KnotWork Myth & Storytelling

Marisa Goudy
  • 5.0 (26)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
KnotWork Myth & Storytelling

On KnotWork, we explore the mythology and folklore of Ireland, and beyond. Episodes begin with a story, followed by a deep dive conversation about how this age-old tale still resonates today. Our guests include oral storytellers, writers, artists, musicians, and spiritual leaders. Occasionally, in our Myth Workers and Culture Makers series, our guest offers a song, a meditation, or another bit of creative magic. We talk about what it means to live a myth-inspired life. These conversations explore our relationship to land and to identity, particularly related to what it means to be Irish and a member of the Irish diaspora. Whether you’re drawn to Celtic culture or the mysteries that linger at ancient sacred sites, or whether you just like a good story and expansive conversation, you’re in the right place. Welcome. Fáilte. Your host is Marisa Goudy, author of The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman’s Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic. She is a myth worker, a story healer, a writing coach who lives on the lands of the Lenape people (New York’s Hudson Valley). She holds an MA in Irish literature from University College Dublin.

  1. 4H AGO

    The Children of Lir, Told by Ellen O'Malley Dunlop | S6 Ep10

    Please Support Our Show: Join us on Substack Love KnotWork Storytelling? Your financial contribution (via Substack) helps me pay the amazing team that puts this show together. With your paid subscription, you'll be invited to our next members only Myth Workers' Salon. Subscribe to our newsletter Myth Is Medicine. OUR STORY The old myth is well known: King Lir’s four children are turned into swans by their jealous stepmother Aoife. This retelling brings us deep into the motivations and nuances of an old Indo-European story that came to Ireland with the Normans in the 12th century. OUR GUEST Ellen is currently a member of the Council of Europe's Expert Group on Violence Against Women. She is a qualified psychotherapist and group analyst. She was CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre from 2006-2016.  She gained a wealth of experience in lobbying government, designing and commissioning research studies and overseeing and publicly presenting national awareness campaigns about sexual violence, including the highly successful #AskConsent campaign. Her interest in Mythology grew out of her work as a Jungian Psychotherapist, especially her dream analysis work with clients. For 30 years she and her husband Sandy Dunlop (S5 Ep6) have organized and run the Bard Summer School on Clare Island Co. Mayo where with the group of participants,  they explore the  contemporary relevance of one of the wonderful Irish Myths. Ellen is also Guardian Chieftain of the O'Malley Clan. Find out more about Ellen on Instagram @‌bardmythologies and https://bardmythologies.com/ OUR CONVERSATION Folks tend to recall this story as being lovely - "oh, the swans!" - but it’s really about abuse of power, abuse of children, and abuse of womenEllen’s translation work with Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, professor of Irish folklore at University College DublinTransforming the archetype of the “evil stepmother” and looking at all the archetypes present in this story.Her work as a Jungian psychotherapist who worked with clients’ dreams, which often called on mythic figuresThe Children of Lir sculpture by Oisín Kelly in the Garden of Remembrance, created to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1916 rising in Parnell Square GardenThe Magdalene Laundries, 1922 - 1996, where women were incarcerated for anything from perceived promiscuity to being considered a burden on their families or the State“There was no sex in Ireland until the Late Late Show”: the late night talk show hosted by Gay Byrne played a role in transforming Irish culture. The change within Ireland that came with Marriage Equality and Abortion Referendums. Ellen’s ancestor, the story of Grace O’Malley taught her that she could do whatever a man could do.  Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 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 www.marisagoudy.comLearn about our global writing communities, the Authors’ Knot and the

    50 min

  2. MAR 26

    A Woman’s Quest for Knowledge: Boan’s Tears by Ali Isaac | S6 Ep9

    Please Support Our Show: Join us on Substack Love KnotWork Storytelling? Your financial contribution (via Substack) helps me pay the amazing team that puts this show together. With your paid subscription, you'll be invited to our next members only Myth Workers' Salon. Subscribe to our newsletter Myth Is Medicine. OUR STORY The Irish goddess Boan has a sacred thirst for knowledge, and she is ready to claim her share. This classic story includes the sacred well with its salmon and hazelnuts, the good god Dadga and Aengus, the god of love, as well as the creation of the River Boyne and the Milky Way. OUR GUEST Ali Isaac lives in Ireland with her husband, two sons, and daughter, Carys. She graduated from Maynooth University as a (very) mature student in 2019 with a degree in English and History, with a Special Interest in Irish Cultural Heritage and followed this with a Master of Arts degree in English Literatures of Engagement.  BC (before children) Ali worked in retail management, with a short spell in the military. AD (after degrees) she worked as an education officer in her local county museum. But at heart, Ali is a writer. She has been blogging about Irish mythology since 2012, and now is the founder of H A G on Substack, a newsletter that braids female senescence with landscape - natural, archaeological, and mythical. Her writing has been published in Irish literary journals, The Stinging Fly, Sonder, Paper Lanterns, and Catatonic Daughters. In 2020, she was awarded a mentorship with author Sara Baume by Words Ireland in conjunction with The Arts Council of Ireland. In 2021, she was the recipient of a Literature Bursary Award from The Arts Council of Ireland. Her first book, Imperfect Bodies, will be published by Héloïse Press in March 2026. Fing Ali: H A G on Substack and on Instagram OUR CONVERSATION Ali has long been concerned with the way society seeks to control women, and she has a sense that “it’s all happening again,” particularly regarding the controversy over the removal of information about women’s contribution to STEM from the NASA website. At the same time, women are rising up and coming together, which is clear in the emergence of Brigid energy.The ravages of toxic masculinity and the craving for the beautiful care that is also part of the masculine. The power of Dagda’s love, and the way in which he was protective of women, holder of the cauldron Our past Bóinn stories by Laura Murphy Bóinn Re:membered and Brigid: Rebirth of the MotherA sense in Ireland that people want to move forward rather than look back. To many, the myths seem irrelevant, but that’s just further proof that we need to bring the stories back to the light.Boan is sometimes considered Ireland’s Eve because she reached for forbidden knowledge, but this story would have been told before Christianity came to Ireland. Her desire is older than that tree in Eden.The various elements that came together to inform Ali’s story of Boan including her thoughts about women’s power, as well as the willows and the waters of County Cavan. Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: a href="https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    43 min

  3. MAR 19

    Invocation of the Rebel Ma by Saoirse Connolly | S6 Ep8

    Please Support Our Show: Join us on Substack Love KnotWork Storytelling? Your financial contribution (via Substack) helps me pay the amazing team that puts this show together. With your paid subscription, you'll be invited to our next members only Myth Workers' Salon. Subscribe to our newsletter Myth Is Medicine. OUR STORY This week, another episode in our Myth Workers & Culture Makers series featuring an invocation of the divine feminine energy within all of us. Saoirse Connolly offers a blend of Irish language, Irish goddesses, and universal wisdom in service to the ancestors. OUR GUEST Saoirse Connolly is founder and CEO of House of Wild Publishing and the Rebel Ma Rising movement. Saoirse is a two time international bestselling author and publisher, women’s empowerment mentor, international facilitator, voice activator and dream liberator for revolutionary women here to change the world through their soul-led missions.  Made in Dublin, Ireland she now lives in Bali, Indonesia with her twin flame Darragh and two kids Fiadh and Bodhi.  You can also work with her 1:1 in her Liberated Woman mentorship program or come play at her annual Her Wild Feminine Leadership Retreat in Bali this July 31st to August 4th 2025.  Applications are now open to contribute a chapter in the third edition of her bestselling anthology book and collective healing project Rebel Ma - Leading in the Time of the Feminine - Women's Stories of Revolution - publishing in July 2025 with divine feminine art by the legendary Irish artist Dee Mulrooney.  Instagram: @sessionswithsaoirse or @rebelmarising, Substack, and at rebelmarising.com OUR CONVERSATION The way that goddesses associated with specific parts of the Irish landscape connect people from around the globeSaoirse’s own story of being born in Ireland, traveling to live in Australia and Bali, and how her travels have enabled her to come into relationship with her own culture in profound ways.Claiming our rites of passage as women. Her own journey through her days as a maiden, partying and caught up in corporate life, to becoming a mother and stepping into being of service in a new way. What happens when we remember we have thousands of ancestors rooting for usFollowing the yogic tradition, but seeking deities who were from her own lineageThe powerful influence of Jen Murphy’s work (hear her most recent KnotWork episode Fite Fuaite)Áine Tyrell, an Irish singer songwriter who has devoted herself to the indigenous people of AustrailaMother wisdom needs to rise up within all of us, regardless of gender, regardless of whether one has birthed children. The need for care in all ways right now. Rebel Ma and Saoirse anthology projects exist to uplift all women, but especially marginalized voices“You don’t want to die with the dance still in you” Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a spiritual memoir or wellness professional or a creative entrepreneur...

    43 min

  4. MAR 12

    Myths Are a Blueprint for Balance, A Cailleach Story for the Spring Equinox by Nicole Marie | S6 Ep7

    Please Support Our Show: Join us on Substack Love 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 STORY In time for the spring equinox, a story of the gods and goddess of Ireland, Tuatha De Danann and their land of eternal youth, Tír na nÓg. We meet the Cailleach who is marked by curiosity and a craving for change. For a time, she finds herself in a world where there is cold and death and grief.  Looking for a story of Saint Patrick on March 17? Check out S1 Ep8, The Unlikely Friendship of St Patrick and Oisín. OUR GUEST Nicole Marie is a ritual storyteller and facilitator in the United States and Europe. She learned the art of storytelling through her years in film and theatre and spending time on the mythic landscapes of Ireland and Norway. She was part of the ritual team of Lucid Dance in Berlin Germany where they curated ritual performances for the Wheel of the Year and led ceremonies for collective and personal transformations. Nicole is currently working at the Wilderness Awareness School where they teach nature connection to both youth and adults and she offers many rites of passage storytelling circles for the programs and community.  Check out Nicole’s Embodied Storytellers Podcast OUR CONVERSATION The power of relating myth to our own individual journey. What it means to feel your own internal Samhain (autumn/winter) even when the rest of the world might be wrapped in spring or summer. Nicole’s story of being in Ireland for the first Brigid’s holiday, surrounded by fiery, vivacious women, but she was in a different place, physically and energetically. Storytellers get their inspiration from everywhere - the land, personal story, the season of the year, academic sources, translations of the manuscripts, and contemporary creative work. Nicole’s story was inspired by Ellen Ryan’s Girls Who Slay Monsters Daring Tales of Ireland's Forgotten GoddessesThe complicated figure that is Patrick - he outlawed imbas forosnai, the druidic practice of connecting with the “inspiration that illuminates” and, he also gave us the beautiful nature poem, “The Deer’s Cry”  (also known as St Patrick’s Breastplate)Looking at masculine myths that need to be healed.The yearning to belong, and seeking cultural identity as a white American. Martin Shaw episode of Jawbone, HOW A STORYTELLER’S MADE: The Salmon, The Crocodile & The Selkie Sophie Strand’s new book, The Body Is a Doorway, a memoir about her own chronic illnessA closing ritual, and an invocation of the season, rooted in this story, calling on the elements of water and fire Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 Writing Coaching:...

    49 min

  5. MAR 5

    She Will Be Heard, Sheela Will Be Heard | S6 Ep6

    Please Support Our Show: Join us on Substack Love 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 STORY Did Saint Patrick have a wife? Irish folklore of the 18th and 19th centuries declared he did. Sheelah was celebrated on March 18, the day after Saint Paddy's Day. KnotWork host Marisa Goudy imagines a one-sided bedtime conversation between the couple. The story also weaves in two other women of the Celtic Otherworld - Cailleach and Sheela Na Gig. We released this story last year to offer an alternative narrative for Saint Patrick’s Day. This year, we ask this story to speak to International Women’s Day.  In 2025, it feels as if we need to mark a day that focuses attention on the unique needs of women, girls, and femmes as much as we ever have. And, that means that we also need symbols that inspire and empower us to claim and protect more than 50% of the population. We need to source our energy in divine feminine power - like that of the mysterious Sheela Na Gig. Who is Sheela Na Gig? We don’t really know, but hundreds of sculptures of a figure with a skeletal head holding her vulva open wide were set into the walls of churches and castles. Some claim she was apotropaic (intended to ward off evil spirits). Others decided she was a fertility charm. Now we see a sacred symbol of the twinned nature of death and rebirth. Special thanks to past guest Dee Mulrooney whose Instagram post “Free Síle” inspired me to return to this story. You’ll also hear a clip from future KnotWork episode with Ali Isaac.

    35 min

  6. FEB 26

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

    Please Support Our Show: Join us on Substack Love 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 STORY Saoirse 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 GUEST Erica 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 CONVERSATION A 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 Cailleach Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 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: a href="https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/www.marisagoudy.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    1h 1m

  7. FEB 19

    Bid the Unbiddable, a Story by Fiona Doris | S6 Ep4

    OUR STORY The story of a wild and wonderful girl named Bid, who was born of a long, powerful line of Brigids. Love, loss, and magic all woven together that becomes a song of Ireland itself.  Please Support Our Show: Join us on Substack Love 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 GUEST A self-described lapsed botanist, Fiona Doris is a mythologist and a storyteller. She is a member of the Bard Mythologies team, acting as a storyteller and facilitator since 2020.  Find Fiona on BlueSky: @fionadoris.bsky.social OUR CONVERSATION  In these dark times, we’re looking for answers, but it’s all there in the stories. It’s just a matter of remembering and telling them, not just in Ireland, but across cultures. The answers are in the land, when we connect to our roots.Cré na Cille by Máirtín Ó Cadhain, translated as Graveyard Clay - a 1949 novel that captures conversation between a number of the newly deadFiona’s story of discovering her father was a fluent Gaeilgeoir (Irish speaker)Botanist Diana Beresford-Kroeger’s work, To Speak for the Trees, the last to receive druidic trainingThe beauty of orality, and the tricky dance with written culture. The grandmother in the story, Biddy O’Leary embodied three great expressions of Irish women’s culture and magic: bean feasa, the wise woman; bean ghlúine, the handy woman or midwife; and bean chaointe, the keener.Fiona’s dream: revive the tradition of collecting folklore, as they did with the 1930s Schools’ Collection, and gather stories from every generationPeople are storied. The stories have always been there, and we mine them. The work is to get out of the way of the story, acting as a midwife.   Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com WORK WITH MARISA 1:1 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 creative community, The Writers’ Knot: www.marisagoudy.com/writers-knot-communityFind more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot: www.marisagoudy.com Follow the show on Substack, Instagram, and a...

    53 min

  8. FEB 12

    Maggie’s Doll by Dee Mulrooney | S6 Ep3

    Write with us! Join the Authors’ Knot Program Marisa is leading an intimate 10-month online writing program for thought leaders, memoirists, and heart-led visionaries working on a book or another “big project.” There are just two seats left! Registration closes February 10, 2025. Learn more about the Authors’ Knot. OUR STORY Dee Mulrooney tells an original story based on her own mother’s childhood in Dublin in the late 1940s.  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. 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.  OUR CONVERSATION A story about childhood based on a true story that speaks to all of us. Dee is the granddaughter of two midwives who also served as “death doulas.” Dee’s own art continues to explore these themes. Homosexuality was illegal in Ireland until 1993, and it would have been notable and even dangerous for “Uncle Billy” to come home from London with his partner in the 1940s. The pressure to have so many children “for Ireland” in de Valera’s Ireland in the midst of so much abuse and secrets. At the same time, women were coping with Infant mortality and the spectre of the Mother and Baby homes.This culture was captured in Small Things Like These, the book by Claire Keegan and the film with Cillian Murphy.Ownership and belonging in the sacred sense rather than the materialist senseBeginning in the 1930, the Irish social welfare system guaranteed a home - security of tenure - for all people, which would have transformed people’s lives, particularly for working class women. This changed within a generation, and the current housing crisis in Ireland is the worst it has ever been. Dee’s family lost their home in Dublin and she and her family emigrated to Berlin where collective housing arrangements are part of the culture. Issues of housing are connected to ancestral trauma, particularly the famine and evictions. Accepting and working with the grief that’s part of the experience diaspora. Time seems to stand still after you leave a place and the diaspora plays a vital role in preserving culture.We recorded this conversation on Nollaig na mBán, “women’s Christmas” which Dee celebrated by making a drawing for her mother-in-law based on a 1913 photograph of a young Galway woman who put on traditional garb for the picture.Something Dee brings through with her Growler work: “No one on this planet can claim ‘clean ancestry.’” We’re here to stand on the shoulders of ancestors, including the murderers and the genocidal maniacs. Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: a href="https://www.knotworkstorytelling.com/episode/billyandbeth.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    58 min
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5
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

On KnotWork, we explore the mythology and folklore of Ireland, and beyond. Episodes begin with a story, followed by a deep dive conversation about how this age-old tale still resonates today. Our guests include oral storytellers, writers, artists, musicians, and spiritual leaders. Occasionally, in our Myth Workers and Culture Makers series, our guest offers a song, a meditation, or another bit of creative magic. We talk about what it means to live a myth-inspired life. These conversations explore our relationship to land and to identity, particularly related to what it means to be Irish and a member of the Irish diaspora. Whether you’re drawn to Celtic culture or the mysteries that linger at ancient sacred sites, or whether you just like a good story and expansive conversation, you’re in the right place. Welcome. Fáilte. Your host is Marisa Goudy, author of The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman’s Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic. She is a myth worker, a story healer, a writing coach who lives on the lands of the Lenape people (New York’s Hudson Valley). She holds an MA in Irish literature from University College Dublin.

Information

  • Creator
    Marisa Goudy
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    88
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Marisa Goudy
  • Show Website
    KnotWork Myth & Storytelling

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