11 to 13 December 2026
Firewoman
Fire doesn't care who you've been told to be.
Three days of hand drill, bow drill and sacred fire. Taught woman to woman, by a mother and daughter, for the first time.
An invitation from Katie & Ella
Early bird AUD $880Registration closes 20 October
Save your placeFrom mother to daughter, and now to you
This is the first time we've ever taught together.
I'm Katie. I've been making fire for more than twenty years: in real survival situations, in ceremony, and at home with my family. Ella is my daughter. She grew up beside the fire, and over the last few years I've watched her find her own way with it.
Fire has become one of the threads that holds us together as mother and daughter. It has taught us both about our own power, and about using that power to tend the world we live in.
Firewoman is us opening that circle to you. It's the most meaningful thing we know how to share, and we offer it with a lot of love and a lot of humility.
The power to begin
You're surrounded by noise about what power should look like. Louder. Faster. More. Always something to chase or prove.
Fire tells a different story.
It starts as a single ember, so small you have to shield it with your hands and feed it with your breath. It can't be forced or rushed. It only rises when you're strong and gentle at the same time.
As women, we carry this energy in our bodies. Every cycle, our blood reminds us that we are initiators, creators of life itself. Making fire with your own hands is one of the most direct ways we know to feel that power.
In a world full of screens, AI and endless stories of conflict, fire is a way home. Back to your body. Back to the land. Back to a power that was never outside you.
Fire has only ever been one thing: creation, in your own hands.
Women make fire differently
It's knowledge best handed from woman to woman, as keepers of the hearth.
Search "how to make fire" and you'll mostly find men muscling it out, forcing it with brute strength.
That isn't how it works for most of us. Our bodies move differently. We need different techniques, a different awareness of how we hold and move, and a different relationship with our own strength.
Katie has spent two decades learning what actually works for a woman's body. And there are very few women in Australia who can teach natural cordage bow drill. We want to change that.
Fire is also honest. It will show you the voice that says I can't do this. The moment your arms ache and there's still no smoke. Fire doesn't respond to wishing. But with patience, breath and women beside you, you move through those old blocks, at the fireside and far beyond it.
We can promise there will be tears. And laughter. And a moment when the smoke turns to a glowing ember in your hands that you'll never forget.
The hearth is the heart of the village
Firewoman isn't about becoming a lone survivalist in the bush.
It's about gathering.
Fire is personal, but you don't have to meet it alone. Alongside other women, the pressure to perform falls away. You'll be witnessed in your struggle and cheered in your breakthrough, the way women have always gathered: around fire, together.
And then you take it home. The invitation is to carry this gift back to your girlfriends, your mothers, your daughters. To start a fire together, sit around it, and feel what it is to connect at the hearth again.
Because when a woman becomes a caretaker of fire, she carries something that can be shared, taught and passed on.
What you'll learn and experience
Hand drill
The oldest way. Just a single stalk from local materials, your palms, your breath and your rhythm, using techniques that work with a woman's body, not against it.
Bow drill and natural cordage
Build your own bow drill kit, then go further: twist cordage from plant fibres and make fire with nothing from the shops. It's a rare skill, and one we want back in women's hands.
Sacred fire
Learn how to build, open and tend a sacred fire. Honour the four directions and step into the role of ceremony holder for your own community.
Circle and community
Check-in circles, shared dinners and time around the fire, with group calls before and after so you're held the whole way through.
Who is Firewoman for?
Firewoman is for you if:
- You feel cut off from your own power and know it's in there somewhere, waiting
- The wild keeps calling you, and so do the old skills of your ancestors
- You've watched others make fire and wondered if you could too
- You're a mother wanting to share something real with your daughter, or a daughter wanting it with your mum
Never made fire before? Perfect. You need no experience, just a willingness to show up and try.
Already making fire? You're so welcome too. Katie can take you deep into advanced techniques.
Women of all ages are welcome, and mothers and daughters especially. We suggest 15 and over for the hands-on work.
Your Firewoman experience
11 to 13 December 2026
What's included:
- Three days of hands-on fire-making: hand drill, bow drill and natural cordage
- The art form of tinder to light your ember
- Building and holding a sacred fire
- All materials and some tools (personal tools welcome)
- Camping accommodation with shared dinners (BYO brekkie and lunch)
- Check-in circles at the program and group calls before and after the gathering
- Ongoing connection with the Firewoman community
Accommodation: Bring your own camping gear. Upgrades available through the venue.
Come gather around the fire
There's something wild and tender about a woman who knows how to make fire. She doesn't wait to be handed her power. She kneels, breathes, and calls it up out of the earth with her own two hands. Then she carries that warmth home to the people she loves.
If something in you is stirring as you read this, trust it. That's the ember.
We'd love to welcome you to our fire.
With so much love, Katie & Ella
Save your place