Stone sweathouses dot the Irish countryside. Little is known for certain about their traditional use, which faded in the wake of the Great Hunger. Combining the fragments of knowledge we can glean from history and folklore with an understanding of ancient Irish cosmology and with what we know of sweatlodges and saunas in other traditions, we will contemplate the role the teach alais may have played in Irish life and what a revival of the tradition might look like. Clear distinctions will be made between what we know and what we might imagine or intuit or surmise.
How do we give life to the visions and insights we receive during transformational experiences, psychedelic and otherwise, grounding them into our bodies and our lives? We will explore herbs and practices that help us carry our visions forward in a good way.
Our oldest understandings of true sovereignty arise from deep connection with the living spirit of the land. We will explore the role Psilocybe spp. mushrooms may have played in the emergence of these understandings, and the role they might play in re-imagining sovereignty in an emergent animist culture.
The sorrow of living in a world where forests are burning, seas are rising, and species are going extinct weighs heavily on our hearts. We will explore how psychedelics, the neurotransmitters of the Elders of Earth, can help us engage and move with that grief in meaningful and transformative ways.
There is a wonderful feeling to the satisfied soreness from a good workout or a day in the garden – but it is not quite as wonderful when that soreness is too intense for you to go back to doing what you love in the days that follow. Come learn about herbs that can help alleviate that soreness.
Our bodies hold memory in their flesh and blood and bone. Learn how allies from the plant and fungal realms can help us metabolize and transmute that memory.
Etheric white blossoms rise from the forest floor, nourished by the mycorrhizal network. Come explore the magic of Ghost Pipe and its relationship with the Otherworld that is always close at hand. Due to the ecologically sensitive nature of this plant, we will focus on how to engage with its medicine without harvesting.
In Ireland, the last Sunday of July is Dé Domhnaigh Crom-Dubh -- Crom Dubh Sunday -- commemorating a god of the harvest time who was feared enough by the medieval church that the stories written about him only describe him as a force to be vanquished, but too wild to be forgotten. Join us on Dé Domhnaigh Crom-Dubh as we speak of Crom Dubh, Donn, and other half-forgotten wild gods and what it means to remember and connect with them in this time of the Earth's sorrow.
In the heat of summer in a world on fire, passions rise and blaze. These passions can feed vision and action -- but when they become too much they can bring overwhelm, reactivity, and confusion. Join us as we explore the ways in which our plant kin can help us cool the fires in our hearts and our heads so that we can respond coherently to the world we are in.
In a time of increasing fear and repression, can our wild kin help us reclaim our freedom? Join us as we explore the ways Rose, Agrimony, Devil's Club and other plants can be allies in liberation.
