Story
Shining Queen Above hears the cries,
she hears the cries of her sister
echoing through the earth
and she must go she must go she must go…
Our story for the 2023 Summer Intensive is Inanna and the Seven Gates of Me, inspired by the stories of the Mesopotamian goddess and a poem by our own Jynx Bower.
This Year’s Paths
The Iron Bower: Reclaiming our Sovereign Selves through the Iron Pentacle by Lilo Assenci, BrightFlame, and Jynx
The Iron Pentacle helps us reclaim our delicious whole selves. We will work with this potent tool through the lens and energetic container of Spiralheart’s bower, the Temple of the Sacred Harlot. What does sacred sexuality mean to you? How does it show up in our bodies, in our lives, in our spiritualities? And how can we unravel the tangles of pressure, expectation, and self-doubt from the very concept of sexuality, so that we may reconnect to the source and live freely, proudly, passionately, and powerfully for ourselves?
Welcome Home to Your Sacred Body by Joan and Spark
Our bodies guide us home. In spite of significant personal growth work, many of us struggle to let go of the lies of systemic oppressions. We shrink, we silence ourselves, we may believe we are not enough. Rooted in integrative, somatic therapeutic practice, and grounded in magic and mystery, Welcome Home to Your Sacred Body invites us to join in community and heal the wounds caused by the shit, shame, and blame of oppression. Through the power of trance, listening touch, and direct conversation with the body, we will create a container for exploration and growth, and releasing recent and ancestral trauma and suffering. By listening to the body’s wisdom, we find tools for healing, unearth and celebrate our gifts, and move into our places of personal power. This Path work is grounded by anti-racist principles. A toolkit of resilience practices and healing skills will aid us on our journey. Our bodies guide us home. As we change ourselves, we change the world
The Unpath, Off the Path: A co-learning group dedicated to deepening our anti-racism work by Kelly, Bec, and Relaeh.
A co-learning group, from the perspective of “We are all students and we are all teachers”. This space is open to anyone willing to join us in discussing, unpacking & processing colonialism, internalized racism & yte supremacy. Our goal is working towards unlearning & unpacking our unintentional internalized & systemic racism & how it shows up in our lives. We aim to create a community of active anti racists…The only way through, IS THROUGH!
Elements of Magic — Making Friends with the Elements by Caillean and Avian
Our relationship with the elements forms the foundation for our magic. As climate changes and disasters affect more and more people, we as witches need to examine how Gaia is creating chaos in response to human exploitation. How does it feel to be in balance with the earth? What is the fire you need to tend? Where does the flow of water take you? What do you hear when the wind blows around you? How do you feel when you think about climate change? Your spirit draws you to this path to learn the fundamentals of Reclaiming ritual and magic. Whether you’re an experienced Reclaiming witch or new to the tradition, your connection to the elements will be challenged and expanded.
Supported self path by Hemlock and Ryan
Supported Self-Path is an offering grounded in mutual support for individual work. A gathering of lamps in the darkness, each our own spiritual authority rooted in community. Hemlock and Ryan will lead a short grounding and check in each morning, then hold space for those who desire peer support from other witches choosing to do a self guided path. Perhaps you will feel called to do your own magical work this year – be that tending your mind, body and spirit in your own way, or perhaps one day, you’ll desire a fellow witch to do magic with. Our container is here to support you. We will be your magical hype people. Our Cancer and Leo suns will be luminaires in the darkness of the Descent of Innana. We meet at 9:30 (a later start than other paths) for a short time, breathe together, ask for any support one may desire from the group of witches and then disperse to do our own magic.
Previous Stories and Themes
Summer Intensive
1994 Baba Yaga 1995 Pentacle of Life 1996 Tam Lin 1997 Idun’s Apples 1998 Charge of the Goddess 1999 Into the Labyrinth 2000 Inanna and Ereshkigal 2001 The Storyteller 2002 Thomas the Rhymer 2003 Arachne and Athena 2004 Amaterasu 2005 Green Dragon and Phoenix 2006 La Llorona 2007 Krishna and the Gopis 2008 Lilith 2009 Brigid 2010 Isis and Osiris 2011 Feri Creation Myth 2012 Psyche and Eros 2013 Dragon and Hummingbird 2014 Qwan Yin 2015 Freya and the Brisingamen 2016 Medusa 2017 Tam Lin 2018 Cerridwen and the Pentacle of the Great Turning 2019 Ragnarok 2020 Lilith 2021 Breaking through Fear: Covid calls Us to Justice 2022 Revisiting Alice 2023 Inanna and the Seven Gates of Me
Winter Convergence
2023: The Sacred River of Community
Wild Child
2009 Stone Soup 2010 Grandmother Spider 2011 Vasalisa 2012 Beauty and the Beast
Spiralheart Witchcamp 