Episode 19

When Tides Rise, Build Your Own Boat: Cessair’s Arrival in Ireland | S5 Ep19

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Our Story

Ireland doesn’t have a creation story, but it does have Lebor Gabála Érenn, the Book of Invasions. The first "invasion" was led by Cessair, a granddaughter of Noah who took her own boat to Ireland to avoid that great Biblical flood.

Our Guest

Carmen Schreffler is a marketing consultant who works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs. She gives entrepreneurs the tools to cultivate rich and diverse ecosystems where they can thrive. She believes in connecting with your natural gifts—intuition, curiosity, and discernment—to guide the creation of a sustainable business that meets your needs and goals. 

Join Carmen on Substack for inspiration on weaving the threads of your life and business into a thriving ecosystem: https://wildpreneur.substack.com/

Instagram @carmenschreffler 

Our Conversation

  • This conversation was recorded in March, 2023.
  • What stories get told and passed on. What makes a myth “real”? Who are the “winners of culture”? Which parts of civilization, culture are we meant to rewrite and rewild? Rather than tearing down the master’s house, what if we are meant to build a new boat? Is technology, including artificial intelligence “the next flood”?
  • What’s the source of this story? Scholars say it was conceived to further Ireland’s desire to establish Christianity and a Biblical pedigree, but the myth may have been rooted into something much older: an older goddess or memory of the floods that would have come with the end of the last ice age. 
  • The power of sharing your unique story and art and bringing it through your unique lens in this age of ChatGPT and AI, as entrepreneurs and creatives.
  • The work of Mary Reynolds, a “recovering landscape designer,” and author of We Are the Ark. Her work of Acts of Restorative Kindness in order to live in relationship with the earth.
  • Article in the New Yorker, The End of the English Major: liberal arts as a way into so many different ways of knowing.
  • Carmen’s guiding principle, a quote from Yogi Amrit Desai: “We exist in perpetual creative response.” We remain open minded and open to the moment without judgment and move forward from that place.
  • Marisa’s inventions: the reason Cessair and family were not included on the Ark and her meeting with the trinity of goddesses who gave Ireland its name: Éiru, Banba and Fódla.

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.com
  • Learn about group writing opportunities: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups
  • Find more of Marisa's writing and get a copy of her book, The Sovereignty Knot: www.marisagoudy.com

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About the Podcast

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KnotWork Storytelling
Myths Retold, from Ireland and Beyond

About your host

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Marisa Goudy

Marisa Goudy is a story healer, a writing coach, and a word witch. Her book, The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman’s Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic, was released in 2020.
Marisa nurtures writers and storytellers in her long-running online writing community, the Sovereign Writers’ Knot.
On this show, Marisa combines her passion for story with her love of Irish literature, culture, and folklore and her fascination with the Celtic world. She has a particular love of stories of heroines, goddess, and women whose tales were forgotten by history.

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