the Winter SEASON IS ABOUT TO BEGIN
January 13 - February 24, 2025
House of the Faun in Port Townsend
Mondays from 5:30 - 7pm
Space is limited, and this course typically fills to capacity. Advanced registration required.
Winter course Themes
Shedding, rest & renewal
Sovereignty
Personal power and energetic boundaries
Principles of death and rebirth
Planting new seeds in the dark
Working with the archetypes, myths, and Celtic dieties of the Winter season
what does it mean to “walk the wheel”
In the rush and tumble of modern life, there’s an undeniable hunger for soul nourishment. But how do we effectively meet this longing when the sacred has been so thoroughly divorced from the dominant culture? What does it look like to cultivate a vibrant and meaningful spiritual life - without intermediaries or dogma?
In this course, we’ll carve out time and space each week to discover your unique answer to “what it means to be spiritual.” With the Celtic Wheel of the Year as our framework, you’ll receive cross-cultural wisdom teachings, rituals, and experiential practices to feed your soul and re-enchant your everyday life.
“Walking the Wheel was a great introduction and learning about how seasonal changes impact us in every way. As we dove deeper into the teachings, it was so clear to me that we all “know” this deep inside, but societal pressures have caused us to lose sight of it. By taking this class, I allowed myself to slow down, pay attention, and know that not only was that OK, it is needed and a part of the natural life cycle. I really appreciated that we learned how this focus on seasonal changes is common throughout many cultures. It makes sense that our lives would follow the seasons, and that sometimes we can be in a season of life that it not necessarly the season of the weather. So excited to continue this journey of learning more, and growing with the seasons. ”
The cosmology of the ancient Celts shares common threads with earth-based wisdom traditions across time and human culture. It’s the one I’ve chosen as our guide, because Irish spirituality is what’s in my own blood and bones.
As we walk this path of remembering our sacred birthright, the aim isn’t to live as the ancestors did. Instead, our task is to pick up the maps they’ve left us and find what rings true for our lives today. After all, our spiritual practices and traditions are meant to give us tools for living. To really stick, they’ve got to meet us where we’re at.
Spiritual truths also extend well beyond what the human mind and ego can conceive.
The Celts, like many indigenous peoples past and present, listened deeply to the Unseen, the land, and all the old powers that go by more names than we will ever know. With this work, we’re reacquainting ourselves with ancient technologies for listening and receiving.
As we nourish ourselves through these practices, so too do we nourish the world. The reclamation of indigenous ways of seeing and being is itself a form of sacred activism, and vital to our shared fate on this planet.
Let’s do this thing - together!
“Chris creates a space for curiosity, connection, and community. She honors spiritual work by others in our community by inviting them in to share their gifts and tools with the group. I appreciate how there is space for everyone to grow and learn together.”
“If you are interested in deepening your understanding of the wheel of the year and your relationship with it, Chris provides that in her gentle, non-judgmental, and affable way.”
“I will definitely look for more opportunities to study with Chris. Wonderful experience!”
acknowledgements
With gratitude to the teachers who have helped shape my thinking about the Wheel, and our place in the natural order of things: Heather Cole Gatto, Dr. Daniel Foor, Dr. Karen Ward & John Cantwell, Mari Kennedy, Dolores Whelan, Katy Pavlis, Char Sundust and Angeles Arrien.
The land itself is our greatest teacher and guide, and she is calling humanity home. As I’ve sought to answer that call, I’ve discovered again and again the soulful connection and resonance between Irish Celtic spirituality and North American indigenous ways of seeing and being. For this body of work, I call upon and honor the land of my ancestors, and the land that holds and nurtures me today.
With gratitude, I recognize and acknowledge the S’Klallam, Suquamish, Makah, Chimakum, and Twana/Skokomish nations, on whose ancestral land I now live and work.