Stars, Stones, and Shadows: A Heroine's Tale | S6 Ep 5

Please Support Our Show: Join us on SubstackLove KnotWork Storytelling? Your financial contribution (via Substack) helps me pay the amazing team that puts this show together. Get the stories behind each episode and stay connected between seasons.Subscribe to our newsletter Myth Is Medicine.OUR STORYSaoirse has lost everything except for her dog, Bear. As they wander through The Burren of County Clare, a rainstorm hits and they seek shelter in the caves.  Along their journey, they meet Macha, the Morrigan, Brigid, and the Cailleach. Originally told at the Ottawa Fringe Festival in 2023, Erica’s story invites listeners to remember the wisdom of the body, the power of the voice, and the magic of the spirit.OUR GUESTErica O’Reilly is KnotWork’s 2025 “Storyteller in Residence.” She’ll join us regularly with tales from her extensive repertoire.A sacred storyteller, spiritual counsellor, Depth Hypnosis practitioner, and ordained minister (through the Sacred Stream Foundation; in Berkeley, California), Erica is dedicated to creating spaces where souls feel seen, held, and heard.  She believes deeply in the wisdom of the human body and spirit; and the powerful medicine of storytelling. Erica’s Into the Circle Theatre project honors the tradition of the seanchaí in a modern context.  Through the inspirations and weaving of Irish culture, history, folklore, and mythology, Into the Circle Theatre shares hallowed tales of women, focusing on the reclamation of their embodied wisdom and sovereign power. She also shares her creative voice regularly on her Substack, Weavings of the Wise & Embodied. Subscribe to her newsletter to follow her current work in progress, De thír mo mháithreacha: Of the Land of my Mothers.OUR CONVERSATIONA story about both safety and freedom. The heroine’s name, Saoirse, means freedom in Irish. The heroine's journey is one of reclamation and remembering.Seeing with what previous KnotWork guest Jen Murphy calls “the otherworldly eye”Allowing stories to work you over time before you tell it. Tad Hargrave, in his Substack, On Culture Making, talks about courting stories.An experience telling this story at the Ottawa Fringe Festival in 2023 that speaks to how interpret women’s rage in this culture.An exploration of the four goddesses who appear in this story: Macha, Morrigan, Brigid, and the CailleachMusic at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.comWORK WITH MARISA1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a spiritual memoir or wellness professional or a creative entrepreneur who wants to use stories to build your business, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at writingcoachmarisa.comLearn about our global writing communities, the Authors’ Knot and the Writers’ Knot: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups Find 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.