage and culture. You'll hear a lot more about the organization during our conversation.  The AAIDN is just one aspect of Christian's community-building work. He has also been part of the Steel Sharpens Steel Summit a panel discussion committed to the enlightenment and enrichment of the Urban African-American Male Teen. He organized the "Re-New Orleans" event which commemorated the 5-Year Hurricane Katrina Anniversary and raised funding and awareness for the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Relief effort. A former Professional Staff Member in the U.S. House of Representatives, Bolden is now Principal at The Bolden Group which offers IT, Program/Project Management, and DEI services.  Our Conversation The way we find kinship with historical and mythical figures.  Frederick Douglass visited Ireland with a hope that there would be a sympathy for the abolitionist cause because there were echoes in the persecution of Catholics in Ireland. It's incorrect and deeply problematic to equate the experience of the Irish immigrants with African people who were brought to America as slaves, and yet there's something to learn when we see that there are similarities in aspects of the history.   The power of curiosity in cross-cultural conversations.  How Christian became a AAIDN, whose mission is to connect Ireland and African American communities. 38% of African Americans have Irish ancestry. One of their main projects includes the creation of the https://www.aaidnet.org/frederickdouglassway (Frederick Douglass Way) in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast with professor Christine Kinealy.  Diversity is about as more than demographic - it's about diversity in experience and in ideas 2020 discovery by archaeologists and geneticists:https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/early-irish-people-were-dark-skinned-with-blue-eyes-documentary-1.4541124 ( the Irish of 10,000 years ago had black skin and blue eyes). More stories about Black people in northern Europe across history: Bonnie Greer's podcasthttps://amzn.to/3dZsCtg ( In Search of Black History) Connections across centuries and millennia For the record, the oldest pub in Dublin is the Brazen Head! Learn more about the AAIDN https://www.aaidnet.org/board (www.aaidnet.org/) and find them on https://www.instagram.com/aaidnet/ (Instagram @aaidnet ) Find Christian on https://www.instagram.com/chrisvschristian%20/?hl=en (Instagram @chrisvschristian,) https://www.facebook.com/ChristianBolden84/ (Facebook), and https://twitter.com/ChristianBolden (Twitter)

Our Story This is a story of a cheerful, fearless farmhand named Fred who lived in the Fens, the marshy, bogs of East Anglia. He was at home in himself and on the land, and that attracted the jealousy of the other young men on the farm. This story, inspired by a tale called "The Syleham Lamps," collected in https://amzn.to/3RQ34xs (Kirsty Hartsiotis's Suffolk Folk Tales), features the mysterious will-o'-the-wisps, the mysterious marsh lights that appear over the bogs of the Fens in eastern England. Our Guest Robyn Watt  is an animist teacher and practitioner in the traditions of the British Isles. She offers programs for somatic nature connection, and soul and ancestor-tending in the field of the animist healing arts. After moving to Canada from the UK, Robyn navigated the experience of grieving for her homeland by reclaiming the ancient animist cosmologies of her ancestry. Through this, she came into the work of guiding others who also long to reconnect to their ancestral wisdom traditions from far away.  Find Robyn at sacredearthgrove.com, in her online community oursacredcircles.com & on Instagram @sacred.earth.grove Our Conversation Robyn begins with an invocation of the ancestors and the land as she tells a story inspired by the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, where  she grew up and where her family has lived for centuries. What it means to live in North America and feel the call back to ancestral homelands. Robyn describes it as a wounding but also considers the gift of reconnection that follows the pain of disconnection. Animism upholds the sentience and aliveness of the world. It is rooted in the ancient understanding that the world can and wants to communicate with us is something that many modern people know in their bones, even before they know the word. Animism is a powerful way to cope with environmental crisis and climate anxiety. The perennial struggle of nature versus civilization, as embodied by Fred and his struggle with the other stable boys  Disney brought the will o' the wisps to popular consciousness in the movie Brave. As imperfect as Disney is, there's magic in the way modern retellings give us access to the ancient in a vital way The Fens were also home to Queen Boudicca's Iceni tribe  Resources and sources of inspiration: artist and author Katie Holton's work with the Ardee Bog in County Louth;  Francis Pryor's book https://amzn.to/3ra8Kqb (The Fens: Discovering England's Ancient Depths); Philip Pullman's novel https://amzn.to/3Syz74Y (The Secret Commonwealth.) The scientific explanation for the marshlights or “ignis fatuus”: they are created by the oxidation of gasses produced by organic decay that cause photon emissions. But also… it's magic! Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and https://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (join our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story The story of Deirdre or the Exile of the Sons of Uilsliu is a pre-tale of the Táin, the greatest epic in Irish mythology. At her birth, Deirdre is prophesied to bring ruin to Ulster. It is a tale of a despotic king, love at first sight, betrayal, and includes a brief mention of suicide. Our Guest Melinda Laus is a grief counselor and educator who understands grief as a normal, healthy part of being human. After the sudden and unexpected death of her late husband, Melinda learned that her healing was richer and deeper when she accessed nature and expressed herself through writing and photography. In addition to running a private practice in the Portland, Oregon area, Melinda is the founder of the online support community, The Nature of Grief. Find her onhttps://www.instagram.com/melindalaus/ ( Instagram) and onhttps://www.facebook.com/TheNatureofGrief ( Facebook) Our conversation This story of kings and failed leadership is also a story of young love and freedom. This retelling has echoes of a former American president, but also the death of Queen Elizabeth, and the tragedy of Princess Diana's death. Deirdre is an unapologetic tragic figure, and that teaches us so much about permission to grieve and be sad in a culture rooted in toxic positivity Melinda's story of losing her husband at age 31 and how that transformed her understanding of grief  Power as held by royalty, the bards, and the druids as a parallel to the ruling elite, the media, and the religious establishment The play between the individual and the collective, as well as the result of toxic individualism  Other forms and causes of grief, including climate grief and the grief caused by colonization and displacement The specific nature of “Irish grief” and a reference to poet Padraig Ó Tuama who reminds us that the Irish phrase tá brón orm, which translates to "the sadness is on me" Susan Cain's book Bittersweet and the validity melancholic personality The primary sources for this retelling of the tale: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301020/index.html (Douglas Hyde's translation of Deirdre) andhttps://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301020B.html ( Vernam Hill's translation of The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu. ) Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Work with MarisaMarisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and https://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (join our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story There's a long, strange tradition in Irish mythology and folklore in which a powerful man tries to steal a valuable cow from an old woman (cailleach). Maybe it's not so strange… It's just one more example of how independent older women are considered a threat to the status quo. Marisa Goudy tells the story of Mona, the Cailleach who lived upon a hill that bore her name (Cnoc na Móna/Knocknamona). The original tale, found in a footnote in an 1860 publication of the Ossianic Society, a translation of a medieval Irish manuscript called the Imtheacht na Tromdhaimhe, includes few details. Marisa's version imagines a new ending for tale that originally ends in a wise woman's murder and the slaughter of a sacred cow. Our Guest Lee Rankin is a farmer and founder of https://applehillfarmnc.com/ (Apple Hill Farm), a successful and award-winning first-generation farm in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. She is an advocate for farmers through her leadership and involvement at a local and state level. She speaks, teaches and consults frequently as a first-generation woman farmer on the topic of alpacas, entrepreneurship, and the benefits of diversifying your farm portfolio through agritourism.   Lee is the author of https://amzn.to/3BwPtp6 (Cookin' Up a Storm, The Life and Recipes of Annie Johnson) now in its second edition. She is currently looking for a home for her memoir, Farm Family, the story of her journey of starting Apple Hill Farm as a solo Mom. Our Conversation The power of being a woman with animals and land. In Lee's experience where the majority of farmers are men, she's so aware of the feminine expression of her farming, including a spiritual, sacred sense of “knowing.” Choosing when to preserve and when to innovate, as storytellers and as famers.  Preserving the Randall Lineback breed of cattle; there are only 1000 across the US.  Lee's story of moving to what would become her alpaca farm in Appalachia with her one year-old son and a golden retriever.  Stories of animal rescues, and also of animal passages. A powerful reframe on death and how this story could have ended as the original version did, with the death of Mona and the cow. Our desire to sanitize the death parts and give everyone a happy ending.  This episode pairs so well with https://knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/boinn-remembered-laura-murphy (Laura Murphy's story of the goddess Boinn) who was closely associated with cattle and the concept of imbas forosnai, the inspiration that illuminates. (S.2 Ep.7).   Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Us in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. https://my.captivate.fm/www.marisagoudy.com/heroines-knot (Learn more and join us.) 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and https://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (join our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story This original story of the Irish goddess Bóinn was written by Laura Murphy and is being offered for the first time here on KnotWork Storytelling. Laura takes what we have from the medieval manuscripts from the Christian monasteries and then follows her own divine inspiration, or the imbas forosnai you'll hear so much about in our conversation. If you hear a phrase that plucks at the strings of memory, know that Laura has woven in a few lines from other great Irish writers who have inspired her, who have offered their imbas, including W.B. Yeats, George Russell (also known as AE), Ella Young, Padraig Pearse & Sinéad O'Connor. Our Guest Laura Murphy is an activist, healer and Poet in Residence for Herstory; the powerful movement in Ireland telling stories of modern, historic and mythical women. Laura is a passionate campaigner for Ireland's Mother and Baby home survivors and other issues surrounding equality, environmental and social healing including the recent successful campaign to make Brigid's Day a national public holiday in Ireland. Laura's work is centered around the ancient Irish poetic practice of “Imbas Forosnai,” which means “Inspiration that Illuminates.” Comparable to the Buddhist concept of Enlightenment” or contemporary “Flow-State,” Imbas Forosnai is said to be a gift of the Goddesses Bóinn and Brigid. It was a practice mastered by the ancient poets of Ireland to bring truth to power and healing to society. Our Conversation The long legacy of patriarchal suppression of the feminine that appears in Bóinn's story, just as it did in the story of Eve and Mary Magdalene. There's punishment for “tasting wisdom.” How did these stories change our understanding of the feminine across centuries? Laura's experience with Lyme disease as a “lived experience of Bóinn's ordeal.” Experiences in the dark chambers - Bóinn in Newgrange, Marisa's experience at Oweynagat (the “Cave of Cats” at Rathcroghan in County Roscommon, which is said to be the birthplace of the goddess Morrigan). The spark of Imbas comes in the deepest, darkest spaces just as alchemy, the creation/discovery of the golden light, happens in the power of beholding the dark. Laura's first deep experience with Imbas Forosnai: A sacred pilgrimage route that connects Brigid's birth and death place and spans from Dundalk, the Hill of Slane, Tara, and Kildare. In a mystical experience as she crossed the River Boyne, Laura felt the gift of poetry flow through her. An Invitation to Go Deeper into Bóinn's Origins & Mythology In our conversation, Laura mentions her dear friend Anthony Murphy who has written a monograph that compiles all known references to Bóinn called “Bóinn: the Goddess of the River Boyne and The Milky Way.” It presents a full and untainted account of the mythology behind her. Also available is a prose-poetry masterpiece he wrote in a state of Imbas flow, inspired by Bóinn called Return to Segais. Laura had the honor of proof-reading both. In turn, she says, these books were instrumental in her connection with Bóinn and in Her healing. Both available at http://www.mythicalireland.com (www.mythicalireland.com) Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Marisa in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. https://my.captivate.fm/www.marisagoudy.com/heroines-knot (Learn more and join us.) 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also...

Our Story  The tale of Suibhne Geilt or “Mad Sweeney” comes to us from a medieval Irish manuscript and is sourced as far back as the 9th century. A warrior king driven mad by a saint's curse, Sweeney spends years wandering Ireland, never able to rest or find a home. Marisa Goudy's version of the tale is inspired by Seamus Heaney's translation of the epic poem, https://bookshop.org/a/832/9780374518943 (Sweeney Astray.) Our Guest Dr. Michaelene Ruhl has been a psychotherapist in private practice for over 14 years and is the founder of Constellation Healing Arts where she holds safe and sacred space for people experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, and other life challenges. She also supports folks who have experienced plant medicine journeys via integration sessions.  This year, Michaelene is launching the Sacred Immersion Training™ Program, which   offers Healing Professionals the skills and insights they need in order to hold safe and sacred for themselves and others, particularly on plant medicine journeys.   To learn more about Michaelene and her offerings, visit her website:  http://www.constellationhealingarts.com (www.constellationhealingarts.com) Find Michaelene on https://www.facebook.com/dragonflyjourneys (Facebook) and on https://www.instagram.com/drmichaelenepsyd/ (Instagram). Our Conversation  Michaelene, a psychologist and sacred healer, is like Saint Moling who welcomes Sweeney at the end of our tale. As a healer, you can't save anyone, but you can hold their experience. The experiences of modern warriors and the difficult return home for veterans. Clinical trials for veterans with PTSD that include psychedelics  Michaelene's own journey with sacred plant medicine The story takes place in the period when Christianity began to eclipse paganism and the “old ways” of the Celtic, earth-based faith. We're at another moment of great chance when it comes to faith and belief. At this moment, when we move away from organized religion, we can create a new relationship with our bodies, the land, and with the plants. Sweeney is a violent man who embodies “toxic masculinity.” And yet, he is also the sovereign of the land who is trying to fulfill the duty as king. Michaelene's sacred blessing: We don't have to take our journeys alone. We are far greater than any suffering we could perceive, endure, or experiences Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Us in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. https://my.captivate.fm/www.marisagoudy.com/heroines-knot (Learn more and join us.) 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and jhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (oin our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story A Irish sovereignty goddess whose origins lie with the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann, Áine is also a sun deity, a bean sidhe (woman of the Sí), and fairy queen. Our guest Jen Murphy comes to KnotWork with a collection of Áine tales.  In a story from the mythological period, Áine has an ill-fated meeting with the unjust king Aillil Ólomm, who strips the land bare and threatens the goddess. Later, Áine is also found in a 14th century tale of Gerald, Earl of Desmond, also known as “The Wizard Earl.” Finally, a story collected in 1938 by the Irish Folklore Commission about a wise woman named Áine with two daughters who refuse to follow their mother's marital advice, each with disastrous results. Our Guest Jen Murphy is the creator of Celtic Embodiment, a cutting-edge modality that fuses the ancient wisdom of Celtic Mythology with the emerging field of Feminine Embodiment Coaching to transform modern life for women. Jen is a certified Feminine Embodiment Coach and holds a degree in Medieval Irish & Celtic Studies and an M.A. in the Anthropology of Development. Coming from a lineage of storytellers and wisdom keepers on her maternal line, Jen is fascinated by the natural coalescence between our ancestral myths and our bodies as a potent brew to reclaim our sovereign power.  Find Jen at https://www.celticembodiment.com/ (www.celticembodiment.com/) and on Instagram: @celticembodiment Our Conversation The ancient Celtic Sovereignty myth: the divine marriage (the banais ríghi). When the Sovereignty goddess unites with the king, she expects fir flaithemon, the prince's truth. A worthy ruler needs to be just, truthful, and discerning. Parallels to Sumerian tales of Inanna and her partners. The importance of reciprocity - between people and land, between sovereignty goddess and king The ways that religion and politics collude together and exploit the land Connections to Arthurian Grail legend and “The Elucidation,”a tale that describes the rape of the Well Maidens that leads to the closing of the wells and creation of the Wasteland. Hospitality as a key aspect of mythology and culture Ireland as a “goddess obsessed” island. And yet, with all of the divine feminine magic, all of the Mother Goddess worship, it was not a Utopia for women. There were ways in which the coming of the church offered a haven for women, and monasteries became places of learning. Jen's personal story of what it meant to see all part of herself, integrate the energy of midsummer, the deepest energy of the grandmothers, a death of a part of the self, and  rebirth and integration Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Us in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. https://my.captivate.fm/www.marisagoudy.com/heroines-knot (Learn more and join us.) 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and jhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (oin our...

Our Story Storyteller Maura McMahon offers us a clip from her show, Launching Ships: A User's Guide for Your Face. She took to the stage at Green Kill Art Center in Kingston, NY in spring 2022 and was accompanied by musician David Gonzalez. You'll hear the events in the final moments of the Trojan War, as that infamous horse full of Spartan warriors is allowed into the city gates after a ten-year battle. Our Guest Maura McMahon is a storyteller and spoken word poet whose collection of Irish tales, pirate adventures, and women's sovereignty songs have entranced and empowered audiences across regional venues in New York's Hudson Valley for over 15 years. As a character performer, Maura has embodied Grace O'Malley, and the Grey Sea Hag as well as Hippolyta the Amazonian Queen. My family most loves seeing Maura when she appears as Mrs. Claus of the Hudson Valley Our Conversation Marisa and Maura discuss what it means to tell the story of a character who inhabits a space in “Myth with a Capital M” and they explore: Telling this story was a creative leap for Maura, a storyteller most at home with Celtic tales. Two thirds of this story comes from the original sources, including Virgil and Homer, and one third is Maura's creative invention. Ultimately, it is a reclaiming of Helen's story told through her own eyes. Helen was renowned for her beauty, but what made Helen beautiful? People saw in her what they needed to. Helen played a pivotal role in so many men's stories, and yet she retained her sovereignty, her power, and her sense of self. How this story emerged through conversations with a goddess and building a relationship with a character, and what that meant to Maura as storyteller and as an individual going through her own process. What it means to tell a story outside of your own lineage and your usual source material. During the creative process, Maura asked, “Who am I to tell the story of a Greek goddess?” https://youtu.be/FzO2-sLJ-5s (Watch Maura's entire show on Green Kill's YouTube Channel.  )  You can also hear Maura's story of Máire Rua O'Brien, a 17th century Irish heroine inhttps://player.captivate.fm/episode/f7ff8601-71a3-4ba7-a33e-2fc4d70887c7 (, “A Most Ferocious Lady of the Castle,”) episode 3 of season 1 of KnotWork Storytelling.  Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Us in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. https://my.captivate.fm/www.marisagoudy.com/heroines-knot (Learn more and join us.) 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and jhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (oin our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story Probably the precursor to the King Arthur tales, the story of Tristan and Isolde includes star-crossed lovers, castles and the wilds, as well as questions of loyalty, duty, and truth. The versions we can access today are set in a fractionated England in the time after Roman rule. Ireland, still unconquered just across the sea, is key to the plot as well as the spirit of the saga. Our guest Sophie Strand is working on an epic novel about Tristan and Isolde. She ushers us through the relationships, betrayals, passions, and tragedies that are part of this long, episodic, non-linear story that refuses to conform to a textual, climactic narrative. Our Guest Sophie Strand is a writer based in the Hudson Valley who focuses on the intersection of spirituality, storytelling, and ecology. Her first book of essays The Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacred Masculine will be published by Inner Traditions in Fall 2022 and is available for pre-order. Her eco-feminist historical fiction reimagining of the gospels The Madonna Secret will also be published by Inner Traditions in Spring 2023. You can subscribe for my newsletter at sophiestrand.substack.com. Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmogyny/ (@cosmogyny) and at www.sophiestrand.com. Our Conversation Sophie speaks mythologically, calling on stories and characters as diverse as David and Saul, Joseph and the sons of Jacob, Demeter and Persephone and more. This novel about Tristan and Isolde, set in Cornwall, perhaps as far back as the Bronze Age, is still a long way off from publication. Sophie's original inspiration: the Ridley Scott film version of the Tristan and Isolde story at age 12. (A remarkable parallel to 12 year-old Marisa falling in love with Ireland thanks to the Tom Cruise movie, Far and Away!) Joseph Campbell thought of Tristan as epitome of the hero, but Sophie sees Tristan's constant attempts to escape the Hero's Journey The trauma inherent in the hero's journey and Sophie's quest to diversify it, rather than eradicate it completely. Her work resonates with Marisa's Heroine's Knot and the desire to honor the life that happens even when we do not cross the threshold of typical adventure. The continuum between potion and poison and how dosage determines what is medicinal and what is deadly. The “mycelial intelligence of the internet” and how Sophie and Marisa found each other through an Irish organization called https://www.instagram.com/thetrailblazery/ (The Trailblazery), though they live only about 7 miles apart in the Hudson Valley. Metaphorical and mythic resonance with fungi which confuse our concept of species and relationship in compelling, necessary ways. Book recommendation: https://bookshop.org/a/832/9780525510321 (Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life.) How does our understanding of individuality, gender, and romantic love change when we see ourselves as https://cisindus.org/2021/02/10/holobionts-a-new-theory-that-shatters-the-myth-of-biological-individual/ (holobiont)? There's an unfathomable biodiversity of knowledge, of ecosystems, and in our own guts. Sophie explores this idea further in the forthcoming https://bookshop.org/a/832/9781644115961 (The Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacred Masculine). Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Us in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. https://my.captivate.fm/www.marisagoudy.com/heroines-knot (Learn more and join us.) 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines

Our Story  You must meet Maeve, the Celtic Magdalen, the heroine of the four novels in Elizabeth Cunningham's The Maeve Chronicles. From her beginnings on the Celtic Island of Women Tír Na mBán, to “Druid School” on the Isle of Mona, and then on to Rome, the Galilee, southern France, and then back to Britain when Queen Boudicca of the Iceni was battling for her tribe and her sovereignty, Maeve has see it all.  Her sensibilities are both ancient and modern, and make her one of fiction's most powerful, enduring characters.  Elizabeth reads excerpts from Magdalen Rising, in which Maeve meets the Cailleach and gets her first sex-ed lesson from her warrior witch mothers and from Red Robed Priestess, the final novel in the series. Our Guest Elizabeth Cunningham is a novelist, poet, musician, and counselor based in New York's Hudson Valley.  She is the author and illustrator of The Book of Madge, a graphic novel, and the source of her best known work, The Maeve Chronicles. Her earlier novels include The Wild Mother, The Return of the Goddess, and How to Spin Gold. Her debut mystery novel Murder at the Rummage Sale and its sequel All the Perils of this Night (which can also be read as a stand-alone thriller), and most of her previous novels, will be reprinted by Monkfish Book Publishing in 2023 and 2024. Visit Elizabeth's website: https://elizabethcunninghamwrites.com/ (https://elizabethcunninghamwrites.com/) https://bookshop.org/lists/fiction-from-ireland-and-the-celtic-world (Buy The Maeve Chronicles.) Our Conversation When I picked up the first “Maeve book” over a decade ago, I felt an instant jolt of recognition. I felt the same when I met Maeve's creator, Elizabeth Cunningham at a writing workshop a few years later. Since then, Elizabeth has become a mentor and guide to me, helping me birth my own book (and all of my creative endeavors!) In our chat, we explore: * “Sovereignty, Maeve, belonging to yourself. Your own terms. Sovereignty is your birthright and your inheritance.” * “A story is true as long as it's well told”:  the power of contemporary fiction to shape the imaginal realm. * How Maeve's story fits other beliefs about Mary Magdalene as disciple or as keeper of the divine blood line. * Maeve's origin story and how she was born of the need for a “human goddess”  * The romanticization of Celtic culture and Elizabeth's reservations about writing about the Celts once she learned of their brutality and penchant for head hunting * Representations of different kinds of sovereignty in women: as lover, healer, mother, disciple, brothel owner * Sex work, prostitution, and priestesshood * Maeve's first experience as a healer: a companion's botched abortion * What it's like to create a character who walks with you for more than 30 years: Elizabeth calls Maeve her Best Imaginary Friend Forever Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Us in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. https://my.captivate.fm/www.marisagoudy.com/heroines-knot (Learn more and join us.) 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty...

OUR STORY Your KnotWork Storytelling host, Marisa Goudy, reads a brief excerpt from her novel-in-progress, Above In the Bog. You meet two women of first century Ireland, Móna and Síle, who are out collecting tansy on a dark moon summer night. Their mission: gather the herbs to help a woman in their village abort an unwanted child. OUR EXPLORATION Marisa wrote this section of the book sometime last year, but it is all the more timely as the US Supreme Court overturns Roe Vs. Wade and the right to abortion is in peril across much of the country. Marisa explores: The original inspiration for this scene: Manchán Magan's Thirty-Two Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape The 2018 referendum in Ireland that repealed the eighth amendment and gave pregnant people the right to abortion in Ireland The 12th century Saint Hildegard of Bingen whose extensive writings describe how herbs can be used to induce abortion (and heal many other maladies) Modern herbal practices, which are similar to the practices from 1000 years ago Her own story, including the safe use of Mifepristone from a local Planned Parenthood Lughnasadh and the riddle of the selfless, sacrificial mother archetype: August 1 is the ancient Irish festival founded by the Celtic Sun God Lugh, in honor of his foster mother Tailtiu. She died after exhausting herself clearing the plane of Ireland. Our Music Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Join Us in the Heroine's KnotThe Heroines' Knot is an online community for creative creatures on the quest for self-expression & collective renewal. Learn more and join us. 1:1 Coaching Opportunities Marisa offers 1:1 coaching for Personal and Professional growth with her https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) packages. She also offers https://www.marisagoudy.com/story-weaver-book-coaching (Story Weaver Book Coaching )for memoirists, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs at the beginning of their writing journey. Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and jhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (oin our vibrant listeners' community).

Our Story “Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor” appear in a ballad from the 17th century that has been passed across Scotland, England, Ireland, Canada, and the US for centuries. Marisa Goudy's retelling of the tale is inspired by a version collected in the 1930s Irish Schools Collection of Folklore, found at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5008982/4973680 (Duchas.ie.) It's the tale of a love triangle with a bloody end. It's the tale of a heroine caught at the crossroads. Our Exploration This final episode of season 1 of KnotWork Storytelling is a solo exploration of Fair Elen's story. Marisa explores the history of the ballad and describes her own journey to finding the song: a failed attempt at finding a source for stories of Elen of the Ways, a figure purported to be a Celtic goddess of the crossroads. Marisa also examines the multiple layers of meaning associated with “sovereignty” and how her relationship with her 2020 book, The Sovereignty Knot, is a prime example of how any author or artist's relationship with their creation changes over time. An Invitation to Meet the Heroine Within You In May 2022, Marisa is offering a free online workshop, The Heroine At the Crossroads: Meet the Heroine Within You & Discover a New Discernment Tool that Will Help You Meet Any Challenging Situation. For details and to find a workshop date and time that works for your time zone, visit http://www.marisagoudy.com/crossroads (www.marisagoudy.com/crossroads) During our hour together, you'll learn about the qualities that define a heroine and meet the archetypes of Sovereignty. They help you understand that there are countless ways to be a heroine and that there are always new ways to look at and approach the tangles of life.  You'll walk away with this new tool that will help you look at the energy you bring to every decision and will help you choose how to respond to whatever comes your way. Our MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Discover, Heal & Write Your Own Stories: Work with MarisaBook a https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) session: a unique blend of energy medicine, intuitive guidance, and the language of archetypes and mythology to help you work through the tangles of life so you can weave a new story. Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot: https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and jhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (oin our vibrant listeners' community). Join the free Heroine at the Crossroads class in May: http://www.marisagoudy.com/crossroads (www.marisagoudy.com/crossroads)

Our StoryOur guest Seán Pádraig O'Donoghue tells the story of his legendary ancestor, Donal O'Donoghue. O'Donoghue Mór was a great warrior, a generous chieftain, a man who kept the Old Ways. He conspired with the Otherworld and became an initiate of the deepest mysteries and the forbidden knowledge. As a result of showing his powers to his wife, O'Donoghue Mór was pulled back to the Otherworld. But, the stories say that he and his royal host rise every seven years on Bealtaine (May 1) and, when a member of the O'Donoghue family comes to their chieftain in times of great need, he will always offer his aid. Our GuestSeán Pádraig O'Donoghue is a poet, herbalist, writer, and teacher, and an initiated Priest in two traditions. He lives in the mountains of Western Maine. The Otherworld Well Hedge School offers weekly classes that weave together magic, herbalism, folklore, ecology, and history. His second book, Courting the Wild Queen, will be available from Ritona Press. Visit Seán's website and on https://www.facebook.com/greenmansean (Facebook ) Our ConversationSeán and Marisa connect over their love of Irish mythology, culture, and history. They are also both children of Massachusetts whose ancestors are several generations removed from Ireland. In the course of their conversation, they explore: Bealtaine, the Celtic festival of fertility celebrated on May 1 and its significance on the Celtic Wheel of the Year A vision Seán had at Pulnabrone, the passage tomb in the Burren in Co. Clare. Archaeologists know this was a burial ground; Seán saw that this was a place where people came to speak to the dead at Samhain, but also a portal that called people together at Bealtaine so they could call those same spirits into the land of the living. There is but one gate, and we move back and forth through it. When we understand the nature of the gate, the ancestors and beloved dead are never far from us. A “chemical cypher” in the blossom of the whitethorn or hawthorn that echoes the cycles of fertility and decay present in the the human body. Marisa shares a story of the hawthorn bush that guards the cave at Rathcroghan in County Roscommon, Oweynagat. The power of being in both worlds, honoring the past as well as the realities and struggles of the contemporary world. The worlds keep reflecting one each other and asking us to see our reflections on both sides. Seán explores what it means to be an American living according to wisdom of the Irish ancestors with words from Thoreau: “Nevertheless, our wild apple is wild only like myself, perchance, who belong not to the aboriginal race here, but have strayed into the woods from the cultivated stock.” It is important to honor the place and tradition of the ancestors, but to disown the heritage because of the “accident of the time and place of birth” would also dishonor the tradition. The links between wildness and sovereignty, an understanding that draws distinction between being an autocrat or someone obsessed with individualism Our MusicMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com (billyandbeth.com) Discover, Heal & Write Your Own Stories: Work with MarisaBook a https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) session: a unique blend of energy medicine, intuitive guidance, and the language of archetypes and mythology to help you work through the tangles of life so you can weave a new story. Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot: https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/...

Our StoryCana Cludhmor was a banfhile, an Irish woman poet of great renown. We know her story from only a few lines in Imtheacht na Tromdháimhe or https://www.google.com/books/edition/Imtheacht_Na_Tromdhaimhe_Or_The_Proceedi/KdWHNgAACAAJ?hl=en (The Proceedings of the Great Bardic Institution,) found in the fourteenth century Book of Lismore. Only mentioned briefly in the manuscript, we know that Cana Cludmor walks away from a dissatisfying marriage, and finds herself at a beach where the wind is playing in the sinews of a whale skeleton. She falls asleep to this otherworldly music, and when her husband discovers her and hears the lovely sound, he is inspired to construct the first harp.  This retelling by Marisa Goudy stays true to the original, but imagines the characters' motivation (and adds the bit about the poet's curse, the bloodied hands, and the healing at the end).  Our GuestMaureen Buscareno is a harper, a music educator, a podcaster, and the founder of https://www.moonoverthetrees.com/ (Moon Over the Trees Music & Theater Productions.)  Maureen received her master's degree in Ethnomusicology from Ireland's University of Limerick. Passionate about bringing music to schools and to the community, Maureen received her master's in music education from Columbia University. You can hear more from Maureen on her podcasts: https://www.moonoverthetrees.com/podcast (HarpSong), https://www.moonoverthetrees.com/beat-your-heart-out (Beat Your Heart Out), and https://www.moonoverthetrees.com/theatre-aesthetics (Theatre Aesthetics). Our ConversationMarisa and Maureen connect as two American women with Irish heritage who both received master's degrees in Ireland at about the the same time (though it took a https://hudsonvalleywomeninbusiness.com/ (Hudson Valley Women In Business) gathering in 2021 to get them together!). In their discussion, they explore:  The work of world-renowned composer and multi-instrumentalist Mícheal Ó Súilleabhain has been a profound influence on Maureen. He was her thesis advisor at UCL and reveled in the campus's location on the River Shannon, likening students and faculty to ancient Druids becoming one with the land, landscape, sounds and sights of nature. https://apoemforireland.rte.ie/shortlist/fill-aris/ (“Fill Arís,” a poem by Seán Ó Ríordán) that invites us back to the Irish language (even if it was a language spoken by distant ancestors) Marisa is dedicated to honoring the source of the story, which appears in an 1860 publication from the Ossianic Society. Modern versions of the story have turned the Cana Cludhmor, the banfhile (woman poet), into a “Celtic goddess of inspiration” and credited her with being the inventor of the harp. This https://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2021/09/cana-cludhmor-inventing-irish-goddess.html (article by Morgan Daimler )traces the potential causes for the modern revisions of the story. The Celtic music revival in 1960s Three kinds of traditional Irish music: celebration, lullabies, laments The sean-nós tradition, unaccompanied Irish language singing For further information about the Irish harp and its centuries of tradition, seek out http://www.annheymann.com/biography.htm (Anne Heymann) and https://hurrellharp.com/ (Nancy Hurrell) The Trailblazery, which offers the online https://www.thetrailblazery.com/scoilscairte (Scoil Scairte) Irish language and culture program Our MusicMusic at the start of the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: billyandbeth.com Discover, Heal & Write Your Own Stories: Work with MarisaBook a https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) session: a unique blend of energy medicine, intuitive guidance, and the language of archetypes and mythology to help you...

Our Story Inanna, Goddess of the Upperworld, is at the core of a 6,000 year old myth from ancient Sumer. Upon the request of her sister Ereshkigal, Inanna pays a visit to the Underworld. As she passes through each of the seven gates, more of her symbols of power, intellect, and wealth are stripped away. Upon arrival, Inanna is sentenced to death by her sister Ereshkigal. As is the way of myth, death is intricately connected to rebirth. Through the intercession of her father, Enki, God of Wisdom and Light, Inanna is revived and ascends to the Upperworld, renewed and transformed. At least… those are the basics. Pearl's retelling of the story is a deep dive into contemporary dreams and timeless truths about the emerging of the feminine and the merging with the masculine. Our Guest Pearl Gregor is an explorer and a seeker. She is a writer, dream coach, story teller, author of the three books in the series Dreams Along the Way, and an international public speaker.  Pearl is a farmer, grandmother, a blogger, and a Crone of wisdom.  Join Pearl to explore the deep mysteries of dreams, psyche and soul. You can read her books, or join her in her latest passion, a Dream Readers' Myth Circle. Find Pearl at http://www.dreamsalongtheway.com (www.DreamsAlongTheWay.com) and on https://www.facebook.com/pecgregor (Facebook ) andhttps://www.instagram.com/gregor.pearl/ ( Instagram) Our Conversation This story of Inanna is woven with seven years of dreams that came to Pearl at midlife. We explore: Pearl had never heard of Inanna when images from this myth came to her in dreams. The book https://amzn.to/3jjvHn3 (Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women Sylvia Perera) appeared as a guide and confirmation.  We need both the light and the dark, the masculine and the feminine, though the patriarchal mindset has shaped our perspective of what the feminine should be The role of “strange women” in a woman's dreamlife; the integration of the “strange” parts of the self and the movement into circles of women The process of “birthing a new world,” as described by Jean Shinoda Bolen in  https://amzn.to/3JjJDrH (Moving Toward the Millionth Circle) A perspective on “intersectionality”: Pearl's experience with a diverse group of folks in one of her dream groups in which they explored the universal language of dreams The power of “collective dreaming.” “Were we living in an aboriginal community in these difficult times, we'd be getting together over the breakfast table to discuss our dreams.” Talking about dreams and mythology can guide the way. Learn more about Marisa's online community, the https://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers (Sovereign Writers Knot) More of Pearl and Marisa in the conversation series, https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyZbN9gz4oA4mLR4bbP8nnFV9X2pyPeHy (Dream, Sovereignty, and Wise Woman Ways) As Pearl says, “Skip Descartes and what you learned in school, there is nothing logical about rebirthing an entire universe.”  Our Music Music at the start of the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: billyandbeth.com Connect With Your Own Stories and Work with MarisaBook a Healing for Heroines session: a unique blend of energy medicine, intuitive guidance, and the language of archetypes and mythology to help you work through the tangles of life so you can weave a new story. Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : www.marisagoudy.com Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and jhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/4429930243750952 (oin our vibrant listeners' community).

Our StoryAt a céilidh, a home-based social gathering in the Highlands of Scotland, a young man is asked to follow the custom of sharing a song or a story. He doesn't think he has anything to offer, but then he sets off on an incredible journey across the loch. This is a story of gender fluidity, transformation, and community. Our Guest Dr Michael Newton, who holds a Ph.D. in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh. He has written many books and articles about Gaelic culture and history and is a leading authority on Scottish Gaelic heritage in North America. Michael is the founder of thehttps://www.hiddenglenfolk.org/ ( Hidden Glen Folk School). Find Michael'shttps://independent.academia.edu/MichaelNewton ( scholarly articles) here.  Our ConversationThis story is hundreds of years old, but it invites us to discuss some of the most important (and challenging) issues of today: Gender identity and gender fluidity Issues of toxic masculinity and why this is particularly important to discuss in relation to Irish- and Scottish-American communities where expectations of “manly men” and military prowess twist both the understanding of history and contemporary culture The long legacy of alcoholism and abuse that are part of the Scottish and Irish communities The legacy of imperialism and colonialism Our MusicMusic on the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: http://billyandbeth.com/ (billyandbeth.com) Connect With Your Own Stories and Work with MarisaBook ahttps://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines ( Healing for Heroines) session: a unique blend of energy medicine, intuitive guidance, and the language of archetypes and mythology to help you work through the tangles of life so you can weave a new story. Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community).

Our Story This story, written by Marisa Goudy, is inspired by a piece simply named “A Story,” found in the Irish Schools' Folklore Collection from the 1930s. It was collected by a student named Annie McLaughlin, as told by her father John Joe McLaughlin for St. Mary's National School in Buncrana in County Donegal. https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4493759/4417403 (The original tale, found at Duchas.ie, )offers a retelling of a traditional story of three women who have been disfigured by endless work, carding, spinning, and weaving wool. It's the story of a “useless girl who lived happily ever after.”  In this version, Marisa imagines the scene in which the father, John Joe, tells the story to his daughter Annie. There really was https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/weaving-a-future-from-old-ways-in-donegal-1.4739689 (a woollen mill in Donegal in the 1930s )where they wove carpets for Buckingham Palace! In this retelling, details have been added to the original fairytale, which is an adaptation of https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm014.html (a Brothers Grimm story.) Our Guest Nicole Burgess is a clinically trained Soul-Led Leadership Coach for ambitious highly sensitive professional women leaders. She is also the host of Soulfilled Sisterhood podcast and founder of the Self-Care Summit: Improve Your Bottom Line and Your Personal Life. Over the last seventeen years she has coached, guided and collaborated with over a 1,000 women. She helps women end overwhelm and self-doubt, so they can lead with calm, confidence, and connection. Learn more about Nicole on her website, http://www.nicoleburgesscoaching.com (nicoleburgesscoaching.com). Connect with Nicole on https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleburgesscoach/, (LinkedIn) or on https://www.facebook.com/NicoleBurgessCoaching (Facebook)   Our Conversation In addition to being a coach and a podcaster, Nicole is a weaver and handcrafts have long been part of her life. We call together these threads in our conversation: - The process of weaving itself and the modern attempts to bring back lost arts - What it means to be "useful" or "useless" - How we celebrate the time it takes to make something by hand now, but how this tedious work was a burden to women in the past - How to escape the projections of others; the only evil in this story are other people's expectations - A story with an ambiguous ending in which the not-so-virtuous heroine was victorious  - The way that modern, high-achieving women are troubled by similar outdated belief systems as are presented in the story - The power of “the stool” which appears repeatedly in the story: how to allow yourself to pause, and make a conscious decision from stillness rather than feeling we need to be constantly busy  - Fiber and cloth offer a powerful set of metaphors, but we also celebrate the meditative practice of working with your hands. Contemporary research shows that dand crafting is a great way to deal with anxiety.  - Fite fuaite: an Irish term meaning “interwoven or inextricably connected.” Manchán Magan, a teacher, broadcaster, and ambassador for the Irish language writes about the Irish words for weaving at https://www.making.ie/stories/irish-words-weaving (making.ie) - The final word from Nicole: trust the process, but also take your action steps Our Music Music on the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: http://billyandbeth.com/ (billyandbeth.com) Connect With Your Own Stories and Work with Marisa Book ahttps://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines ( Healing for Heroines) session: a unique blend of energy medicine, intuitive guidance, and the language of archetypes and mythology to help you work through the tangles of life so you can weave a new...

Our Story Elizabeth des Roches tells her own story of La Quaintrelle and welcomes you to a gathering of four of the most elegant women you can imagine. This may seem like the stuff of fairy tales, but that doesn't make this a children's story. Ultimately, it's about calling in all aspects of the self and celebrating the power of delight and pleasure. Our Guest Elizabeth des Roches is a Creatrix, seeker, and entrepreneur who accompanies women as they learn to connect to high frequency energies and openly express themselves in life & business. She nurtures them at key moments in their spiritual evolution & provides beautifully practical ways to make their greatest desires real. She offers Weave Your World, a transformative private mentorship; performs intuitive Energetic Threads Readings and is writing Creatrix Energetics: An Interactive Sourcebook. Discover Elizabeth's world at http://www.elizabethdesroches.com (www.elizabethdesroches.com) & sign up to receive her newsletter filled with insights & opportunities.  Follow her on Instagram. Our Conversation This story traces elements of Elizabeth's own life, and also speaks to the experience of so many women moving through in their lifetimes. Together, we explore: - How to see the familiar trinity of the maiden, mother, and crone imagery in a new way - How so many stories are about fibers and threads, particularly The Fates who were so powerful when it came to determining life and death - The desire to reframe the stories that show wise, powerful women as ugly. Why do women have to be deformed in the process of creating realities? - Elizabeth's home in Brittany, France where faery and Celtic lore are so present and potent. The tale of Les Lavandières, the three Midnight Washerwomen who wash the shrouds of those who will die. - The gift of the three women in the story: Sovereignty, Love, Trust - A reframe on “luxury”: it's not a yacht or golden table service. Instead luxury can be as simple as silence or sunshine. - The power of women and the salon across Europe, including in Ireland and France - You may be unfamiliar with the term la quaintrelle: A woman who emphasizes a life of passion expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life's pleasures. Our Music Music on the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: http://billyandbeth.com/ (billyandbeth.com) Connect With Your Own Stories and Work with Marisa Book a https://www.marisagoudy.com/healing-for-heroines (Healing for Heroines) session: a unique blend of energy medicine, intuitive guidance, and the language of archetypes and mythology to help you work through the tangles of life so you can weave a new story. Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community).

Our Story Irish mythology offers us a tale of a pagan hero named Oisín who left his companions, the warriors of the Fianna, and followed a fairy woman named Niamh to her home in Tír Na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. After three hundred years, Oisín returned to Ireland and found that a man named Saint Patrick had arrived and brought along a faith called Christianity that changed everything. The story of the relationship between Oisín and Patrick is inspired by Lady Augusta Gregory's story from her 1904 book, Gods and Fighting Men. Lady Gregory, the famous folklorist of the Celtic Revival drew her inspiration from the tales found in Acallam na Senórach/Tales of the Elders of Ireland, which is a compilation of four different medieval Irish texts. This story is written by Marisa Goudy and performed by Kevin Michael Murphy. This retelling dares to soften the ending, focusing on the friendship that might have existed despite Oisín and Patrick's religious differences and the way we still celebrate Ireland pre-Christian heritage rather than the usual bitter lament about the end of the magical Celtic world. Our Guest Kevin Michael Murphy is an actor and voice teacher based in New York City. As an actor Kevin has toured with the Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon. As a teacher, Kevin is the cofounder of the NYC Vocal Studio, and is currently on the voice faculty at NYU Steinhardt. Kevin's unique way of working with singers focuses on playfully exploring connections between the mind, the body, and the cultivation of one's artistic point of view. Kevin works with a variety of humans, some sing on Broadway in shows such as Wicked and Chicago, and others sing in karaoke bars and showers across America. And, of course, Kevin's confirmation name is Patrick. Find Kevin at www.NYCVocalStudio.com and at Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nycvocalstudio/ (@NYCVocalStudio) and https://www.instagram.com/kevinmichaelmurphy/ (@KevinMichaelMurphy) Our Conversation Marisa and Kevin first met at Camp GLP (Yay, Good Life Project!) and instantly bonded over Irish music, theater, and the power of song. In this conversation they explore:  The phrase from the Irish language, fite fuaite, which means interwoven and connected The enduring yet ephemeral nature of theater: e cannot hold onto a performance, but we can hold onto to a story The time magic of story: what it means to tell a story about a 1500 year old friendship for future listener Reflection on how time changes the nature of friendship and the shifts in relationships through the pandemic years The concept of the “Anam Cara,” and Irish phrase meaning “soul friend” which was brought to public consciousness with philosopher poet John O'Donoghue's book of the same name Reflection on being Irish American Catholic kids and how that faith is part of our lineage rather than our lived lives Kevin's several times great aunt Eileen Huban was starred on Broadway in Irish productions, most famously in David Belasco's Dark Rosaleen in 1919  Our Music Music on the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: http://billyandbeth.com/ (billyandbeth.com) Connect With Your Own Stories and with Marisa's Work Join Marisa's online writing community, thehttps://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers ( Sovereign Writers' Knot) Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community).

Our Story Leah and Rachel are two sisters from the Book of Genesis who were both married to the patriarch Jacob. Our Guest Blair Glaser is a writer, leadership consultant, and licensed therapist who has led many workshops for women, including "Women Writing to Change the World," at the renowned Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. These days, she works primarily with women executives on developing effective strategies and teams. As a writer she has been a correspondent and columnist for Playbill Online and a wellness columnist for Feminist.com. In addition to writing for a variety of online publications including Shondaland, Greatist, Best Self, and The Muse to name a few, her article "A Man Blatantly Stole My Ideas. My Reaction Surprised Me." was syndicated from Huffington Post. She's read stories live at events such as Read 650, Generation Women, and won a prize for doing so at The Woodstock Bookfest.  You can learn more about Blair's work at http://www.blairglaser.com/ (www.blairglaser.com).  Find her at https://twitter.com/BlairGlaser (@blairglaser on) https://twitter.com/BlairGlaser (Twitter), https://www.instagram.com/blair_glaser/ (@Blair.Glaser on IG), and https://www.facebook.com/blair.glaser/ (on Facebook) Our Conversation Blair frames her tale of Leah and Rachel within the context of where she first engaged with this story: at a major Jewish conference in New York City where she was speaking about stereotypes about Jewish women in the media. An orthodox rabbi who preceded her on the stage told this Book of Genesis story and offered an interpretation: in relationships, we fall in love with Rachel (the ideal), but we end up married to Leah (the real human being).   We also explore: Women in the Bible as “shadows” of women  How to navigate relationships when they stop being sexy and how to forgive ourselves and our partners for being human  Jane Austen and the “marriage industrial complex” over the ages What might be lost as we reject partnership because so many are rejecting monogamy What it takes to read between the lines of history to find the foremothers The focus on how we've come a long way, and that's clear as Blair works with women leaders and watching them orient themselves toward a future of gender equity   The secret of creative tension and how the true quest is to fight together, not in opposition   Our Music Music on the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves. Find out about their music and shows at: http://billyandbeth.com/ (billyandbeth.com) Connect With Your Own Stories and with Marisa's Work Join Marisa's online writing community, thehttps://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers ( Sovereign Writers' Knot) Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community).

Our Story This is the story of Macha, a goddess, a fairy woman, a woman of the Sidhe, who took a human lover for a year. This story sets the stage for the greatest epic in Irish mythology, the Táin Bó Cúailnge. This story is often remembered for its curse, but really, it's the story of a birth. "The Birth of a Heroine" was written and performed by Marisa Goudy. Sources: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T106500D.html (The Metrical Dindsheanchas), which means "the lore of places" in Middle Irish and includes texts from the 11th to 14th centuries. Our Guest Barb Buckner Suárez is a Health Educator specializing in pregnancy, birth, and parenting. She's taught thousands of couples for over 20 years about the benefits of embracing the vulnerability that comes with becoming a parent. Barb's a Lamaze-certified Childbirth Educator, a Fellow in the Academy of Certified Childbirth Educators, a Certified Becoming Us Facilitator, and Mentor for Becoming Us Facilitators. She's also a professed “brain nerd” and holds a Masters Level Certificate in Interpersonal Neurobiology.  Barb just launched her new podcast Birth Happens. It's yet another way she is supporting expecting and new families in the most important work they will ever do: raising the next generation. Our Conversation The way birth can feel “superhuman” and how it is even more remarkable than seeing a woman outrun the king's fastest horses The symbolic power of cows and horses, particularly in the Celtic tradition and in relationship to birth The weaving of human, superhuman, and, as philosopher, writer, activist https://amzn.to/3tjJzSO (Bayo Akomolafe) calls it, the more-than-human world  The brain science of “mommy brain” and how emotional and physical welfare takes up so much of the brain after birth The quest for inclusive language, particularly when discussing mythology and when discussing birth.  Barb talks about how she has changed the ways she uses “motherhood,” “fatherhood” and “pregnant person.”   Why certain stories are remembered for the “wrong reasons” but can be transformed through feminist and other perspectives (As Gloria Steinem said, “ The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off!” Book recommendation: Gail Carriger: https://amzn.to/3BZxKVO (The Heroine's Journey: For Writers, Readers, and Fans of Pop Culture) (she makes great points about how heroines and heroes are determined by their actions and situations, not by their gender) Connect With Our Guest Learn more about Barb's classes and coaching sessions which can prepare you and your couple relationship for the normal challenges and changes of becoming a family. Visit her website and check out her blog at https://bbsuarez.com/ (https://bbsuarez.com/) Find Barb on Facebook and https://www.instagram.com/bbucknersuarez/ (Instagram) Our Music Music on the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves.  Find out about their music and shows at: http://billyandbeth.com/ (billyandbeth.com) Connect With Your Own Stories and with Marisa's Work Join Marisa's online writing community, thehttps://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers ( Sovereign Writers' Knot) Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community).

Our Story Kelly Braffet reads to us from her novel The Broken Tower's preface, which reads like a myth. These initial pages serve to (re)introduce readers to the characters and their struggles in a fantastic world of magical bonds, warring kingdoms, and a power beyond reckoning. Our Guest Kelly Braffet is the author of the Border Lands novels, including The Broken Tower and The Unwilling, as well as the novels Save Yourself, Josie and Jack and Last Seen Leaving. Her writing has been published in The Fairy Tale Review, Post Road, and several anthologies. She attended Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University and currently lives in upstate New York with her husband, the author Owen King. You can purchase a signed copy of The Broken Tower from https://www.oblongbooks.com/autographed-books (Oblong Books & Music) or anywhere you love to buy books. Our Conversation In the discussion that follows the story, we explore the themes from the book and the choices an author makes, particularly when creating her own fantasy world: Themes of power, not just the magical sort, and how this is central to all of Kelly's work Written in 2020 and 2021, this is a real “pandemic novel” that responds to the moment during it which it was written The dual meaning of “Work,” which describes the magic in this world and the factories that make the book “a capitalist dystopia” The question of whose stories get told and feeling haunted by all the people whose stories were never told The conscious inclusion of differently abled people as well as well as folks across gender identities and sexualities  The question “who am I writing for” and how the author's choices can hurt certain readers, particularly those with marginalized identities.  Why Kelly chose to create a mythic world that does not replicate our own Our Music Music on the show is by the wonderful Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental Duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called The College Groves.  Find out about their music and shows at: http://billyandbeth.com/ (billyandbeth.com) More Ways to Untangle & Weave Your Own Stories and Work with MarisaJoin Marisa's online writing community, thehttps://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers ( Sovereign Writers' Knot) Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), https://www.facebook.com/knotworkstorytelling (Facebook), and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community).

Guest and storyteller Jen Murphy is a Feminine Embodiment Coach, Mythologist and Anthropologist. She is the creator of Celtic Embodiment, a cutting-edge modality that fuses the ancient wisdom of Celtic Mythology with the emerging field of Feminine Embodiment Coaching, to transform modern life for women. I have the good fortune of being part of Jen's yearlong program, the Celtic Women's Voyage where Jen takes us on an imram, a mystical, embodied journey to the otherworld and to the realms within. Learn more about Jen and her brilliant work at https://www.celticembodiment.com/ (www.celticembodiment.com) Jen comes to KnotWork with her own story, The Skerries Selkie, which is set in Skerries, County Dublin, right beside the Irish Sea. In our deep diving conversation, Jen and I explore: The parallels between the Selkie and An Mhaighdean Mhara, the mermaid How important it is to reclaim the feminine from the patriarchy and recover the lost self  The masculine and feminine energy that exist in all of us and how we leave behind seal skin (the feminine) when we suit up and head off to work and enter the masculine world The problem with “doing the feminine in a masculine way” Valuing doing over being, logic over intuition, linear over the cyclical The bean feasa, the wise woman who comes in to help and heal the mother who has lost herself Sisterhood, rupture and separation, the quest to return to companionship and the arms of the sea. The sacred geometry of the Celtic Embodiment logo, with all of its straight lines and spirals and how evocative it is of this story and these ideas. How systems of oppression can play out in the body Animism: the belief that everything has a soul. The Brehon Law, the original laws of Ireland that protect trees, proving the way that everything had an essence and a soul. The way the body remembers. A book recommendation from Jen: Kimberly Ann Johnson Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power, and Use it for Good What it means to be a mother of sons (as well as daughters and non-binary children) in a culture with so much trouble with “toxic masculinity” Our show music is a compilation of traditional tunes, including "The College Grove," performed by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: http://billyandbeth.com/ (http://billyandbeth.com/) Do you want to explore and tell your own stories? Marisa's Sovereign Writers' Knot online community is accepting new members now. https://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers (Learn more and apply to join )this unique space for writers who want to dive deep into stories that are at once personal and universal. Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram) and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community on Facebook).

Maura McMahon is a storyteller and spoken word poet whose collection of Irish tales, pirate adventures, and women's sovereignty songs have entranced and empowered audiences across regional venues in New York's Hudson Valley for over 15 years.  Her deeply engaging performative style is imbued with the Celtic spirit. As a character performer, Maura has embodied Grace O'Malley, and the Grey Sea Hag as well as Hippolyta the Amazonian Queen and Mrs. Claus of the Hudson Valley. Maura McMahon comes to tell us a story of a bold, complicated Irish woman of the 17th century who shares her beautiful name. She was first introduced to this story through a book by the https://amzn.to/3tYB3e0 (wonderful folklorist Eddie Lenihan, Ferocious Irish Women.) Known to history as Máire Rua O'Brien, our heroine was born a MacMahon at Bunratty Castle in County Clare and was a resident of the famous Leamaneh Castle in The Burren. This is a story of love and loss, of cunning and sovereignty.  How and why does this story matter to us? What it takes to care for your children and yourself when you're endangered The question of what it means to be a heroine: does it have to be about being “ferocious”? Woman's sovereignty and choice and how it can be found through partnership and outside it The myth of redheads and their fiery temperament The enduring nature of strong women's stories As a storyteller, refusing to drop the parts of the story are “ugly” or that the audience may not like, especially when the listeners have a sense of which side is right or wrong and you're telling historical tales.  Our show music is a compilation of traditional tunes, including "The College Grove," performed by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: http://billyandbeth.com/ (http://billyandbeth.com/) Continue Your KnotWork journey...Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Write your own stories in Marisa's online writers's community, the https://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers (Sovereign Writers' Knot. ) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram) and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community on Facebook).

In this week's story, you'll meet Mongfind, the Sovereignty Goddess turned queen turned witch who appears in the Book of Lecan, a medieval Irish manuscript compiled at the turn of the fourteenth century. Her story is part of the better known tale of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the founding father of the O'Neill clan. This story was written by Marisa Goudy. It is an adaptation from the translation of the original manuscript, inspired by the interpretation of the tale by Gearóid Ó Crualaoich in The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise-Woman Healer. This week's guest Meg Sweeten helps me uncover the layers of modern meaning contained in this ancient story. Meg is a certified meditation + mindfulness teacher.  She is also the founder of The Soul Cabin, a practical online resource for inner wellness. This virtual space supports modern women looking to rekindle and maintain a connection to themselves, through all the seasons of their lives with: meditation, resilience techniques, nature-based practices, and soulful community. Find Meg Sweeten at https://www.thesoulcabin.com/ (www.thesoulcabin.com) and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thesoulcabin/ (@thesoulcabin) In our conversation, Meg and I explored: How, in mythology, the power of earth and nature are even more meaningful than the human struggles and shifting perspective.   The importance of honoring the land we live on, particularly North Americans. We may not know the stories of the native people whose land we now live upon, but the stories of our ancestors can still help us develop a relationship with earth and nature. As white Americans, we reflect on how the more rooted you are in your own lineage and family heritage, the more rooted you are, and the more able you are to confront white supremacy, fragility, and cultural appropriation. This story and all stories as a product of their times and the preoccupations of the storyteller. Tension between human will (the masculine) and the tides of nature (feminine).  Shapeshifting characters and the way we shift the shape of characters based on our own experiences. The very modern feeling elements of this story: slavery, class, privilege. The difficult and shadowy elements of mythology, and how these heroines are very different from the simpler fairy tale princesses that are (theoretically) easy to love.   The source of the Mongfind story, The Book of the Cailleach, calls us to recognize the power of names and naming, and why some characters are forgotten. Dive deeper into these stories of Ireland and the Celtic world and explore your own storiesExplore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram) and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community on Facebook). Join the Sovereign Writers' Knot, Marisa's online writing community for healers, heroines, dreamers, and wisdom keepers. New members are invited to apply through March 2, 2022: www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers Our show music is a compilation of traditional tunes, including The Cape Breton Salute, performed by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: http://billyandbeth.com/ (http://billyandbeth.com/)

My guest Kate Chadbourne is a singer, harper, and storyteller, an award-winning songwriter and poet, a scholar and teacher of Irish language and folklore with a PhD from Harvard, and a beloved performer at venues throughout New England.  Kate is also the founder of The Bardic Academy, a school for writers, musicians, singers, and young scholars.  http://katechadbourne.com (Learn more about Kate as a performer, teacher, editor, and guide.) Fadó Fadó in Éireann… In celebration of the Celtic festival of Imbolc, Kate offers us two tales of Brigit, Ireland's patron goddess and saint. The first story describes Brigit as the Blessed Virgin Mary's best friend and the first celebration of Saint Brigit's Day. The second is a story of resourcefulness and kindness: when Brigit saves a fox and outfoxes a king. Following the stories, our discussion explore:  Fite fuaite… an Irish phrase that speaks to the weaving together of ideas The meanings of Brigit's names: “Flaming arrow” and “life force, vitality.”  A reframe of the concept “the universe is conspiring on our behalf”  is that the universe is conspiring on our behalf because we are co-conspiring with it. “Conspiring” means “to be inspirited together.” In these stories, Brigit doesn't ask God to take care of everything, she asks for the eyes to see the solution and she will do her part.  A new perspective on prayer The power of the Celtic Wheel of the Year, which reminds us of our most treasured values as well as our connection to nature. Imbolc: the feast of Ewe Lactation. A great excuse to have the finest butter, cheese, and ice cream!   Want to offer someone Brigit's Blessings?  Say: Beannachtaí lá Fheile Bríde Our show music is a compilation of traditional tunes, including The Cape Breton Salute, performed by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: http://billyandbeth.com/ (http://billyandbeth.com/) More Ways to Untangle & Weave Your Own Stories Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com (www.marisagoudy.com) Join our online writing community,https://www.marisagoudy.com/sovereign-writers ( Sovereign Writers' Knot) Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram), Facebook, and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community).

From your host, Marisa Goudy, word witch, writing coach, story healer, and author of The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman's Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic: I started this show because I know in my bones that mythology is medicine for our modern maladies. We use the ancient stories to understand our lives all the time. Thing is, we usually just aren't aware of it. In this episode, I share my own story of my relationship to storytelling, including my early fascination with Irish culture and Celtic mythology that carried me all the way to an MA in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at University College Dublin. You'll hear many stories from Ireland because those stories are dear to me and are closest to my expertise, but my guests are bringing tales from their own traditions and ancestral lineages. In future seasons, I hope to cast our story net further and further and call in storytellers, characters and plots from around the globe. When you subscribe to KnotWork Storytelling, you can expect: original stories drawn from mythology and folklore, that either myself or my guest have adapted we seek to balance the material from the original manuscripts and the tales collected by folklorists with the modern sensibilities that really make these stories come alive some guests are brilliant oral storytellers who will perform their favorite pieces for you authors whose fiction draws upon ancient origin legends, heroes' journeys, and heroines' tales Explore Marisa's work and get a copy of The Sovereignty Knot : www.marisagoudy.com Follow the show on https://www.instagram.com/knotworkpodcast/ (Instagram) and join our vibranthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/knotworkpodcast ( listeners' community on Facebook). Out show music is performed by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: http://billyandbeth.com/ (http://billyandbeth.com/)