THE BONE CAVE
Interactive online gatherings to reclaim the mythic feminine – with Dr Sharon Blackie
An old Samoyed saga tells of a hero who dies three times. Twice, he is brought back to life by an old man with one hand, one leg and one eye. The third time, the old man can’t save him, and so he gathers the hero’s bones into a bag and takes them to an old woman who lives deep in a cave. She is tended by bone-people; a monster guards her left side and another guards her right. The old woman burns the bones in her fire pit and sleeps on the ashes; three days later, the hero is restored to life.
Our ancestors descended into caves to listen to the whisperings of the Otherworld. From time to time, you’ll find me in residence in my own virtual Bone Cave, tending a fire pit around which you are all invited to gather. The Bone Cave is a place for entering into the mystery – for imagining and reimagining the world, and our own unique mythopoetic journey through it. We’ll gather together around our virtual fire pit at regular intervals through the year, and delve deeply into the myths and stories which can sing new life back onto the ashes of our depleted bones. We’ll come together to remember who we are, and who we someday might become.
The Bone Cave sessions are often focused around conversations about the mythic feminine, but all are welcome to join in.
HOW IT WORKS
Gatherings in The Bone Cave consist of virtual fire circles via Zoom, in a format which enables us to enjoy each other’s faces, and to break out into discussion groups to deepen our connections with other participants. We work with the rising feminine, and the mythic imagination. Gatherings can include story, poetry, teachings, participant discussion groups, dance and creative prompts. Please find details of upcoming gatherings below.
Recordings of earlier session are now available; purchase for £25 each by clicking on the individual gathering modules below, or purchase a bundle of all 8 sessions for just £120 by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.
Please keep an eye out in my newsletter and on social media to keep up to date with future Bone Cave events.
Upcoming gatherings
FINDING OURSELVES IN FAIRY TALES
Sunday June 11, 18 and 25, 2023
16.00 to 18.00 UK time
We are storytelling animals, hard-wired for story. We begin to make sense of the world through the stories we find in childhood – or the stories which find us. They are the stars we navigate by, and their lessons are deep and rich. They help us to reimagine ourselves, because at the heart of them is transformation: they help us to believe in the possibility of change. We come to see that there are other ways of imagining the world and our place in it – and of living more intensely, and more richly, in a world that is often filled with challenge, and sorrow. Join me to explore the ways in which, even as adults, we can find ourselves in fairy tales.
Purchase recordings
You can browse and purchase individual Bone Cave sessions in the section below; there are 8 of them, and they’re available for £25 each. Alternatively, scroll down to purchase a bundle to view all 8 of them for just £120 – a saving of £80.
Brigid and the return of the light
RECORDED EVENT (January 2021)
As the old Gaelic festival of Imbolc approaches, we’ll explore the mythology of the old Celtic goddess and early Christian saint, Brigid. We’ll uncover her association with the perpetual fire, and her relationship to the archetypes of the Smith, the Poet, and the Green Woman. What inspiration can she offer at this time of the return of the light?
THE HOLY LONGING
RECORDED EVENT (February 2021)
Ancient European traditions tell us that each of us came to this life with what the poet Goethe called a ‘holy longing’: an urgent calling, a personal gift, a unique image which we carry with us, like a necessary candle, to illuminate this world at this challenging time. In this gathering, we’ll explore the ways in which we might uncover and harness that holy longing inside. We’ll ask ourselves what it means to be a modern mystic, and explore the mythology of Sophia, the personification of Wisdom and the anima mundi.
Reclaiming the dark feminine
RECORDED EVENT (March 2021)
The rich, multi-faceted face of the dark feminine has long been consigned to the shadows by an over-culture which insists that its women should be ‘nice’. How do we unlock the closet door and embrace the wild, the wrathful, the cthonic in our nature? We’ll work with the stories of Lilith, Hel, Hecate and the Morrígan to explore the transformative power of the dark feminine.
a psyche the size of earth
RECORDED EVENT (September 2021)
The roots of our ancient traditions are anchored in the land, and the land is our greatest teacher. In this workshop, we’ll work with the ways in which we can court and embed ourselves in the psyche of this beautiful animate earth.
The Cave of Dreams
RECORDED EVENT (December 2021)
As we approach the darkest days of the year, we’ll gather together in a nurturing virtual circle to attune ourselves to this powerfully transformative time. We’ll explore stories and archetypes which show us the transformative potential of time spent in the cave – from the dreaming to the oracular.
PURCHASE THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT
the mystery of the grail
RECORDED EVENT (February 2022)
What do the myths and legends of the Grail tell us what our ancestors believed about the meaning of life, and the underlying order of the cosmos? The old stories which form the mystery of the Grail represent a foundational mythology of Britain. Join me to delve into them, and to meet the magical, powerful women who were messengers and keepers of the Grail.
women of the islands
RECORDED EVENT (April 2022)
In the oldest British mythology, stories of islands where women live alone together, rule, or tend sacred places, are abundant. And the ‘real’ islands of, and around, Britain were once seen as a bastion of female power by travellers in Classical Europe. In this gathering, we’ll explore those stories, and the reasons why the idea of a safe island paradise, free of the patriarchy, resonates so strongly with women today.
the women of the Mabinogion
RECORDED EVENT (June 2022)
With Sharon Blackie and Angharad Wynne
The magical tales of The Mabinogion constitute our earliest British prose stories, and are constructed around the few fragments of pre-Christian myth and folklore which remain to us. Join us, to explore the Otherworldly stories of Rhiannon, Branwen, Blodeuwedd and Arianrhod.
PURCHASE THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT
Purchase a bundle of all 8 individual Bone Cave sessions
Please note that this bundle includes the eight single-session gatherings only; it does not include the new three-session ‘Finding Ourselves in Fairy Tales’.
free gatherings
IF WOMEN ROSE ROOTED: RECLAIMING THE MYTHIC FEMININE
My first event in the Bone Cave was a free live webinar based on my book, If Women Rose Rooted. I spoke about the process of writing it, how the inspiration came about, but most of all, how my ideas on reclaiming the mythic feminine have progressed in the intervening four or more years. There was also a chance for participants to ‘ask me anything’ about any issue related to the book.
This live event took place on 12 December, 2020, but you can watch the recording at this link.
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