The Song of Oak & Ash
Mythopoetic Retreat
Summer 2027 (dates TBC)
Loch Tay, Scotland
In 2023, House of Legends, Candlelit Tales and Fair Folk Media came together to craft our first retreat.
For three days a group of mythic adventurers dreamed within the womb of a highland woodland, soaking ourselves in the stories of Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia.
In 2025 we returned on a breathtaking new site in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, a site which we are blessed to now call home. Seekers came from as far away as Oregon and Australia for an event which surpassed our wildest hopes.
2026 was even richer, once again drawing participants from across the world to Loch Tay.
“One of the most transformative experiences of my life”
– Amber, USA
Scotland is synonymous with romanticism, mystery and magic. She is also a land whose spiritual traditions are largely forgotten, her ancient chain of mythic heritage severed.
Yet her stories speak of a wolf-riding crone who shaped mountains and islands with her hammer. Of a dream-steeped trickster who reshaped the seas with the tongue of a snake.
A short sail to the west lies Ireland, where monks recorded myths even as they warped them, and where the names of the gods still ride the tongues of storytellers. And in nearby Wales, the myths of the Brythonic people whose territories reached as far as Southern Scotland still survive.
On this retreat we will gather round fires, at the loch’s edge and in the shadow of mountains to immerse ourselves in the lore of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. These stories are our sacred heritage, our gateway to the gods of our ancestors.
Beneath waterfalls, on hilltops and at the rising of the sun, we will make ceremony together, answering that bone-deep urge to reach out and entwine with a living, breathing, ensouled world.
This is a co-creative journey. We will invite and support you to claim your own unique way of relating, being, knowing. You’ll create your own spontaneous ceremonies. You’ll write your own prayers and sing them to the mountain.
The Venue
Our venue is The Big Shed on Tombreck Farm, Loch Tay. Tombreck is a regenerative, organic, community-run farm situated on the north shore of Loch Tay. Above the site stands Ben Lawers, one of Scotland’s highest mountains, while between the farm and the loch lies a breathtaking woodland where we can freely roam. Full of waterfalls, pools and ancient trees, home to dragonflies, badgers and roe deer, all leading to a secluded beach… it could not be more perfect.
Your Hosts
Daniel Allison is the director of The Song of Oak and Ash. He is an oral storyteller and USA Today bestselling author from Scotland. He hosts the House of Legends Podcast and is the author of Irish Mythology: The Children of Danu, Irish Mythology: Fionn & The Fianna, Scottish Myths & Legends Vol. I & II, and the mythic fantasy series The Orkney Cycle. His writing has been optioned for film and television production.
Daniel’s Myth Singers: Celtic Storytelling Apprenticeship provides a unique course of learning for beginning storytellers throughout the world.
Daniel’s chief interest is dreaming into the gaps in Celtic mythology; exploring the tattered edges of our surviving mythologies and discovering what creativity and ceremony can bring to those spaces.
Sorcha Hegarty is a Cork-born storyteller and the co-founder of the wildly popular Candlelit Tales. Along with her brother Aron, she has enjoyed a decade of collaborative, eclectic and diverse storytelling shows rooted in Irish Mythology.
Driven by their shared passion for Irish mythology and expression, Aron and Sorcha started retelling ancient stories to a near-empty room upstairs in a Dublin pub one rainy evening in November 2014. By the fourth week, the room was full, and so was the hall outside.
Sorcha has a uniquely expressive, naturalistic and modern style of telling, never hiding away from the challenging aspects of myth yet fully embracing them in all their dark and strange beauty. Her vast knowledge, keen insight and brilliant humour make her a superb contributor.
Sam Gillespie is a whistle and wooden flute player, guitarist, singer and songwriter from Northumberland. As one half of the duo The Brothers Gillespie, Sam tours widely, sharing songs that describe relationships with wild places and the experience of finding oneself in a world alive with soul. They have opened for Lankum and Sam Lee.
Says Sam, ‘Our music is inspired by the still wild soul of the land in which we live… It is about seeing with the eye of the heart and recovering our imaginations… in a world which is singing to us as we sing to it’.
A massive hit at our previous retreats, Sam will soundscape the stories with improvised music on a variety of instruments, as well as playing in ceremony, solo and perhaps alongside your story in a ceilidh session…
Danica Boyce is a paganism and folklore educator who oversees the ceremonial aspect of Oak & Ash. Hailing from Western Canada, she is the host of the hugely popular Fair Folk podcast.
Danica’s courses focus on contemporary paganism, historical paganism and on the medieval European world. Popular offerings have included Abundance Paganism and Gathering the Gods. Her latest course is an exploration of ritual song.
Danica’s combination of rigorous scholarship with bold, contemporary ideas and a living pagan practice make her a unique and greatly exciting teacher.
Aron Hegarty is a Cork-born and Dublin-based actor, writer, voice-over artist, storyteller and podcaster. Along with his sister Sorcha, he is co-host and co-founder of Candlelit Tales.
Aron’s style of storytelling and facilitation is full of both passion and playfulness, and he is sure to bring much energy and joy to the retreat. He starred in the recent SKY TV show Then You Run; other noteworthy film and TV credits include Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Vikings.
Aron's background was in hurling and sports as a youth. Injuries turned his path towards yoga, meditation, workshop facilitation and storytelling. Having recently completed his yoga teacher training in India, Aron will be our yoga teacher on the retreat.
You Will:
spend four nights in a stunning glen at the heart of Highland Scotland, where ancient peoples once lived in crannogs surrounded by soaring mountains.
hear ancient Celtic tales told by master storytellers.
spend solo time by the loch and in old-growth forest
take part in movement practices, awakening our bodies to receive the imprint of the tales.
pay attention to night dreams, day dreams and the subtle speech of stone, light and crow feathers.
make ceremony together, drawing on the past and our own creativity
share ceilidh time in which everyone is encouraged to tell, sing, play.
Timings & Structure
The retreat runs from the evening of Thursday 27th August to the morning of Monday 31st August 2026. We will officially close the retreat on the Sunday evening. Our Sunday evening campfire session will be an informal, unstructured ceilidh with an emphasis on soothing and uplifting songs and stories; an easing back into ordinary space.
Accommodation
We offer glamping accommodation in pre-erected bell tents provided by Turtle Tents, or you can bring your own tent. There’s room for live-in vehicles.
There there will always be tea, coffee and hot showers available in the main space, as well as a cosy, heated hall for meals and indoor sessions.
For those who would find camping or glamping difficult, there are plenty of hotel/BnB options nearby. We would rather have you on-site if that’s within your capabilities, and we ask that you are on-site punctually for group sessions.
Everyone will need to bring outdoor clothing suitable for the Scottish Highlands (i.e, more layers than you think you need).
Food
Our chefs will provide high-quality, mostly-local vegetarian food, from a light supper on Thursday evening to breakfast on Monday morning. Let us know of any dietary requirements.
There is a decent amount of parking space, though we do encourage lift-sharing (details to follow). We will arrange pickups for those coming on public transport.
Cost
TBC
We offer a deposit scheme to make payment manageable.
Please review the terms and conditions before booking.
Travel Information
The retreat will be held on the banks above Loch Tay at the Big Shed, near Aberfeldy in the Scottish Highlands. (https://www.bigshed.org.uk/). The Big Shed is a top notch community-run event space beneath the mighty Ben Lawers. We have hired the whole space and will have both indoor and outdoor workshop spaces available, as well as woodlands, fields and a beach for roaming and wild swimming.
What 3 words location: https://w3w.co/artichoke.cuts.tortoises
Address: Lawers, Aberfeldy PH15 2PB
If you are coming to Scotland from overseas, we advise you to fly into either Glasgow or Edinburgh Airport, it’s roughly the same distance to the venue from each airport. If using public transport to get to the retreat, you should travel onwards to either Stirling or Perth via train and pick up one of the public buses towards Craggantoul. You can also get a train directly to Pitlochry and continue on public transport, or organise a private taxi to take you to the site. The drive is around 1 hour from Pitlochry.
There are multiple options to get to the site, approaching from various directions. Loch Tay has plenty accommodation options along its banks, including self-catered options, guest houses and hotels in the villages of Kenmore and Killin at either end of the loch.
We will set up a ride-sharing group nearer the time to support people with travel to the venue.
“The biggest gift I have ever given myself”
– Rose-Anna, England
You Will Experience:
ancient stories told by master storytellers in stunning locations
traditional and original music and song from renowned musicians
an extended, ceremonial story immersion in which Daniel tells one of the great Celtic myths
ceremonies nature
morning practices including yoga with Aron and Muay Thai with Daniel
solo time engaged in dialogue with the natural world
nature connection exercises with Danica
storytelling, songwriting and Gaelic language workshops
ceremonial music played by our superb resident piper, John Anderson
nourishing and lovingly-prepared food by our resident chefs
a co-created altar that grows throughout the retreat
ceilidh sessions where everyone can take a turn to tell, with loving support always at hand for those who need it.
That’s what we’re offering. We hope you’ll join us.
