The Hero's Writing Journey
(And other Journeys) THWJ STARTS 25TH SEPTEMBER
Somehow, I got lost in time. And other things. 2025 has been full of shocks. Everything came to a halt as I was completing the novel I’m working on– The Curse of Melusine, set in 12th century France and England– the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s incarceration by Henry II Plantagenet, the story of a dysfunctional family with a curse it can’t shrug.
I’m re-emerging. So, the Hero’s Journey for Writers will start just after the Equinox, as we slide into the autumn and the leaves are spinning off the trees. The Hero’s Journey will start on September 25th, for 8 weeks on Thursdays, 7-9pm. I’m also teaching Creative Writing in BIFE college, Bray, Co. Wicklow from mid-September.
What my workshops are about-
SEE UNDER THE HERO’S JOURNEY FOR THAT COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SEE THE END OF THE BLOG FOR BOOKING DETAILS
I provide a safe, intensely creative space using a method I developed called Creative Meditation to break down the barriers between the conscious and the subconscious mind. This helps the participant deliver vibrant, authentic writing. I work in person and on Zoom, so anybody can attend, anywhere in the world. I am developing these workshops as online courses, but I give regular workshops in independent venues in person.
All the stories are there, waiting to be excavated, as Stephen King puts it in ‘On Writing’. Hidden fossils. Writing is a powerful act. I can help you write them.
Anything can inspire you to write. A pair of shoes, a castle, a journey, your grandmother, your tortoise.
“If you do not breath through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write. Because our culture has no use for it.” Anaïs Nin
WRITING WORKSHOPS
I work in person and on Zoom, so anybody can attend, anywhere in the world. I am developing these workshops as online courses, but give workshops in independent venues in person.
Here are some of the other workshop series that I teach:-
PENCRAFT workshops help the writer to hone their skill, forge the raw material they have into prose that works, with their own voice and hallmark. The rest is the continual polishing of the nuts and bolts, so that the surface shines and the reader falls into, as John Gardner puts it ‘the continuous dream’.
THE HERO’S JOURNEY workshops use Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth, a narrative structure ideally suited to screen writing and novel writing, but also adaptable for personal reflection and memoir writing. I use Creative Meditation and Myth to elicit authentic writing.
There are many heroes, and they have each had their Call to Adventure, and crossed the Threshold: Gilgamesh, Don Quixote, Luke Skywalker, Dorothy, Athena and Bilbo Baggins. Each of them has the same path, the same Trials, the same Dragons to face, no matter what form they take. They each invoke the archetypal journey, the Monomyth, the Hero’s Journey. Each returns with a gift for the world they left before they underwent the profound Trials that transformed them from what they were before what they became. What is it like to return from a Hero’s Journey? We all know it, the final stage-The Master of the Two Worlds, in which the Hero has received the Ultimate Boon, crosses the Return Threshold, and must find their way back to the Ordinary World, keeping a balance between that and the Special World.
Oh, the return. We all know what it’s like to return from an amazing adventure, and with photos in tow, we attempt to convince friends and family that THIS is the place to go, and please, oh please listen to me recount every detail of what happened. NO! They say. I DO NOT HAVE TIME. And why do they not have time? Apart from being envious, they may also be threatened by you, an emissary of another spatio- temporal reality that… actually has nothing at all to do with theirs. Or so they think. And isn’t it excruciating when the Returnee is particularly good at photography, and inflicts you with a slide show? Ho, ho!
But the thing is, it was just the same for Jesus, and for Buddha, and for Mohammed. And the same for Rip Van Winkel, and poor old Gulliver, who returned, sadly, empty handed and with nothing but their tales to tell, at the end of their extraordinary cavortings. Gulliver was deemed mad by the Royal Geographic Society, after recounting his tales of Lilliput, Laputa and the Land of Houyhnhnms. (Houyhnhnms are a race of intelligent horses described in the last part of Jonathan Swift’s satirical Gulliver’s Travels). But this is how it is for every traveller, I believe.
“The Cave you fear to enter holds the Treasure you seek.” – Joseph Campbell
THE HEROINE’S JOURNEY is a dynamic exploration of aspects of the Feminine Journey through Creative Writing, Meditation and Mythology. Draws from the work of Maureen Murdock, Sharon Blackie, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung and Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
AWAY WITH THE FAERIES is an in-depth exploration of the Faery Tale. How to de-code them, how to understand what they mean, how to write your own faery tale. Exploring Perrault.
Most of my course run for 8-10 weeks and are taught in person and via Zoom. I am currently creating video courses that can be purchased as a package.
TESTIMONIALS
“I found this course to be extraordinary. I thought it would be useful to help me find a structure to the stories I write. It was much more, it was quite a personal journey; challenging, rewarding, inspirational. Siofra creates an atmosphere of such creativity, a safe space to write, a place where we could push past boundaries and self-doubt. After one session, I felt inspired to write at home, so I sat and wrote a short story called A Dance with Time. Subsequently, that story was longlisted for the Colm Tobin Short Story.” Zandra C, The Hero’s Journey
‘Siofra’s writing workshops are easily described as the emotional metamorphosis so many seek and can never find. hic sunt dracones, here be dragons, says the world, and “here be dragons, close your eyes and feel the calm…”, she says. Beautiful journey this was!’ Ishwari, Sri Lanka, The Hero’s Journey and the Heroine’s Journey
‘The Hero’s Journey in person was my first proper foray into writing, and was a wonderful journey into adventure. The second I attended The Heroine’s Journey online, over two years and pandemic later. It was such a rich experience I will be forever grateful. The places opened by Siofra’s gentle yet powerful guiding light are almost beyond words – and yet words come, and it is our duty to listen. It is alchemy in action. I will return for more once I am sure!’ Fiona, Greystones, The Heroines and The Hero’s Journey
‘I have taken many writing journeys with Siofra over the past number of years and I keep coming back for more because each time, I find new threads to explore in my own tapestry. siofra has a very special gift in being able to guide people towards their own deep, intuitive knowing, while allowing them the space to express their individual creativity. I highly recommend any of her writing courses. Enjoy the trip!’ Aine, Wicklow, The Hero’s Journey and the Heroine’s Journey
“I can’t speak highly enough of Siofra or the Heroine’s Journey course – salve for the soul I didn’t know I needed! It allowed space for a wonderful way to look at the world, one which never failed to land with surprise and delight (even when dark). It has borne me gently around and left me facing the other way – the way that I maybe needed to face all along – and always with lightness, laughter and a great deal of support, very lightly worn so you don’t even know it’s been there until later. Thank you Siofra!” Delia, The Heroine’s Journey, 2023
“Siofra’s writing course “Heroine’s Journey” opened up for me another world of metaphores, myths and stories that gave me language and symbols to write about my own inner process of re-connecting with my inner feminine. I love how the course was laid out, each step taking me deeper and closer to myself. The meditations that Siofra offered each week took me gently yet immidiately right into that place within where my head has no access. From there the words were just pouring onto pages effortlessly. I feel deep gratitude for this journey. ” M. Szpilka, The Heroine’s Journey
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” Anaïs Nin
I ALSO OFFER WRITING CONSULTANCY
Contact me for Writing Consultancy, Writing Workshop facilitation, Editing and Proofreading. Rates apply.
My writing workshops are not think tanks of criticism but crucibles of creativity where great ideas could, and have been born. Not everyone is a born writer, but everyone has a story.
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.”–Ernest Hemingway
Rates for Mentoring One to One:
€120 for 3,000 words of writing you are working on and for which you need guidance AND 60 minute Zoom Call or in Person Meeting with summary emailed!
(Please note I do not edit full manuscripts nor do I ghost write, but I can suggest options)
Mentoring Package:
€240 for 3×60 minute mentoring via Zoom Call or €300 for 3×60 minute mentoring and feedback on 3,000 words of your writing
One to One Creative Writing Blasts– workshops to get you going creatively for writers of any level. Using templates from my already established Creative Writing Workshops listed below– The Hero’s Journey, The Heroine’s Journey, Pencraft and Away with the Faeries
€65 for One-to-One Writing Workshop of your Choice (In person or Zoom Call)
€165 for x 3 One-to-One Writing Workshops
€300 for x 6 One-to-One Writing Workshops
COST AND BOOKING METHODS
In-person: Early Bird - Book by 10TH SEPTEMBER: 190 Euro
Full Price thereafter: €200
Online (via Zoom): €185
A NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT OF 80 EURO SECURES A PLACE
BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL TO SECURE A PLACE
FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE HERE: HERO'S
METHOD OF PAYMENT:
REVOLUT - PLEASE ENQUIRE
Paypal shisheb@gmail.com
BANK DETAILS:
IBAN: IE 49AIBK93348146339081 BICAIBKIE2D
Booking: Essential. The cost of the workshops must be paid in full prior to the workshops starting.