Hey, I'm Lorena Vlahovski, a storyteller from Croatia and this is my long story short.

From an early age, I identified myself with the title of "good girl", which, upon entering high school and enrolling in production at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, was mixed with a chronic addiction to control, planning, and running for success according to the standards of my family and the wider environment. There was also Lorena, who loved to dance and explore all the mystical secrets of ancient civilizations, but she was never in the forefront.

But all that changed at the moment when I started attending lectures on Slavic mythology in 2018, and in December 2019 I intuitively chose the book "Women Who Run With Wolves" in the bookstore, and then a few months later, in March 2020, it is not corona knocked on our door. 3 key moments that directed my life in a completely unexpected new direction, guess which one!

In June 2020, I started creating the world of Once upon a time in Croatia, where over 4,200 lovers of myths and ancient fairy tales now live - stories that are not only for children but are a universal, archetypal mix of life truths and signposts wisely packaged through symbols and metaphors.

In the meantime, I listened to my intuition and a series of synchronicities that led me to world mythologists and Jungian psychoanalysts such as Maria Souiza, Sharon Blackie, Faranak Mirjalili (Anima Mundi School), and Clarissa Pinkole Estes, with the help of which I deepened my knowledge of the interpretation of myths and fairy tales, the symbolic meaning of their motives and characters, and the most important thing - I'm gradually discovering the personal definition of the phrase "truly being myself".

And by learning from Jasna Held, our most famous Croatian storyteller, I discovered the storyteller in myself.

Now my mission is to explore the original female nature in mythical goddesses and fairy tale heroines and share it all with you. Welcome to this mythical journey into the deeper layers of yourself and the world around you!