Alchemy: The Art of Change
Change is the only constant. With every breath, we are asked to integrate the new and release the outdated. We are living in times of rapid and unrelenting changes. Alchemy is the transition of material from one state of being to another. The alchemists were magicians, herbalists and early scientists who believed in an animated world and the possibility of creating the extraordinary.
What do you want more than anything? What do you want to transform? How is this ancient art relevant to our contemporary lives? What is the difference between medicine that relieves symptoms and medicine that transmutes poison? How can we transform patterns that are no longer helpful and find the gold hidden in our difficulties?
In this experiential workshop we will use our minds, hearts, voices and bodies to remember why we are here and begin to embrace the changes for which our lives have been asking. We explore ancient alchemical scripts and delve into our own inner alchemy—revealing the golden truth of the divine self in the laboratory of our souls. This workshop is open to adults of all genders, orientations, cultural and spiritual backgrounds. Please be familiar with trance or guided meditation and be respectful of different kinds of spiritual practices and/or open minded about working in a container of sacred space with voice, movement and energy work.
Sacred Sex Magic (a three-part training co-developed with Dawn Isidora)
Ecstasy. Boundaries. Attraction. Sensuality. Desire.
Our sacred sexuality is a birthright, a source of incredible joy and sometimes frustration. We welcome all the pieces of our sexual selves in the gorgeous paradox of being broken and whole. Together we will awaken and refresh a deep relationship with our unique sexual life force. We seek to know our own sex energy intimately in order to bring it fully into the world, inspiring our relationships and magic.
Working with sexual energy can challenge us on many levels and willingness to participate fully is important — however, please know that you will not be asked to sexually interact with your classmates or teachers. Please be comfortable with creating sacred space and working with guided meditation or trance. We welcome adults of all genders and orientations.
Ecstasies of Time — What Is, Was and Shall Be
Eternity gives birth to significant moments, filled with joy and connection to Spirit. The pressures of Kronos, measured time, can enslave us and keep us separated from these gifts of ecstatic experience. With the Norns as our guides, we will explore Time as a sacred element and examine our presence within this song.
We will experiment with changing our past, present and future choices. We will seek the wisdom of ancestors, descendents and the three Wyrd sisters. We will remember who we were before we were born and retrieve parts of ourselves we lost along the way. We will practice the art of dying, seeking to befriend our own inevitable deaths. We will dance with Kairos, expansive time, making space for ecstasy.
Using the tools of trance, soul retrieval, time travel, aspecting, sound, silence and techniques from Theatre of the Oppressed, we will cultivate our relationships with Time and the Ecstasy of living.
Freyja’s Gold (co-developed with Suzanne Sterling)
In this devotional class, we explore the path of the artist, performer, the sex priestess who views sexuality as a resource and source of pleasure. The Goddess, Freyja, chose to share her creative life force with whom she pleased because it was hers to give. What offerings of art and sexuality do we choose to make? What boundaries do we want or need to set? How do we face projections and rejections about our choices to give, create, love, perform? What consequences are we willing to accept in order to liberate the divine inside each of us?
We will open to ecstasy and witness each other. We will take risks to uncover the jewels hidden in the deeply woven connections between our sexuality and our creative expression…our sex and our voice. We will trance, dance, pray, sing, listen and shine.
The Trinity of the Self
Primal. Human. Divine. When we align the three parts of ourselves, we can ask for what we really want. The triple soul is found in spiritual traditions all over the world: Huna, Kabala, ancient Greek, Norse, Celtic, and Egyptian religions have a version of this energetic truth. It comes to Reclaiming through the Anderson Feri tradition.
In this class, we will ask our triple selves to reveal their mysteries through movement, art, meditation, poetry, song, breathwork and silence. We will play with our primal animal, engage our intelligent human and expand our divine connection to Spirit. We will learn to listen to each of the pieces of our Triple Soul and align our selves to bring healing and joy. This is a great class for those who are seeking deeper magical practice or wanting to make changes in their lives and is open to adults of all genders, orientations and spiritual/cultural backgrounds.
Aspecting: Drinking in the Divine
We need no one else to interpret the sacred for us, we are designed to commune with the gods themselves. Aspecting is a relatively new name for the sacred practice of inviting the gods within ourselves to directly receive their gifts and wisdom. In this workshop, we will work devotionally with deity, building or reconnecting in relationship with them. We will investigate different styles of aspecting and find the edges of our own physical and energetic vessel. We will learn the ancient art of negotiation with deity and remember the ancient ways that we have worked with the gods for eons, as oracles, dancers, artists, priestesses, healers, teachers, musicians and lovers. We may create some new ways that humans and gods can work together in these contemporary times.
This is designed to be an advanced class for the mature magical practitioner. Prerequisites are at least Elements of Magic or some foundational equivalent in another tradition AND some experience working in a spiritual tradition. Please be familiar with grounding, changing consciousness at will, setting clear boundaries and understanding your own motivations.
Dancing with the Shadow
“That which we keep unwelcome eventually turns on us.” -Karl Marx
Dare to seek your secret faces. Acknowledge your potential for both beauty and destruction. Learn to recognize the obscured pieces you attempt not to show to the world but that influence your choices all the same. Summon your true power back from shame, envy, projection and blame. Dive into shadow to know thyself as whole.
Once, brightness and darkness coupled, merging and separating in a cosmic dance. In many human cultures, a schism occurred and Darkness was attributed only the powers of death, earth, flesh, animal and evil while Brightness was assigned only the qualities of life, heaven, soul, spirit and goodness. But in us and in nature, there is no warring of opposites, only combinations and spaces between them. Each of us holds the archetype of sacred twins, one dark, one bright.
In this class we’ll journey into and beyond dualities within ourselves, examine how light and dark intertwine in our lives. Using the tools of trance, theatre, ecstatic movement, mask making, personal and multiversal myths, art and dreamwork, we will seek the treasures of our brightness and darkness in the shadows.
Warriors of the Wild Earth
Our spirituality is deeply rooted in the planet on which we make our home. We may struggle with our jobs, our country, our culture, often living day to day in urban settings removed from connection with the earth’s song. We are on the front lines, trying to midwife a new world to birth, in the face of circumstances beyond our personal control. We are attracted to stories of comic book superbeings and hero’s quests and yearn for our own superpowers. Sometimes we might feel like the mythical Cassandra, making dire predictions and pointing out problems that others don’t seem to acknowledge. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by urgency, terror or despair. Sometimes we feel battle worn and long for respite. Sometimes we lose sight of what we are fighting for.
What if we are the ones we are waiting for? How can we reawaken our will to hold vision while witnessing destruction? How can we use our magic to reveal truth, sustain ourselves and shift reality? How can we broaden our definition of the word “activist” and honor each other’s work? How can we collectively hold the pain that is often the price of consciousness? How can we use our power to act on behalf of all the realms? How can we bring inexhaustible joy to our every undertaking?
We will reconnect to the possibility of wild human beauty and purpose within the web of life. We will explore the truths of our culture and make space for our grief. We will invite allies of the Faery realm to work with us, rededicating to the ancient alliance between human and fey. We will seek wisdom from the voices of our co-inhabitants of the earth, ancestors and descendants for direction and inspiration. We will sing and dance in ecstastic passion, our human trademark. We will create practical magic for the healing of the wild earth. We will support each other in bringing our witches’ tools into the world and be reminded that we are never alone in this work.
Prerequisite: Please have taken Elements of Magic or have been to a Witchcamp before. Please have some knowledge of the Iron Pentacle or have done some other self reflective personal work.
Intuitive Leadership: A Teacher Training in the Reclaiming Tradition
The world in which we live is always changing and a new kind of dynamic and intuitive leadership is in demand. Are you being asked to step into leadership in some area of your life? Are you longing to change the world, the culture, or perhaps simply your workplace? Have you wondered how the tools and experiences from Witchcamp translate into your daily life?
Each of us has super powers – areas of magic that we are drawn to and skills we would like to develop further; as Reclaiming priestesses, however, we are often relied upon to have skills above and beyond our own specialties. Join us in our year long journey into a priestess skills inventory of leadership, personal power, intuition, divine relationship, ritual art, energy sensing and movement, warriorship and healing. From ecstasy to shadow, from working with sexuality to leading trance, from facilitation to feedback, we will build the foundation to expand fully as a Reclaiming teacher or priestess. We will work together as guides and allies to support each other’s life paths.
Who are you as a witch? Where are your strengths? What are the edges you are pushing, the gifts you want to pursue? What are the abilities we value in the Reclaiming tradition? How can we hold some authority in many of the timeless tools associated with our Craft and put them to use in our lives? What does it mean to take leadership in our tradition?
This is a year long apprenticeship, and requires a year long commitment. We will meet for a weekend every other month to do intensive work. In between classes, you will be given the opportunity to deepen the work, and keep the energy palatable through an on line group and partner check ins.
Reclaiming Core Classes
Elements of Magic
With the art of magic, we deepen our vision and focus our will, empowering ourselves to act in the world. In this class we begin the practice of Magic, Witchcraft, and Goddess spirituality by working with the Elements of Magic: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. Techniques include: visualization, sensing and projecting energy, chanting, trance, creating magical space, spellcraft, and structuring rituals. Group experience follows feminist consensus process.
Prerequisite: Reading of the first six chapters of The Spiral Dance by Starhawk. We ask that applicants be committed to attending all classes, or let us know in advance if not.
Iron Pentacle
Reclaim your human birthright. Expand your authentic self to explore the five points of the Iron Pentacle: Sex, Pride, Self, Power, and Passion. Using trance, magic and ritual, we will experience the connections between these points and what happens when the points are out of balance. We will access each individual point of the pentacle using techniques that include guided meditation, art, song, movement, and sacred play. Together, we will learn to balance the Iron Pentacle within ourselves and bring it more fully into our lives and the dominant culture.
Prerequisite: Elements of Magic class.
Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage focuses on dreams, myths and language, using traditional and non-traditional tales and techniques to create a personal rite of passage. Through storytelling, trance, release work and dreams we receive our challenge(s), meet our helpers, work through our blocks and emerge renewed, reborn. Six classes (or weekend intensive), culminating with a ritual created by the students.
Prerequisite: Elements of Magic class or equivalent training.