I met Laura on the night of the first firefly.
The moment she saw me, she declared I was a woman of the Tuatha De Dannan.
Ok, so that was probably the greatest way I’ve ever been greeted in my entire life. But in all the moments beyond that, it was immediately clear: Laura is every bit the seer-poet she appears to be on the screen. She weaves the mystery with every paragraph she speaks and so clearly lives the imbas forosnai as she moves through the world.
And she embodies this pure and potent mix of magic, wonder, and love that just lights up the whole circle.
We shared a bench around the Summer Solstice fire on a perfect upstate New York night. I realized I was sitting too close to her, but I lost track of my own edges in my ecstatic disbelief that Laura, a woman I’ve come to know as soul sister who I met in the ethers of Instagram, was here.
And, this week, Laura Murphy is back on the KnotWork Storytelling Podcast
Laura has taken us through the portal twice already, with Bóinn Re:membered and Brigid: Birth of the Mother. These re-envisionings of Irish goddesses have been amongst the most popular episodes on the show.
And now, we complete the trilogy with Danu: Rise of the Mother.
This is an initiation story. You’ll hear the story of a young girl’s meeting with the Ban Draoí (the Irish phrase for woman druid, healer, priestess, and initiate of the Earth mysteries). The girl enters into deepest inner knowing and has access to the Mystery. When it is clear that the great truths can come through her, the girl is invited to receive the initiatory Rites of Danu, the Great Mother Goddess from the Irish tradition.
This is also a creation story. One of the great mysteries of Irish mythology is the lack of a native creation story. Such stories are at the core of most mythologies from around the world. We’re left with questions about what the ancestors believed. Why was the origin story forgotten? Or, perhaps we should ask, why was it eliminated?
Laura’s imbas tale births a new creation story that weaves the wisdom of this land we call Ireland together with a cosmic wisdom of the Mother of All Things named in this story: Danu.
As my friend
described it, KnotWork is not a show you can listen to with “NPR ears.”Laura’s stories are the opposite of quick and easy news bites. Instead, they are transmissions.
It’s my hope you can settle in with a cup of tea and your favorite afghan your Nanna knit or lie in a patch of gentle sun with a lavender eye pillow and really steep yourself in this visionary experience.
About our Storyteller, Laura Murphy
Laura Murphy is a poet, activist and healer from Ireland whose work centers around the ancient Irish poetic practice of Imbas Forosnai. The filí (seer-poets) of pre-Christian Ireland used this practice to bring healing to society and truth to power. Though Imbas Forosnai was central to how ancient Irish society functioned and flourished, it was banned by St. Patrick and all but written out of history.
Since having a spontaneous experience of Imbas Forosnai in 2013, Laura has been working towards reviving this practice within a culturally relevant, modern context.
Laura’s Imbas-infused work has been featured in the Abbey Theatre’s critically acclaimed “HOME: Part One,” Herstory Light Shows, TG4’s “Imeall” and RTÉ documentary ‘Finding Brigid’. Laura was the inaugural Poet in Residence at Herstory, the movement illuminating female role-models, she was a key player in the campaign to make Brigid’s Day a national holiday in Ireland and is an advocate for Mother and Baby Home survivors.
Laura’s List of References for “Words Woven and Inspiration”
Book of Genesis
Gospel of John
Dao De Jing
Great Mother Goddess of the Celts by Yuri Leitch (YouTube)
The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends by Peter Berresford Ellis
The Spiral of Memory and Belonging by Frank McEowen
Dreamtime by John Moriarty
Ever Ancient, Ever New by Dolores Whelan
Poetics of Possibility by John O’ Donohue
The Candle of Vision by AE
“Long Legged Fly” – W.B. Yeats
Medicine From the Story Healer
I’m trying out something new as I continue on my quest to integrate all my callings and roles as myth worker, story healer, and writing coach. Leave me a note in the comments if you find this new segment helpful!
Can you find the courage to remove a foundational truth from your final draft?
“But that’s why I wrote the story.”
I’ve heard so many clients say a variation of these very words.
You sit down to the page to explore a family story, or re-mythologize an ancient tale, or offer a new twist on the topic everyone is buzzing about.
You begin somewhere near the beginning - be it chronologically, the core of the problem, or at the genesis of the idea itself.
And then you venture farther and deeper, adding nuance and reaching a conclusion. In all the revisions and rewrites of the ideas that follow, that original nugget of story survives. It’s there on the page because it’s true and because it’s dear to you. That first bit you wrote starts to feel like the sacred tablet upon which the whole piece rests.
But is it still necessary?
As we write and edit and rework and rearrange, an idea has the opportunity to transform. The caterpillar → metamorphic goo → butterfly process we dedicated creatives know so well.
Sometimes, when the gorgeous winged creature is ready to fly, it still has caterpillar dust clinging to its legs. The butterfly of story can’t get off the ground when it’s laden with words all weighted with original intention.
Next time you prepare to release a story or an essay (this works for poems and marketing emails, too) look for the very first idea you put on paper.
Does it still need to be there, as written? Or, does the rest of the piece manage to synthesize this first thought so effectively that those primary sentences and your initial “why” could be released so your real message can truly fly?
If you’re a writer or could-be writer and would like to talk about your project, I invite you to learn more about my work as a writing coach and story healer.
One Last Thing: An In-Person Event on October 21!
Time to slip into my Word Witch robes!
I’ll be returning to Moss and Moonlight Sanctuary for the Healing Arts in Hopewell Junction, NY for a Samhain Day Retreat.
I’ll be leading the Celtic Storytelling Circle and weaving the tale of Mongfind, the Irish Sovereignty Goddess-Queen-Witch who was celebrated by “women and the rabble” on Samhain.
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Thank you both, Laura and Marisa, so so much for sharing this powerful, enlightening story of Danu! I am grateful for the link the Tuatha De Dannan are between the Earth and Stars that you spoke of. As you explained how imbas is not merely of the past, but can guide poets today to unearth buried mysteries, I was reminded of stories of seeds becoming domesticated, seemingly losing their wild colors and shapes, but when the right moment arose, the domesticated ones began to birth wild children. Heirloom seeds thought to be extinct are re-emerging under the love and care of farmers who seek to honor them by planting them with the old songs and practices, however fragmented by colonization. The seeds feel the love and intentions, and are beginning to re-wild themselves. I see no difference with the people, the poets who “follow their dawn.” Thank you for following yours, and encouraging others to follow theirs. 🙏🏻
Just looked up Hopewell Junction. Only two hours from NYC!