Compass
a Seasonal Study of Ritual and Craft with the Elemental Forces of Change
There is nothing so steady as change.
At present, I find myself securely positioned in the Nature is change; I am nature locus of life.
The constant in all this change is the ritualistic web woven by the five elements, one feeding another, two balancing a third, all of us entirely possible because of the whole of them.
Thus is born Compass, a study of these energies and their edges, the in between spaces, and the parts of us that press up against them, willingly or less so.
Join me and a close cohort of no more than five humans as we move through the seasons with the elements.
An Elemental Path with the Seasons
We’ll begin in September to liberate our spirits with metal as autumn breezes carry us into all the wisdom we find in our bones; and dance through and around and in and beyond with water in the depths and darkness of winter; flirt with the dynamism of wood in spring, crafting the life before us; stir spirits with fire as summer moves in, relishing intensity and harnessing it for our alchemical motions; and tend the earth with every mark of change, understanding in our very depths the grace between them all.
Let us mark our lives with the seasons and steep in them and wander through them to these places where change happens. Let us know ourselves to be not only capable but creative in our presence and our agility there.
When you sign up for the Autumn 2024 Compass Cohort, you are choosing a seasonal connection with the wild, the weather, your own spirit, me, and a few other gemmy humans and
◓ Five cohort gatherings with the seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer and the fruit of Transition
◑ Ten personal sessions with me delving into your unique journey with the element of the season
◒ Fifteen guided meditations deepening into three aspects of each season: early edges, deep center, late fringe
REGISTRATION
Registration is open September 1 until our cohort fills (five people). We’ll determine the dates and times of our gatherings as our cohort takes shape. If you’re concerned about your availability, just send me a note!
Metal ◑ November 2024 Water ◓ January 2025 Wood ◐ March 2024
Fire ◒ June 2024 Earth ◑ September 2024
GATHERING NOTES
Deep study with the five elements and their seasonal affinities (see more below)
Elemental poetry and inspiration from guides who tend the seasons and the elements with their lives
Personal practice: community support and sharing for how you are connected with yourself in these seasons
Seasonal reflection
Mystical integration with the elements
Somatic practice finding and returning to our own edges, where wood meets fire meets earth meets metal meets water and so on and so forth in all directions
This is so much of how I intend to live my life, seeping into the seams of reality with every direction of change. Find the rough and raucous sides of these elements; find their soft, sometimes subtle interiors.
Join me, delve into the richness of your own life with the elements by understanding your elemental temperaments and how you, in particular, relate with these forces.
There is only more room for us to be together.
METAL
Stretch into the width of time and space with the lifetimes of stones. Honor the levity of change with the wind. Bring your own intuition into the steps of the everyday with this moment and the next. Tend quiet, internal spaces with curiosity, understanding, and trust. Build the subtle connections that reside deep within you as you navigate the bridges between your depths and the ways of the world. You are wisdom.
Guided by the ancient quiet of the stones and the weaving movement of the wind.
WATER
Stand in the water. Truly, come stand in the water. Let the stories of the ancients wash over you as they pour down from these blessed mountains. Let your heart find home in the comfort of this glorious place. Find personal ritual with water through guided collection from ancient and new waterways near you into vessels for our water gathering.
Guided by the percolating flow of springs, the power of waterfalls, and the rhythm of the sea.
WOOD
Wind into the light of sun as the days stretch longer with the sincere and tempered guidance of the plants. Together, we’ll follow the pure example of the green beings, the understory and ground dwellers as well as the towering trees of the forest and then the hedges and the backyard gardens and the persistent ones who carry us along highways and byways. Sway and grow and gather into your own being the golden light of the sun as we personally and collectively gather ourselves into our vision and direction and place.
Guided by the green beings, plants low to the ground and reaching high into the clouds.
FIRE
Blossom with the bright; trust the sun; tend your internal fires. Lend your senses to the quieter voices that breathe us towards and through and even beyond the spark that is fire. Bring your personal integrity into the creative and destructive powers of wild fire.
Guided by flashes of light and color in the blossoms of high summer and the lasting glow of the sun star.
EARTH
Settle. Observe. Adapt. Allow yourself to hold the strength and stability, the knowing and care, the extension of grace and presence that is earth. Feel the support you desire in your journey while pouring that quality of grace and meaning back into the ground beneath you. And, in so doing, build with earth the stamina and integrity you desire to carry earth with you into the chaos of the world.
Guided by the slow, clear, knowing strength of the mountain.
Want to know what else is happening around here? Get your very own irregularly delightful note from me.