A story lantern illuminates what must be seen, and a mythic image is a wise, ancient teacher. The timeless tale of Deer-Woman Dreaming casts its golden glow upon our shapeshifting nature, our most elusive shadows, and the tension between relationship and sacred solitude.
In this mini-course, we name the myth of Deer-Woman an energetic container of wisdom. We name the imagery met through the story as oracle, and we engage in the divinatory practice of word-witchery, creating a personal system of divination from our kinship with the story. Each of the five lessons invites you to engage in introductory forms of mythic witchcraft, including word-witchery, mythic oracle deck crafting, and shadow work.
How to Move through This Course:
Some stories want to be brewed long and slow. Others want to be devoured quickly, their bones spat on the ground for someone else to find and gather. This is a self-paced course. You might move through one lesson each week or eat them all in one day. Begin by watching the introductory video here then decide how long your path will be to the course’s end:
~ Introduction ~
Lesson I: Deer-Woman Dreaming
Materials: A blank piece of paper NOT bound in a journal + writing utensil
In this first lesson, you will listen to the story of Deer-Woman and create a “word palette” from the story to use in subsequent lessons.
Lesson II: This, That, All
Materials: Journal + Writing Utensil
In the second lesson, we will discuss the three layers of relationship to story, writing a mini-memoir and divining what must be known from our own words.
Mini-Memoir Prompts:
First, name three “unanswerable questions:”
Your first question is the “selfish question.” It’s just about you, your sacred work, your art, and/or your identity. An example might be: When will I finally finish that book of poetry I’ve been writing? Or When will I finally be able to move?
The second question is about “shadow,” who you are not, what you despise about the world or the over-culture. An example might be: What lessons can the shadow teach me? Or Why does (insert a personality trait that disgusts you here) bother me so much?
The third question is about the world story. An example might be: Will humanity survive this? Or What will the outcome of this global initiation be?
Once in a time that was and was not, there lived an innocent, a wild child who…
They were pristine in their wildness, unbroken by…
In time, a shadow fell upon their world, a shadow cast by…
Until they faced the shadow in that moment, they had not realized how…
Struck by fate’s wand, the innocent became…
Left unprotected, the innocent shapeshifted into…
They learned the ways of the wiser wilds then, taking on a new language of…
Soon, wildness was no longer…
Truth was…
Truth was not…
So long had they been gone, but the return to the original shape was a homecoming like no other, an initiation into…
At long last, they had become…
Lesson III: Mythic Image Teachers
Materials: Journal + Writing Utensil + 20 blank index cards (3x5 or 4x6)
The third lesson in this mini-course explores how mythic imagery can be the best medicine, how a single mythic image can show us what we must see.
Myth Teacher I: Deer-Woman Dreaming
Myth Teacher II: The Shadow in the Hazel Wood
Myth Teacher III: Hunters Kneeling before Innocence
Myth Teacher IV: Return to the Wilds
Lesson IV: Deer-Woman’s Oracle
Materials: See the materials from Lesson III.
In the fourth lesson, we will create an oracle deck sourced from the hallowed ground between the story’s imagery and our own memories.
Full List of Card Prompts:
Deer Woman Dreaming
Shadow in the Hazel Wood
Hunters Kneeling before Innocence
Return to the Wilds
The Mountain Stream
The Shapeshifter’s Forest
The Herd of Grandmothers
The Lover
The Mage
The Wild Child
The Castle Made of Bone
The Last Battle
The Initiation
Lesson V: The Shapeshifter’s Threshold
Lastly, in the final lesson, you will create your own ritual of threshold-crossing, of coming closer to the “original wild,” of affirming the holiness of innocence and the merit of stubborn hope. The final lesson concludes with a reflection on the course and opportunities for going deeper into the practice of mythic witchcraft.
Prompts for Threshold Crossing Ritual: Source some of the language from your word palette.
I am… (Name of “wise self”)
I am leaving behind…
I am no longer…
There are names I am shedding like snakeskin, names of…
I am becoming…
I am becoming…
I am becoming…
I am… (Name of “wise self”)
NOTES:
This is not a facilitated course.
To work more closely with Danielle, check out the Witches’ Bundle through The Hag School or her upcoming writing intensive.