The Mythopoetic Approach to Trauma Healing

"Returning Home” by Sheila McInnes

A Longing for Wholeness

We make sense of who we are through our stories. When we piece together the story of who we are, it helps us find an anchor for ourselves in the world.

Sometimes, due to difficult early childhood experiences, we are disconnected from that story, that anchor. Rooms are shut, metaphorically, in the deeper realm of the psyche to protect from future hurt and pain. The more we heal from our past and attune to our inner world and embodied selves, the more the pieces begin to connect back in. This cultivates a greater sense of ground, wholeness, and a stronger, fuller sense of self.

When we are disconnected from our authentic soul selves, we often experience feelings of yearning and longing. The word desire derives from the Latin desiderere, which means "to long for", and from desidereal, "of the stars".

The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once said,
“I believe that there is a longing in my soul that searches the whole world”. (1)

In the Irish language, we say ‘dúil’, which means to hunger for. We hunger for connection, to be reunited with the exiled parts of ourselves, those ‘closed rooms’ to return to our authentic selves, a call to a greater sense of ‘home’ within. 

Deepening the Senses through the use of somatic/embodiment practices, engaging with images, symbols, poetry, Irish folklore, stories of the ancient Gaelic Otherworld, Irish mythology, art, songs, and music, as well as learnings gleaned from the fields of depth psychology, psychotherapy, philosophy, and literature, weaves together a rich tapestry to provide a gentle way to cross that threshold into liminal space to the inner realm of the soul. 

When we listen to myths and connect to our embodied soul selves through the Deepening the Senses experience, we step into a timeless world, out of the rational concrete into the symbolic life. This is the world of metaphor, symbol, and imagination. This softens our ability to be more receptive to our inner environment, the energies of life, and the archetypal patterns living through us. 

The mythic imagination, with its numinous quality, lets us engage with the unconscious on a deeper level. This helps us access the wonderfully creative potential of the soul, bring it into consciousness, and use it to serve our wholeness, healing, and lives. Through this experience, we return to an old knowledge, an old wisdom, and a sense of place within. We reawaken a more profound sense of Self.  In this way, we can arrive at some new understanding of ourselves, or what Irish poet Seamas Heaney called “a new purchase on yourself”.

Cárna, Connemara

“I had a wonderful, deep and rich experience with your intermixing of stories, images, poetry and music. In the presence of so much beauty and so much mystery. I hope you will continue to offer this type of experience on any topic related to healing and growth. Your style is just wonderful. Your voice, pace, and obvious experience and command of all aspects of the workshop. Thank you so much for this marvellous and moving gift.”

Previous Participant  USA

Deepening the Senses - What is it? 

Deepening the Senses is an immersive experience, a unique voyage of personal development and discovery that explores the inner world through a mythopoetic lens of the ancient Gaelic world, culture and heritage. The retreats, programs, workshops, and courses interweave learning from depth psychology, psychotherapy, philosophy, literature, and art with stories from Irish folklore, Mythology, language, and landscape, interweaving the rich wisdom of our Gaelic ancestors.

This unique experience is designed to help you deepen into your inner realm, building a relationship that will support you in cultivating a richer, more symbolic life.

Painting by Jeanie Tomanek

"Oh my goodness, Eileen. Your workshop touched me deeply. You made it safe to enter our own realm and helped us navigate. Your stories and poems helped me see and understand the process, which has never been made clear before. I feel honored to be guided by you, as my journey is just beginning. I eagerly await the rest of the series. Your style is amazing."

Wendy - BC, Canada
Previous Participant of the entire A Journey Inward Series

Cárna, Connemara

The Origins of Deepening the Senses

I grew up in Connemara, a wild and rugged landscape on the Atlantic Coast of Ireland, in a small rural Gaelic Irish-speaking community. Gaeilge (the Irish language) is my first language, and it is still spoken today in the homes of people living there.

Gaeilge is a branch of Celtic languages and is still spoken as a first language in small pockets of communities around Ireland. Gaeilge, as a language, is one of the oldest written vernacular literatures in Europe and in the words of the translator of ancient manuscripts, Kuno Meyer,  “the earliest voice from the dawn of west European civilisation” (2).

Many artists, philosophers, writers, poets, and folklorists have come to the Connemara region where I grew up, drawn to that ancient traditional world, its unique rugged beauty, folklore, rich culture, language and heritage. One philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, once said it was the “last pool of darkness” in Europe, the one place left in which he might think (3). 

Cárna, the region of Connemara where I come from, was a major centre for the work of the Irish Folklore Commission, which recorded much ancient folklore, mythology, sean-nós songs, and oral literature to preserve for future generations. This region's particular storytellers and singers were renowned for their extraordinary skill. 

I was personally fortunate and greatly influenced by that ancient world, as I grew up there as a child, with its wild physical landscape, as well as being immersed in those ancient songs, stories, customs, myths, legends, and music. 

Deepening the Senses interweaves the ancient Gaelic world with Depth Psychology as a way to support one's personal development journey and cultivate a relationship with one's deeper soul self.

References: 

(1) Søren Kierkegaard, Kierkegaard’s Writings, IV, Part II: Either/Or: Part II. Princeton University Press, 2013.

(2) Kuno Meyer: Selection from Ancient Irish Poetry, London, 1913. 

(3) Ludwig Wittgenstein : Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in 1921