animist and shamanic practices, story, and ceremony; to awaken to and remember ancestral protocols for being human and the wisdom of initiations;

offered as an oral culture-style transmission;

to move us out of our heads and modern ways of being and into contact with the Otherworld- a place of Spirit, relationship, memory, and initiatory forces.

These gatherings offer us a chance to bring our questions, messiness, and struggles to the wisdom of the Otherworld; the wisdom of animist culture, of ancestors, and beyond-human elders;

to see what new ways of being and perceiving become available to us through the tending of relationship with them.

We do this as an antidote to epidemics of burnout, loneliness, disconnect, and purpose anxiety.

We do this as a way of becoming more vibrantly alive and rooted in our connection to our own humanity; and as a way of practicing our belonging to the World.

These gatherings themselves can be messy and emotional, as all relationships can be - we are practicing becoming more human, after all. We can’t guarantee specific outcomes or even that you’ll always walk away feeling “good”. But these gatherings do offer a deep form of soul-nourishment and re-connection. And, if we practice these tools enough, we can become more connected, grounded, and vibrantly alive (with ourselves and others) - whatever life brings our way.

(and if you would like Kate to offer a Ceremony for your community, either in-person or online, please get in touch)

(and if you would like to explore or attend Kate’s signature workshop, “Living as Creature, Not Machine” - a 90min “intro to Animism”-type workshop, you can check those out here)

Some Possible Ceremony Themes:

• Practicing the Art of Death and Rebirth

• Seeking Fire’s Wisdom for Our Burnout and Inner Winters

• Lonely Hearts, Dried-Out Souls

• Plantcestors and Kinship with the Otherworld

Upcoming Ceremonies:

** a quick note on my use of the term “shamanism”: as a term it’s a tricky one - it’s both erasive and appropriative and either comes with a lot of preconceived notions, or, what it means or is so vague it’s almost meaningless. It’s a term indigenous to Siberian indigenous wisdom practitioners and used by western anthropologists to invoke any indigenous or ancestral wisdom tradition practitioner and medicine person, regardless of the land they live on and what those people would’ve called themselves in their own language. I acknowledge the harm within that. Now, it’s often used as a pan-tradition, new-agey catch-all for almost anything mystical and akin to “indigenous”. There’s potential for harm in that, too. I’ve gone back and forth on whether to use it or not and you’ll see me often say “animist” and “ancestral” more than, or alongside, “shamanic”. When and where I do use it, I use it to invoke the role and practices of bridging this world with the Others which run parallel to this one; standing for greater harmony and aliveness within and between individuals, communities, and between us and our beyond-human kin, including those whose souls live in the Otherworld. For me, “shamanic” also implies a marrying of the journey of being human and spirit - not to transcend, but to be more deeply human and here. Shamanic practices come from and operate on behalf of the land, as much as anything else.

Shamanic practices do not need to supersede or supplant other religious beliefs or lineages you ascribe to or practice, however, you will feel more comfortable with my work if your beliefs allow for a sense that all life (including the natural world) is sacred kin and conscious elder, and that to be here and engage with the pains and ecstasies of being human is one of the greatest responsibilities and most precious gifts we could ever receive.

About Kate: