Working with Land Spirits

A day of Lore and Embodied Practice Hosted by Animist West County and Walela Land Group

Chaise once asked Scott Richardson-Read, the force behind The Cailleach’s Herbarium, what we can do to deepen animist practice in these times. He said: think about what it means to be a good neighbor, and then go out and do it. Not a mystic — a neighbor. Someone who notices who else is living on the street, who learns their names, who shows up. Animism is not a fantasy about the past. It is a style of perception and a set of behaviors oriented toward the present — toward the actual living world, in all its trouble and beauty, that we inhabit right now.

Deep study of ancestral stories and practices is a training in an emergent set of skills that are meant to be put to use here and now, not a flight into a fantasy of the past. The skills of a good animist include how to pay attention to place, how to ask good questions of the more-than-human world and trust what comes back, and how to show up as a good neighbor to the beings — seen and unseen — that share this land we call home. This day is an invitation to practice those skills together.

Animist West County and Walela Land Group invite you to spend a day on the land at Walela — a new shared land project in Sonoma County — exploring what it means to enter into a genuine relationship with the living world. We will steep in the old stories, go out alone onto the land, and come back together to make a real offering to this place. This is not a workshop about spirits in the abstract. It is a day of direct encounter, held within living tradition.

The day will be grounded in:

Old Norse custom — as carried by Chaise Levy through years of apprenticeship with Andreas Kornevall in the ceremony practices of the Old Norse. This work is centered on building relationship with the powers of the land, and feeding the ‘good-heart’ — the animating force of reciprocity between humans and the living world — as a path toward healing the earth.

Trolldom — a living tradition of Scandinavian folk magic, as carried by Chaise Levy through years of study with a traditional trollkunnig teacher. Trolldom practices, especially the útiseta, will provide a framework for emergent experience with the land and its spirits, grounded in thousands of years of practice.

Celtic animist tradition — Chiara Symens-Bucher has spent the last fifteen years as a tracker and devotee of Irish earth-based traditions and the Creideamh Sí, which acknowledges the agency and sovereignty of the more-than-human world as prime movers in the earthly sphere. Drawing on deep study of Irish earth-based traditions and song with teachers such as Dolores Whelan, Seán Pádraig O’Donoghue, Deirdre Ni Chinneide, and Mary McLaughlin, Chiara brings a deeply embodied practice of what it means to live these traditions in a meaningful way here and now.

The day will move through:

– Early afternoon: lore and story around the fire, steeping in the traditions that ground this work.

– Afternoon: experiential practice on the land, including solo útiseta and paired work.

– Evening: a collective blót ceremony.

This day is for people who feel the longing to belong to the land they live on, and are ready to move into action. Participants are not required to have prior experience with animist practice or training in spirit work. One only needs a willingness to slow down, attune, and lean into trust in your intuition.

This work takes place on the territory of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok people. As descendants of settlers working to integrate and heal our Northern European lineages we are committed to finding ways to be in solidarity and support of local Indigenous organizing and land projects. Part of the proceeds of the day will go to Heron Shadow. Rooting into ancestral traditions is, for us, inseparable from the work of resourcing to live and work in genuine solidarity. We welcome people of all lineages and backgrounds who are willing to hold this complex reality with us.

With Spring-tide warmth,

Chiara and Chaise

Animist West County · Walela Land Group

where:
Sebastopol CA

Exact location upon registering

when:

~ Sunday April 12th ~

~ 1–6 PM ~

To bring:

• Layers and weather-appropriate clothing

• Water bottle and a mug

• Something to sit on for outdoor sessions

• Journal and pen or pencil

Suggested donation: $80 – $40 sliding scale

*** Register here ***