top of page
northern-lights-4944738_1920_edited_edit

Elemental, Mythic & Ritual Literacy
Bridging
Wild Genius to Community 

A Teaching Healing Initiation Hut

Map, Compass, and Practice in the Realm of the Sacred

The Modern Trouble:

A poisonous storm—feelings of exile, confused purpose, overwhelming grief and disintegrated lineages—forcing an endless, ineffective, crisis of reaction.

The Indigenous Remedy:

A personal and cultural revivalof discerning intimacy, initiated purpose, emotional affirmation, ancestral support and response-ability to our time.

Medicine Without an Expiry Date:

An ancient map:  The Elements

An unlikely compass:  Myth

A storm-worthy practice:  Ritual

As if we might really be "All Relations."

This site is best viewed on computer.

Welcome

WELCOME

In this section:
  • The world, and our lives, are burning
  • An Eldership vital to the future
  • It takes a Village . . . 

The world, and our lives, are burning.

Conflicts flare up into wars that last generations—firepower is sold to the highest bidder. Forests razed to light a cooking stove or to feed the never ending appetite for expansion and growth. Hot headed bullies take over countries. No wonder that we ourselves are burning with a hot rage against the violence of our times.

Here's a bold claim: One of the deep causes of this chaos of mayhem and destruction is the loss, and sometimes intentional destruction, of ritual literacy, by the forces of modernity.

ChinookHat_edited.jpg
Randy Jones, Author of
Medicine Without an Expiry Date:
Indigenous Remedy
for Modern Trouble

An Eldership vital to the future

Ritual is the way that human beings have connected with the deep Eldership to be found in nature, myth, and dreamtime for 200,000 years. It is a skill as native to humanity as language. That wisdom is the wisdom of the Earth. And it is an old Eldership that is vital to the future.

 

Yes, we need permaculture, and rewilding, and social justice work, and environmentalism, and political action, and international humanitarian work, and research, and more, but all of that can't change things without an intelligent revival of ritual literacy.

Continue reading to review the outlines of our course offerings (Journeys on main menu), and see events (Encampments | Coordinates on menu), including to see the tuition costs right up front. Scrolling further, there is the beginnings of deeper explanation for why we take this approach.

It takes a Village . . . 

Ritual is a path that leads both forward and back—as in the Akan (Ghanaian) word Sankofa—"It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind."  

Thank you for making it this far on the long road.

You will find here many references to another African proverb: "It takes a village . . ." Thinking it over, it might be apparent that the old way of thinking was that, " It takes a village . . . to do almost everything." Modernity wants to pump up the idea of a certain brand of freedom. But it doesn't advertise that capitalism's version of freedom ultimately means a destruction of relationships in community. Capitalism promotes the false idea that a person can "pull themselves up by their own bootstraps." Garbage.

We were never meant to travel this journey alone. 

sankofa4.jpg
Akan Symbol  Sankofa
5 Journeys

5 JOURNEYS

In this section:
  • Where we offer our work
  • Infographic of course offerings
  • A quick introductory note about our events

Where we offer our work

Our events are offered in various locations around the world. Our courses are named JOURNEYS and are offered in TWO time slots:

WEST COAST [Canada | Australia]

CONTINENTAL [Europe | Australia]

  • ALCHEMISTS apprenticeship in ritual leadership

[Ongoing]​

  • NAVIGATORS mentorship in poetry, myth, and story

[September to December | January to April]​

  • GATEKEEPERS intensive in ritual literacy

[September to December | January to April]

  • AMBASSADORS life purpose initiation

[Starting September 2023]

  • EXPLORERS  free online Course on 5 Elements

[Available anytime—desktop only]

See full descriptions on the main menu under Journeys. 

See below for Quick Facts on our 5 Journeys . . .

In Brief:
We run courses (Journeys) through zoom and coaching, and also facilitate teaching gatherings (Encampments) in person.
map-of-the-world-g580533bce_1920_edited.jpg

"Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now."

Maya Angelou

 

Advanced Leadership Training

ALCHEMISTS

Europe | CA | AUS

Apprenticeship

in

Ritual Leadership

CA/AU or AU/EU
Zoom & 1 to 1
Coaching
Small Cohort of 15
Full Year Ongoing


€185 EURO/m
$250 CAD/m
$285 AUD/m

Immersion | Initiation

 

Wisdom Keeper Studio

NAVIGATORS

Europe | CA | AUS

Mentorship

in Poetry,

Myth & Story

CA/AU or AU/EU
1 Zoom/m + Coaching
Optional 1-1
Exciting Exploration
4 Month Semesters


€55 or 110 EURO/m
$75 or 150 CAD/m
$85 or 170 AUD/m

Ancient | Emergent

 

Professional Development

 

GATEKEEPERS

Europe | CA | AUS

Intensive in

Ritual Literacy

for Practitioners

CA/AU or AU/EU
Weekly Zoom
A 13 Week Focus
Small Cohort of 12
Sep-Dec & Jan-Apr


€685-975 EURO 

$975 -1475 CAD
$1075-1575 AUD

The Healer's Hut

 

Life Purpose Reclaiming

September 2023

AMBASSADORS

Europe | CA | AUS

Initiation

into

Medicine Carrying

CA/AU or AU/EU
2  Zoom/m + Coaching
Added Peer Support
Practical Application
8 months Sep-Apr

€1770 EURO

$2400 CAD
$2750 AUD
Coming Sept 2023
The Art of Wild Genius

 

Introduction to the Elements

Explorers

Free Online

Self Guided

Study

of Elements

 FREE
2 hours per week
Independent Study
Online
Ongoing


FREE Introduction
to the
Elements

Allies in the Cosmos

A quick introductory note about our events

Events are each unique, drawing on the timeless themes of the elements, and the current expression of need from each community. (See Coordinates | Encampments on the menu)

May to August 2023 is dedicated to live Events in North America and Europe, otherwise we are in Australia.

 

Event Times 2023:

Australia                January to  April

North America      May and June

Europe                   July and August

Australia                September to  December

pharmacy-3377670_1920_edited.jpg

INSTRUCTOR

What People Say . . . 

One of the most brilliant healers I know trustworthy he can articulate the heartbeat of the Holy haven't laughed that long or hard in a long time the most interesting divination session I have ever attended a guide through the wild spaces reminded me of my wild expressive ability a unique and astounding ability to conceptualize and organize free-flowing ideas the Listener and the Translator stands onside with the natural authority of elemental forces wisdom humor experience and compassion shares his own expression my authentic power and natural intelligence are coming online an expert at guiding others through their confusing experiences of grief anger ecstasy and the whole array of human emotion.

Instructor

COSMOLOGY

In this section:
  • An invitation back to an old part of your soul
  • Is this the journey that brought you here?
  • A desire to help
  • Keep going. Your work IS needed in the world
  • Infographic of Elements
  • Lineage: A gift from the Dagara Elders
  • An intricate order
  • Map, compass, and practice
  • Revival of ritual literacy

An invitation back to an old part of your soul

​Each generation, medicine-carriers quest and retrieve all of the age old medicines of culture—and dispense them during wild embodied ritual—a practice that bring humans into conversation with cosmology and mythology for a moment.​

Cosmology

Is this the Journey that brought you Here?

It seems likely that you are one of the ones who couldn't stand going along with the status quo. Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac called us, "The Mad Ones."

 

Perhaps you have the sensitive heart of an artist. Maybe you were (or are!) the "black sheep." You might have searched toward the edges . . . but edges can be forced onto people in various ways too. That changes a person.

It adds up to a heartbreak knowing that the complexity of the world and nature is being eaten away. It wouldn't be surprising to hear that you have worked on your own healing. There are layers. You know that.

sheep-g12cc0b946_1920.jpg

A desire to help

Don't we all begin the healing road hoping to help ourselves? Yet it is only natural that our motivation evolves into a desire to help the world. 

The help is sorely needed in the times we live in.

For the "medicine-carriers" the assignment that is presented is the path of the healer, a re-wilder of culture, the work of initiation and ritual, of myth and poetry, of "ghost-busting," of "dancing furiously in wild times,"—bringing life back alive—thriving, not merely surviving.

This much we know . . . might be true.

RJ%20wkshop%205_edited.png

Keep Going. Your work IS needed in the world.

Wherever you have arrived from, whatever you have been through, it is a good bet that the road has been hard. Wherever you are going, however you are travelling, it looks like there will be challenges ahead. That is the nature of the times we live in.

The American poet William Stafford admonished:

"It is important that awake people be awake . . .

the darkness around us is deep."

So . . . Thank You for "doing whatever it took" for you to make it this far. You remained awake to face the trouble.

fire-gfa16bb3cd_1920.jpg

 

EARTH

Boundaries

&

Welcoming

Intimacy

 

MINERAL

 

Separation

&

Life Purpose

Initiation

 

WATER

Grief Listening

&

Praise Talk

Affirmation

 

FIRE

Ancestor Healing

&

Intuitive Guidance

Alliance

 

NATURE

Reaction

&

Response

Creating

Lineage: A Gift from the Dagara Elders

This 5 Elements cosmology comes from the Dagara tribe in Burkina Faso, west Africa, through Elders Malidoma and Sobonfu Somé, who were instructed in their youth by tribal Elders to share the Dagara knowledge of ritual with the west to show the value of their cultural traditions and wisdom. 

They both wrote books and worked with people extensively during their lifetime, hoping to leave a legacy of ongoing work. In fact, Malidoma generously wrote the introduction to my book, Medicine Without an Expiry Date: Indigenous Remedy for Modern Trouble. You can find sample chapters including that introduction on the site under Résumé (main menu).

Dr. Malidoma Somé

An intricate order

As indigenous cosmologies consistently demonstrate, the Dagara cosmology also imagines the whole world contained within an intricate order of coded information which references natural ecology, human psychology, the sociology of relationships, as well as ritual information about initiation and healing. Similar to the function of myth, the Elements provide a benchmark of Eldership in a world of human fallibility.

My contribution to the renewal and translation of these teachings in a modern context has been to notice that the fundamental integrity of each element can be viewed from the perspective of Grit, Grace, and Guile. For example, the Earth Element is about "welcome" yet true welcome also demands a mature sense of "boundaries." Alchemically mixed, they point to a richer idea of "intimacy," the "Guile" of the Earth Element.

Myth and old stories provide another kind of reliable Eldership. Mainly I have learned from Michael Meade's pioneering scholarship and practice in this area. Worked with in  a group, old myth can come alive, feeding the community, and each individual from its storehouses of wisdoms. 

sobonfu.jpg
Elder Sobonfu Somé

Map, compass, and practice

  • Indigenous Cosmology provides our Map.

  • Mythic Imagination is our life saving Compass.

  • Ritual is our ongoing conversation and Practice.

The Wild is a given—you are made of that. You have a Genius—your own peculiarity. The  storms of the times call for a robust container—wild ritual—nice ceremony won't do the job of the healing that needs to be done.

 

Medicine-carriers get trained to withstand the wind—one foot in the trouble, one in the blessings, map held close, an eye on the compass. They know fortitude.

 

Time again for the rituals that make life jump up alive.

alethiometerblue_edited.jpg
stormsail.jpg

The revival of ritual literacy

Healing has many facets. We know that it is related to our emotions, community, spirit, embodiment, ancestors, nature. Ritual is a language that bridges between all of these domains. Ritual is the old human language to communicate with the "Other-than-Human." Ritual is the language that has been called a "technology of community." It is our human birthright.

Our mission is the revival of ritual literacy. How do we do this? Through the old methods of apprenticeship, mentoring, teaching, healing, practice.

 

I hope you can join us.

 

Keep Going. Your work is needed in the world.

waterfall-gcc882edb8_1920.jpg

MODERN TROUBLE

Wherein Coyote . . .​

Speaks Volumes​

                       without​

              Saying anything​

                                        in Particular​

 

A short essay by a dog

with

colourful pictures.

Modern Trouble
bottom of page