Elder Wisdom

5 month program

Starts March 15th, 2024

*Application is available at bottom of page. Please read all the program details and requests before applying. Thank you.

Elder Wisdom - Rooting in Lineages of Liberation is an intimate and immersive small group ritual healing and practice program rooted in liberatory frameworks and guided by the wisdom, support and insight that emerges from our embodied presence, inner resource, relational group field, and elder guidance within our ancestral lineages and spiritual ecologies.

This program centers the practices of liberation, belonging, care, and love towards new culture building through personal and collective healing pathways. We acknowledge and explore how systems of harm have shaped and storied us, while centering and rooting into our seen and unseen layers of relational resource, radical imagination, and ritual practice towards new stories and ways of being.

We honor the lineages and people, living and ancestral, that inform our ritual and practice within this Elder Wisdom offering through their art, sacred text, teachings, contributions and inspired guidance. Although too many to name here, we celebrate and give thanks to bell hooks, Harriet Tubman, Audre Lorde, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Mariame Kaba, Cole Arthur Riley, adrienne maree brown and emergent strategy voices who spark deep remembering and resonance within us.

To the ancestors and ancestors returned, in flesh and spirit,

known and unknown by name,

we offer libations of blessing and praise,

trusting these words to flow to you like omi tutu (cool water).

We thank you for your work. We honor your spirits,

Our Values

Our values serve as north stars and constellations of possibility on our journeys toward collective liberation. Throughout our time together, we invite folks to explore these values in ways that support and stretch them as they craft authentic relationships with their spiritual and ancestral ecosystems.

Embodied presence- we practice centering the soma and connection to self as the starting ground and as an instrument of intuition, communication, resonance, and as a direct path to our ancestors and elder wisdoms.

Love and liberation- we practice rooting in our agency, humanity and dignity and extending this heart-fully to all other beings as we move together towards freedom from the internal and external conditions that keep us disconnected and suffering.

Spiritual abolition- we practice self-recovery work in community to reclaim parts of ourselves shaped by systems of harm and oppression that extract, control, surveil, and degrade our bodies and spirits. We remember that the internal and spiritual practices of abolition accompany our external work of abolition in the material world.

Accountability- we practice affirming our interdependence within the web of life while accepting responsibility for our actions and impacts, especially when our actions do not align with our values and perpetuate harm. We affirm that practicing accountability enables us to live into repair, healing and learning while cultivating deeply relational and ecological responses to harm.

Building culture- we practice co-creating rituals and healing relationships rooted in liberation as a part of how we begin dismantling systems of harm and oppression within ourselves, between one another, and with life. We recognize these practices invite us into new ways of being and doing for our current realities and for our emerging futures.

Curiosity- we practice being open and exploratory with all that arises in our group field. We recognize that curiosity guides us toward emergence and possibility, and evokes qualities of deep presence and resonance that enable loving and relational connections to thrive.

Individuals shape collectives, and collectives shape individuals.

Let us be in this dance together in a deeply relational way towards

love and liberation.

What will we cover?

This program is rooted in relationship and emergence, so although we have an overall arc of a ritual and learning pathway, themes may change and adapt as we respond to what is arising in our group practice field.

Month 1

• Liberatory values and frameworks that guide us
• Exploring liberation in the context of lineage and ancestral wisdom
• Embodied presence as portal of connection and practice

Month 2

• Internal resourcing and energetic boundaries
• Inherited stories, healing themes and radical imagination
• Elder Wisdom field and relational reciprocity

Month 3

• Spiritual abolition and harm
• Deepening relationship with ancestral wisdom field and Elder guide
• Tracing the wound and medicine

Month 4

• Rooting into ecosystems of lineage wisdom and resource
• Ritual healing/reshaping internal & lineage stories of harm and shame
• Visioning new ways of being

Month 5

• Embodying liberation - commitment
• Cultural change and accountability
• Heeding the call - next steps

When is the program and for how long?

This is a 5 month program

We first meet Friday, March 15th, 2024 and end on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024

Folks will continue to have access to the course content and recordings for 3 months afterwards.

How is this program structured?

Monthly Live Teaching Calls - 2.5 hours

Fridays, 10:00am pacific (1:00pm eastern)

• Mar 15, April 19, May 17, June 21, July 19

Each month we will invite different liberatory principles and values to explore within our healing rituals, practice and discussion.

Monthly Live Practice Circles - 1.5 hours

Tuesdays, 4:00pm pacific (7:00pm eastern)

• Mar 26, April 30, May 28, July 2, July 30 (closing ceremony)

Each month we will gather to be in continued ritual visioning, practice and sharing together.

Monthly Invitations for Deepening and Integration - Self-paced

Each month additional invitations, audio teaching, journaling prompts and/or resources will be added to the course platform to support reflection and integration of what is arising in our group learning and to complement what we cover in the teaching calls. These can be accessed on the course platform at your own pace and timing.

Small group practice - optional - for those that opt-in, triad groups will be created for you to connect and practice together. These are self organized by you and your peers after the initial groups are organized.

Are there any prerequisites?

We recommend that folks have a baseline of experience or comfort with embodied awareness practices, spirit connection and relating, and have resources and supports available outside of this program container. These will be expanded upon in the application process.

What is required?

First, we ask that folks prioritize live attendance to the teaching and practice calls. They will be recorded for review or for when the occasional one needs to be missed, however this program experience is rooted in, and depends on, our live time embodied relational presence and practice together with zoom camera on.

(There will be invited times when cameras can be off, and for those who request accessibility options that need this.)

Secondly, we request an openness to engage in therapeutic self-inquiry, somatic and ritual practices, alongside an openness to be in learning and sharing with other participants. Similar to any group process, a willingness to engage in the material in a personal way and to stretch into vulnerability and humility is an important aspect of learning and building new pathways of connection and healing together, and always with choice and consent.

Finally, folks will get the most out of the program experience if they can also commit to engaging with the monthly invitations, resources and practices, whether in triad groups or on their own.

Will this program be relevant to me?

We welcome folks who are yearning for exploratory group practice space that centers liberation learning and healing through visionary, ritual, somatic and spiritual paths. Each person's experience will be unique to them while also contributing to our collective experience.

We welcome folks of diverse ancestries, faith-based and cultural traditions, and lived experiences. This course is a queer-celebrating, trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and culturally-inclusive framework focused on offering you a pathway to explore love and liberation in integrity with your identity, ancestry and social location.

Please note: We offer a brave space for folks of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences (race, gender, class, etc) coming together to be in practice, healing processes, and cultural change work that acknowledges differences in power, privilege, and dominant cultural impacts. We uplift that these different social locations and experiences as a place of great wisdom that contributes to all of our liberatory learning and practice.

Please reach out if you have any questions or want to talk about this more to discern if this course will meet you well. We are happy to connect with you in this way.

Financial Reciprocity

This program is offered on a sliding scale which acknowledges folks' different access to resources within an inequitable capitalist system, and is offered within a commitment to economic justice and community care.

We invite you to read this Financial Access Commitments to learn about why and how we offer this, and to review a more comprehensive framework to help you discern which pricing tier to choose given your financial situation and access to resources.

All tiers will be offered as monthly payment plans; 5 payments over 5 months. Prices are in USD.

Pay it Forward - $375/month ($1,875 total)

You have access to wealth, can pay for this course without much financial consideration, and have the ability to pay a little extra to directly support someone else who needs financial access options to participate.

Program Cost - $325/month ($1,625 total)

You have access to reliable income, and/or own property/mortgage, and/or are paying at the higher end of rental, and/or are in a double-income home, and/or have personal savings/investments. You are able to pay for ‘wants’ and spend little time worried about securing necessities in your life, such as housing, food, transportation.

Reduced Cost - $275/month ($1,375 total - limited available)

You have access to income that allows you to meet your basic needs, you may have some expendable income, and/or have access to resources through family/partners to request support from. You may need to budget or cut back in some other areas to make this program happen, but it won't cause any long-term harmful impact on your life.

Sponsored Cost - $225/month ($1,125 total - limited available)

Your access to resources and income stability is limited, and meeting your basic needs is stressful and inconsistent. Paying at any of the higher tiers would have a harmful impact on you.

We prioritize BIPOC, LGBTQI+ and disabled folks in financial need.

**There will be a place in the application to request a financial access spot if you need.

Refunds

We would love to hear from you to see how we might work together so this experience can be a generative one for you. However, if you decide to opt out, we will cancel any future monthly payments. Monthly payments that have already be paid are non-refundable.