WORKSHOPS OPEN TO ALL LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE IN CREATIVE WRITING
VIA ZOOM WITH RECORDINGS AND MATERIALS AND IN PERSON
“Under their apparent diversity, the great myths of humanity present us with the same map of yearnings and fears that every human being experiences on the way to self-discovery. The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development. It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.”
- Christopher Vogler. The Writer's Journey
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
“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
WHAT IS THE HERO'S JOURNEY ALL ABOUT?
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.
COST AND BOOKING METHODS
In-person: Early Bird - Book by 20th AUGUST: 190 Euro
Full Price thereafter: €200
Online (via Zoom): €185
A NONE REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT OF 80 EURO SECURES A PLACE
AND DOES NOT GUARANTEEE EARLY BIRD PRICE UNLESS PAID IN FULL BY 20TH MARCH
