cracking the cosmic egg
A MASTERCLASS ON WORD-WITCHERY, MYTHIC IMAGERY, AND POETIC SPELLCRAFTING
On the cusp of equinox, we see beauty in the rot. We scry in the aching space between the wound and the gift, blessing both with blood and asking our inner soothsayer for the truth. Here, in communion with mythic imagery, dreamspeak, and the oracular wild, we bid the spell drip from our tongues like honey-wine. We call every lie to die. We sing on the forbidden edges of our wonder, leaving a gift for the trickster at the crossroads and standing in the brambles of the borderlands between shadow and light.
In this one-day, 3-part immersion, participants will invite the mythic images of the world tree, the seer’s well, and the cosmic egg be both teacher and muse. Working with creation myth as metaphor for manifestation magick, we will step over spring’s threshold into the wilds of the Equinox Dreaming Time, listening to the voice of the “wise and knowing self” and naming our unique orientation in our art, our sacred work, and our witchcraft in 2023.
We will name what we desire, behold archetypal visions gifted us from the Otherworld, and write our dream-visions real, stitching a new and wild story for ourselves, for our people, and for the world.
RECOMMENDED MATERIALS FOR ALL SESSIONS:
A sizeable journal
2. A writing utensil
3. Five stones or objects to represent the four directions and “center” (We won’t be marking or destroying these in any way, so they can be precious if you like)
4. 3-5 loose pieces of paper not bound in a journal
Session One: THE SEER’S WELL AND THE WORD-WITCH
In the first session, participants will use “personal myth-tracking” to behold the larger, longer story they are living, given what symbols, omens, and memories feel particularly potent and alive for them on the cusp of equinox. Working with the guiding story of Gold Tree and Silver Tree and the mythic image of the seer’s well, each participant will name what they are being oriented toward in their art and work in 2023, following fate’s thread and amplifying this orientation by naming what they desire.
Resources Mentioned: Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales by Marie-Louise Von Fronz + Wild Mind by Bill Plotkin
Story Lantern: Gold Tree and Silver Tree
Collected Version of Gold Tree and Silver Tree
Supplemental Templates: We will move through these during class. There is no need to print them before the class unless you want to. They will support the work that follows our time together.
Session Two: THE WORLD TREE, THE SHADOW TWIN, AND THE WARRIOR-POET
In the second session, we will name the mythic image of the World Tree as teacher, allowing the guiding story of Tatterhood to illuminate what wants to be seen. We will work with the “wheel of knowing” and the profound power in the paradox, holding the tension of our many contradictions and naming that tension as power-source while writing. We will focus on the ferocity of “writing it real,” the inner vitality required to animate our desire within the spell container and, by extension, be open to receiving the spell’s gifts at its fruition.
~ Template III: The Wheel of Knowing ~
Resources Mentioned: Celtic Way of Seeing by Frank McKeowen
Story Lantern: Tatterhood
Session Three: CRACKING THE COSMIC EGG
In the final session, participants will reflect on their writing from the first two sessions, preparing to “crack the cosmic egg” in a spoken spell co-created by their memories, their “purpose,” and their desire. With the cosmic egg as our mythic image muse, we will create a strong spell container for “writing it real” and animating our visions. Beholding creation myths as metaphors for our manifestation magick, we will follow the plotline of our lived-out-loud story and invite the “crack in time” necessary for a spell (or a story) to affect change. Danielle will offer additional tools for translating this work to other life areas, seasons, and types of spells including healing, protection, and divination, concluding with a final discussion of the relationship between writing, seership, and sorcery.
~ Template IV: Mythic Image Write-It-Real ~
Story Lanterns: The Golden Bird + Goose That Laid Golden Eggs