FOUNDATIONS
an Ancestral Remembrance Circle
– fka ancestral reconnection for witches and radicals of Celtic descent –
Join us in a sacred container as we engage in conversations on ethical relationship building with culturally significant plantkin to Celtic cultures from the lands today known as Eiré (Ireland), Alba (Scotland) and Cymru (Wales). Together we will open into lore and historical practice; ritual & sacred practice for connection to season, place and kin; dialogue on settler identity and responsibility on North America / Turtle Island; and community connection with others of shared lineage and politics for resourcing and accountability. Participants will be invited to consider what ancestrally rooted unsettling processes could look like, and, together with plantkin, envision personal and collective steps inward and forward.
this is an offering about plants and process.
this is an invitation to connect with ancestral plant kin through lore, relationship and ritual.
OVERVIEW
Join us for the third iteration of this community project toward remembrance and reconnection.
Over the course of six months, we will spend time with specific plantkin and themes as we open to the wisdom of our Celtic diasporic lineages. We will take time to get to know these plantkin, and to explore for ourselves what the months content stirs up.
Through recorded content, optional bonus co-working sessions and monthly live Zoom calls to share our experiences, we will deepen together into our ancestral lineages and build living breathing community networks.
Make monthly payments for the duration of six months ($100, 150, 200) or pay all at once upon registration.
what wisdom might ancestral plantkin have to share with us this dark season?
what folks are saying
rowan’s nurturing care and loving intentionality brought this community program to life, and I so appreciated my time spent with them and the other folks in the program. I feel both more connected to my ancestral practices and to plantkin than before, and finished the program with a veritable rucksack of leads to look into, next steps, etc. Thanks rowan for all that you do! —Ryn
rowan’s course is well researched, and they hold a high standard for radical analysis while also creating a space that is gentle and embraces exploration, stretching ourselves, and well-meaning mistakes. It felt like a safe space to explore cultural roots and I came away with new actions and commitments to implement in my life. -Murphy
Program Details
Course Structure
- TIMELINE The autumn cohort will run from Oct 2023 – April 2024
- BASIC OUTLINE: This program includes both self-paced online learning content through the Podia platform, as well as monthly calls on the first Sunday of each month and optional bonus coworking sessions throughout for accountability and support.
- COURSE CONTENT: You will be able to access the course content through Podia throughout each month at your own pace. We will work through six sections of material. You will receive an email notification when new content is available each month.
- PRACTICE INVITATIONS: Each month, you will be invited to engage in reflective and practical prompts to deepen into the course material. You are welcome to do this at your own pace, and you can direct the pace of your learning. Finding a balance of connected accountability to the work, with your capacity and needs is crucial!
- COMMUNITY CALLS: In addition to the recorded Podia content, we will also have monthly Zoom calls for community connection. We will connect over the material and our experiences over the past weeks, learning together and building affinity. These calls will have live transcription enabled and be recorded for folks who can’t make them live.
Logistics // Dates & Times
- Community calls will take place on the first Sunday of each month – you can put them in your planner now if its helpful! Oct 1, Nov 5, Dec 3, Jan 7, Feb 4, March 3, and April 7, 2024. These calls will be recorded, although its recommended you come live whenever possible. All calls will take place 6 – 7:30pm ET.
- Our opening call will be Oct 1, 2023 and our closing call will be April 7, 2024.
- The month’s recorded course content will be shared the next day after our community calls and you will be notified via email that you can dive in.
- Bonus coworking sessions will be shared on a month-by-month basis via email; I’ll try to arrange them on a variety of days and times so that folks can make at least some of them.
- The Zoom link will always be the same!
Registration
Registration closes on Sept 12, 2023.
Note: Space is limited for intimacy and connection.
the shape and flow of our container
October: OPENING – Who/What/Where, Meeting Clover
November: ROOTING – Celtic Cultural Threads, Exploring Modern Values, Meeting Oak
December: CONNECTING – Settler Colonial and White Supremacist approaches, Ethical Relationship Building, Meeting Mistletoe
January: BRANCHING – Midpoint pause and catch up time; Connecting to Culture & History, ARC Project Introduction, Emergent Plantkin
February: LISTENING – Settler Responsibility & Unsettling; Celtic Lineages of Plant Medicine Practices, Meeting Hawthorn
March: WEAVING – Reflection and Integration; ARC Projects, Visioning our Steps Forward and Making Commitments
Who is this for?
This program is intended for:
- folks of Irish, Scottish and Welsh descent living on Turtle Island/N America seeking reconnection with disrupted cultural lineage
- folklore and herblore nerds excited about recorded traditions of the Celtic Isles
- folks who are ready to have complex conversations around oppression, and the ways it shows up in the world and in ourselves
- folks who can hold complexity & truth with gentle fierceness
- folks seeking to align their actions with their values, their ancestral lineages with their current practices, and reweaving their lives with their ancestors
- folks who enjoy learning in community – through dialogue, deep listening, resource sharing, and accountability
- folks who feel a YES when envisioning spending the dark half of the coming year devoted to ancestral lineage & plantkin
Program Cost
This program is available on a monthly payment schedule for the 6 month duration. Folks are also welcome to pay all at once as well.
This program is offered at tiered pricing for accessibility and to accommodate a variety of financial class backgrounds. Please self-select your tier according to your access to wealth and power.
Three tiers are available for Foundations:
- 200 / month (or $1200 total)
- This is the base price of the program
- 150 / month (or $900)
- This secondary tier is for those who cannot afford the base price
- 100 / month (or $600 total)
- intended for low income folks without intergenerational wealth who do not have the resources for the other tiers
To access the median or lower tier prices, use the coupon codes ARC150 for 150/month or ARC100 for 100/month rates at checkout.
Note: When you sign up for a payment plan, you are agreeing to pay the complete amount. Thank you. No refunds are available after signup.
ECONOMIC ACCESS
for low income trans folks who are disabled and/or chronically ill who need it
There are three Solidarity spots available for this cohort! These Solidarity spots are $50 per month or $300 total. There are also two full Scholarship spots for folks to access the program at no cost. To request one of these places, email me at ofhawthornandyew@protonmail.com. Please reserve these places for the folks who truly need them.
Registration
Enroll now through Sept 12, 2023.
Note: Space is limited for intimacy and connection.
who facilitates this space?
rowan walker is a queer trans herbalist, facilitator, writer, and researcher. they are a white-bodied settler of Irish, Lithuanian, Scottish and Sicilian trancestry born on Turtle Island/North America.
they are mad and chronically ill, and love to share information that they have learned through experiences and deeply impassioned rabbit holes of research. they have over a decade of community facilitation experience.
rowan loves to nerd out about ancestral plantlore and sacred practices, how we might live more deeply in integrity with our values, and the ways cultural herbalism & politicized ancestral reconnection can support movements for total liberation.
FAQs
How long will I have access to the course?
Participants will have access to the content for the life of the course. This will be at least one year on the Podia platform (but likely longer!).
What is the time commitment for this course?
This is a 6 month program broken up into six sections. For each session, you will have access to 1-2 hours of learning + experiential content through Podia. You are encouraged to work through this at your own pace over the month in between calls. There are invitations to practice, as well as bonus content, and you are invited to engage with these as deeply as feels supportive to your process. The practice invitations for each module can range from 30 minutes to 3 hours; it’s all up to you how deep you want to go. Additionally, we will have 7 monthly calls which will each last 1.5 hours. This is an invitation to devote 3-6 hours per month (or more!) throughout the winter to tending your ancestral connections with care and intention.
Are there any prerequirements for this program?
No! Anyone excited to dive into their ancestral lineages is welcome – whether for the first time or returning again to trace these pathways.
Can I take this program more than once?
Yes! This is work that we can do over and over again, spirals we can trace deeper and deeper with each pass, relationships that continue to grow and unfold each season we return to them. This type of work is lifelong work; if this specific container is helpful to return to, you are very welcome back (And many folks do in fact come back for another pass or two!)
STAY CONNECTED
My practice is slow, intentional and intimate. I’m not on social media so much; I do occasionally share things through my instagram, @hawthornandyew. However, the best way to stay in touch and hear whats new is to sign up for my newsletter HOME/BODY.
You’ll hear from me on a weekly-ish basis, and these notes will contain info on upcoming workshops and programs, new zines, things my friends are working on, and more alongside long form writing about things i’m learning about, feeling about, questioning and embodying. tune in for musings on herbs, relationship with the world, embodying our values, dreaming and moving towards a more just world, and the practices that will can help get us there.