Deep Winter Dreaming
Circles of song, stories, sharing, and ceremony rooted in
& inspired by the life-ways of ancient Britain & Ireland
A 3-month, in-person program in Meaford, Ontario
<|> Earth, Soul, and Ancestor Tending <|>
sink into the dark, dreaming half of the year through circle and ceremony...
This 3-month, in-person program explores the ancient spiritual traditions of Britain and Ireland (Meaford, Ontario).
These ancient traditions can be found through song, story, ceremony, and creating our own magickal tools.
When we come together in circle, ancient teachings are brought to life through our presence and dreaming awareness, and through the intentions we place into the magickal items we create.
We deepen into relationship with nature's intelligence, ancestors, animals, and British & Irish deities.
"The dark half of the year is traditionally understood to be a time of dreaming, visioning, and deep listening to our ancestors "
This 3-month Program Offers:
Ancient Wisdom Traditions of Britain & Ireland
Deep Dreaming & Visioning
Circles of Song, Story, & Sharing
Ancestral Connection
Creative, Hands-On
Craft-Making
Earth-Honouring Animism
Program Outline
(Headings in Proto-Celtic):
Adkenî Komarî
Ancestral Rooting into Land
January Morning
We establish our ancestor-tending practice and connection to homeland with keen attention to being on Indigenous land.
We meet with an ancestor who will guide us through this program, sharing songs, visions, and our experiences. We sink into relationship with land and waters.
We create a ritual rattle with which to call upon our spirit supports with prayer and song, with special connection to ancestral myth and natural elements.
Klanî Glanndeyo
Vision that Illuminates
January Afternoon
We learn of our ancestral dreaming and visioning practices, and how they are accompanied by inspiration, poetry, and Otherworld wisdom.
Cosmology, stories, and myth from these lands are shared to inspire our own creative practice and relationship with the Otherworld.
We create an eye-mask and belly-stone for our dreaming practice.
Kâdjo Mîlo
Sacred Animals
February Morning
Reclaiming ancestral blessings and connections to nature, we weave the strength of our lineages into our practice. We seek out our sacred animal companions, and learn how our ancestors did the same through story and history.
We honour the Cailleach, protector of wild things and old woman of winter.
Our creative work is to make a bowl to honour our animals.
Kridjo Oibelo:
Heart Fire
February Afternoon
At this time of the year, we reach out to a primordial deity, Brighid, goddess of healing, poetry, and smithwork.
We become initiated into the ancient,
potent practice of hearth-tending.
Our creative work involves making a healing cloth, blessed by Brighid.
Nemeto di Arikaito:
Sacred Place of Trees
March Morning
As the tendrils of spring are upon us, we explore the importance and symbolism of trees in ancient Britain & Ireland. We explore the Ogham as a complex mnemonic system with many applications, and the Nemeton as a sacred grove for ceremony and prayer.
We learn how tree symbolism and knowledge holds many keys to understanding the cultures.
We dream with the trees, and create our own Ogham set, learning the accompanying kennings and associations.
Anaman Kerdâ
Soul Journey
March Afternoon
We dig into our roots as people of migration and travel, and focus on threads of ancestral healing that illuminate our soul's path and medicine.
We address disconnection and lostness in our lineages, and how to reconcile with these elements as we step into our traditions as people of a place, with wisdom and purpose.
Our creative work will be to honour this vision by making a ceremonial pouch.
The following pieces are included in each circle:
- Seasonal festivals
- Some language (Scottish Gaelic, Irish + Welsh, and Proto-Celtic)
- Personal gifts and insights into the self
- Earth-honouring practice
- Stories
- Song
- Creative handcrafting of animist tools
Note: My strongest relationships are with Gaelic Scotland (the Gàidhealtachd), and East Anglia, England.
Location & Dates 2023
This is an in-person class in Meaford, Ontario.
We meet in a circular canvas tent with wood stove heat, seated on cushions & blankets on the floor. Washrooms are inside the house
Classes are the last Saturday of the month, during January, Februar, and March, from 10 am - 4 pm (1 hour for lunch, for which we will bring our own).
Jan 28th
Feb 25th
March 25th
We will also have three, 1-hour online check-ins between classes.
This in-person 3-month course includes:
- 3 x 5 hours classes
- All materials needed to create magickal items & tools
- Support between classes with online check-ins
- 50% off any additional 1-on-1 sessions with Robyn for the duration of the program
Investment:
$397 total, or $134/month for 3 months (please contact me if you need a different payment plan).
Meet Robyn
Creator and Instructor at Sacred Earth Grove
How did I come to create this program? Well, in 2005, I emigrated from East Anglia, England, where I had been born and raised for the first 20 years of my life. From here, I moved to the west coast of Canada and have been living in Canada for the past 15 years. Spiritual seeking has been a core part of my life and growth since a young age, and although it has taken a lot of twists and turns, I have consistently made a practice of tracking the meaning of my life experiences.
Several years ago, after many years of dabbling, I began to make a serious study of the Insular Celtic traditions of my Scottish Gaelic ancestors, and the ancient cultures of Britain and Ireland in general (this spans approx. 13,000 years, so it’s no small endeavour - the more I know, the more I realise I don’t know). Ancestral connection was profoundly potent in deepening my practice, and it took my spirituality to greater depths than I could have previously imagined.
This study and practice was also steeped in grief for my homelands. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the NW highlands of Scotland which is where much of dad’s family is from. I have a strong personal and family connection to this part of the world. Then, after having my three daughters, the importance of knowing where we come from became even stronger. Learning my traditions has helped me navigate the grief of losing them and deepen my relationship to where I come from.
More recently, I started to realise that I was not alone in this longing. Through my early classes on spirituality here in Ontario, I noticed that people are absolutely craving connection to their ancestral wisdom traditions and heritage, and yet, they don’t know where to look to find it - furthermore, so much of learning starts out as unlearning, because the old Celtic traditions have been mixed with so much misinformation and fantasy over the past few centuries, and also because there is no intact, cohesive body of knowledge.
Even though I am far from an expert, I have still enough years of study and practice under my belt to be able to offer a coherent framework for learning traditions as a diaspora, and a solid approach for adapting ancient knowledge into ritual practice for today's world.
Having had the perspective of both growing up on my ancestral lands, and then moving far away, has illuminated for me that relearning cultural traditions looks very different depending on where you are. Practising my traditions on my homelands is a very, very different thing than it is practising them here, on traditional Indigenous lands in what is now Canada. The two require a different approach, and it’s very easy for people in North America to feel disconnected and lost when it comes to connecting to European cultures.
These threads are what created this program. I hope it answers for you some of the many questions I had when I started this journey, and brings you a sense of homecoming.
What people have said about Robyn & Her classes:
Mheyah B.
“Robyn is a powerful eloquent & knowledgable speaker. She led us through a magical & transformative experience with integrity & grace. I felt so safe during this guided process and it was a truly meaningful experience. Thank you Robyn”
Teresa W
Robyn is very knowledgeable and provides very detailed information, to assist me on my spiritual journey. Everytime I notice she has a workshop I just have to attend. I appreciate all that Robyn does, very highly recommended
Wendy M
Robyn creates a warm, welcoming space for personal discovery and healing. Her offerings have brought me new insights and opened new ways for me to learn and grow. Robyn is a generous, humble teacher with incredible integrity. I wholeheartedly recommend saying yes to any opportunity to work with her!
Kaitlin A
I am so grateful I found you as a teacher and healer
Sacred Sites Participant
“I’m so excited to join! I’ve been searching for this healing piece as part of my personal reconciliation journey and am so grateful you’ve created it.”
Vanessa F
Since the first night I met you, you gave me that clarity of my own path. You lead me to my metaphorical “home” so thank you!
Enter the Otherworld Participant
“You said something about belonging…and I feel like that’s what I’ve really been looking for my whole life, is a deeper way to belong. This class has been the bridge into helping me find a way to belong to the land and the ancestors”
Enter the Otherworld Participant
“I have felt very held, and it’s super cool to be in a circle of women, it’s been a beautiful circle to be part of”
Enter the Otherworld Participant
“Thank you Robyn for stepping into that role of offering the reintroduction to our own culture. This has really been amazing. Even though we didn’t know it, we are still connected (to our traditions). I am grateful and excited”
Enter the Otherworld Participant
“I wanted to commend you for holding space during such a raw and poignant meeting last class. It might have been surprising for some but what I think resonated for me was just how much people are dealing with being fractured from themselves and the land and their people
Enter the Otherworld Participant
“Thank you for being that conduit for us, to bring back that knowledge”
Sacred Sites Participant
“This is coming at a perfect time in my life. I’m so glad I came across your work”
