January 31st - April 3, 2024
There are stories from cultures all around the world of women who marry bears. The common theme is a marriage between a human woman and the other-than-human world…
When the natural world is diminishing at the hands of greed, when war is breaking us open…. how might weaving one’s life into myths be a form of resistance in times like these? What guidance might an indigenous folktale have for our personal lives and collective culture?
Myths and folktales carry in their spirit-bones the whispers of an alternative current of being from the fast-paced, isolated, striving rush of modernity.
They nudge us forward, back to an ancient, nearly forgotten relationship with the other-than-human worlds, and they carry us on their furred backs to our own personal center, helping us decolonize our bodies and minds from foreign agendas which are not our own so that we can return to our own true, living story.
“The spirit of Bear is awakening.
The Heart Hears
with some Strange Ear.”
— Irma Heiskanen
Art by Andreas Lie
In this series of seven gatherings, we will journey through the darkness of winter with myths and folktales to help us listen to the ways Spirit is guiding us in our personal lives and in collective culture.
Under the overarching Siberian folktale of the woman who married a bear, we will be like bear entering into the den of dreamtime for winter, journeying across three months with myths and folktales, pre-patriarchal histories, poetry, folklore, imagination journeying, creative writing, and spirit- and land-practices. Optional take-home exercises will be offered such as land-connection practices, creative writing, readings, and a self-facilitated land-vigil.
The intention is that we emerge back into the light of spring with an enriched imagination, and a deepened relationship with our inner life, the other-than-human world, and the land where we live.
This journey is for you if you:
want to open yourself to the Invisible within the land
love myths and folktales
want to experience more depth & meaning in your life
want to deepen your relationship with the land where you live
want to be guided by myth into the dreamtime for winter
are seeking inspiration in your creative process
want to feed your imagination and open to its spiritual value
want to open to the voices of the sacred in tree, river, bear, and stone
are open to be guided by the stories & their mythic creatures in your personal life
are looking to be warmed by community throughout winter
want to be in relationship with winter through the timeless tradition of wintertime storytelling
“Hearing a story awakens the mythic story living in each of us. It places us in a “mythic condition” that reconnects us to the core imagination and living story at the center of our soul. Being touched by myth carries us to the center where the world is always ending and always beginning again.”
— Michael Meade
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The Journey: Syllabus & Stories
Gatherings will be recorded for those who are unable to attend live.
Opening Story//
The Woman Who Married a Bear
The Otherworld. The power of myth. Imagination as the meeting place of spirit. Meeting the Bear Goddess & the King of the Forest. Shamanic bear folklore across the world. The woman who married a bear story. (art by Helena Junttila)
Gathering One// The Strange Ache
The Wyrd, The Tree of Life, and the Well of Memory (Nordic). Remembrance as Resistance. Meeting the Old Spinning Goddess(es) and the First Witch.
Gathering Two// Into the Deep Woods
Princess Cottongrass and Long-legged Leap (Swedish). The Fylgja. Entering the ‘mundus imaginalis’, Imaginal World, and meeting the dreaming soul.
Gathering Three// Drinking Bear Fat
Meeting the She-Bear, the totemic ancient mother. A pre-patriarchal spirituality of the ancient foremothers. Enji, the spiritual power of animals and women. Creative incubation practice.
Gathering Four// Participating with the Wild
The Curing Fox (Cree). Relationship with place & recovering participatory consciousness. Father Bear and the Green Daughter of the Forest Spirit. Original Instructions. (art by Jackie Morris)
Gathering Five// Hearing the Invisible
Vasilisa the Wise (Russian). The guiding presence and power of the Unseen. The hills have eyes. Útiseta, waking the well, and other oracular land-based traditions. Land Vigil practice.
Gathering Six// Returning to the Village with a Bear-eared Child
Another Woman Who Married a Bear Story (art by Dorrie Joy)
(Syllabus and stories subject to change and evolve)
A huge thank you to Kaarina Kailo for her collection and research on intercultural women and bear mythos which was the primary research foundation of this program. Also thank you to Nao Sims & Sylvia Linsteadt whose bear wife -dance & -writing classes were the spark of inspiration for this journey.
“Having an amazing group of women to go on this journey with, listening to mythic stories gave me a lens to understand my self and my life in a way that is so healing for me… and having the support of Brielle as my coach to coach through some of the most difficult processes that came up. Brielle has a gift as a coach and she brings that empathy and deep listening into her facilitation. I have found her guided visualizations to be particularly healing.” ~Rachel
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Gathering Dates // Winter 2024
January 31st - April 3, 2024
Wednesdays 5-7 pm ET »» click here for your timezone
All gatherings held online on Zoom and recorded.
free storytelling: January 17th (recorded)
January 31st
February 7
February 21
March 6
March 20
April 3
The journey includes:
six two-hour gatherings of myth, storytelling, imagination-practice and conversation
optional integration exercises such as land-connection practices, creative writing prompts, readings, and a self-facilitated half-day land vigil
an online Discord server for community connection and conversation between classes
recordings of classes which will be available online for 3-months after the class is complete.
Investment options:
Sliding Scale
$250/$350/$450
(With a limited number of lower scale spaces available for $250)
Payment plans available
Limited partial scholarships available for those who struggle to meet basic needs.
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Optional Story-Weaving (3 spaces available):
Weaving storytelling with my eight years of certified transformative coaching experience, we use the images of the stories as the entry-way and guiding force of your inner exploration and healing. You can read more about my coaching and schedule a free consult here if you’re interested in this option.
Registration closes on Sunday, January 28th.
Feedback from participants of previous storytelling journeys:
“I was on a journey to deepen my connection with myself and what my purpose in life is. I was looking for the next stage of guidance when I came across Brielle's story telling series. I was not navigating my relationships very well, more so just checking out of them. Since Brielle's course, I have been cultivating a deeper connection to myself as well as how to connect with the world around me…. The mythic qualities of the story telling really played my heart strings. It validated the reality in my heart that wanted to be seen but had mostly been denied by the outside world…. I appreciated how Brielle drops into her body and into her spiritual essence to receive each of us from this place of connectedness. I also like how she supports us where we are at and trusts in a higher power to help guide the process… This course was very well designed and a beautiful experience.” - Indya
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“I was just starting a new relationship and had just recently moved into my own new place to start a new chapter... Brielle through this program helped me harness my mythic self, and even consider what that means, and establish a relationship that feels like what my soul and home have wanted and didn't know how to create…. as time passes I keep coming back to my lessons from the program. I will be walking through a pool and think of myself as a mythic woman, moving strong and tall, loving my body.” - Kelly
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“Oh goodness... coaching with Brielle has truly been my lifesaver flotation device when I have felt like I was drowning. I gain so much insight from coaching sessions, and even though sometimes I need to coach about the same topic multiple times, I feel like I gain different perspectives and understandings every time. It has been a vital part of my healing journey.” - Rachel
About your facilitator
Brielle Elise Martinez, M.A. is a scholar of myth, writer, and transformative coach in private practice for eight years. Through curated storytelling journeys, creative writing salons, and transformative coaching, she helps women and men return to the otherworld in their bodies and the land through the language of imagination. Brielle completed post-graduate study in the Poetics of Imagination under the supervision of mythologist and storyteller Dr. Martin Shaw, and wrote her thesis on re-fleshing the deep feminine in culture through the language of imagination. She lives near tannin rivers and moss-hung hammocks of Timucuan lands known as North Florida.