Folktales teach us Evil exists so that we creatively transform it and gain a greater understanding of ourselves.
Vassillissa, Iris Curteis
Our insistence on belonging, community, and human connection is one of the greatest acts of courage and resistance in the face of oppression.
O’Donoghue
Storytelling enhances two vital aspects of our humanity: community and individuality. Folktales reveal how and why loneliness and isolation attract Evil, why unused creative power, transgression and disrespect lack awareness and carry the potential of selfdestruction. Folktales teach us: Evil exists so we wake up, transform it and move toward greater consciousness.
Folktales confront us with Paradox and we have never experienced this greater than in our current time: the destruction of the Earth and ourselves, the escalation of A.I., the everincreasing loss of human rights and freedom, while simultaneously facing the unprecedented opportunity to develop our spiritual consciousness, our understanding of interconnectedness, our individuation into free will – and we need to understand and learn to work with paradox as a Soul-truth, a living event, ever-changing, expansive, and ripe with potentiality.
… but it takes days of dark wandering where time is lost among the tangle of twig and branch, and drips in slow motion from damp moss to fall and decay in the leaf litter, before we see Baba Yaga’s hut – or does it see us? It stands on a chicken leg or two, spins and stalks and turns its back. No matter. We’re not ready to enter. First there is the morbid fence of human long-bones and the twelve skulls. Fires flicker from hollow eyes as darkness falls. All is still, brooding. Waiting for us to find the words that will turn the hut to us. Then we enter. Trembling.
Join me and experience the power of Story and storytelling, the importance of opening and closing story-space, and build valuable insight into the theme.
I am a Storyteller and Social Artist. My background includes studies in visual art, storytelling, speech formation, and dramatic art (Europe), B.A. and B.A. hon. in creative writing, and a Ph.D. on storytelling and community building (Australia). This workshop is ‘experiential’, interactive and practical. It offers space for deep conversations about how and why storytelling empowers our imagination, and the many ways creativity and creative thinking encourage us to appreciate our lives as works of art.