***If you would like to purchase the recording of this event and obtain a copy of the writing prompts we used to explore the story, reach out to me at Innerlightasheville@gmail.com—the price is proof of your chosen donation to BeLoved Asheville.

“Without stories, we lack the cosmos that keeps us in touch with the universal reality. Without stories, we have no way to recollect ourselves when our personal world shatters. The “once upon a time” world of the fairy tale is the spaceless, timeless world of the soul. The ancient stories with their stark storylines map the many inner paths toward wholeness.”

-Marion Woodman

Halloween—Samhain—All Soul’s—is a powerful time of taking on new identities, trying on different shapes, and feeling into all of the losses we have sustained over the course of this year. When we wear the costume of the Princess, the Monster, the Superhero, we shapeshift a little into those qualities, and find them in ourselves.

This Samhain, I will be telling the fairytale Allerleirauh. This bleak story carries themes of betrayal, intrusion, transformation, and coming back to the truth of the self after terrible loss. This telling will interweave stories carrying similar themes from other times and places, as well as music and poetry.

This telling will be a little different than the others. Many of us are in mourning after Helene, and we will try to tell this story as a ritual we carry together, a ritual for weaving ourselves together and forward. I invite anyone, near and far, to join in—if you can’t attend live, register anyway, I’ll send you the recording and the journal prompts. Let’s cast the web of support far and wide.

For those of you attending in person, please bring a candle, a journal or something to write in, and any blankets or pillows you need to feel comfortable. I’ll have warm tea and perhaps mulled cider. You’ll be invited to share in some quiet writing to harvest what the story offered you, and then to engage in conversation regarding the themes and meaning of the story as we heard it. I’ll offer journal prompts and questions to assist you in finding your own connections with the story. There is no pressure to participate and it is fine just to listen and absorb.

Some people listen to the stories in person, here in my Asheville office, and others gather from around the world via GoogleMeet. Wherever you are in the world, I would love to share story with you. The more people join in from across the world, the more resources we will be able to funnel to those in our community who most need it in the wake of this terrible storm.

All proceeds from your donations will go to BeLoved Asheville, a community organization that has been caring for those most impacted by Helene here in Asheville and surrounding areas from day one.

Attendance is pay-what-you-can (suggested donation $20 to $40, but each participant is trusted to find the right amount. No one will be turned away). If you have been directly impacted by the hurricane, show up! Your presence is your donation.

Register by sending your chosen donation to either Paypal or Venmo with Allerleirauh as the subject. Please please make sure that you also provide your email address (as a comment, or as part of the subject line) so I can be sure to send you further details about the event.

Financial transparency: I do not pay myself for these events. All funds gathered go directly to the beneficiary. There are two reasons I ask you to send the donations to me rather than directly to the beneficiary: 1) When I send all of our donations together, after we have experienced the story, I have a sense of building relationship between all of us, the story, and the cause we are supporting. That feels amazing. 2) When I send the donations under my name, I can deduct those donations from my participation in taxes that fund war. That also feels amazing.

When I receive your registration, I’ll send you the link for the gathering if you are attending online and provide further details via email.

REGISTER WITH VENMO - choose your rate

REGISTER WITH PAYPAL - choose your rate

More about this project:

There are times lately that I have felt hopeless in the face of war, climate change, and human cruelty. I have learned, through my work and through the wisdom of my clients, that sometimes we are too small to hold sorrows this big. But when we let our sorrows rest on the broad back of a very old story, often, through the story, we can find the beginnings of a way forward.

So I turned to some of my favorite stories with my hopelessness and I listened. This is the project that emerged:

Over the course of 2024, I plan to tell eight stories, one for each of the equinoxes and solstices and the cross-quarter days in between. I plan to align each story with the season of its telling, and to gather donations that we as a community will offer back to the living world.

Three, as we know from fairy tales, is a powerful number. It’s usually the number of attempts it takes to get something right, and often it’s the number of magical tools or skills necessary to overcome the challenge at hand.

With this offering, I am hoping to build community in three ways:

Community between you and the story, which has things to tell you that I know nothing of.

 Community between you, me, and the others gathered to hear the story, and the way the story weaves itself into the seasons of our year as a rich, shared metaphor.

Community between our little gathering and the wider world, as our donations weave us and our intentions into the fabric of the planet.

May we, by resting our sorrows on the broad backs of old stories, build a sense of community together, and alchemize hopelessness into loving action.