Awen – the spirit of story

During a magical gathering of storytellers I was so lucky to be invited to, at a retreat in Cae Mabon, Snowdonia, called “Tales to Sustain”, I was introduced to the concept of Awen and I began to notice  when the storytelling parts of my workshops suddenly seemed to come into a life of their own. It is real, not magic. You can sense when it appears. I have seen so many workshops of fire fighters, police, Conservation workers, Health staff envigorated and inspired by its presence.

Awen moves like a shimmer at the edge of perception—part breath, part blessing, part ancient current that has never stopped flowing. In the old Celtic imagination, awen is not merely “inspiration”; it is the living spirit that sings the world into being. It is the subtle fire that drifts between realms, carrying with it the memory of origins and the promise of new creation.

🌬️ Awen as Living Breath

Awen is often spoken of as a breath that is not quite air—something finer, older, and more luminous. It is the whisper that rises from the deep wells of the Otherworld, brushing against the soul like a soft wind that knows your true name. When it touches a person, it does not simply give them ideas; it awakens them to the hidden music that underlies all things.

🔥 Awen as the Spirit of Story

In the realm of story, Awen is the animating spark. It is the moment a tale stirs, stretches, and begins to breathe. Stories are not dead structures waiting to be assembled; they are beings waiting to be called forth. Awen is the force that calls them.

– It coils in the silence before a story begins. 

– It glimmers in the sudden image that arrives unbidden. 

– It threads itself through memory, myth, and imagination, weaving them into something alive. 

– It is the pulse that turns words into worlds.

When a storyteller invokes Awen, they are not merely crafting narrative—they are entering into relationship with a presence that wants to speak. Awen is the spirit that leans close and murmurs, “Tell it this way… let this truth be known… let this dream take shape.”

🌟 Awen as a Bridge Between Worlds

Awen is a liminal force. It stands at the threshold between the seen and unseen, the mundane and the mythic. Through it, stories become portals:

– Awen opens the door to ancestral memory. 

– Awen lets archetypes step forward and take form. 

– Awen allows the storyteller to hear the voices of rivers, stones, forests, and forgotten gods. 

In this sense, Awen is not just inspiration—it is communion.

🌿 Awen as a Flow

The word itself carries the sense of flowing, of a stream that moves with purpose and grace. When Awen rises, it feels like being carried by a current that knows exactly where it is going. The storyteller becomes a vessel, a channel, a riverbed through which the spirit of story runs.

And when the flow is strong, the story seems to tell itself.

✨ In the End

Awen is the breath of creation, the fire of imagination, the river of meaning, and the spirit that animates every true story.

To work with Awen is to step into the ancient dance of making, where the storyteller and the story are woven together by a force older than language and brighter than thought.