The Underground Forest – A Rite of Imbolc

“La selva subterránea, the underground forest, the underworld of female knowing.
It is a wild world that lives under this one, under the world perceived by ego.
While there, we are infused with instinctive language and knowledge.
From that vantage point we understand what cannot be so easily understood
from the point of view of the topside world.”
— Pinkola Clarissa Estes

“La selva subterránea, the underground forest, the underworld of female knowing. It is a wild world that lives under this one, under the world perceived by ego. While there, we are infused with instinctive language and knowledge. From that vantage point we understand what cannot be so easily understood from the point of view of the topside world.”
— Pinkola Clarissa Estes

Birch has a long history of folkloric belief from many places. In Ireland, on Imbolc or Candlemas, Birch was (and still is) the wood used for the small wands that the ‘Bride’ or Brigid poppets made of straw were given. The twigs were also used to make a bed for this goddess-come-saint, St. Brigid, on her eve February 1st or 2nd. The words Brigid and Birch both stem from the same word, “bher(e)g” in Irish meaning “shining white”. Birch saplings in general were seen to bring fruitfulness, and even to strike a person or an animal with one, especially a cow, would impart this fruitfulness to the victim.

“When we speak of a woman’s life in relationship to the symbol of the tree, we mean the feminine blossoming energy that belongs to us and that comes to us in cycles, ebbing and returning to us on a regular basis as psychic spring follows psychic winter. Without the renewal of this flowering impulse in our lives, hope is covered over, and the earth of our minds and hearts remains in an unmoving state. The flowering apple tree is our deep life.”
— Women Who Run With The Wolves, Pinkola Clarissa Estes

The flowering apple tree is a metaphor for fecundity, yes. But more so it signifies the densely sensual creative urge and the ripening of ideas. All these are the work of las curanderas, the root women, who live deep in the crags and montañas, mountains, of the unconscious. They mine the deep unconscious there, and deliver up the work to us. We work the work they give to us, and as a result a potent fire, shrewd instincts, and deep knowing springs to life, and we develop and grow in depth in both inner and outer worlds. ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

2 Day Workshop – February 5th & 6th

Join Me For A Journey Into The Underground Forest…

A Portal Into The Abode Of Wild Crones & Wild Mothers, Wildlings & Spirits Of The Land, Our Ancestors & Tree Of Origin.

These are the Ones who nourish and grow our Wild Souls through embodied initiation rooted in the fecund earth of our bodies and the body of Nature, expressed through a flow of Nature Play, Expressive Painting, Flow Writing into Poetry, and Authentic Movement to the rhythm of the Heartbeat of the Earth.

In this event we will encounter these Wild Ones in their Ancient Grove where the Mysteries are hidden and protected for those who seek the encounter and initiation.

It is They who will lead us to our personal Origin Tree which we will give life to in our dances, soundings, painting and writing.

Like the World Tree, our Tree of Origin connects us to our roots – our Primal Ancestors, and to our branches reaching out to our Future Generations.

This is the home for the Wild Things that roam in our psyche, a safe haven for us to return to receive its life-giving nourishment for this New Year of our Sol’s expression.

Our painting and poetry become the talisman to connect us to our Nature of Origin and the fortifying nourishing force of the Underground Forest.

Nature and Imbolc are our link and doorway to these inner realms. We will journey out into the wilds we inhabit, whether backyards or wild scapes we go to for solace and rejuvenation, the Holy Wild is eternally with and in us…
Hallowed Be Its Name!

Blueprint

If you write about the basic facts of trees,
but framed as technology
it sounds like impossible sci-fi nonsense.

Self-replicating, solar-powered machines
that synthasize carbon dioxide and rainwater
into oxygen and sturdy building materials
on a planetary scale.

What do we make that compares?
– Jarod K. Anderson

Live Event On Zoom ~ Recordings ~ Teaching Guide & Materials List Provided

2 Day Workshop – February 5th & 6th, 2022
Saturday & Sunday, 11am-1pm & 1:30pm – 3:30pm PST
$147

***Includes teaching guide and materials list, with intro Video.

No Previous art or writing experience necessary.

** Payment plans and Scholarships for all who need it are available. Contact me with any questions you may have.
Contact button at the button of the page.

The Embodied Arts: Movement, Expressive Art, Stream-Of-Consciousness Writing & Ritual.

A Means To Access The Flow Of Our Deep Holy Wild Nature Intersecting With The Wilds

Nature unleashes its intelligence through the body kinesthetically and imaginally. Nature is ever present eternally ready to support us, our bodies, our lives, and the gnarly challenges we face when we know how to access these forces.

These Arts were inherently woven into Life for our Primal Ancestors. We lost touch with them as we ‘civilized’ and forced ourselves into linear thought and predominant left-brain disregard for the body living. We are just beginning to experience their return as more and more people recognize the value of accessing our creative instinct in the body and dancing with Nature’s cycles of life, death, rebirth.

Embody your heart. Embody your life. Weave expressive art, movement, stream-of-consciousness writing and ritual into your daily life, and watch your nature flourish!

“To work with Kathleen Prophet is to play in the unrefined depths of the soul and psyche. Her offerings enable one to lure out, romance and give expression to primal, unconditioned and true parts of the self, ordinarily repressed or not given expression. The results are liberating and empowering works of art.
She has been one of the most important mentors in my life. ”

— Amie Watson – Earth Witch Herbalist