Mid summer: August 20-24, 2025
In the second session we go deeper into Earth consciousness, honouring the dark Goddess by entering ‘the wound’. While it seems like summer is still at its peak, at this time of year the land begins to show the first signs of fall and decay, reminding us that the time of fruit and bounty will not only end but is paid for by the dark goddess of decay and disease.
This is the time of harvesting and processing the first roots and fruits from the garden. Like garlic, which we’ll learn to braid and store. There will be plenty of harvesting and processing (fermenting, solar dehydrating) herbs, fruit, vegetables and the mushrooms of summer’s bounty. And of course more about Wildculturing and tending to the garden this time of year.
In this second session we will feed the Goddess in a day-long group ceremony. While she is unfamiliar to those of us from a secular and Judeo Christian world, the dark goddess was part of western culture long before the time of Roman colonization. Later, through waves of Christian persecution lasting eight centuries, the crusaders banished all traces of other deities, especially dark ones. I am quite sure most of our ancient ancestors knew Her well in their time. In many other cultures such as India she is still honoured as Kali. For the Greeks she was Persephone and in Celtic tradition she was personified by the wise old Cailleach. The dark goddess spurs us to look at our transient goals and misaligned motivations. In doing the work of feeding Her, this ceremony gives us an opportunity to go into and release our trauma and the illusions they generate. This ceremony is meant as an initiation to ready ourselves for co-creation with Her.
When spirit is a stranger to us and we’ve locked out the unseen forces of our life, letting them back in is tricky business. The very way in which we have suppressed our spiritual realities is the way we encounter that shadow energy on our way back to the light. In this session we learn to ritually feed our personal shadows and the ‘dark energies’ prevalent on the land and in our culture. When the darkness is honoured in this way, rather than shunned, the spiritual energy that’s been locked down with it begins to move in our life. Just like compost the darkness must be occasionally turned and given air to become nutritive, to fertilize life.
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