the Bone-Keeper stories
An (un)Training
Some stories sleep in our marrow, waiting for an initiatory moment to stir them awake. These are the stories that cast a spell upon the teller’s tongue, that can save or destroy a world in the space between the once-upon-a-time and ever-after. These are the stories that sting us alive.
This is a 3-part (un)training for anyone who feels called to join. Together, we will name the old stories teacher, following the plotline of our own personal myths and allowing our own unique recipe of archetypal medicine to find us and mark us with our new secret name. We will become hag, mage, healer, and warrior-shepherd, inviting the stories to trouble us in just the right places. Each of the three levels includes an optional, facilitation component for those who feel called to guide this work for others at no additional cost. All participants are invited to build their “story collection,” a personal bundle of four stories that can crawl from their tongues as needed, that live and breathe as the participant’s most timely teachers.
May 6th, 2023 ~ Bone-Keeper Stories I: Embodied Storytelling and the Archetypal Brew
August 5th, 2023 ~ Bone-Keeper Stories II: Mythic Orientation, Deep Dreaming, and the Oracular Story
October 28th, 2023 ~ Bone-Keeper Stories III: The Seer, the Shadow, and the Story-Rich
RECOMMENDED MATERIALS FOR ALL Levels:
A sizeable journal you can dedicate to The Bone-Keeper Stories
A writing utensil
A pack of blank index cards (3x5 or 4x6)
(Totally) optional reading list for all levels:
Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales by Marie-Louise Von Fronz, The Genius Myth by Michael Meade, What Stories Are You Living? by Carol Pearson, Scatterlings by Martin Shaw, Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
to Note:
All is recorded for those who are unable to join live. Note that the “Join Live” links are different from the recording links. At the end of the meeting days, all “join live” links will be replaced here by the recording links. The password to join all live sessions is BoneKey (case-sensitive). In the event of technical difficulties, please email TheHagSchool@Gmail.Com.
The bone-keeper stories I: embodied storytelling and the archetypal brew
May 6th, 2023
11am ET- 12:30pm ET: The Storyteller’s Tongue
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session I ~
In this first, foundational session, participants will learn the three levels of meeting a story and naming it teacher and healer. Danielle will discuss the archetypal power inherent in a story, strange story mapping for the teller, and naming a story as both prayer and oracle. This first session essentially provides an overview of the full (un)training, reviews key (minimal) materials, and offers various pathways for incorporating the work into the participants’ personal and/or sacred work practice.
1pm ET-2:30pm ET: Embodied Stories as Initiation
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session II ~
In the second session, Danielle will offer practical techniques for working with initiatory story lanterns for personal growth and within circle-work containers for others. Participants will become familiar with 13 archetypes common in “wonder stories” and learn to share a medicinal tale- one that houses just the right amount of poison to become a healing salve- and wield it as a call to the Otherworld. This session also includes three practices that can be shared with others to orient them toward their own personal stories, including the Archetypal Imaging Practice, Bone-Story Inventory, and Mythic Memoir Map.
Templates for You:
~ Template I: Archetypal Imaging ~
~ Template II: Bone-Story Inventory ~
~ Template III: Mythic Memoir Map ~
Templates for Your People (Handouts for Circle-Work):
Other Resources Mentioned: Pathways to Bliss by Joseph Campbell, Cauldrons of Poesy by Eryn Rowan Laurie, Collected Version of Gold Tree and Silver Tree
Interim Work: There will be a few, optional invitations between Bone Stories I and Bone Stories II. The practices are for honing the storyteller’s ear, for finding the tales we are meant to tell, for naming the teller’s ecological position and reflecting on our own, personal “bone stories.” The interim practices are particularly essential for those who feel called to facilitate this work for others. The primary invitation of the interim work is to find the first two stories- a story for the east and south- to house inside their bundle, their four-story collection.
If you have any questions about the interim work, reach out to Danielle at Info@DanielleDulsky.Com and put “Bone-Keeper” in the subject line. Note she will be away from email June 20th-July 29th.
Bone-keeper stories II: mythic orientation, deep dreaming, and the oracular story
August 5th, 2023
11am ET- 12:30pm ET: The Mythic Image
Password: BoneKey
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session I ~
In the first session of Part II, participants will reflect on the mythic images that have marked them, where they are on their personal plotlines, how they are being oriented through strange synchronicities and otherworldly visions, and what omens are meeting them in both nature and the dreaming time. This session focuses on the story as oracle and storytelling as a divinatory act. Danielle will lead participants through an oracular story, inviting them to frame the imagery as the seer’s symbols, noticing what steps forward and calls for amplification.
Resources Mentioned: Sigil Tutorial (for center of oracle cards)
The Girl Without Hands (Collected Version of “The Handless Maiden”)
1pm ET-2:30pm ET: Mapping the Dream Story
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session II ~
Password: BoneKey
In the second session, we will dive deeper into dreams as our personal stories, into both dreams and stories as prophecy. This session focuses on the parallels between dreamwork and oracular storytelling, offering various levels of expression depending on the participant’s relationship to dreamwork. Participants will become familiar with the parallels between a dream, a spell, and a story, and learn to share a story of their choosing, naming it teacher for a time and reflecting on their “story richness.” Tools offered during Part II include templates and techniques for facilitating “oracular story” work.
Resources Mentioned: The Celtic Way of Seeing by Frank McKeowen, Time Loops by Eric Wargo, Books by Dr. Robert Moss
~ Template IV: The Mythic Image Wheel ~
~ Template V: The Mythic Image Oracle ~
Interim Work: As before, there will be a few, optional invitations between Bone Stories II and Bone Stories III. The interim practices are particularly essential for those who feel called to facilitate this work for others. The primary invitation before Part III of the program is to find two more stories- a story for the west and north- to house inside their story bundle.
bone-keeper stories III: The seer, the shadow, and the story-rich
October 28th, 2023
11am ET- 12:30pm ET: The Story-Collector’s Shadow
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session I ~
Password: BoneKey
In the first session of Part III, participants will move through “the poet’s shadow work” and reflect on their mythic orientation. We will review the work from Parts I and II, sharing our four-story collection and seeing what steps out of these tales and onto the altar.
For this session, please have your four stories, one for each of the four directions, as well as an object that represents each story (4 objects). These might be stones, seeds, pieces of jewelry, or anything small and meaningful to you. It’s best to be able to carry these objects. Lastly, please have a fifth and final object that you feel represents your identity as a storyteller. Ideally, these are objects that are not already dedicated to any other work.
Collected Version of Tatterhood
1pm ET-2:30pm ET: The Underworld and the Story-Rich Witch
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session II ~
Password: BoneKey
In the last session of the program, we will discuss pathways for continuing the work, for honing the storyteller’s discipline and naming where and how the world story meets our own stories. We will discuss binding stories to objects as a symbolic action, becoming myth-dweller as needed, and where the seer’s road crosses the storyteller’s road.