WITCHES, WOMEN* & THE WILD
A Celtic, Norse & Slavic Folklore Retreat
Fall 2027 (dates TBA) near Portland, OR
For anyone drawn to stories, folklore, nature, and a little magic.
* All gender identities welcome
“The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves
What do we inherit?
What have we forgotten?
What might we reclaim?
Our Women, Witches, & The Wild retreat is a weekend of reading, connecting, and exploring the stories and the wild within each of us. Share your email to receive updates.
A Different Kind of Retreat
All across Europe is rich with stories of women who refused to stay in their assigned places, landscapes alive with spirits, and ancient traditions that survived long after people stopped believing in them.
This three-day literary retreat is an invitation to step into these stories and explore what they still have to teach us about nature, transformation, belonging, and the wild parts of ourselves.
All genders are welcome. While we'll center tales of women, witches, and feminine power, these stories belong to all of us. We all hold masculine, feminine, and everything-in-between energies, and you don't need to identify a particular way to take part. Come as you are, with curiosity and an openness to the magic these stories might hold.
Story Will Be Our Beginning
Rather than assigning a single book, we'll curate a collection of short stories, fairy tales, myths, and folk traditions from Celtic, Norse, and Slavic cultures. These stories will offer many ways into our shared exploration, from shapeshifting and enchantment to wild landscapes, feminine power, and the boundaries between the human and more-than-human worlds.
Our framing and conversations will draw inspiration from Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés and the work of Sharon Blackie, including her retellings of shapeshifting women's tales in Foxfire, Wolfskin and Other Stories of Shapeshifting Women.
Together, we'll explore the stories themselves, the worlds that shaped them, and the questions they leave behind. What do these tales reveal about the roles women have been asked to play? What happens when someone steps beyond those roles? And what wisdom might these old stories offer us in our lives today?
What the Weekend Looks Like
We'll explore a curated selection of myths, fairy tales, and folk stories. We'll look at their symbols, contradictions, and cultural roots, sharing our own interpretations and discovering what emerges when we read together.
FOLKLORE & LITERARY DISCUSSIONS
Writing prompts, journaling, and other creative activities will invite you to respond to the stories in your own way. These are opportunities to follow a question, make a connection, or see an old story from a new perspective.
CREATIVE & REFLECTIVE PRACTICES
Inspired by the traditions and themes we'll encounter, we'll make space for rituals to help us carry the stories beyond the page. Think intention-setting, seasonal reflection, and opportunities to reconnect with your own intuition.
RITUALS FOR THE WILD WITHIN
There will be plenty of time to wander the forest, curl up with a book by the fire, enjoy the outdoor bathhouse, or linger over a meal. Some of the best conversations happen when nothing is scheduled.
WONDERING & REST
Our Setting
20 ACRES OF NATURAL BEAUTY
We'll gather at a 20 acre, private retreat property about an hour outside Portland, surrounded by old-growth cedar, meadow, and forest. The setting has a cozy cabin vibe: rustic, beautiful, communal, and intentionally removed from everyday life.
OUTDOOR BATHHOUSE
Perched at the edge of the property with sweeping views of the surrounding landscape, the Bathhouse is a serene place to slow down, soak, and reconnect. Enjoy the cedar sauna and cold plunge, spacious soaking tubs and showers, and cozy spaces designed for lingering and unwinding.
ALL MEALS BY PROFESSIONAL CHEF
All meals from Friday dinner through Sunday brunch will be prepared by an onsite professional chef, with time built into the schedule to linger around the table together. Expect nourishing, seasonal meals served family-style, with plenty of time for conversation and connection.
COZY GATHERING SPACES
From the spacious barn to the cozy main house, there are plenty of places to come together, spread out, and settle in. We’ll gather for workshops, meals, writing, and conversation in spaces warmed by wood stoves, filled with art and books, and surrounded by the landscape.
For over 20 years, across different cities and different eras of their lives, Meghan & Maggie wandered used bookstores on opposite coasts, traded dog-eared favorites across time zones, and somehow always found their way back to long conversations about the stories that were changing them. Overleaf Retreats grew from that lifelong thread. It’s an invitation to share the magic of reading deeply, creating space for reflection, and connecting with others who love getting lost in a good book.
Your Hosts
Meghan brings her Irish heritage and curiosity about Celtic folklore to Overleaf’s literary gatherings. She balances her love for building literary community with a long-standing passion for environmental advocacy. When she isn't curating retreats, she's exploring the PNW landscape with her wife and two dogs, or immersing herself in herbalism and botanical study.
Maggie brings her Polish heritage and a curiosity about Slavic folklore, traditions, and stories passed down through generations. An avid traveler, she finds joy in exploring new cultures and outdoor adventures. She recently welcomed her son and lives with her husband, their cat, and chickens. She's also always chasing the spark of a new craft.
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