Workshops: Creativity Magic

Creativity Magic

When we create, when we move energy and life force through our bodies, we are connecting to our magic, our Muse. Join us to light the fires of your creativity! Artists, writers, and those who say they aren’t creative, all are welcome at our gatherings. We’ll explore our creative process and ourselves, through art projects open to many skill levels, and we’ll work with with mythology, Faerie Tales, mandalas, mask-making, collage, jewelry, poetry. and more. Sessions will include discussion, meditations and trance journeys, storytelling, and other tools to connect to your deep inspiration. You don’t need to embrace any specific religion, just be willing to connect to your own life force, the divine within and without.

Below are some examples of creativity magic workshops I can facilitate, but I can also work out a custom workshop around any myth or theme that would engage your group. We can also work with a variety of different creative techniques from mosaic to beadwork to collage. If the class requires art supplies, you will be responsible for paying for the supplies, though I may have some items on hand that I can donate. Some examples of workshops could include: Collaging an archetype as a devotional/dedication practice, Dream pillows, or creating group projects such as decorating a sword scabbard for ritual purposes, group prayer beads, creating Aphrodite’s Girdle or other magical jewelry.

Box of Dreams: What is your Personal Magic?
What is the unique magic within you?

In the story of Psyche and Eros, Psyche goes to the Underworld to retrieve a cask of magic from Persephone. Psyche discovers that this cask holds her own personal magic. What is your magic? What are your dreams, goals, gifts, relationships–the magic that is uniquely yours?

This month we will craft a box of your own magic with collage, painting, decoupage. Decorate the outside of a box for treasures to store within. This box will show your gifts and dreams. It holds the deep magic that you find within yourself only when you’ve gone to the depths and faced impossible challenges. What is the magic at the heart of you? We will begin with a mediation/trance journey to help you identify and name your deep magic. All artistic skill levels welcome.

Supplies: We will supply blank boxes, colored paper, crayons, glue, some collage material, and some colored pens and markers. Please also bring some of your own collage materials including song lyrics, poetry, Tarot cards, paints, markers, or other materials to personalize your work.

Tarot: The Outcome Card
What is your Destiny?
In the Tarot, a common spread of cards is called the Celtic Cross. The final card, the “outcome,” shows your most likely fate.

Instead of pulling cards, together we will collage our own card that reflects the outcome we desire, the destiny that we reach for. We will introduce the Celtic Cross layout, and through meditation and trancework, explore what we wish for and yearn for, what is the future we wish to invoke. Step into the outcome that you choose for yourself.
Join us for a creative, hands-on opportunity with collage, paint, and other media. Cast a spell and make a wish to bring your future to you! All artistic skill levels welcome.

Supplies: We will supply colored paper, crayons, glue, some collage material, and some colored pens and markers. Please also bring some of your own collage materials including song lyrics, poetry, Tarot cards, paints, markers, or other materials to personalize your work.

Magical Amulets & Talismans
What do you wish for?
Many myths speak of magic jewels. The Norse Goddess Freyja had a necklace called Brisingamen, the Fire Jewel that could not be resisted, which represented her magical power. Freyja and the Celtic Goddess Brigid share the magic of the golden fire of creation, the fire that heats crafts and arts, the fire of life force and abundance.

We will create amulets, talismans, or charms. Cast a spell, make a wish, dedicate to an element, deity or archetype, honor a spiritual process, or create a charm as a blessing or seasonal gift. Amulets protect their owners, Talismans will bring something to you,

We will work primarily with beads and either wire, ribbon, or cord to create our pieces. Whether your intent is to seal your dedication to an element, work with a deity, or fashion a prayer for abundance, this artistic medium can serve you and your spiritual work. The session will begin with introductions, and our creativity magic will be done
in sacred space. We will begin with a mediation/trance journey to help connect you to your creative process. All artistic skill levels welcome.

Supplies: We will supply some beads, ribbon, and cord. we encourage you to bring any beads, coins, charms, stones, wire, or polymer clays you might want to work with.

Mirror, Mirror
What is your true reflection?
Fairy Tales and myths abound with magic mirrors…Mirrors showing your one true love, mirrors that help you find what you seek. In the tale of the Snow Queen, a magic mirror showed all that was good and beautiful to look ugly and distorted. When have you seen a mirror such as this? The mirror shatters, a tiny fleck landing in the eye of a
young boy. Infected, he sees only anger and hatred. A young girl rescues him, seeing him truly through her love of him.

Crafting a mirror frame around a mirror, we will work with the idea of mirrors, reflections, and projections–when the mirror does not tell the whole story of who we are. Together we will create magic mirrors as altars to our deepest and most divine selves. Through meditation and trance journey, we’ll discover our stories of who we are, who we
are becoming, our true reflection. If a myth was written about you, what would the story be?

Around the edges of the mirrors, we will mark symbols, stories, images, words, colors, and more. Perhaps you wish to tell the story of a year marked in a circle of 13 moons, 12 astrological signs, four seasons or four elements, the three worlds. Or perhaps images of your favorite deities, Tarot cards, poetry, or artwork. Mark the borders of your mirror with images and words that reflect the story of your power and magic. All artistic skill levels welcome.

Supplies: Medium sized mirrors and backing boards, colored paper, crayons, glue, some collage material, paints, and markers. Please also bring some of your own collage materials including song lyrics, poetry, Tarot cards, paints, markers, or other materials; you may want to bring larger mirrors, frames, or backing boards if you plan a larger work.

Planting Seeds & Decorating Eggs
Spring abundance rises up; what seeds will you plant?
Let your creativity spring forth! This is the time of year when chickens begin to lay eggs, animals wake up, birds get twitterpated. It’s the time of planting seeds and dreaming of the harvest to come.

Using hard boiled eggs, we’ll use luscious colors and dyes to create magical eggs. Eggs are a symbol of fertility and abundance. What abundance would you ask for in the season? What new beginnings would you offer a prayer for? This will be a night to play with color and community and, if you choose, to work a spell for creativity, fertility, growth, or prosperity into your Magical Mystery Eggs.

Supplies: Hard boiled eggs, dyes, paints, and markers. Please also bring hard boiled eggs and dyes if you’d like to create more than one egg.

 

Maskmaking, Shapeshifting
Who are you? Who do you want to be?

In cultures across the world, masks are used to represent deities, heroes, and archetypes. From shamanic storytelling and Greek rituals to modern theatre, masks allow us to transform ourselves.

Painting and crafting a mask can be a way to explore the qualities of a deity or archetype, a hero from a story. It can also be a way to explore our deeper selves, recognizing the masks we wear, the shadow self, or the self we’ve always wanted to be. Through trancework and storytelling, we will look at the faces we wear during the day, and the masks that come off; the parts of ourselves that we disown, and the parts of ourselves that we reach for. We will also work with various archetypes and stories.

Bring an idea, a myth, story, Tarot major arcana, hero, totem, or other archetype whose qualities you would like to embody. Available for all skill levels.

Supplies: Mask forms, paints, glitter, colored paper, crayons, glue, some collage material, and some colored pens and markers. Please also bring some of your own art-making materials including song lyrics, poetry, Tarot cards, paints, markers, collage materials, yarn, beads, and more.

**This could also can be offered as a longer workshop with two parts, making mask forms with paper mache or plaster of paris.
Mandalas & Magic Circles
What is within the circle of your soul? What is the magic center of your world?
The Mandala is an ancient form used across many cultures. A circular form that holds geometric and symbolic designs, mandalas tell the stories of spiritual journeys, dreams, deities, myths, and archetypes.

Together, we will work with the ancient form of the mandala. Through drawing, writing, collage, or a combination, we will visualize our own true essence through color, shape, image, word, symbol, or poetry. You might create a mandala to represent a dream you’ve had, a story you want to tell, a myth that inspires you, or explore Tarot, Astrology,
Alchemy, or other more primal symbols. Your mandala can represent a part of your deep self that you wish to explore, a tool for meditation and focus, or an expression of spiritual wisdom. All skill levels welcome.

Supplies: Colored paper, crayons, glue, paints, some collage material, and some colored pens and markers. Please also bring some of your own collage materials including song lyrics, poetry, Tarot cards, paints, markers, or other materials to personalize your work. You might bring images that inspire you, and other visual references will be available.
Stories, Myth, and Poetry
Once Upon a Time…
Stories are among the oldest form of communication. Whether in paintings lit by flickering fires on the cave walls, to songs, poetry, or sung myths, we love to tell stories. Story is what binds a community together, and what changes the individual’s path towards growth, change, and wisdom. The stories we tell, the myths we have read, and the journeys of our personal tales are woven together in the deep wells of our spirits.  It is these sacred wells that we can tap into for inspiration, and release the yearnings of our nconscious.

Through trance, meditation, and music, we will tap into the limitless potentials of our imaginations to take in our power as sacred storytellers, artists, and shamans. We will warm up our words with some group stories told in the time-honored format of, Once Upon a Time, and then work to connect to our own deep stories. Each of us will craft a story–perhaps a myth, perhaps a poem, perhaps a shamanic journey marked out in ideograms–to tell our own story. All skill levels welcome.

Can you hear the stories of the past?  What are the stories you have been told?  What stories can you change?
Magic Lanterns-Lighting our Way
How will you find your way in the darkness?
Hecate is the Greek Goddess of the Crossroads; she holds a lantern to light the way, though you must choose the path. The ninth Tarot major arcana is the Hermit, who lights his own path into the darkness with a magic lantern.

With glass paint and glass jars, we will create lanterns to help us light our way into the dark places. Through trance and storytelling, we take a shamanic journey to the depths of our souls, through the roots of the World Tree into the underworld, to the depths of our souls, to the places that hide in shadow. What needs to come to light? Your magic lantern might contain images, colors, and symbols that inspire you. All skill levels welcome.

Supplies: Glass jars, glass paint, tissue paper, and glue. You may wish to bring images for inspiration or other supplies to decorate your lantern.

 Stories of Myth and Blood
Can you hear the stories of the past?  What are the stories of the past that you have been told?  What stories can you change?

Storytelling through song, poetry, stories, or graphics is the oldest form of communication.  From the caves of the hunters and gatherers to the galleries of the of the modern painters, story has been what binds a community and changes the individual’s path towards growth, change, and wisdom.  The stories we tell, the myths we have read, and the
journeys of our personal tales are woven together in the deep wells of our spirits.  It is these sacred wells that we can tap into for inspiration, and release the yearnings of our unconscious.

Through trance, meditation, music- we will tap into the limitless potentials of our imaginations, banish writer’s/artistic block, and bottle inspiration to take in our power as sacred storytellers, artists, and shamans.