Wild Genius
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 revival—of 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."
WELCOME
In this section:
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The world, and our lives, are burning
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An Eldership vital to the future
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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.
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.
Akan Symbol Sankofa
5 JOURNEYS
In this section:
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Where we offer our work
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Infographic of course offerings
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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]
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ALCHEMISTS apprenticeship in ritual leadership
[Ongoing]
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NAVIGATORS mentorship in poetry, myth, and story
[September to December | January to April]
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GATEKEEPERS intensive in ritual literacy
[September to December | January to April]
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AMBASSADORS life purpose initiation
[Starting September 2023]
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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.
"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
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.
COSMOLOGY
In this section:
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An invitation back to an old part of your soul
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Is this the journey that brought you here?
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A desire to help
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Keep going. Your work IS needed in the world
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Infographic of Elements
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Lineage: A gift from the Dagara Elders
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An intricate order
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Map, compass, and practice
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Elder Sobonfu Somé
Map, compass, and practice
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Indigenous Cosmology provides our Map.
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Mythic Imagination is our life saving Compass.
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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.
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.
