The story of the world has never been simple.
(If you’ve been around Carterhaugh for a while, you know our tagline is basically “it’s complicated.”)
But we do know that we tell stories to try to make sense of it all – why we’re here, how love works, what happens after we die. And no matter where we go in the world, we find the same thing:
Myths. Mysterious, strange, sacred.
Not because they offer tidy answers, but because they hold our most important questions.
Where does love come from?
Why do we fear the dark?
What makes us human?
Some say all myths boil down to one universal tale.
We say: not even close.
Once, when the world was new, Persephone sucked the juice from her pomegranate seeds and savored their darkness. Then she rose to her feet and left the underworld….for a time.
Raven went from mighty creator to a speck of dirt, and he was swallowed without ceremony. But he was reborn, and his childhood play released the stars through a smoke hole and into the sky, where they hang to this day.
Yama collected a man’s soul but the man's wife pursued him. He was so moved (or worn down) by her relentless intelligence, composure, and devotion that he granted her boons and restored her husband’s soul to his body.
Myths are sacred explanations and solace. They're also immense fonts of curiosity and creativity - they inevitably prompt wonder and more questions:
🔪 What if Isis couldn’t undo Osiris’s murder?
🐍 What if Medusa wasn’t a monster but a mirror?
🐐 What if the Great God Pan never died?
What do these stories do for humanity and why do they still resonate so deeply, thousands of years into their tellings?
In Ravens in the Labyrinth, you’ll:
✨ Learn what sets myths apart from legends, fairy tales, and other folk narratives
✨ Explore how contemporary writers tangle with ancient myths (and how this helps keep their power alive)
✨ Identify the greatest historical pitfalls and the biggest lies of mythic scholarship and pop culture
✨ Discover why myth helps humanity grapple with the most momentous questions at our core
✨ Connect with a community of smart, kind, hilarious humans who love folklore as much as you do, with two folklorists acting as your personal Virgils of mythology
This isn't mythology as dogma.
This is mythology as metaphor,
as sacred strangeness.
What Do You Get?
-
20 daily recorded mini-lectures that land in your inbox Monday-Friday, each a mix of scholarship, story, and enchantment. Each video will contain folkloric history and analysis, AND we’ll share a myth of the day. You will be awash in mythology all month long, in bite-sized doses that fit easily into your day.
-
Weekly live meetings, each with a different focus and theme to help you understand and engage with myth more deeply. We will meet at 7PM ET on Tuesdays, 2/17-3/10. Recordings of each meeting will be up within 24 hours.
These live meetings are all about learning and creating within the magic web of community in real time. If you want to feel zingy, energized, and like your mind is constantly expanding in scholarly, profound, and whimsical directions – honestly, if you want to feel like you have stepped into a secret seminar at Witch University – you do not want to miss these! And let’s be real: who doesn’t want to talk with a bunch of folklore geeks about gods and monsters??
-
An invitation to a private community exclusively for Ravens in the Labyrinth students. Our new community space on Circle was a big hit in our last course, and we're excited to return to it for this one! Use this space to discuss the lessons, share your favorite retellings, AND, most importantly, connect with your fellow mythology enthusiasts. Our community is incredibly welcoming, so don't be afraid to jump in!
-
Access to the course for at least 1 full year after enrollment (likely much longer, we haven't taken a course down yet!)
What We're Covering
WEEK ONE:
CREATION
Our first week is devoted to laying scholarly foundations. We’ll show you what separates myth from other folk narratives, like legends and fairy tales, and puncture some of the most persistent, er, “myths” about what myths actually are like and how they work on a cultural level. And you’ll delve into a collection of creation myths to illustrate, from the Cherokee tale “Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun” to the Greek story of the creation of the universe.
LIVE MEETING:
Creating from the Void
Tuesday, February 17th at 7PM ET
(recording available within 24 hours)
Many creation myths begin with a vision of the void and then go on to explain how everything came from nothing. These myths deal on a macro level with questions that we face on a micro level every day - it’s hard to begin something new. It’s hard to create. In this live meeting, you’ll see how people have responded to the metaphorical blank page on a mythic level and hear even more creation myths that couldn’t fit into the daily drops.
WEEK TWO:
DIVINITY AND MORTALITY
Week two explores the tension between gods and men (and women) in mythology and explains how contemporary folklorists understand and study myth. You’ll also deepen your understanding of how gender complicates common truisms about mythology and revel in the antics and gifts of mythic tricksters. This week’s stories grapple with these conflicts, including the Norse story of how Loki gave birth to Sleipnir and Irish tales of the “Boyhood Deeds of Cú Chulainn.”
LIVE MEETING:
The Divine Altar
Tuesday, February 24th at 7PM ET
(recording available within 24 hours.)
Altars are tangible, creative intercessions with the divine, with creativity, with focus. In our second live meeting, you’ll learn the history and folklore of altars as well as modern adaptations of this ancient practice. You’ll also learn techniques for building a personal altar, whether religious or secular, and we’ll walk you through an exercise to help you begin constructing one of your own.
WEEK THREE:
LOVE
What is love? Well, the Greeks had some ideas, but we’re not sure they were great ones. This week, we’ll explore myths of love, lust, and devotion from around the world, including the Egyptian tale of “Isis and Osiris,” the Indian story of “Satyavan and Savitri,” and plenty of Greek classics. We’ll also tangle with the allure of mythology itself through periods of cultural mythic infatuation and mythic retellings.
LIVE MEETING:
The Mythic Library
Tuesday, March 3rd at 7PM ET
(recording available within 24 hours.)
Myths have an immense role to play in contemporary literature - their influence certainly didn’t end with the Romantics! In this live meeting, we’ll help you build your own mythic library, introducing you to some of the most influential films, musicals, and novels that draw upon these stories, as well as some very new favorites. What makes a mythic retelling work? What keeps an adaptation alive thousands of years into the future?
Recommended Reading:
Galatea by Madeline Miller
WEEK FOUR:
DEATH
Our final week tackles one of the greatest mysteries that myth exists to help us confront: death. We’ll lead you through visions of the afterlife, death rituals, divine punishment, resurrection, and, of course, the end of the world. Metal, right? Your stories this week will range from Christianity's “Fall of Lucifer” to the Sumarian/ Mesopotamia story of “The Descent of Inanna” to the Norse prediction of “Ragnarok.”
LIVE MEETING:
Mythic Escatology
Tuesday, March 10th at 7PM ET
(recording available within 24 hours.)
One part anatomy, one part magic, our final live meeting will explore the heart of the myth. How are myths constructed – what parts make up the whole? What brings them to life and what keeps them alive across the centuries? Can a myth ever die? As a community, we’ll pool what we’ve learned and lay the course to rest with a ritual.
Who's Behind This?
Hi! We're Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman. We’re award-winning folklorists, teachers, and writers with a combined 26 years in higher education and over 150 publications. Together, we founded The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, where we teach creative souls how to re-enchant their lives through folklore and fairy tales. We have two streaming series on The Great Courses+ and our first book, Fairylore, comes out from Hachette in 2026!
We’re also devoted cat minions, gif masters, obsessed with chai, and 100% B.F.F.s of more than a decade. We love red lipstick, decadent Gothic novels, and totally crush “Total Eclipse of the Heart” at karaoke.
We're total dorks about folklore.
FAQ
"What's a myth?" - You might have heard people saying things like "oh, that's just a myth," to mean something untrue... but that couldn't be more incorrect, at least folkloristically speaking! In folklore studies, a myth is the most sacred kind of folk narrative. They're stories about how the earth was made, the first humans, why love exists, and what happens after we die. They're stories that are truer than true, true on the deepest levels - they are profound ways of grappling with the biggest questions of existence.
"Um, what exactly is Carterhaugh?" - The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic is an award-winning online school created by two doctors of folklore and dedicated to classes on fairy tales, folklore, and all things fantastic. We aim to use our knowledge and passion for these subjects to share their wonder, solidify their importance in society, and spread a bit of magic into the world. Want to know more? Check out our "About" page by clicking here!
"When will I get the first lesson?" - You'll get 20 mini lectures M-F during the course, with the first one dropping on 2/16. You'll also get our spectacular live sessions on four Tuesdays (2/17, 2/24, 3/3, and 3/10) at 7PM ET - these are all totally different. And yes, they will be recorded if you can't make them live!
"What if I can't come to the live discussion?" - You do NOT have to watch the videos on any specific date, nor attend any live session, as they will all be recorded available for you to view later. We really aim to make this course accessible whenever is best for you!
"Is this course only open to women?" - Nope! People of all genders are welcome at Carterhaugh and in this course!
“I’m just a folklore fan. I don’t want to ruin my enjoyment with a bunch of academic stuff.” - Believe us, we’re just as passionate about the beauty and wonder of folklore, and we know that part of that wonder lies in their mystery. We will never tell you what a myth “means." These tales are meant to be explored, meant to inspire personal meaning. We’ll give you folkloric history and context, and how the tales have been interpreted in the past, but we’ll never tell you what you “have to” believe about any folkloric story. We're here to make things richer and more expansive, not to shut you down.
“Guys, I love this, but money is SO tight right now….” - Our school is an investment, it’s true, but it’s one you DESERVE. You are worth spending time and money on, and so is education. Plus, we're offering four different payment plans (along with Affirm, AfterPay, and Klarna through Teachable) to help you find an option that works. We know our community, scholarship, and the magic we make together is worth it, and we would love for you to join us.
“How involved are you guys? Is this just a thing where I get access to a bunch of stuff and then good luck?” - NOPE! We are 100% involved in our courses from start to finish. We'll be there live with you each Tuesday, engaged in the Circle group, and always available via email!
As always, if you have additional questions at any time, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at theprofs@carterhaughschool.com
Carterhaugh Has Been Featured In:
Enchanted Living Magazine, #FolkloreThursday, Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, The Fairy Tale Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washingtonian, Haute Macabre, Once Upon a Blog, Speculating Canada, Folkwise, Smithsonian Magazine, DCist, History, and many more venues! We also have two streaming series on The Great Courses+, and our book, Fairylore, is forthcoming from Hachette in February 2026.
We were also the winner of the 2019 Dorothy Howard Award from the Folklore and Education Section of the American Folklore Society!
Okay, time for some real talk.
Our community - the students and friends and magic seekers that have found their way into our courses - have been the biggest surprise and the best part of Carterhaugh. It's not something we anticipated, but it's not an exaggeration to say that it's why we're still here, teaching courses online in a job that's better than anything we could have imagined.
It's because of YOU.
If you want connection, if you want to hang out and learn in a low-key way with other wonderful people, this community is for you. If you love folklore, and you're looking for others who are enthusiastic, creative, imaginative, and kind, welcome home.
Carterhaugh grew from our love of fairy tales and our own friendship with each other.
Carterhaugh is still here and thriving because of the what came after: our community.
Also?
We are feminists and disability scholars who support the LGBTQ+ community and believe that Black lives matter.
Period.
The gates of Carterhaugh are open...
