KnotWork Myth & Storytelling

OUR STORY Mis staggers away from a gruesome battle on Kerry’s Dingle coast and finds a home in the mountains. Over 200 years, she becomes at one with the wild, covered in feathers and living completely apart from the human world. Eventually, the harper Dubh Ruis finds a gentle way to bring her home. HEAR THE WHOLE STORY This preview episode is part of our Turas series. Upgrade your membership to support KnotWork Myth & Storytelling and unlock your access to Turas, the subscriber-only podcast series, plus monthly invitations to gather live with the Myth Workers' Hearth community. Subscribe: www.mythworkers.com IN THIS EPISODE Why "apocalypse" doesn't mean the end of the world, at its ancient Greek root, but an uncovering or unveiling Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor's new book End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World, and the "politics of Hereness" inspired by the Jewish Labor Bund The Battle of Ventry, instigated by the invading Dáire Donn (the self-styled King of the World) How the story reads differently at different points in a life, from a young feminist grad student to now Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's essay, ‘Mis and Dubh Ruis: A Parable of Psychic Transformation in Irish Writers and Religion Sources for the story: The Druid's Cauldron retelling — https://thedruidscauldron.org/2022/10/17/mis-and-dubh-ruis/, and Brian Ó Cuív's edition via Corpas na Gaeilge — https://corpas.ria.ie/index.php?fsg_function=3&fsg_id=492 WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a novel, memoir, or visionary creative nonfiction, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at www.marisagoudy.com Learn about our global writing community, the Authors' Knot: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups Follow the show on Substack, Instagram, and Facebook. Music by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com

OUR STORY “Driftwood Man” is a timeless tale of longing and belonging, existential homesickness and ultimately coming home that’s at once 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 GUEST Based in Berlin, Dee Mulrooney weaves a rich tapestry of experiences, emotions, and insights into her creative practice. Rooted in the complexities of inhabiting a female body, her work emerges from the profound influences of her upbringing as a working-class Irish woman in the patriarchal, misogynistic landscape of 1970s Catholic Ireland. Her background profoundly shapes her identity and informs her artistic journey, where she fluidly navigates drawing, painting, writing, performing, filmmaking, and music. Through her alter ego, Growler—a vibrant, full-body vulva costume—she channels the voices of women past, transforming pain into powerful storytelling and performance. This character is a nod to her ancestors. Growler embodies the spirit of resilience, connecting generations and facilitating healing. With over two decades of experience as an educator, Dee champions community and empowerment, drawing inspiration from celebrated artists and the potent power of women's narratives. Find Dee at deirdre-mulrooney.com, on Instagram, Tiktok, and FB WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a novel, memoir, or visionary creative nonfiction, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at www.marisagoudy.com Learn about our global writing community, the Authors' Knot: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups Follow the show on Substack, Instagram, and Facebook. Music by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com Love the show? Subscribe to Myth Workers' Hearth on Substack to support KnotWork Myth & Storytelling and join our community of myth, land, and living wonder. www.mythworkers.com

OUR STORY Nobody believes Phaeton's claim to divine heritage: Helios, the sun god, is his father. The boy sets out on a quest to find his dad, and when they're finally united, Helios promises to fulfill one wish. Phaeton asks to drive the chariot of the sun for a day. It all ends in fire, ruin, and a geomyth. OUR CONVERSATION Matthew opens with Z.R. Ghani's poem "The Reddest Red." Full text of poem. Ovid's telling of Helios and Phaeton as a geomyth, a story that may preserve the memory of a real meteor that streaked over Greece centuries before it was ever written down How myth takes time: a "mythically literate" people needed centuries to turn a single terrifying event into a story that could be held and retold A detour into Manchán Magan's theory that Cú Chulainn's warp spasm may encode a meteor sighting, too Travel, the personal spiritual quest, and the "forward-leading wake" that changes a place as more people go there to experience it Matthew's course, Committed to Heart, Committed to Memory, and his "conviviums," communal practices of memorizing and reciting poetry together online OUR GUEST Matthew Stillman is a life-long New Yorker, a lover of language, culture, and a practitioner of bigger questions, wondering aloud, and sitting in mystery. He has spent a lifetime studying and practicing with aspects of Eastern and Western spiritual discipline, alongside years of deep engagement with long-form improvisational comedy. He is the author of Genesis Deflowered, a book of biblical erotica written in Elizabethan English that looks at how we might heal the fracture between sex and spirit in our culture. Matthew is also the conceiver and producer of The End of Poverty?, a feature-length documentary about the origins of poverty and why it persists in a world with so much wealth. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Directors' Choice commendation, and Matthew has spoken at the UN four times about it. He started a skin care company, Primal Derma, where he works to reclaim older, forgotten threads connecting the health of place, animals, and humans. At the end of the episode, you'll hear about Matthew's current project, in which he teaches the dusty and deeply beautiful skill of poetry memorization and recitation through his online course, Committed to Heart, Committed to Memory. Classes are starting now. Learn more at stillmansays.substack.com Find Matthew at: @stillmansays (IG) / Committed To Heart, Committed To Memory (FB) WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a novel, memoir, or visionary creative nonfiction, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at www.marisagoudy.com Learn about our global writing community, the Authors' Knot: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups Follow the show on Substack, Instagram, and Facebook. Music by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com Love the show? Subscribe to Myth Workers' Hearth on Substack to support KnotWork Myth & Storytelling and join our community of myth, land, and living wonder. www.mythworkers.com

OUR STORY According to traditional Irish myth, Tailtiu, the foster mother of Lugh of the Tuatha Dé Danann, uproots a vast forest with an axe and her own two hands. The plains she clears become the site of the great festival of Lughnasadh and once the people begin planting crops on these vast fields, agriculture comes to Ireland. She wasn't there to see it. She died from exhaustion, having done all the work alone. One source says that Tailtiu was in bondage to the men of Ireland, but what does that actually mean? In this retelling, Tailtiu is a queen and a goddess who belongs to several worlds. The question Marisa asks in this story: was Tailtiu ordered to clear those fields, or did she merely believe she had no choice? And then what happens after Tailtiu dies? In this reimagining of what comes after the traditional story ends, Tailtiu arrives in Tír na mBan, the Land of Women, where she comes to understand her worth is rooted in so much more than her capacity to work. Past KnotWork episodes featuring Tailtiu: A Mother’s Love, A Mother’s Sacrifice: Tailtiu and Lugh | S5 Ep9 The Eagle Remembers: A Bardic Vision for Lughnasadh with Jonathon Huet | S7 Ep13 HEAR THE WHOLE STORY This preview episode is part of our Turas series. Upgrade your membership to support KnotWork Myth & Storytelling and unlock your access to Turas, the subscriber-only podcast series, plus monthly invitations to gather live with the Myth Workers' Hearth community. Subscribe: www.mythworkers.com WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a novel, memoir, or visionary creative nonfiction, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at www.marisagoudy.com Learn about our global writing community, the Authors' Knot: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups Follow the show on Substack, Instagram, and Facebook. Music by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com

Join Us at the Retreat! Meaning-Making: Claiming & Interpreting Signs November 6-8, 2026, near Philadelphia Kara will lead us over a weekend of asking for, recognizing, and trusting in the signs that the universe is constantly sending your way. Marisa joins as a guest facilitator teaching about Myth Working for Meaning Makers. Space is limited. Learn more and register now: www.joyfulresonance.com/retreat OUR STORY A raven, a spider, a river. Kara Simons shares the story of a visionary journey that helped her navigate a health crisis and then rebuild trust in her own body and her own creativity. OUR GUEST Kara Simons, founder of Joyful Resonance, is an author, attorney, and oracle deck creator. Her original decks, Prairie Majesty Oracle and Song of the Grandmothers Oracle, have sold thousands of copies worldwide. Through inspired wordweaving, Kara anchors portals in her workshops and retreats for experiencing magic as real. Feeling leads to believing leads to trusting—and taking action. Her latest book, You Belong Here, has just been released. Find Kara at www.joyfulresonance.com OUR CONVERSATION A thyroid diagnosis became a message about how Kara had tried to earn love through productivity. This is the story of what it took to actually listen to her body and her own needs. Grandmother Spider's role as Kara's creative guide Reframing grandmother energy as something ageless and genderless, not confined to a kitchen or a bloodline “Make believe" and "real" are a false binary when it comes to imagination and spirit The quest for signs, symbols, and nudges from the universe Kara's new book, You Belong Here, and its exploration of identity, safety, and purpose. WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a novel, memoir, or visionary creative nonfiction, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at www.marisagoudy.com Learn about our global writing community, the Authors' Knot: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups Follow the show on Substack, Instagram, and Facebook. Music by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com