(ADHD): THE REVOLUTION WILL BE DISTRACTED - ROO GEORGE-WARREN
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is one of the most commonly occurring neurological "disorders" and it primarily affects an individual's Executive Function (e.g. working memory, time-management, impulse control, and focusing attention). Unless you have somehow transcended the need for other people, then you have almost certainly interacted with someone who has ADHD - perhaps it is even you! In this interactive workshop we'll have conversations about what ADHD is, what common myths get wrong about ADHD, why it is so commonly misdiagnosed particularly in people assigned female at birth, why I call it đđ§ , and what all of this can teach us about the history and current state of schooling, policing, and compliance culture.
Content Warning: This workshop is meant as a family space but there will be brief comments about difficult subjects such as substance abuse disorder and death.
ADVENTURES AND EXPLORATIONS IN NATURE, CULTURE AND SPIRIT - SANGOMA OLUDOYE
Adventures and Explorations in Nature, Culture and Spirit invites us to strengthen the relationships between these Sacred portals and dimensions that guide us forward to adjust our lens of Nature. In the coming seasons, Culture governs our cultural codes of conduct.
Recognizing and Aligning the Spirit of All things secures our peace and longevity.
AN ANIMISTIC APPROACH TO TRANCE JOURNEYING - REN ZATOPEK
Trance is an umbrella term that includes meditative states, flow states, hypnotic states, ecstatic states, post-traumatic shock, compulsive rumination, texting-while-driving, or any state that diverts us from mundane, pragmatic, grounded awareness. (Trance is a very big umbrella.)
Trance is used within many spiritual and religious traditionsâsometimes intentionally and consensually, sometimes unconsciously and dogmatically.
In this training, you'll learn how to use trance for spiritual journeying (connecting and creating meaning from contact with various states of being).
But, rather than going in-depth on the mechanics, you'll be invited to look at trance through the animistic perspective of British Traditional Witchcraft, wherein Trance is more than a toolâ
âTrance is a horse.
Trance can leap the fence of our resistance to change! Trance can carry us over the boundaries between the worlds! Trance spooks a bit easily. Trance can be stubborn and will stop to eat dandelions when you're in a hurry.
Becoming a trance-whisperer is more than a means to an end, it's one of the most essential spirit-relationships we can cultivate.
This training will be a mixture of lecture, simple practice, and perhaps a bit of guided journeying if Ren feels like it. Please bring a notebook and something to write with.
No particular belief, knowledge, or prior experience is required for participation. Please note that this training is for adults. The teacher has a potty-mouth.
AN INTRODUCTION TO SHADOW WORK - SARAH PLONSKI
This class will gently introduce the beginner to the basics of self-guided shadow work, and provide simple methods and exercises to get started. More experienced shadow workers will still gain much.
Bring your favorite journal or notebook and something to write with.
Shadow work involves deep personal introspection, emotional vulnerability and a commitment to non-judgement, so please come prepared to create a safe space and support your fellow learners.
CARVE A WOODEN HAIR COMB - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Carve a beautiful hair comb for beauty and function with Barron Brown.
Bring a sharp knife.
Age limit: 10 and older unless accompanied by an adult.
COBWEB BROOMS - EMILEIGH ZOLA
Materials Fee: $10/person
In this beginner level class, students will use broomcorn and wooden handles to craft cobweb brooms that are wonderful for cleaning and dusting the ceilings, upper walls of our homes, and porches. Broomcorn will be woven onto the handle and stitched in the round.
Moderate hand strength is suggested.
FISH SKIN LEATHER (PART 1 OF 4) - LUKE MCLAUGHLIN
Materials Fee: 25
Come and learn the magic of tanning fish skins into amazing leather! In this multiple day class, each student will take their fish skin and imbue it with plant tannins and create fish leather. Each student will go home with their own fish leather that is great for making sheaths, wallets, and leather accents.
Day 1:
Scaling hides
Boiling bark
Day 2:
Theory & Stirring
Day 3:
Theory & Wringing
Day 4:
Finishing with oil
FREESTYLE FLOWETRY FUNDAMENTALS - DAVID WEBER
Materials Fee: 0
Express your essence through improvisation in this fun group playshop exploring the fundamentals of freestyle rap. Together we'll create a safe & joyous container for our inner children to jam & learn a lifelong skill for inner inquiry & self realization.
GOAT MILK CHEESE MAKING - AMANDA COOK
Materials Fee: Donations appreciated
Let's make cheese with fresh raw goat milk.
Fresh cheve and ricotta from the goats here on the land. Bring a container for take home samples
HEALING RACISM AS A VISCERAL EXPERIENCE - MAKEDA MEEKS
In this class we will examine how our society, where racism is rampant, and black people are routinely hurt and gunned down by police. A revolutionary new approach is needed to heal the hearts minds and bodies of the People. Using Resmaa Menaken's book, My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, and number is others we will explore a healing journey through what has become known as "white supremacy". Guided by somatic healing practices, as well as, the knowledge that white supremacy is understood as cultural trauma, affecting all of us (white, black, blue bodies), we can each expect some form of a trauma response traceable to it, and then have the choice to respond instead of react.
INDIGENOUS FOOD WAYS - BIGWITCH INDIAN WISDOM INITIATIVE
Indigenous Science : Works
Presented by: Bigwitch. Indian. Wisdom Initiative.
ááŠáľáĄááŻ. á áá´áŤáŻ. á áŚáá˛á˘.
We will never forget.
These are some of the roots that
connect the Cherokee people to the land.
These entities point us to what can be done to Decolonize our food systems. Allow us to build together for the common causes.
Corn as the mother of food-
Growing and harvesting and preparing: We will demonstrate the skinning of corn (to remove the outer husk softening the kernels for exquisite food preparation).
Secondly, we will manually pound our heritage corn into meal.
âSomeday in the future and not too far away, they will come to us and ask us how the earth might be saved. Then our sacred teachings will travel across the land and the world will learn that the earth is not separate from man. And to keep these things from ever happening again we will remember never to forgetâ
-KSUT tribal radio song
Side topic: POVERTY.
IS not necessarily a bad thing. I was born into poverty and marginalized sociopolitical schematics In this society. In This country. It has been a helpful reminder of an extremely strong foundation of resilience and ingenuity. Who do you want to be stranded on an island with? Susie credit card or the OG Indian mcgyver??
Clanship Constitutionality/ governances:
Clans of the Cherokee.
The Cherokee Seven Clans are a traditional social organization of Cherokee society. Customs of the Cherokee Clans have evolved since ancient times; however, traditionalists still observe clan customs regarding marriage and certain social events. The Cherokee society is historically matrilineal, meaning clanship is passed through the mother. Among the Cherokees, women were considered the head of household, with the home and children belonging to her should she separate from her husband. The knowledge of a personâs clan is important for many reasons; one of those reasons is that among Cherokee traditionalists today, it is forbidden to marry within one's clan as clan members are considered brothers and sisters. Knowledge of a personâs clan is also important when seeking spiritual guidance and in traditional medicine ceremonies, as it is necessary to name the clan.
The Cherokee Seven Clans.
Blue (A NI SA HO NI) - Historically, this clan made medicine from a blue-colored plant to keep the children well. They are also known as the Panther or Wild Cat Clan.
Long Hair (A NI GI LO HI) - Also known as the Twister, Hair Hanging Down or Wind Clan. They wore elaborate hairdos and walked with a proud, twisting gait. Clan members are regarded as peacemakers; and Peace Chiefs were often from this clan. Prisoners of war, orphans of other tribes, and others with no Cherokee tribe were often adopted into this clan, thus a common interpretation of the name âStrangers.â
Bird (A NI TSI S KWA) - historically known as messengers. The belief that birds are messengers between earth and heaven, or the People and Creator, gave the members of this clan the responsibility of caring for the birds.
Paint (A NI WO DI) - historically known as prominent healers. Medicine was often âpaintedâ on a patient after harvesting, mixing and performing other aspects of the ceremony. Clan members made red paint and prepared teas for vapor therapy specific to each ailment.
Deer (A NI KA WI) - historically known as fast runners and hunters. Even though they hunted game for subsistence, they respected and cared for the animals while they were living among them. They were also known as messengers on an earthly level, delivering messages from village to village, or person to person.
Wild Potato (A NI GA TO GE WI) - historically, members of this clan were known to be âkeepers of the landâ and gatherers of the wild potato in swamps along streams. They are also known as the Bear, Raccoon, or Blind Savannah Clan.
Wolf (A NI WA YAH) - the largest and most prominent clan throughout time. During the time of the Peace Chief and War Chief government setting, the War Chief came from this clan. Wolves are known as protectors.
INTRO TO BLACKSMITHING - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Basic overview of basic blacksmithing using a coal forge and hand tools. We will cover tools, fuels, materials and methods. The aim is that anyone who takes this class will be able to set up a basic blacksmithing operation for themselves.
INTRODUCTION TO FOOD PRESERVATION - WENDY DAVIS
Materials Fee: 10.00
In this class we will go through a variety of food preservation techniques and the tools you need to do each. This will be an introductory class to get you familiar with the tools you do or do not need, since each process can be many classes long about all the different recipes and methods.
Some of the techniques we will discuss and cover: solar and machine dehydration, smoke house (or box), water bath canning, pressure canning, lacto-fermenting, meads, vinegars, tinctures, brining or pickling. Whew. And there are still more!
The purpose of this class is to give ideas of when each techniques are best used and for what foods, and dispell some of the fears and pressures surrounding learning how to do these things.
Bring your questions and ideas. There will be some tasting fro my own families preserves!
Suggested class fee (10.00) covers the time and materials it took to make my own families preserves to share with you.
Get what you need, give what you canâŚ
INVASIVE PLANTS? WHAT AND HOW - HAZEL
Materials Fee: 0
In this class we will discuss some of the various ways that people talk and think about invasive plants as well as the various ways you can interact with them. Definitions of âinvasiveâ and approaches to removal vary more than folks realize so please join us with an open mind and willingness to push your edge :)
LISTENING IS AN ACT OF LOVE - IONSUL FERRIN
Materials Fee: none
Learning to listen in a way that makes another person feel seen, heard, and validated is a core skill for emotional intimacy, peacefully resolving conflict, and laying a foundation of trust that builds healthy communities. Come to this experiential play-shop for a felt sense of connection with all who attend, as well as learning tools to improve all your relationships.
PERMACULTURE 101 WALKABOUT - WADE BURLEY
Materials Fee: 0
An introduction to design system called Permaculture, including its history, ethics, and principles as demonstrated in natural systems and by cultures that live close to the earth, as we walk about the landscape observing them in action.
RIVETING 101: FULL TANG KNIFE HANDLES W/O GLUE - GRAY TAYLOR
Materials Fee: 60
Come and participate in a hands-on instructional class that will lead you on a riveting journey through one of the many dimensions of knife handling. During our time in class we shall be riveting together a full tang knife into a southern hardwood handle with a copper/brass rivet set. You will leave with a handled knife and a little more knowledge of life. Knife blanks are hand-forged by the instructor. Materials fee ($60)
SHRINK POTS, AND OTHER CRAFTS FROM THE TREE WITH AXE AND KNIFE - TREVOR WALSH
In this class Trevor will teach about some of the properties of wood, features of trees, and simple tools like saw, axe and knife to turn these into useful objects. We will begin with a short presentation of a variety of wood objects including coat hooks, shrink pots, utensils and homegoods, and some history. Then show the tools, safe use of them and begin working on our projects. Several straight knives and other specialized tools will be available, but bring a sharp carving knife if you have one.
WORKING WITH BONE AN OVERLOOKED GIFT- AWLS - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: $5-25 sliding scale
Bone has met material needs for peoples around the world since time immemorial. harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, bone meets a material niche in ancestral skills and working with it helps us connect with the greater gifts of our animal kin.
during this class we will select appropriate bone pieces to shape into awls, a useful tool to further shape our world
Minimal close contact required, mask at your discretion
40 MINUTE FORKS - FUZ SANDERSON
Materials Fee: 0
40 minute forks. Don't eat your salad with a spoon! This a wood carving gateway skill, we'll make a fork you can use in the wilderness, or in the office...
Limit 20 people, Age 12 and above. You will need a sharp knife, and you will feel empowered.
AYURVEDIC WELLNESS 101: RESTORE YOUR NATURAL RHYTHM - DALISA FRITTS
We are all made of the same life force & elements that exist in all living things around us. When we get out of our natural rhythms we can experience digestive issues, sleep problems, anxiety and a laundry-list of health issues in the mental & physical body. Ayurveda is the sister-science to Yoga and the oldest system of holistic healthcare in the world. This mind, body & soul practice recognizes that every being has an individual & unique wellness journey. Learn the history and basics of Ayurvedic wellness, how to understand your unique elemental mind/body type (dosha), where you have imbalance and how to bring yourself back to balance through seasonal foods, spices & herbs, self-care practices & daily routines.
We will learn, journal, discuss and explore the beautiful world of Ayurveda together! You will leave with a deeper understanding of what your body needs, how seasonal shifts impact us and how to nourish yourself back to a balanced state of living. Please bring your journal & something comfy to sit on.
BEESWAX CANDLE MAKING - JT STOKES
Materials Fee: 10
Let's talk about the basics of pouring & dipping 100% beeswax candles.
Weâll discuss crucial temperature ranges, safety, and calculating burn time. This workshop will include tips for selecting your wax-to-wick ratio and avoiding surface imperfections. Iâll also cover essential tools and low-waste strategies for this craft.
Weâll talk about tips for pouring âperfect,â single-pour candles in indoor kitchens. Our main focus will be dipping taper candles.
Each attendee will dip a taper set (2 candles).
BICYCLE MAINTENANCE 101 - MATTY SEMKOWICH
Materials Fee: Free
Learn to treat your bicycle like your best friend! Weâll cover basic bike maintenance including flat repair, sizing, weekly lubrication, ABC Quick Check safety inspection, and minor adjustments. This class will empower you to take care of most minor repairs/ maintenance on your own- with a minimal tool list.
Ages 8 and up- younger ok with accompaniment.
BLACKSMITHING FREE-FOR-ALL - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Choose from a variety of blacksmithing projects such as decorative (and functional) hooks, bracelets, utensils such as spoon or ladle - or something else of your choosing that is reasonable for this class. Knives, axes, things like that are not reasonable for a quarter day class. Each participant will get half the class period at the forge.
COLLABORATIVE HAND DRILLING - COMMUNAL FRICTION FIRE CREATION - ELIJAH STRONGHEART
Learn to make fire! Learn to coordinate your actions with others to easily accomplish goals! Hand drilling is a beautifully simple way to make fire. And its so much easier when done with collaboration! We will discuss the principles of fire creation. We will discuss the and practice techniques that help accomplish this goal. Then we will practice collaborating with others to build community and support each other as we meet our basic need of fire. There is rhythm to spinning the drill, a rhythm to passing the drill to the next person, a rhythm in supporting and participating. âIf you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.â - African Proverb
Ages 10 and up welcome.
CORDAGE COLLEGE - JEFFREY GOTTLIEB
Materials Fee: No fee
Everything you ever wanted to know about natural fibers, their sources and how to process them. Examine the many specimens in the Cordage Museum! Create useful and beautiful hand made cordage using several methods, and try out some traditional tools for making the job easier (and more fun!) Book available from (and by) instructor for $10 if desired.
FISH NET TYING - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 5
Join Barron Brown to learn the ancient art of fish net weaving using shuttles, cordage, and one special knot. Take home your own shuttle or use ours. We will also discuss the history of nets and chat about different types of nets while we weave. 5$ donation for materials.
FISH SKIN LEATHER (PART 2 OF 4) - LUKE MCLAUGHLIN
Materials Fee: 25
Come and learn the magic of tanning fish skins into amazing leather! In this multiple day class, each student will take their fish skin and imbue it with plant tannins and create fish leather. Each student will go home with their own fish leather that is great for making sheaths, wallets, and leather accents.
Day 1:
Scaling hides
Boiling bark
Day 2:
Theory & Stirring
Day 3:
Theory & Wringing
Day 4:
Finishing with oil
FLINTKNAPPING - JAMES CLINKSCALES
Materials Fee: 05
In this class we will learn how to make an arrowhead or spear point from natural materials. Practice shaping and sharpening techniques for stone points and blades.
We will use flint, obsidian and chert, stone and antler to manufacture a usable blade or projectile points. Make an effigy to wear as adornment or primitive bling!
HEAL WELL, DO NO HARM - SANGOMA OLUDOYE
What is the healing salve that your life is most in need of in this season? Where does it live in Nature? How do we avoid destroying with our feet what we create with our hands? What supports us the most in Not being harmed and avoiding doing harm to others.
HERBAL MEDICINE MAKING 101 - ELISE DAMILATIS
Come learn how to make your own teas, tinctures, vinegars, oils and salves. We will meet a few plant friends as well! Bring a notebook.
INTRO TO POI SPINNING, FLOW ARTS, AND SAFETY FIRST FIRE DANCING - ALEXANDER HOWE
Materials Fee: 0
Flow is a state of mind, a moving meditation, a kinetic expression, and a state of no-mind. It's medicine for your brain to enter that space, whether through playing music, creating art, or in my case, through movement. This will be an introduction to the traditional Maori dance, called Poi. Poi can be made from almost any weight on a length of flexible cord. Originally rocks and cordage, but even with socks with a scoop of the earth herself! We will begin with sock poi, I have sets enough for a small class, but if you are coming to class and have mid-length or longer socks you don't mind getting a bit dirty(er), Please Bring Them! Students who attend and are deemed fit may have an opportunity to fire dance at the evening campfire, and more importantly, to be Safety for each other. Under 18 requires personal to my face parental consent to dance with fire. Fear easing credentials: I've been the lead fire safety and head medic, for numerous large festivals/events, including Afrikaburn's dance of a thousand flames, and I've had folks of all ages learn to spin fire safely at earthskills gatherings for years... plus I make excellent burn balm! (Got other fire props and want to jam with us, share other techniques, or expand your flow? Bring em!)
KUDZU HATS! - NANCY BASKET
A basket on your head is called a hat! Split kudzu vines to fashion a random Freeform brim, visor or head covering. Learn all about the uses, gathering and storing of the invasive vine. Cherokee stories/culture included.
LACTO FERMENTED VEGETABLES - JANET AARDEMA
Learn to safely and deliciously preserve the season's harvest using pro (helpful) bacteria. Using a simple but amazing salt brine, we allow helpful micro-organisms to act as natural preservatives. This keeps our harvest around longer, makes delicious fermented goods, and diversifies the bacteria in our gut. It's a triple win! Join me to learn how lacto-fermentation works and get hands on as we chop, measure, massage, and combine flavors to keep everyone happier and healthier while eating super tasty fermented vegetables.
LEATHERMAKING: BARK AND VEG TANNING BASICS - FREA FORAGER
Materials Fee: $0
So youâve scraped on a deerskin hide or two and have fallen in love with the primal craft of traditional leathermaking. Or perhaps you picked up a roadkill fox or raccoon and donât quite know what to do next. Maybe you even have a hemlock bark tanned deerskin that for some reason didnât turn out the way you wantedâŚthen this might be just the class for you. If you have some familiarity and experience with tanning hides and are ready to go deeper into the world of natural leathermaking, please join us. If you are a tanning newbie, you are also welcome to join, but may not get as much out of the class. This class will focus on bark and veg tan techniques and the challenging yet lovely world of grain-on and fur-on hides. Feel free to bring projects to class for troubleshooting and next-steps advice, just know that we will not be working on the hides directly as this is more for those who have or are in the stages of setting up their own tanning stations at home. This class will be a show and tell discussion-style experience. Please bring your tanned projects from home - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - to show off and help us learn from - if you so desire.
RIVERCANE FLUTE MAKING - HAWK HURST
Materials Fee: 20
This class will provide each participant with a chance to create an authentic, Native American-style rivercane flute. This Southeastern-style of pentatonic (5-hole) flute is end blown, easy to play, and very satisfying to make.
The sound that resonates from these traditional instruments is hauntingly beautiful. This workshop will include creating, decorating, and learning to play the flutes. Ages 12 and up. $20 class fee due at time of class.
THE ART OF INTIMACY (NVC) LEVEL 1 - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
Staying centered in any situation, moving beyond stalemates with Nonviolent Communication, forgiving others and yourself, hearing the yes behind every no, being flexible without being submissive, expressing anger or disappointment without judgment or blame, and more. With the former president of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
TRAPS, SNARES, AND DEADFALLS - SPENCER TWO DOGS
Survival in a long term scenario requires adequate nutrition, calories, and protein. Without access to a modern food support structure or local perma-agriculture, living in the Appalachian Mountain is difficult. Come learn about ways to acquire food without noise, multiplying your time and efforts through the use of clever traps both ancient and modern. Learn about triggers, releases, strikers, fulcrum systems, carving, knots and more. Adapt principles for a secure camp, discouraging uninvited folks in the process. Bring a small carving knife please!
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
BIRDS BEFORE BREAKFAST! - FUZ SANDERSON
Materials Fee: 0
The Dawn Chorus: Who is that singing?
Weâll take a moment to listen and appreciate the world coming alive at Dawn. This is part meditation and part identification of who is singing. Bring binoculars if you have them.
BO STAFF MEDITATION - SPENCER TWO DOGS
Good morning! BYOS (bring your own stick) or borrow one for a quiet, gentle, movement exercise based on the Kukishinden Ryu Bojutsu school. Simple movements at our lakeside practice area are helpful with balance, body structure, breathing, leg and shoulder range of motion and strength. We will study basic Kamae, movements, and the first few kata of this ancient training method.
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
APPALACHIAN MEDICINAL PLANT WALK - COREYPINE SHANE
On this plant walk, we will explore and discuss some of the popular medicinal plants specific to southern Appalachia and the Blue Ridge mountains specifically. We will also discuss how to sustainably and ethically wild harvest these plants, and how to process them once harvested.
ARTISAN SALVE MAKING: FOR HUMANS WITH SKIN - ALEXANDER HOWE
Materials Fee: 5
An in-depth delve to the original medicine for human skin (and pets too!) Techniques both practical for travelers, and technical for the home apothecary. We'll discuss infusions of medicinal herbs in oils, dip our toes into lipid chemistry, and the blending of various oils and waxes to make a truly superlative salve that will feel fantastic and nourish your flesh.
I've funded my travels for years largely on teaching, making, and selling premium skincare products. You'll even learn Bush Ninja's Tips (not found online!) for chopping up beeswax, the best way to fill and decant into anything, and more!
Anyone can join and listen freely. We will all cocreate a batch, and those who wish to "Make and Take" a sample pot I request $5 donation or trade, and more can be purchased at significant medicine blanket discount.
BLACKSMITHING FREE-FOR-ALL - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Choose from a variety of blacksmithing projects such as decorative (and functional) hooks, bracelets, utensils such as spoon or ladle - or something else of your choosing that is reasonable for this class. Knives, axes, things like that are not reasonable for a quarter day class. Each participant will get half the class period at the forge.
BOUNDARIES THAT BRING YOU CLOSER - IONSUL FERRIN
Materials Fee: none
Setting and maintaining healthy boundaries can be one of the hardest relationship skills to master. It's also one of the most important skills for cultivating connection, trust, and sustainability in relationships. In this experiential play-shop, we will learn and practice recognizing, naming, and enforcing healthy boundaries in ways that allow you to feel closer and more connected with the people in your life.
CARD WOVEN STRAPS (PART 1 OF 3) ALL DAY - KATE MARIE COFSKY
Materials Fee: $10-15
(PART 1 of 3) Nearly unchanged in over 2,000 years, the practice of card weaving has been used to make simple straps for belts, bag handles, hat bands and clothing hems. Multiple straps can be sewn together to make bags, garments, rugs, and tapestries. Also known as tablet weaving, it is one of the most mobile and compact forms of making fabricâno loom or large space requiredâmaking it ideal for makers on the go!
Each participant will weave one strap. You'll be guided through choosing a pattern and thread colors, measuring and cutting the warp and weft, preparing the shuttle, threading the cards, and weaving the strap. Finishing touches will discussed and applied in the last class as time permits. Class takes up 3 class periods from Thursday Morning through Friday morning. $10-$15 sliding scale fee covers yarn, shuttle, plus cards to take home and keep weaving!
CELEBRATION OF SELF! SELF-LOVE CULTIVATION CLASS & CEREMONY - JUSTINA PRENATT
Everything in your life starts & ends with YOU. To be well & experience joy, to know peace & follow your dreams, you must cultivate & practice self-compassion & SELF-LOVE đđđ. Let's learn about the barriers to self-love, then lovingly break them down. Let's build new, gentle, kind ways of being in relationship with our very own selves. We'll start with discussion style class, then we will complete with a simple meaningful ceremony. Our time together will be deep learning & real healing. :)
COMPOSTING 101 - HAZEL
Materials Fee: 0
Everyday, whether you live in a house with an HOA, on a homestead, or in a debris shelter, you are making decisions about what to do with your organic waste. In this class we will discuss the basics of composting, including its history, applications, and methodology.
EMBODIED COMBAT FOR MEN - NEW MOON BROTHERHOOD
Hosted at the Sun Camp, this will be a playful and fun opportunity to explore your relationship to physical combat with other men. Expect movement games, embodiment practices, and physical engagement with fellow brothers in a fully consensual sacred container. We will explore and hold space for whatever arises in our bodies throughout this journey. We will potentially be working with themes such as father and bully wounds, toxic masculinity, aggression, owning and expressing our masculine power, and more. This is a shortened version of a full day immersion event called Embodied Combat Breakthrough Circle, offered outside of Firefly by the facilitator, Josh Zamrin. Josh is a personal trainer, lifestyle coach, and menâs embodiment coach/facilitator.
FIRE, FIRE!! - TOM STUTZ
Two fire making skills in one class. Learn to make fire with a fire piston and then learn the Rudiger roll.
FISH SKIN LEATHER (PART 3 OF 4) - LUKE MCLAUGHLIN
Materials Fee: 25
Come and learn the magic of tanning fish skins into amazing leather! In this multiple day class, each student will take their fish skin and imbue it with plant tannins and create fish leather. Each student will go home with their own fish leather that is great for making sheaths, wallets, and leather accents.
Day 1:
Scaling hides
Boiling bark
Day 2:
Theory & Stirring
Day 3:
Theory & Wringing
Day 4:
Finishing with oil
FUNGI BASICS - NICHOLAS PARKER
We will be going on a walk through the woods talking the basics and stories of fungi. This is a class for beginners and will not discuss the ins and out of taxonomy. We will talk edibility and basic identification characteristics. Expect to walk .
GOAT MILK SOAP MAKING - AMANDA COOK
Materials Fee: Donations appreciated
Let's make lovely goats milk soap with milk from the goats on the land.
HIDE TANNING (PART 1 OF 6, ALL DAY) - MEL BEAUX
Materials Fee: $50
Learn to turn deer skins into soft buckskin leather. This class is a 3 DAY, ALL DAY class scheduled for THURSDAY thru SATURDAY! Students must sign-up IN PERSON on Wednesday, at the hide tanning area with Mel or Rain to reserve a hide! We will be making egg-tan buckskin and 6 students will leave with a finished deer hide! This is a labor intensive class that doesn't fit neatly into the gathering schedule, be ready to devote most, if not all your gathering time and energy to making a beautiful piece of leather! Be ready for a work-out! Hide tanning is also WEATHER DEPENDENT, our schedule will transcend satellite cell phone time and instead be dictated by sun, wind, and rain!
All are encouraged to come learn, observe, chat, ask questions, help out, use the tools for projects, play music for us while we get buff, and check out our leatherwork. Sometimes we get busy and miss the rest of the gathering, so come see us!
INDIGENOUS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY - BIGWITCH INDIAN WISDOM INITIATIVE
INTRO TO SACRED SEXUALITY - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
After our survival instinct, sexual energy is the most powerful force in the human experience. How do we access and guide this energy? With the heart. And what guides our heart? The overall spiritual purpose of our lives. When all three are combined: sex, heart, and spirit, we can live a deeply satisfying life of service to our ultimate vision. Ideas and practices for improving your physical and emotionally-intimate relationships. With the former President of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
MANAGING ENERGETIC AND EMOTIONAL OVERWHELM WITH QIGONG - TREY CRISPIN
Qigong is a internal energetic practice that has many real time useful facets. One such is using the basic practice to reverse/subdue/manage dysregulation due to emotional or energetic overwhelm. Posture, Breath, and Intention are the pillars we will be discussing in this class. There will be breath work, gentle movement, Chi games, and an invitation for some deep physical strength training. All movements are based on each students ability at that moment. My hopeful outcome is that each student walks away with a new level of understanding of how we walk through this world and how to stay grounded when the world is flying by.
METHODS FOR MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS WITH LAND SPIRITS - REN ZATOPEK
oMany folks at Firefly talk to mountains and trees and bees. Some of yâall have probably even had these conversations while in an intentional trance: maybe drifting in meditation, journeying with a drum, or riding a friendly fungus.
Regardless of how the conversation started, a question you might have afterwards is...
...How do I know I wasnât imagining it?
We might think a stronger trance will resolve our doubts. We could drum for four days straight or ingest less-friendly fungi. But more intense and realistic isnât necessarily clearer or more meaningful.
In this class weâre going to learn a variety of simple, gentle methods for communicating with the spirits of land and place. Weâll learn how to anoint ourselves in the hidden scent of the land, how to invite the landâs hidden powers to gather, and how to hear the holy sum of the landâs hidden voices.
Plus, Iâll show yâall how everything you already know about how to have great conversations with your fellow humans can be applied to conversations with non-humans and more-than-humans!
And, yesâŚ
âŚYou are imagining it. At least a little.
Whether weâre talking with hills or humans, thereâs always room for misunderstanding. Thereâs always a possibility that weâre just hearing what we expected to hear. All conversations are touched by our imagination and our inner-interpreter. So, a better question is: What does my imagination serve?
Deep, clear connections and conversations change us. Am I willing to be changed? Or, is my imagination protecting me from the de-stabilizing effects of spiritual growth? In the end, itâs not the methods that allow us to have clearer, more meaningful conversationsâitâs our priorities. Our exploration comes full circle as we learn how conversations with spirits of the land can teach us to shift our priorities and embrace change.
This class will be a mixture of teachings and guided spiritwork/meditation. No particular belief in spirits or âhidden voices of the landâ required to enjoy this class. Please note that this training is for adults and may include adult subjects, language, and humor.
NATURAL PLANT DYES - LINDSEY WARF
Materials Fee: $5 - $10
Colors fill our visual landscape. Sunny yellows, olive greens, magentas, indigos, purples, more than one can imagine. This class will teach you the alchemical magic that peoples around the world have been using for ages upon ages!
Students will learn which plants extract the best colors on different fibers, where to find these plants, what parts of the them to use and how to use plant components and metals to adhere pigments for lasting vibrancy.
We will have 2 different dye pots in which we will dye silk ribbon, cotton lace and patches for students to take home. The products made in this class can be put to use in my next class, "Revamp your wardrobe! Learn to mend, patch, and sew your clothes".
RADICLE PERMACULTURE DESIGN FOR URBAN TRANSFORMATION - JUSTIN VETTEL
Materials Fee: 0
Radicle (rÄdâ˛Ä-kÉl) - The part of a seed (plant embryo) that becomes a root.
Cities are changing, and permaculture is on the rise. Right now is a unique time in history for Permaculture designers to connect with developers and municipalities to change the way their cities grow. A lot of people still donât know what permaculture means; by using the tools available to a designer, in very public spaces, we can show people in a tangible way that sustainability can be accessible to anyone.
Frequently, the idea of permaculture brings to mind backyard food forests with swales and tons of mulch everywhere. Sometimes though, in a city, these ideas are challenged in novel ways. This class aims to broaden our ideas about what permaculture can look like as well as offer ideas on how we can use the Permaculture principles in different ways.
This class is best suited for those who have a basic understanding of Permaculture, though all folks interested in practicing Permaculture principles are welcome.
RAW HIDE KNIFE SHEATHS - TALCON QUINN
Materials Fee: $35-$65
Learn how to work with deer rawhide while making a sheath for you favorite straight blade.
Class will be held at instructors camp.
Class fee is $35-$65 and includes a leather awl for you to keep. Raw hide is processed 100% by Talcon.
Class is limited to 10, less we have extra materials.
RIVETING 102: SHEATHS - GRAY TAYLOR
Materials Fee: 30
Sharp tools deserve a good home, this class will be a hands on journey in leather sheath construction using different types of rivets.
Bring a sharp tool to give a dry safe home.
SPOON CARVING - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Learn how to carve your very own spoon with Barron Brown using just hand tools the old fashioned way. No Firefly Gathering is complete without making a spoon of your very own! bring a sharp knife!
Age limit 10 and older unless parents are present.
STICK JIU JUTSU - SPENCER TWO DOGS
Come study techniques using physics and leverage with any commonly available stick-like object. Kali/escrima, hanbojutsu, and integrated martial arts have a colorful and rich lineage to draw from in learning less-violent ways to control a potentially dangerous person. By using techniques involving pain, joint locks, and chokes, the practitioner is able to transition to communication skills and healing without lasting injury to either party. Sticks amplify leverage and are helpful for people of smaller stature - they also do not imply intent to harm and thus can be carried almost anywhere (drumsticks). Expect physical contact and discomfort - boundaries and consent are key elements of this class.
WHERE TRUTHTELLING MEETS STORYTELLING - SANGOMA OLUDOYE
The gifts of our griots of old is to Tell the Story without pointing the finger at anyone. This potent medicine is necessary to our Leadership and Lighthouses in this present darkness. Clan Mother teachings support us in seeing, knowing, walking Talking and Honoring the Truth....our Truths as well as the Truth of others.
WHISK BROOMS - TURKEY WING STYLE - EMILEIGH ZOLA
Materials Fee: $10/person
In this beginner level class, students will craft turkey wing style whisk brooms out of broomcorn hurl. The skills learned in this class can be applied to other styles of broom-making, and different variations will be discussed.
Moderate hand strength is suggested.
WILLOW SHOULDER BASKET (PART 1 OF 5) ALL DAY - TYLER LAVENBURG
Materials Fee: $50-$100
Welcome fellow Willow enthusiasts! In this two-day class we will be using locally grown European basket willow to weave up some fine hand or shoulder baskets. We will be using whole round shoots of willow varieties selected over centuries for ideal industrial strength baskets. Day one we will cover growing, propagating, harvesting, and preparingwhile weaving our bases and locking our spokes in place. Day two we will weave up the body, turn down the rim, and begin making straps. Strap material will vary in price depending on student's choice of webbing or home-tanned leather. You will learn several different weaves including twining, randing, slewing, waling, and all sorts of other fun words. This is class is a full two days at least, and 2.5 days depending on strap style. Materials fee will vary between $50-$100 depending on strap material selection.
WORKING WITH BONE, AN OVERLOOKED GIFT - NEEDLES - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: 5-25 sliding scale
Bone has met material needs for peoples around the world since time immemorial. harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, bone meets a material niche in ancestral skills and working with it helps us connect with the greater gifts of our animal kin.
during this class we will select appropriate bone pieces to shape into beautiful, functional, needles.
Minimal close contact required, mask at your discretion
ZEN AND THE ART OF WOODSPLITTING - FUZ SANDERSON
Before enlightenment Chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.
You may be surprised by the spiritual aspect of wood splitting. It is a journey that expands your awareness...we will be going through the safe aspects of wood splitting, learning how different types of wood react to blades, blaze and body. Wear closed toe shoes.
if one has cut, split, and hauled and piled his own oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the weekend in town astride a radiator. - Aldo Leopold.
ACROYOGA - AARON TREMPER
Materials Fee: 0
This class will cover a few fun and playful moves you can do with your partner. Then we will do some great partner stretching, know as Flying Thai or Acropeutics. No partner is required. Class size is limited to 30 people. Bring a yoga mat or towel to lay down on.
BAMBOO & CANE FLUTE MAKING - HAWK HURST
Materials Fee: 20
Participants will create and learn to play one, of a variety of styles of flutes made from bamboo, including end-blown, side blown and flutes in both the diatonic and pentatonic scale. Special emphasis will be given to learning how to tune the flutes. Ages 14 and up. $20 class fee due at time of class.
CARD WOVEN STRAPS (PART 2 OF 3) ALL DAY - KATE MARIE COFSKY
Materials Fee: $10-15
(PART 2 of 3) Nearly unchanged in over 2,000 years, the practice of card weaving has been used to make simple straps for belts, bag handles, hat bands and clothing hems. Multiple straps can be sewn together to make bags, garments, rugs, and tapestries. Also known as tablet weaving, it is one of the most mobile and compact forms of making fabricâno loom or large space requiredâmaking it ideal for makers on the go!
Each participant will weave one strap. You'll be guided through choosing a pattern and thread colors, measuring and cutting the warp and weft, preparing the shuttle, threading the cards, and weaving the strap. Finishing touches will discussed and applied in the last class as time permits. Class takes up 3 class periods from Thursday Morning through Friday morning. $10-$15 sliding scale fee covers yarn, shuttle, plus cards to take home and keep weaving!
COILED BROOMSEDGE BASKET - NANCY BASKET
Learn how to sew broomsedge into a fruit bowl shaped vessel. Rustic, primitive looking coils makes this basket unique. Cherokee stories/culture included.
DIVE IN THE HIVE- HANDS-ON BEEKEEPING - CHARLIE OAK
Materials Fee: $1 fee for gloves
ANYONE WITH KNOWN SEVERE REACTIONS TO HONEYBEE STINGS IS ASKED TO NOT ATTEND THIS CLASS.
YOU MAY GET STUNG. PREPARE ACCORDINGLY.
VEILS AND ONESIZE FITS ALL NITRILE GLOVES ARE PROVIDED. SMALL HANDS? Bring small gloves (NOT BLACK)
YOU BRINGâ> PANTS, LONG SLEEVE SHIRT, SOCKS AND CLOSE-TOED SHOES. AVOID DARK COLORS IF POSSIBLE
PLEASE ONLY ATTEND THIS CLASS ONCE TO ALLOW OTHERS THE CHANCE TO ATTEND AND LEARN
This is a class for beginner and intermediary beekeepers, whether you have a hive now or plan on getting one in the future. This class goes well after the Beekeeping 101 course. We will discuss basic Hive inspection protocol, how to gauge the health, growth, and present state of your super-organism, specifically for Western North Carolina environments. We will discuss classic bee behavior signs that can be the difference between a fun hive inspection and a very painful hive inspection, and we will take a dive into the more magical side and history of these mysterious little beeings. After we conceptualize, we will get into a bee hive or two or three together and get answers to all those burning questions you have.
Bring your notebooks, people, itâs time for a knowledge storm.
Long live the Bees! And their Keepers!
EASILY GROW OYSTER MUSHROOMS AT HOME - MATT WRIGHT
Oyster mushrooms are delicious, nutritious, easy to grow and can be a beautiful part of a home/farm recycling and composting system. Learn how to grow oyster mushrooms at home on things you probably already have lying around. Also learn to clone a wild oyster in the woods near your home to cultivate mushrooms at home that are native to your bio-region. We will also discuss techniques for cultivating larger amounts of mushroom in buckets and on logs outdoors. We will get hands on and everyone will leave with spawn to start growing at home right away!
FREESTYLE FLOWETRY FUNDAMENTALS - DAVID WEBER
Materials Fee: 0
Express your essence through improvisation in this fun group playshop exploring the fundamentals of freestyle rap. Together we'll create a safe & joyous container for our inner children to jam & learn a lifelong skill for inner inquiry & self realization.
GAMES FOR CONNECTION AND COMMUNITY BUILDING - JEN HYDE
What better way to create connection, to form relationships, and to build community that through laughter and play? Get ready to be silly, playful, thoughtful, present, sincere, creative and absurd through these movement-based games.
GREEN SPOON CARVING BASICS - NICHOLAS PARKER
Materials Fee: 5 per piece of wood
We will be turning a green piece of maple wood into a spoon. We will shape them out with saws and hatchets then carve them with knives.
If you have your own carving tools or want to carve your own wood you are welcome to do that. We will be carving green wood specifically though. Tools used would be a sharp knife, gouge, hatchet, saw, hook knife.
GROWING AND FORAGING 100 PERCENT OF YOUR FOOD - ROBIN GREENFIELD
The global, industrial food system is broken. Is it possible to live outside of this system in harmony? Rob Greenfield embarked on a yearlong immersion of growing and foraging 100% of his food to find out. No grocery stores, no restaurants, not even a drink at a bar. Nature was his garden, his pantry and his pharmacy. He turned lawns into abundant gardens, grew over 100 species of food, and foraged over 200. Now heâs here to share with you how you too can take back power from Big Ag and gain Food Freedom for yourself and your community.
HIDE TANNING (PART 2 OF 6, ALL DAY) - MEL BEAUX
Materials Fee: $50
Learn to turn deer skins into soft buckskin leather. This class is a 3 DAY, ALL DAY class scheduled for TH thru SAT! Students must sign-up IN PERSON on Wednesday, at the hide tanning area with Mel or Rain to reserve a hide! We will be making egg-tan buckskin and 6 students will leave with a finished deer hide! This is a labor intensive class that doesn't fit neatly into the gathering schedule, be ready to devote most, if not all your gathering time and energy to making a beautiful piece of leather! Be ready for a work-out! Hide tanning is also WEATHER DEPENDENT, our schedule will transcend satelite cell phone time and instead be dictated by sun, wind, and rain!
All are encouraged to come learn, observe, chat, ask questions, help out, use the tools for projects, play music for us while we get buff, and check out our leatherwork. Sometimes we get busy and miss the rest of the gathering, so come see us!
INTRODUCTION TO KOREAN NATURAL FARMING (KNF) - JUSTIN VETTEL
Materials Fee: 10
Korean Natural Farming is a symphonic arrangement of farming techniques that have been compiled by Master Han-Kyu Cho as a response to the ever growing cost of commercial inputs required to produce food. In KNF the grower is given the power to produce all necessary inputs themselves. This in turn allows us growers to apply exactly what the plant needs in a holistic way. With this approach, the goal is to realize the full genetic potential of whatever crop you are growing.
This class will start with the necessary foundation that covers nutrient cycling and indigenous microorganisms as two key factors affecting the success or failure in growing a given plant. From there we will go over some of the most common inputs as well as how to make and combine them. In class weâll do a demo of fermented plant juice (FPJ) that participants can take home in order to begin stocking their personal plant apothecary.
PLANT FAMILY PATTERNS: THE KEY TO SEE - MARC WILLIAMS
Plant Family Patterns can greatly aid in demystifying the âgreen wallâ of species around us. Over 400,000 species of flowering plants are known to global science. These species have been grouped into around 15,000 genera and over 400 flowering plant families. About 200 flowering plant families grow in the temperate world where it annually frosts and or freezes. You will know something significant about the majority of plants that you see in the temperate world if you learn the top 30 families around you. It is often possible to guess whether a plant is edible, medicinal, or poisonous simply by the family it occupies. However, some exceptions are important to know as well. We will engage in a walk and talk around the Firefly Gathering grounds where we will delve into the major plant families of the Southern USA. Students will reinforce plant identification skills by observing family patterns such as leaf, flower and fruit types. Uses including edibility, medicinality, craft, wildlife promotion and landscape beauty will be discussed. Participants will gain a more holistic understanding of the major plants comprising the Southern US flora and their potential ecological and ethnobotanical applications.
PLAYFUL YOGA + CREATIVE FLOW - LARK FRAZIER
Connect with self, community and the natural world in this playful, all-levels and all-abilities yoga practice. Drawing on principles of hatha yoga, mindfulness meditation, social emotional learning and the universal human need to PLAY, together we will co-create a yoga experience quite unlike any other using the chakra system as our guide. Come play with us! For your own comfort, please bring a blanket or yoga mat, if possible.
POTIONS 101, HERBAL MEDICINE PRESERVATION - JT STOKES
Materials Fee: $5
Letâs talk about the basics of brewing internally-consumed herbal concoctions, maximizing shelf life, and building a home apothecary. Weâll discuss considerations for potion crafting â like selecting the most fitting solvent for the herb youâre working with, or different ratios to use for dry compared to fresh plants. We may also brush up against spiritual or ethical considerations/options for the herbal medicine maker.
Alcohol is a great preservative, but let's give attention to the other options we have: apple cider vinegar, salt, oils, honey, jun/mead/kombucha. Fermented beverages, salad dressings, or cordials are unassuming forms of medicine, all of which can be added to enrich regular meals. Let's blur the lines between the apothecary and the kitchen pantry.
Weâll craft up some oxymels with honey & vinegar.
14 jars will be available, listeners welcome.
PRIMAL EMBODIMENT ARCHERY - ALEXANDRA TAIT
Materials Fee: 7
Primal Embodiment Archery- We will warm up with stretches and some qigong to connect with our bodies and limber up. An explanation of equipment and a lesson on basic archery form. When everyone has the basics down we will go deeper into the art of archery as a profound focusing tool and embodiment practice. We will allow the arrow to be an extension of our healthy predator power. We will have an opportunity to own our internal predator nature and learn to be conscious and safe with our power. It is when humans are unconscious of their power that the most damage is done. Meet me on the grass and get into your body and your presence with a bow. Age 9 and up. We will use low poundage composite recurve bows for this class.
SACRED ACTIVISM - SANGOMA OLUDOYE
Sacred Activism; finding and mastering navigational tools in Nature that best support our peaceful forward progression. Pulling up the weeds in our gardens, composting all misdirected negative energy and toxicity.
The frustrations and grief triggered daily by the enormous Evolutions in the Earth leads us to Change our Minds in order to Change our World. We Are the Ones we have been waiting for.
SHIBORI IN AN INDIGO DYE VAT - WENDY DAVIS
Materials Fee: 25.00
Most of us have had experience tie dying, maybe you have even dyed fabrics in an indigo vat before. But there are so many more ways to create patterns in your fabrics! We will discuss the different ways of folding, tying, stitching and clamping from the traditional Japanese methods called shibori. And then use indigo to create beautiful rich blue colors. Evidence of indigo has been found in pretty much every primitive culture around the world. What a great way to connect to the creativity of our ancestors.
Please bring a small light or bite colored material item that is made of natural fibers. I will have some items to search through if someone comes without.
Class fees includes the vat, materials to create patterns, and sourcing materials. 25.00
STONE TOOLS - JAMES CLINKSCALES
Materials Fee: 05
Stone tools have been produced by our ancestors throughout history. In this class we will explore methods of manufacturing stone tools using stone, bone, and antler to produce blades and projectile points for everyday uses! Make an arrowhead for your arrow or atlatl. Make a knapped stone effigy to complete your primitive necklace!
THE ART OF INTIMACY (NVC) LEVEL 2 - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
For those with some familiarity with Nonviolent Communication. Using NVC Dance Floors and Somatic Experiencing to move from pain to compassion, from the illusion of conflicting needs to finding win/win strategies, from grasping for approval to deep inner peace, and from negativity to the natural joy of life. With the former president of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
THE LEGEND OF THE PAWPAW - SEREN PETRICHOR
Pawpaw fruits are a wonder that have been nearly lost to southeast American culture. It's not too late to bring back a magical, delicious and nutritious indigenous fruit to the Appalachian mountains and beyond. Learn about pawpaw seed striation, germination, planting, and bringing trees to successful and abundant harvest.
Will have Pawpaw trees for sale during the class. Class may include some walking to locations on the property.
TIMBER FRAMING - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Come and learn about the ancient and useful art of timber framing.
WILLOW SHOULDER BASKET (PART 2 OF 5) ALL DAY - TYLER LAVENBURG
Materials Fee: $50-$100
Welcome fellow Willow enthusiasts! In this two-day class we will be using locally grown European basket willow to weave up some fine hand or shoulder baskets. We will be using whole round shoots of willow varieties selected over centuries for ideal industrial strength baskets. Day one we will cover growing, propagating, harvesting, and preparingwhile weaving our bases and locking our spokes in place. Day two we will weave up the body, turn down the rim, and begin making straps. Strap material will vary in price depending on student's choice of webbing or home-tanned leather. You will learn several different weaves including twining, randing, slewing, waling, and all sorts of other fun words. This is class is a full two days at least, and 2.5 days depending on strap style. Materials fee will vary between $50-$100 depending on strap material selection.
WORKING WITH BONE, AN OVERLOOKED GIFT - FISH HOOKS - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: 5-25 sliding scale
Bone has met material needs for peoples around the world since time immemorial. harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, bone meets a material niche in ancestral skills and working with it helps us connect with the greater gifts of our animal kin.
during this class we will select appropriate bone pieces to shape into beautiful, functional, fish hooks.
Minimal close contact required, mask at your discretion
WVO WASTE VEGGIE OIL CONVERSION - GRANT ADKISSON
Materials Fee: 0
Offset the considerable cost of running a vehicle while creating less harmful emissions and utilizing waste oil for fuel. Show and Tell on the basics of a successful Waste Vegetable Oil(WVO) conversion. Will show a working system and vehicle with discussion of key aspects of a successful conversion, tank types, filtration, and methods to create a successful conversion on a diesel vehicle. Discuss fuel system issues, procurement and storage/filtering and some of the best vehicles to convert.
AMAZING FIREFLIES - A WALK & TALK - WADE BURLEY
Materials Fee: 0
The twinkling lights that enhance summer nights will take on new meaning as we walk through the evening landscape. Come observe and learn about fireflies - their lives and life stages, their place in our ecosystem, and meet some of the 19+ species that call our area home. Meet at 8:15 pm, bring a headlamp with a red, blue, or green light setting, and be ready to walk in the woods.
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
MYTHOPOETIC JUSTICE (8 PM) - NEW MOON BROTHERHOOD
Mythology and Poetry have been a part of human expression for thousands of years. The patriarchy has infected the essence of what it can mean for a man in a position of power to speak and we recognize the patriarchy as a myth we can rewrite the story of. This workshop is designed as a remembering of the impact a man can have when he connects to the power inside, rather than trying to enforce power over others. Men, we are calling on you to come and share a poem or a story, to use your words to share what is alive in your hearts and feel the support of brotherhood. We will open with connection games. We ask that you spend a max of 10-15 minutes in the spotlight. All genders are encouraged to come be a part of our new story. This will be hosted at Sun Camp. There will be limited number of poets and storytellers, a sign up sheet will be available at Sun Camp.
STARTS AT 8 PM
CHI GUNG AND PLANT SENSING (7:30-9 AM) - JEANNIE MCKENZIE
Celebrate our connection with the earth, and the depth of understanding that comes through the plant world with Chi Gung and Plant Sensing classes. The chi gung practice takes movements from ancient medical chi gung practices and focuses the understanding of the gathering and movement of energy in a new way. As we practice, guided imagery and actual images bring our presence into awareness of our larger, eternal energetic structure. From this expanded field, and with additional instructions, we tune into the plant world. We then set timers for 10 minutes, head out (or already be outside if you can be) and come in after the 10 minutes to share our significant messages and experiences.
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
(ADHD): THE REVOLUTION WILL BE DISTRACTED - ROO GEORGE-WARREN
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is one of the most commonly occurring neurological "disorders" and it primarily affects an individual's Executive Function (e.g. working memory, time-management, impulse control, and focusing attention). Unless you have somehow transcended the need for other people, then you have almost certainly interacted with someone who has ADHD - perhaps it is even you! In this interactive workshop we'll have conversations about what ADHD is, what common myths get wrong about ADHD, why it is so commonly misdiagnosed particularly in people assigned female at birth, why I call it đđ§ , and what all of this can teach us about the history and current state of schooling, policing, and compliance culture.
Content Warning: This workshop is meant as a family space but there will be brief comments about difficult subjects such as substance abuse disorder and death.
BLACKSMITHING FREE-FOR-ALL - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Choose from a variety of blacksmithing projects such as decorative (and functional) hooks, bracelets, utensils such as spoon or ladle - or something else of your choosing that is reasonable for this class. Knives, axes, things like that are not reasonable for a quarter day class. Each participant will get half the class period at the forge.
PLEASE WEAR CLOSE TOED SHOES.
BOW DRILL FRICTION FIRE - TOM STUTZ
Learn to make a bow drill fire using the double string method. If time allows we will reconfigure our bows to make fire with a traditional bow drill and then the Egyptian method as well. Bring a sharp knife.
BOWL CARVING- ALL DAY - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Come and learn how to carve a wooden bowl with hand tools with Barron Brown.
Bring a sharp knife.
Age limit: 12 and older unless accompanied by an adult.
BUCKSKIN BAGS- ALL DAY CLASS! - TALCON QUINN
Materials Fee: 75-135
Spend the day with Talcon Quinn, learning how to sew with brain tanned buckskin!
In this class you will create a beautiful and functional buckskin side pouch.
Learn how to lay out patterns appropriately on a skin, how to sew three beautiful, classic, versatile stitches with buckskin thong (& so much more).
Braintanned Buckskin is provided for a materials fee, as well as an awl to use or purchase.
Have your own braintanned buckskin? Please, don't sign up - instead check in with Talcon.
Open to youth, who are dexterous or accompanied by an adult.
Class fee sliding scale $75-135.
BUTTONS FROM ANTLER - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: 5-25 sliding scale
often those final finishing touches to a project are when the real transformation happens, learning to make your own buttons from antler can help give your project that final finishing touch that really gives it the "wow" factor.
CARD WOVEN STRAPS (PART 3 OF 3) - KATE MARIE COFSKY
Materials Fee: $10-15
(PART 3 of 3) Nearly unchanged in over 2,000 years, the practice of card weaving has been used to make simple straps for belts, bag handles, hat bands and clothing hems. Multiple straps can be sewn together to make bags, garments, rugs, and tapestries. Also known as tablet weaving, it is one of the most mobile and compact forms of making fabricâno loom or large space requiredâmaking it ideal for makers on the go!
Each participant will weave one strap. You'll be guided through choosing a pattern and thread colors, measuring and cutting the warp and weft, preparing the shuttle, threading the cards, and weaving the strap. Finishing touches will discussed and applied in the last class as time permits. Class takes up 3 class periods from Thursday Morning through Friday morning. $10-$15 sliding scale fee covers yarn, shuttle, plus cards to take home and keep weaving!
DESIGNING WILD CULTURE - JUSTIN PEGNATARO
Materials Fee: no fee
We each come from ancestral lineages deeply connected to and in rhythm with the Earth. Through the destructive force of colonization, many of us have lost a connection to healthy culture. And yet many also yearn to remember the old songs, stories, and lifeways of our ancestors and to return to a culture more in line with what it means to be human. Designing Wild Culture explores design principles for creating rewilding culture and community in your life. It also provides space for us to explore collaboratively cultural practices for each day, moon, year and across the human lifecycle. Participants will leave with a personalized map of cultural practices and events that they can bring to life in their community.
ECOVILLAGE PLAYING CARDS GAME - CHLOE BUZZOTTA
A fun interactive way to learn more about ecovillage building. This workshop is more interactive and conversational allowing people to reflect on the relationship to nature and themselves while feeling empowered to make a difference! Families are welcome to participate.
FISH SKIN LEATHER (PART 4 OF 4) - LUKE MCLAUGHLIN
Materials Fee: 25
Come and learn the magic of tanning fish skins into amazing leather! In this multiple day class, each student will take their fish skin and imbue it with plant tannins and create fish leather. Each student will go home with their own fish leather that is great for making sheaths, wallets, and leather accents.
Day 1:
Scaling hides
Boiling bark
Day 2:
Theory & Stirring
Day 3:
Theory & Wringing
Day 4:
Finishing with oil
FROM CONFLICT TO CONNECTION - IONSUL FERRIN
Materials Fee: none
Emotional intimacy is built like a muscle - in cycles of rupture and repair. However, most of us were not taught how to skillfully repair after conflict. In this experiential play-shop, we will learn and practice some foundational skills of repairing relationships after conflict.
GOATS ON THE HOMESTEAD - AMANDA COOK
Materials Fee: Donations appreciated
Let's talk about goats. Why keep goats? How do we heal the land using goats for "invasion" plant remediation? We will cover many topics like these and general animal husbandry conversations.
GREENWOOD SPOON CARVING - NICHOLAS PARKER
Materials Fee: 5$ per piece of wood
We will make a basic spoon out of green maple in this class. We will blank out our piece and carve them using hatchet and knife. Basic carving tools will be provided but if you have any of your own bring them.
HAND-APPLIED TATTOO & CEREMONY (PART 1 OF 3) - KITTY LOVE
Materials Fee: $10 supply fee requested but not required
In this workshop, Kitty & Arulu will lead an exploration through the processes of ceremonial tattooing over three sessions, with each class building on the last, so participants must be committed to the whole journey. We will discuss elements of crafting a ritual container, developing a design, body placement, sterilization protocol and clean practice, handpoked tattoo application technique, and aftercare. The workshop will culminate in a group tattoo ritual Sunday morning in which participants will have the opportunity to tattoo themselves or another class participant, or piece of fake skin, with the supervision of the instructors.
Session one (Friday morning) will cover a lot of introductory material and tattooing basics, including some history of tattoo & ceremony, creating designs, tools & supplies, safety, with some hands-on time for practicing tattooing on a piece of fake skin.
Session two (Saturday morning) will involve an instructional demo of a handpoked tattoo process, and time for participants to develop designs for a tattoo, or continuing to practice on the fake skin from the first class. In developing a design, participants will be encouraged to explore a personal intention.
Session three (Sunday morning) will be entirely dedicated to the group tattoo ceremony and tattoo application on actual bodies of enthusiastic participants, or fake skin for those who prefer. Our ceremonial structure is based primarily in earth-based practices. Participants are encouraged to bring altar items as we will build an altar together. Instruments welcome.
*** THIS CLASS IS FRIDAY MORNING, SATURDAY MORNING, AND SUNDAY MORNING. IF YOU SIGN UP PLAN, PLAN TO ATTEND THESE THREE SPECIFIC SESSIONS ***
HEALING RACISM AS A VISCERAL EXPERIENCE - MAKEDA MEEKS
In this class we will examine how our society, where racism is rampant, and black people are routinely hurt and gunned down by police. A revolutionary new approach is needed to heal the hearts minds and bodies of the People. Using Resmaa Menaken's book, My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, and number is others we will explore a healing journey through what has become known as "white supremacy". Guided by somatic healing practices, as well as, the knowledge that white supremacy is understood as cultural trauma, affecting all of us (white, black, blue bodies), we can each expect some form of a trauma response traceable to it, and then have the choice to respond instead of react.
HIDE TANNING (PART 3 OF 6, ALL DAY) - MEL BEAUX
Materials Fee: $50
Learn to turn deer skins into soft buckskin leather. This class is a 3 DAY, ALL DAY class scheduled for TH thru SAT! Students must sign-up IN PERSON on Wednesday, at the hide tanning area with Mel or Rain to reserve a hide! We will be making egg-tan buckskin and 6 students will leave with a finished deer hide! This is a labor intensive class that doesn't fit neatly into the gathering schedule, be ready to devote most, if not all your gathering time and energy to making a beautiful piece of leather! Be ready for a work-out! Hide tanning is also WEATHER DEPENDENT, our schedule will transcend satelite cell phone time and instead be dictated by sun, wind, and rain!
All are encouraged to come learn, observe, chat, ask questions, help out, use the tools for projects, play music for us while we get buff, and check out our leatherwork. Sometimes we get busy and miss the rest of the gathering, so come see us!
HOLISTIC GARDEN PLANNING - NATALIE BOGWALKER
Materials Fee: 0
Join Chloe and Natalie from Wild Abundance and the Online Gardening School in this holistic approach to garden planning. We will address what vegetables to grow for your preferences, climate, and garden size, rows vs. beds, what to plant when, and the top 10 veggies to grow that will really feed you. Participants in this class will get free access to our super helpful Holistic Garden Planning online course and our Holistic Garden Planning ebook.
HUMAN CENTERED LEARNING - KEVIN JENSON
Do you want to shape your work as a teacher to reflect the values of permaculture and the Firefly Gathering experience? Drawing from ancient wisdom traditions and critical educators like John Dewey and Paulo Freire, Human Centered Learning makes integration rather than information the focus of education. This workshop for parents, coaches, and teachers co-creates a learning space to help you build a simple workshop or lesson plan that considers physical, spiritual, psychological, and social learning dimensions. I will offer a simple, wholistic framework for setting goals and designing learning pathways that celebrate diversity, honor multiple methods of knowledge gathering, and transform the teacher into a facilitator.
INDIGENOUS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY - BIGWITCH INDIAN WISDOM INITIATIVE
INTRO TO ECOSEXUALITY - SARAH BLOSSOM BELZILE
If youâre here at Firefly, you probably get turned on by nature. The Earth is sexy! How can turning towards your erotic self and your love of the natural world, transform and improve your love life, your spiritual life and your daily life? Letâs find an accessible way for you to explore this edgy and yet totally intuitive realm.
Eros is the most primal and transformative impulse in the biology of every creature. Flowers are the way plants make love. The next bird song you hear is probably one mate calling out for another, or even foreplay in the branches. Why do frogs croak and moan so much? Theyâre quite vocal about their needs and what they have to offer, arenât they? And yet, we humans often suppress or forget our own genuine, raw, and untamed eroticism.
Furthermore, ecosexuality can be a somatic way to unwind traumatic interpersonal experiences by immersing ourselves in the coherence of the natural world.
During this workshop, weâll create a consensual and accepting circle for exploring your personal relationship with nature, eroticism and your innermost self. Weâll use breath, movement and your senses to create an eco-erotic play practice for you to learn something about nature, yourself, your desires and how they can serve life and Gaia herself.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS CLASS WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE LOWER LAKE DOCK, WHICH IS A CLOTHING OPTIONAL SPACE.
LEATHER WALLET MAKING - SULLY MARTINEZ
Materials Fee: 10
We will be using up-cycled leather to make simple wrap around style wallets and bi-fold wallets.
We will use different style and techniques of stitching using artificial sinew or leather lacing.
PATHWAYS INTO AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE - WADE BURLEY
What concerns you most about what is currently happening on this planet? Current ecological and societal crises make the future uncertain for natural ecosystems and the human species lead to an uncertain future. Utilizing exercises inspired by Joanna Macy and other teachers, we will interactively explore the hopeful and disturbing possibilities, and what we (individually and collectively) can do in the face of global challenges. Participants should be aware that some topics discussed may be unsettling.
PRIMAL EMBODIMENT ARCHERY - ALEXANDRA TAIT
Materials Fee: 7
Primal Embodiment Archery- We will warm up with stretches and some qigong to connect with our bodies and limber up. An explanation of equipment and a lesson on basic archery form. When everyone has the basics down we will go deeper into the art of archery as a profound focusing tool and embodiment practice. We will allow the arrow to be an extension of our healthy predator power. We will have an opportunity to own our internal predator nature and learn to be conscious and safe with our power. It is when humans are unconscious of their power that the most damage is done. Meet me on the grass and get into your body and your presence with a bow. Age 9 and up. We will use low poundage composite recurve bows for this class.
REMEDIATING OUR POISONED WATERWAYS: A CHAR-MING POSSIBILITY - DANU MACON
Human-generated chemical compounds have proliferated exponentially over the last 175 years of industrial growth. In doing so, some members of our collective species have contaminated nearly every square inch of Mother Earths skin with potentially harmful toxins. No place is this more important to recognize than the rivers, creeks and swamps; whose fresh waters sustain our plant and animal friends often as their only source for drink. I offer an opportunity to char-t a new course, and undo some of the damage so as to leave cleaner water for a future that has yet to come. There will be no char-ge for materials and this is no char-ade. I speak of Carbon, or charcoal, the jet-black remains of incomplete combustion of any organic material. It is a filter that can purify water if processed in certain ways. In this class weâll discuss the contaminants charcoal can alleviate and how, weâll make our own carbon filtration systems and weâll co-envision a strategy for creating filters to remediate point-source pollution in our home watersheds and bio-regions. The wild ones are depending on us, letâs get to it!
RIVETING 101: FULL TANG KNIFE HANDLES W/O GLUE COPY - GRAY TAYLOR
Materials Fee: 60
Come and participate in a hands-on instructional class that will lead you on a riveting journey through one of the many dimensions of knife handling. During our time in class we shall be riveting together a full tang knife into a southern hardwood handle with a copper/brass rivet set. You will leave with a handled knife and a little more knowledge of life. Knife blanks are hand-forged by the instructor. Materials fee -$60
SHIBORI IN AN INDIGO DYE VAT - WENDY DAVIS
Materials Fee: 25.00
Most of us have had experience tie dying, maybe you have even dyed fabrics in an indigo vat before. But there are so many more ways to create patterns in your fabrics! We will discuss the different ways of folding, tying, stitching and clamping from the traditional Japanese methods called shibori. And then use indigo to create beautiful rich blue colors. Evidence of indigo has been found in pretty much every primitive culture around the world. What a great way to connect to the creativity of our ancestors.
Please bring a small light or bite colored material item that is made of natural fibers. I will have some items to search through if someone comes without.
Class fees includes the vat, materials to create patterns, and sourcing materials. 25.00
SING OPEN THE MORNING - YURI WOODSTOCK
Singing is a critical piece of primitive technology for connecting our bodies, hearts and minds. We don't need to sing perfectly, or even very "well" to reap the benefits of raising harmony together. This workshop is open to any skill level in singing, and will be active and embodied. You sing with the breath, which is connected to every cell in your body, so lets join our voices and move some energy!
THE ART OF INTIMACY (NVC) LEVEL 1 - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
Staying centered in any situation, moving beyond stalemates with Nonviolent Communication, forgiving others and yourself, hearing the yes behind every no, being flexible without being submissive, expressing anger or disappointment without judgment or blame, and more. With the former president of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
THIS IS NOT YET A TORTILLA - MATT HANSEN
Materials Fee: 5-20$ suggested donation
come learn how to make hominy, the precursor to masa, the base for such delicious things as tortillas, tomales, and papusas. Oh yeah, and we'll make 'em and feast hard.
TRACKING BASICS - SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES TO TELL STORIES - ELIJAH STRONGHEART
Tracking is the art of observing, deducing, telling a story, and predicting the future. Join for a stroll through camp and forest to explore ways to shift perspective and observe the ripples of action all around us. We will we be observing animal sign, following trail, studying details, and tracking each other. Weaving together the past, present and future through story gives us opportunity to connect with each other. We can use this model to track ourselves. What kind of stories do you tell?
TULIP POPLAR BASKETS - DOUG ELLIOTT
Materials Fee: $20
Learn how to remove bark from a tree and fashion it into a traditional Appalachian bark berry basket that is attractive, functional, and strong enough to last a lifetime. Bring a sharp knife and a $20 materials fee. (Also if you have them, bring pruning shears, a rotary leather punch, and a pruning saw.)
WE AS THE NEW PRONOUN - SANGOMA OLUDOYE
WE as the new pronoun, brings us to the Oneness and harmony of our personal and global communities. The practical application of ancient customs, rituals, ceremonies that best support right relations with ourselves and others.
WHISK BROOMS - TURKEY WING STYLE - EMILEIGH ZOLA
Materials Fee: $10/person
In this beginner level class, students will craft turkey wing style whisk brooms out of broomcorn hurl. The skills learned in this class can be applied to other styles of broom-making, and different variations will be discussed.
Moderate hand strength is suggested.
WILLOW SHOULDER BASKET (PART 3 OF 5) ALL DAY - TYLER LAVENBURG
Materials Fee: $50-$100
Welcome fellow Willow enthusiasts! In this two-day class we will be using locally grown European basket willow to weave up some fine hand or shoulder baskets. We will be using whole round shoots of willow varieties selected over centuries for ideal industrial strength baskets. Day one we will cover growing, propagating, harvesting, and preparingwhile weaving our bases and locking our spokes in place. Day two we will weave up the body, turn down the rim, and begin making straps. Strap material will vary in price depending on student's choice of webbing or home-tanned leather. You will learn several different weaves including twining, randing, slewing, waling, and all sorts of other fun words. This is class is a full two days at least, and 2.5 days depending on strap style. Materials fee will vary between $50-$100 depending on strap material selection.
ZEN AND THE ART OF WOODSPLITTING - FUZ SANDERSON
Before enlightenment Chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.
You may be surprised by the spiritual aspect of wood splitting. It is a journey that expands your awareness...we will be going through the safe aspects of wood splitting, learning how different types of wood react to blades, blaze and body. Wear closed toe shoes.
if one has cut, split, and hauled and piled his own oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the weekend in town astride a radiator. - Aldo Leopold.
"REVAMP YOUR WARDROBE! LEARN TO MEND AND PATCH YOUR CLOTHES" - LINDSEY WARF
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
If you have a favorite pair of pants you ripped the butt out of and you can't bear to throw them away or you want to jazz up that boring old T-shirt, this class is for you! Students will learn some basic hand sewing stitches and techniques. We go over sewing on pockets, how to patch clothes so they don't re-tear, hemming pants, sewing on lace, how to sew on a button and make button holes and/or wherever the class takes us. We will also go over fixes for knitted and woolen wear like darning and needle felting.
I'll have fabric, old clothes to choose from, patches, lace, and thread to share, so students can practice, but this class can be largely project-based so BRING YOUR OWN PROJECT to play with!
30 DAYS OF WEARING MY TRASH: HOW TO ATTAIN NEAR ZERO WASTE - ROBIN GREENFIELD
The average US American creates nearly 5 pounds of trash per day, yet most people never think twice about it. Rob Greenfield wanted to create a visual that would help people understand just how much trash they create and inspire positive change.
So for 30 days, he lived just like the typical consumer lifestyle and wore every piece of trash he created. Rob will share his month of floating along in the breeze of consumerism and how you can attain near zero waste in your life, one step at a time.
APPALACHIAN WOODY ETHNOBOTANY (BILINGUAL SPANISH/ENGLISH) - MARC WILLIAMS
Spend a class learning about trees and shrubs. We will go for a plant walk to learn how to identify a woody plant by the leaves, bark and other characteristics. Common and obscure uses for woody plants of the Appalachian flora that may support overall health, well-being and sustenance will also be discussed. We are excited to announce that this will be a bilingual (English/Spanish) class co taught by Johana "Mama Tortuga" Castillo
BAMBOO & CANE FLUTE MAKING - ADVANCED - HAWK HURST
Materials Fee: 20
Participants will create and learn to play a variety of styles of flutes made from bamboo, including end-blown, side blown and flutes in both the diatonic and pentatonic scale. Special emphasis will be given to learning to tune the flutes. Ages 14 and up. $20 class fee due at time of class.
BICYCLE MAINTENANCE 101 - MATTY SEMKOWICH
Materials Fee: Free
Learn to treat your bicycle like your best friend! Weâll cover basic bike maintenance including flat repair, sizing, weekly lubrication, ABC Quick Check safety inspection, and minor adjustments. This class will empower you to take care of most minor repairs/ maintenance on your own- with a minimal tool list.
Ages 8 and up- younger ok with accompaniment.
BLACKSMITHING FREE-FOR-ALL - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Choose from a variety of blacksmithing projects such as decorative (and functional) hooks, bracelets, utensils such as spoon or ladle - or something else of your choosing that is reasonable for this class. Knives, axes, things like that are not reasonable for a quarter day class. Each participant will get half the class period at the forge.
PLEASE WEAR CLOSE TOED SHOES
BOWL CARVING- ALL DAY - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Come and learn how to carve a wooden bowl with hand tools with Barron Brown.
Bring a sharp knife.
Age limit: 12 and older unless accompanied by an adult.
BUCKSKIN BAGS- ALL DAY CLASS! - TALCON QUINN
Materials Fee: $74-135
**Continuation of morning class**
Spend the day with Talcon Quinn, learning how to sew with brain tanned buckskin!
In this class you will create a beautiful and functional buckskin side pouch.
Learn how to lay out patterns appropriately on a skin, how to sew three beautiful, classic, versatile stitches with buckskin thong (& so much more).
Braintanned Buckskin is provided for a materials fee, as well as an awl to use or purchase.
Have your own braintanned buckskin? Please, don't sign up - instead check in with Talcon.
Open to youth, who are dexterous or accompanied by an adult.
Class fee sliding scale $74-135.
DIVE IN THE HIVE- HANDS-ON BEEKEEPING - CHARLIE OAK
Materials Fee: $1 fee for gloves
ANYONE WITH KNOWN SEVERE REACTIONS TO HONEYBEE STINGS IS ASKED TO NOT ATTEND THIS CLASS.
YOU MAY GET STUNG. PREPARE ACCORDINGLY.
VEILS AND ONESIZE FITS ALL NITRILE GLOVES ARE PROVIDED. SMALL HANDS? Bring small gloves (NOT BLACK)
YOU BRINGâ> PANTS, LONG SLEEVE SHIRT, SOCKS AND CLOSE-TOED SHOES. AVOID DARK COLORS IF POSSIBLE
PLEASE ONLY ATTEND THIS CLASS ONCE TO ALLOW OTHERS THE CHANCE TO ATTEND AND LEARN
This is a class for beginner and intermediary beekeepers, whether you have a hive now or plan on getting one in the future. This class goes well after the Beekeeping 101 course. We will discuss basic Hive inspection protocol, how to gauge the health, growth, and present state of your super-organism, specifically for Western North Carolina environments. We will discuss classic bee behavior signs that can be the difference between a fun hive inspection and a very painful hive inspection, and we will take a dive into the more magical side and history of these mysterious little beeings. After we conceptualize, we will get into a bee hive or two or three together and get answers to all those burning questions you have.
Bring your notebooks, people, itâs time for a knowledge storm.
Long live the Bees! And their Keepers!
FUNGI FORAGING - NICHOLAS PARKER
This class will discuss the basics of fungi foraging. We will go over basic identification and location. Expect to walk.
HAIR-ON BRAIN TANNING (PART 1 OF 3) - JADE BIRD
Materials Fee: Starts at 5$ for squirrels and goes up from there, max of 60$ for coyotes
This is a three part class starting Friday afternoon and running all day Saturday. You will be guided in the methods of tanning hides fur-on, using brain tanning methods, and leave with the skills necessary to practice this ancestral art in the future. Hides are provided by the instructor and each participant will leave with a fully tanned and smoked hide to take home. All hides are sourced from roadkill and there will be a variety of different animals to choose from. This practice is great for anyone who is interested in tanning but is looking for something a little less intense/time consuming than a full buckskin class.
Kids 10 and up are welcome (preferably with an adult guardian).
HAND-APPLIED TATTOO AND CEREMONY (PART 1 OF 3) - KITTY LOVE
Materials Fee: $10 supply fee requested but not required
In this workshop, Kitty & Arulu will lead an exploration through the processes of ceremonial tattooing over three sessions, with each class building on the last, so participants must be committed to the whole journey. We will discuss elements of crafting a ritual container, developing a design, body placement, sterilization protocol and clean practice, handpoked tattoo application technique, and aftercare. The workshop will culminate in a group tattoo ritual Sunday morning in which participants will have the opportunity to tattoo themselves or another class participant, or piece of fake skin, with the supervision of the instructors.
Session one (Friday afternoon) will cover a lot of introductory material and tattooing basics, including some history of tattoo & ceremony, creating designs, tools & supplies, safety, with some hands-on time for practicing tattooing on a piece of fake skin.
Session two (Saturday afternoon) will involve an instructional demo of a handpoked tattoo process, and time for participants to develop designs for a tattoo, or continuing to practice on the fake skin from the first class. In developing a design, participants are encouraged to explore a personal intention.
Class three (Sunday morning) will be entirely dedicated to the group tattoo ceremony and tattoo application on actual bodies of enthusiastic participants, or fake skin for those who prefer. Our ceremonial structure is based primarily in Earth-based practices. Participants are encouraged to bring an altar item. Instruments welcome.
*** THIS CLASS IS FRIDAY AFTERNOON, SATURDAY AFTERNOON, AND SUNDAY MORNING. IF YOU SIGN UP PLAN, PLAN TO ATTEND THESE THREE SPECIFIC SESSIONS ***
HEARTH AND PIE - MATT HANSEN
Materials Fee: 5-20$
Select materials, build a fire, crack nuts and cook a "wild" pie.
HIDE TANNING (PART 4 OF 6, ALL DAY) - MEL BEAUX
Materials Fee: $50
Learn to turn deer skins into soft buckskin leather. This class is a 3 DAY, ALL DAY class scheduled for TH thru SAT! Students must sign-up IN PERSON on Wednesday, at the hide tanning area with Mel or Rain to reserve a hide! We will be making egg-tan buckskin and 6 students will leave with a finished deer hide! This is a labor intensive class that doesn't fit neatly into the gathering schedule, be ready to devote most, if not all your gathering time and energy to making a beautiful piece of leather! Be ready for a work-out! Hide tanning is also WEATHER DEPENDENT, our schedule will transcend satelite cell phone time and instead be dictated by sun, wind, and rain!
All are encouraged to come learn, observe, chat, ask questions, help out, use the tools for projects, play music for us while we get buff, and check out our leatherwork. Sometimes we get busy and miss the rest of the gathering, so come see us!
INTERGENERATIONAL WISDOM COUNCIL - NEW MOON BROTHERHOOD
âWe often hear about stepping outside of ourselves, but rarely about stepping outside of our generation.â - Criss Jami
Have you benefited from the wisdom of Elders? Have you received gifts from the playful youth in others? We are inviting men from all ages and experiences to be present in our circle to feel what itâs like to be seen by the Spirit of Intergenerational Wisdom. There will be facilitators from multiple generations to hold the space. This will be a collaborative space, council style, at Sun Camp; where your presence and voice matters and you are welcome exactly as you are.
INTRO TO HERBAL 1ST AID - ELISE DAMILATIS
Come learn the basics of herbal first aid.
INTRO TO SACRED SEXUALITY - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
After our survival instinct, sexual energy is the most powerful force in the human experience. How do we access and guide this energy? With the heart. And what guides our heart? The overall spiritual purpose of our lives. When all three are combined: sex, heart, and spirit, we can live a deeply satisfying life of service to our ultimate vision. Ideas and practices for improving your physical and emotionally-intimate relationships. With the former President of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
INVASIVE VINE RANDOM FREEFORM BASKET - NANCY BASKET
Using fast growing vines around us, we will weave privet, autumn olive, pepper vine, Wisteria together. Cherokee stories/culture included.
KAYAK ROLL CLINIC - CHLOE TIPTON
For those who desire to seek a deeper connection with rivers and river habitats, traveling downstream is a way to respectfully access areas that are difficult to reach otherwise. This is an open clinic to help develop and refine the skill of rolling a whitewater kayak. C-to-C and sweep roll instruction are offered. The instructor has spent her whole life playing in the river, has more than 10 years of experience leading trips and instructing on whitewater in various crafts, and is well trained in water safety. There will be room for two people in boats at any given time. More folks can be nearby to observe and learn until a boat becomes available. No sign-up required. Come to the upper pond and look for kayaks. All necessary gear is provided. Wear a swim suit or clothes you are comfortable getting wet in. Whether you have never sat in a whitewater kayak, or if you're simply dialing in your combat roll, you're welcome to come play in the water with me.
MEAD MAKING 101 (ADULTS 21+ ONLY) - GRANT ADKISSON
Materials Fee: 25
Magical Mead Making - Fundamentals of Brewing and Cultural Inoculation
Learn to make the rarest of vintages, honeywine using fruit, medicinal herbs, spices, and more. Capture the essence of a special place and time with your own special ingredients and savor it months or years from now as your very own special brew! Whether medicinal or purely recreational, we will discuss the history of mead and the various cultures and cultural customs surrounding this magical brew. Experience a mini Mead Circle and savor the taste of a cold winter day in summer, or the nectar of another time and place in each unique brew. Up to 20 participants can join and watch the demonstration. There will be enough materials on hand for up to 10 people to brew their own small batch to take home with a materials fee of 20-30$ to cover the cost of the raw, (non-alcoholic) materials, and starter brewing setup. Gain your own brewing independence and enjoy your own rarest of vintages at a fraction of the price of store bought meads. Up to 10 1 gallon setups with honey and possibly a few larger batches could be purchased and brewed together in class.
Material fee of 25-50$
***(THIS CLASS IS FOR ADULTS 21 AND OVER ONLY)*** ***(THIS CLASS IS FOR ADULTS 21 AND OVER ONLY)*** ***(THIS CLASS IS FOR ADULTS 21 AND OVER ONLY)***
PRIMAL EMBODIMENT ARCHERY - ALEXANDRA TAIT
Materials Fee: 7
Primal Embodiment Archery- We will warm up with stretches and some qigong to connect with our bodies and limber up. An explanation of equipment and a lesson on basic archery form. When everyone has the basics down we will go deeper into the art of archery as a profound focusing tool and embodiment practice. We will allow the arrow to be an extension of our healthy predator power. We will have an opportunity to own our internal predator nature and learn to be conscious and safe with our power. It is when humans are unconscious of their power that the most damage is done. Meet me on the grass and get into your body and your presence with a bow. Age 9 and up. We will use low poundage composite recurve bows for this class.
REJUVENATING PRACTICE - NOURISHING OUR BODIES AS WE AGE GRACEFULLY - ELIJAH STRONGHEART
Howâs your body feel? How do you feel after sitting and digesting class information? After crafting all day? Want to nourish your body and be like a supple leopard? Want to feel ease in the way you carry yourself through life? Join for a session of movements that and techniques to revitalize you. Coordinate your breath, blood and movement. Fold and unfold the body like human origami in rhythmic harmony. Collaborate the joints to easily communicate forces through your physical structure. Walk away with principles and techniques to continue age gracefully. Balance, Strength, Rhythm, Coordination.
SOUTH AFRICAN MUTHI, MYSTICISM, AND MEDICINALS: A TASTE AND SMELL SHOW AND TELL - ALEXANDER HOWE
Materials Fee: 0
Come join me on the medicine blanket to hear compelling adventure tales of my journey to the other side of the world; to the homelands of humanity in search of healing. We will learn about the first human medicines, including some of the most potent medicinal plants, whose properties are still well known, and have been recorded to be used since the dawn of records. Some examples include, a beautiful succulent plant that is a SSRI, supports the body during times of depression and anxiety, and has been used by traditional cultures recreationally for an energizing euphoria and (sacred dancing rituals!) A potent digestive bitter tonic that is identifiable in 40,000 year old cave paintings. A plant that is traditionally used to potentiate dreaming, but also may have great regenerative benefits for the nervous system and brain tissue.
As well as a broad overview of traditional Zulu/Bantu tribes mysticism, spiritual, and magical traditions, respectfully interpreted from a muzungu's ("white traveler/wanderer") perspective.
Limited quantities for trade or purchase.
STONE TOOLS - JAMES CLINKSCALES
Materials Fee: 05
Stone tools have been produced by our ancestors throughout history. In this class we will explore methods of manufacturing stone tools using stone, bone, and antler to produce blades and projectile points for everyday uses! Make an arrowhead for your arrow or atlatl. Make a knapped stone effigy to complete your primitive necklace!
TARP PITCHING/APPLIED KNOTS - CHRISTOPHER CRITTER WATTS
How to turn a basic tarp into a dry place!
We will look at tarp pitching principles and practice some techniques.
This class is best enjoyed with at least a basic knowledge of knots, although we will do a crash course as we go.
You will need:
* blankets, pads or chairs to sit on if u like
* books, rope, or tarps (optional)
* water
* a good attitude
* questions
This class is open to everybody. Children should be accompanied by an adult unless they are old enough to participate by themselves.
Please bring a mask with you and be prepared to wear it anytime you are within 6 feet of the instructor or another participant. Thank you for helping to keep us all safe.
THAI BODYWORK - ERIC BLEVINS
This is an interactive healing art beneficial to both the giver and receiver. We will learn techniques that work on relaxing and mobilizing the feet, legs, back, neck and head. Please bring a yoga mat and/or blanket to lay on and a pillow or bolster if you think you may need additional support.
THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED - JEN HYDE
Augusta Boal, a Brazilian theater practitioner, developed Theater of the Oppressed, based on Paolo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed", both of which look at how oppressed people can regain their humanity in the struggle for liberation. Boal created and collected games to support people to explore how power operates in their lives and how to work towards solidarity. Based on his work, we will play games to explore how we can more fully and holistically engage in our lives, co-creating possible tomorrows.
TINY HOUSE DESIGN - NATALIE BOGWALKER
Materials Fee: 0
Thoughtful design is the key to a tiny house feeling spacious and useable, rather than like a tiny dysfunctional trap. There are many factors that come into play when designing, including whether the house is to be mobile, who is going to be living in the house, and local laws. Come to this class to gain important tools for tiny house design, and have some fun in the process.
TRAPS, SNARES, AND DEADFALLS - SPENCER TWO DOGS
Survival in a long term scenario requires adequate nutrition, calories, and protein. Without access to a modern food support structure or local perma-agriculture, living in the Appalachian Mountain is difficult. Come learn about ways to acquire food without noise, multiplying your time and efforts through the use of clever traps both ancient and modern. Learn about triggers, releases, strikers, fulcrum systems, carving, knots and more. Adapt principles for a secure camp, discouraging uninvited folks in the process. Bring a small carving knife please!
TREAT YOUR SOIL RIGHT SO YOU CAN GROW! - JANET AARDEMA
Soil serves to connect us all and make life possible - in somewhat mysterious ways. Yet, to feed ourselves we need to understand some of the seemingly-mysterious properties of soil. In this class we will explore the physical and biological properties of soil, the necessary composition in order to grow nutritious food, and frequently used organic amendments to help your soil grow the plants that will nourish you.
WHITTLING AND KNIFE CRAFT - JEFFREY GOTTLIEB
Materials Fee: $5
We'll examine a selection of carving knives and tools and evaluate their features and uses. We will carve a Mors Kochanski style "Try Stick", which is a sampler showing several traditional cuts and notches. This teaches a host of safe and useful carving techniques, and you end up with a beautiful wooden show piece you will be proud to keep and display!
Bring your own knives if you wish and we can evaluate them for suitability and quality.
WILLOW SHOULDER BASKET (PART 4 OF 5) ALL DAY - TYLER LAVENBURG
Materials Fee: $50-$100
Welcome fellow Willow enthusiasts! In this two-day class we will be using locally grown European basket willow to weave up some fine hand or shoulder baskets. We will be using whole round shoots of willow varieties selected over centuries for ideal industrial strength baskets. Day one we will cover growing, propagating, harvesting, and preparingwhile weaving our bases and locking our spokes in place. Day two we will weave up the body, turn down the rim, and begin making straps. Strap material will vary in price depending on student's choice of webbing or home-tanned leather. You will learn several different weaves including twining, randing, slewing, waling, and all sorts of other fun words. This is class is a full two days at least, and 2.5 days depending on strap style. Materials fee will vary between $50-$100 depending on strap material selection.
WOODS WALK - INTRO TO OUR HOME - LUKE MCLAUGHLIN
Materials Fee: 0
Join Luke McLaughlin from Holistic Survival School on this Nature walk. Let's go for a stroll through our local ecosystem and see what we find! Mushrooms, plants, bird language, survival, fire skills, stories galore! We will be exploring our surroundings and learning how to see through "Nature Connected eyes"
WORKING WITH BONE, AN OVERLOOKED GIFT - NEEDLES - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: 5-25 sliding scale
Bone has met material needs for peoples around the world since time immemorial. harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, bone meets a material niche in ancestral skills and working with it helps us connect with the greater gifts of our animal kin.
during this class we will select appropriate bone pieces to shape into beautiful, functional, needles.
Minimal close contact required, mask at your discretion
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
BO STAFF MEDITATION- 7 AM - SPENCER TWO DOGS
Good morning! BYOS (bring your own stick) or borrow one for a quiet, gentle, movement exercise based on the Kukishinden Ryu Bojutsu school. Simple movements at our lakeside practice area are helpful with balance, body structure, breathing, leg and shoulder range of motion and strength. We will study basic Kamae, movements, and the first few kata of this ancient training method.
We'll meet around Sun Fire, and move down the the Lower Pond. Find us there!
CHI GUNG AND PLANT SENSING (7:30-9 AM) - JEANNIE MCKENZIE
Celebrate our connection with the earth, and the depth of understanding that comes through the plant world with Chi Gung and Plant Sensing classes. The chi gung practice takes movements from ancient medical chi gung practices and focuses the understanding of the gathering and movement of energy in a new way. As we practice, guided imagery and actual images bring our presence into awareness of our larger, eternal energetic structure. From this expanded field, and with additional instructions, we tune into the plant world. We then set timers for 10 minutes, head out (or already be outside if you can be) and come in after the 10 minutes to share our significant messages and experiences.
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
SINGING IN THE MORNING, 7:30-8:30AM - SARO LYNCH-THOMASON
Get your bones rattling and sing up the morning with songs old and new from Appalachia, the South, and beyond. We'll learn several lively and sweet songs that are great to sing in groups and learn a bit about their histories and significance in justice movements, spiritual traditions and more.
Although this class will be outside, participants may want to consider masking out of an abundance of caution for covid-19.
ACROYOGA - AARON TREMPER
Materials Fee: 0
We will be doing some fun tricks together and standing up higher than usual. Then if we have time left, a few nice therapeutic moves to take care of each other.
AN INTRODUCTION TO SHADOW WORK - SARAH PLONSKI
Shadow work is a powerful tool for personal growth, and can improve your ability to process negative emotions, developing emotional resilience, experience intimacy and vulnerability, and stand in your authenticity.
Shadow work in various forms has been practiced by nearly ever human culture, though the term comes from Karl Jung. The "shadow" refers to the parts of the self that we hide away or attempt to reject. The aim of shadow work is to understand and re-integrate those parts of ourselves so that we can become whole. It is an ongoing, life-long practice that has enormous benefits.
This class will gently introduce the beginner to the basics of self-guided shadow work, and provide simple methods and exercises to get started. If you've already begun your shadow work journey, you will still learn much!
Bring your favorite journal or notebook and something to write with.
Shadow work involves deep personal introspection, emotional vulnerability and a commitment to non-judgement, so please come prepared to create a safe space and support your fellow learners.
BALANCING PARENTING & FARMING - AN INTERACTIVE EXCHANGE - JANET AARDEMA
Parenting and farming are arguably two of the richest - and hardest - endeavors. Together we'll circle up and discuss strategies and lessons learned from balancing these two courageous acts. Guided by my 12 years combining mothering four children and farming vegetables for a living, I'll lead this session by drawing on practical tips and the perspective gained after this many years in. Join in ready to just absorb (perhaps you are new to or contemplating the parenting journey?) or fully share your challenges and successes (already have kids and a homestead?) while appreciating this community of people committed to family and farm.
BIRTH STPRY CIRCLE - MARION HEARTH
We'll gather round to share stories of our experiences of our children's births. Come share your story or come to witness another mothers' story.
BREATHE DEEP: HERBS FOR THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM - COREYPINE SHANE
This class is oriented towards folks with some experience with herbal medicine, but is open to all. We will discuss herbs that open up the bronchioles, help break up and move mucus out of the lungs, and herbs that can assist in lung infections.
BREATHWORK CEREMONY - MELISSA DEBOER
This workshop is an introduction to breathwork in order to take the mystery out of the practice. We will learn the specific breathing patterns, breath holds, and body movements to make breathwork the most effective.
There is power in conscious breathing to bring about self-awareness and healing. Using the breath in active meditation allows the heart to open and create space for peace, self-love, and grace. Through the practice of intentional breathing, old wounds and dysfunctional patterns are released as wholeness, healing, and love returns. Sacred flower essences, oils, and herbs will be offered while you breathe. Wear comfy clothing and bring a journal, pen, and an eye pillow if you have one.
Contraindications for breathwork include pregnancy, asthma and some heart conditions. If you have a history of PTSD, please check with your mental health provider as breathwork may induce a state of euphoric hallucination.
BUCKSKIN BIKINI TOPS- ALL DAY CLASS! - TALCON QUINN
Materials Fee: 100-175
Honoring your body by creating a buckskin bikini top.
This class is a top favorite of those who have attended other classes with Talcon. It seamlessly blends Talcon's cheer for body positivity with her love of braintanned buckskin and ethical fashion leatherwork. Students will learn how to properly lay patterns on skins, how to sew with a leather awl and buckskin thong in order to produce a custom bikini top that may also double as a bra.
Folks will work in teams of two, creating patterns of our breasts to craft this special top. This class is all day that requires pertinence, support and respectful of everyoneâs bodies and boundaries. Bring a mask.
Fee $100-$175 for braintanned buckskin - if you have your own braintanned buckskin - don't sign up, please talk to Talcon.
CARVING KNIVES AND SHARP LITTLE THINGS - GRANT ADKISSON
Materials Fee: 10-25
Down and Dirty sharp little knives. Make a simple and effective carving knife with basic tools and found objects. We will do some light forging, filing, sharpening and heat treating some "wild" steel to create our own carving knife, grafting tool or simple edge tool. Empower yourself with the basic skills to create your own tools! Small class size to allow for more focused instruction.
COLONIALISM 101 - ROO GEORGE-WARREN
Did you know that when the Founding Fathers wrote "all Treaties made...shall be the supreme Law of the Land" in the Constitution, their young Nation had more treaties with Tribal Nations than with European Nations? Did you also know that to date the United States has not upheld any of its treaties with any tribal nation? Why is that? Also, what is a treaty? What are tribal nations? What is 'native american culture'? And, most importantly, if all of us are living within colonialism then what the heck do we do about it? Come join me for an interactive conversation where we try to answer those questions by looking to the past. I am a visitor to these Cherokee lands; my homelands are in the Piedmont region of the Carolinas, specifically the Manu Wi Ila (Green Earth Reservation) of Catawba Nation so I will be focusing on stories and experiences of Catawba Nation but will weave them into larger themes and trends of the last 500 years. Trust me, you've never heard history like this.
All ages are welcome with the knowledge that we will be briefly and respectfully discussing the various violences of colonialism including genocide, murder, sexual abuse, child abuse, starvation, and other traumas.
ECO-PRINTING WITH NATIVE PLANTS - KELLY GASKILL
Materials Fee: 5
We're gonna make art with plants! Eco-printing is the process of transferring leaf and flower shapes onto fibers. In this class you'll learn which plants to use, techniques for capturing form and color, optimal fibers to print on, and more. It's kinda like natural dyeing but different. Come get creative and learn something new about plants!
FUNGI BASICS - NICHOLAS PARKER
We will be going on a walk through the woods talking the basics and stories of fungi. This is a class for beginners and will not discuss the ins and out of taxonomy. We will talk edibility and basic identification characteristics. Expect to walk .
HAIR-ON BRAIN TANNING (PART 2 OF 3) ALL DAY - JADE BIRD
Materials Fee: Starts at 5$ for squirrels and goes up from there, max of 60$ for coyotes
This is a three part class starting Friday afternoon and running all day Saturday. You will be guided in the methods of tanning hides fur-on, using brain tanning methods, and leave with the skills necessary to practice this ancestral art in the future. Hides are provided by the instructor and each participant will leave with a fully tanned and smoked hide to take home. All hides are sourced from roadkill and there will be a variety of different animals to choose from. This practice is great for anyone who is interested in tanning but is looking for something a little less intense/time consuming than a full buckskin class.
Kids 10 and up are welcome (preferably with an adult guardian).
HAND DRILL FRICTION FIRE - TOM STUTZ
With determined focus of your mind and body attempt to coax an ember from two pieces of wood. Connect with our ancient ancestors through the practice of fire by hand drill. Bring a sharp knife and a tenacious spirit!
HAND-APPLIED TATTOO & CEREMONY (PART 2 OF 3) - KITTY LOVE
Materials Fee: $10 supply fee requested but not required
In this workshop, Kitty & Arulu will lead an exploration through the processes of ceremonial tattooing over three sessions, with each class building on the last, so participants must be committed to the whole journey. We will discuss elements of crafting a ritual container, developing a design, body placement, sterilization protocol and clean practice, handpoked tattoo application technique, and aftercare. The workshop will culminate in a group tattoo ritual on Sunday in which participants will have the opportunity to tattoo themselves or another class participant, or piece of fake skin, with the supervision of the instructors.
Session one (Friday morning) will cover a lot of introductory material and tattooing basics, including some history of tattoo & ceremony, creating designs, tools & supplies, safety, with some hands-on time for practicing tattooing on a piece of fake skin.
Session two (Saturday morning) will involve an instructional demo of a handpoked tattoo process, and time for participants to develop designs for a tattoo, or continuing to practice on the fake skin from the first class. In developing a design, participants are encouraged to explore a personal intention.
Session three (Sunday) will be entirely dedicated to the group tattoo ceremony and tattoo application on actual bodies of enthusiastic participants, or fake skin for those who prefer. Our ceremonial structure is based primarily in Earth-based practices. Participants are encouraged to bring an altar item as we will build the altar together. Instruments welcome.
*** THIS CLASS IS FRIDAY MORNING, SATURDAY MORNING, AND SUNDAY MORNING. IF YOU SIGN UP PLAN, PLAN TO ATTEND THESE THREE SPECIFIC SESSIONS ***
HIDE TANNING (PART 5 OF 6, ALL DAY) - MEL BEAUX
Materials Fee: $50
Learn to turn deer skins into soft buckskin leather. This class is a 3 DAY, ALL DAY class scheduled for TH thru SAT! Students must sign-up IN PERSON on Wednesday, at the hide tanning area with Mel or Rain to reserve a hide! We will be making egg-tan buckskin and 6 students will leave with a finished deer hide! This is a labor intensive class that doesn't fit neatly into the gathering schedule, be ready to devote most, if not all your gathering time and energy to making a beautiful piece of leather! Be ready for a work-out! Hide tanning is also WEATHER DEPENDENT, our schedule will transcend satelite cell phone time and instead be dictated by sun, wind, and rain!
All are encouraged to come learn, observe, chat, ask questions, help out, use the tools for projects, play music for us while we get buff, and check out our leatherwork. Sometimes we get busy and miss the rest of the gathering, so come see us!
HOMESTEADING BASICS - CLASS COORDINATOR
Ever dreamed of food and energy independence? Ever dream of not having a crappy job and worse boss? Come to the Homesteading Basics pop-up class!
Plans
Land Basics
Livestock
Plants
Making Money
MEET NEAR LA SAMILLA FOOD TRUCK
HOW TO TOOT YOUR OWN HORN! - HAZEL
Materials Fee: 15-20
As humans we have played horns as a form of communication and expression for thousands of years. Conch shell horns, in their form and use, allow us to communicate ideas and emotions across space and time. In this class we will make, learn to play, and customize conch shell horns. Letâs all learn to play them and create a collective conchessness.
INDIGENOUS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY - BIGWITCH INDIAN WISDOM INITIATIVE
INTRO TO BLACKSMITHING - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Basic overview of basic blacksmithing using a coal forge and hand tools. We will cover tools, fuels, materials and methods. The aim is that anyone who takes this class will be able to set up a basic blacksmithing operation for themselves.
INTRO TO WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING - STEVEN TOWNSEND
Materials Fee: 0
We will be practicing traditional rhythms, their history, origin and meaning. Also proper technique and phrasing. All skill levels welcomed. Drums available.
KNOT: A CLASS - ERIC BLEVINS
Learn a variety of knots and hitches with many applications from climbing to tarps to vehicle tie-downs.
LEATHER WALLET MAKING - SULLY MARTINEZ
Materials Fee: 10
We will be using up-cycled leather to make simple wrap around style wallets and bi-fold wallets.
We will use different style and techniques of stitching using artificial sinew or leather lacing.
MANAGING ENERGETIC AND EMOTIONAL OVERWHELM WITH QIGONG - TREY CRISPIN
Qigong is a internal energetic practice that has many real time useful facets. One such is using the basic practice to reverse/subdue/manage dysregulation due to emotional or energetic overwhelm. Posture, Breath, and Intention are the pillars we will be discussing in this class. There will be breath work, gentle movement, Chi games, and an invitation for some deep physical strength training. All movements are based on each students ability at that moment. My hopeful outcome is that each student walks away with a new level of understanding of how we walk through this world and how to stay grounded when the world is flying by.
MARTIAL ARTS: EASY, NATURAL MOVEMENTS - KORIE AND SEAN KENNEDY
We believe effective martial arts is simple and elegant. This class begins with movements that come naturally and builds them into powerful techniques to protect ourselves and others. This class is ideal if: 1) You're a martial artist in a hard style and want to learn to flow better or 2) You are new to martial arts training and looking for something that will work for any body.
Our martial arts lineage is from the Ninja and Samurai of ancient Japan. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to train with grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi in Japan over the years as well as Daishihan Nagato Sensei, Shihan Ed Martin and many other practitioners who have taught from this lineage in the US since it was released from Japan in the 1980's. This class will be taught by Bujinkan instructors Korie and Sean Kennedy. Sean has 45 years of martial arts training experience and holds a 10th degree black belt in Budo Taijutsu as well as black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu. Korie holds a 4th degree black belt in Budo Taijutsu and is certified in personal trainer and dance fitness.
PRIMAL PLAY - ELIJAH STRONGHEART
Materials Fee: 0
Games we play to learn skills and stay young. Move like an animal, adapt and thrive. Organizing situations which give us an opportunity to explore creativity. Shifting strategies to meet the demands of a shifting environment. Come play! Ages ten and up
RIBBED BASKET - NANCY BASKET
ALL DAY CLASS! Learn what invasives bend to form rings and ribs. Then cut some! Split kudzu for the weavers. Cherokee stories and culture included.
RIVETING 102: SHEATHS - GRAY TAYLOR
Materials Fee: 30
Sharp tools deserve a good home, this class will be a hands on journey in leather sheath construction using different types of rivets.
Bring a sharp tool to give a dry safe home.
SOUTHEASTERN STYLE MOCCASIN MAKING - JEFFREY GOTTLIEB
Materials Fee: $35 if student needs buckskin. $5 if supply own leather.
Make a pair of the most comfortable footwear you have ever worn! These are the shoes worn by several of the southeastern Native peoples. In the morning we will study the design, make a custom fitting pattern, select and lay out hides.
This is a FULL DAY class. Please come for both sessions! Bring a chair, preferably full height in order to sit at a table.
In the afternoon we will cut out buckskin pieces including lacing, learn the proper stitches and sew the moccasins. You can probably wear them to dinner!
SPOON CARVING - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Learn how to carve your very own spoon with Barron Brown using just hand tools the old fashioned way. No Firefly Gathering is complete without making a spoon of your very own! bring a sharp knife!
Age limit 10 and older unless parents are present.
SURVIVAL: EAT, POOP, SLEEP, REPEAT - MATT HANSEN
Materials Fee: handouts graciously accepted
caloric efficiency away from the dominant paradigm. living outdoors takes roughly 1 million calories per person, per year.... 120 calories per squirrel, 8,333 1/3 squirrels... how to diversify our "portfolios."
THE ART OF INTIMACY (NVC) LEVEL 1 - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
Staying centered in any situation, moving beyond stalemates with Nonviolent Communication, forgiving others and yourself, hearing the yes behind every no, being flexible without being submissive, expressing anger or disappointment without judgment or blame, and more. With the former president of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
USEFUL KNOTS (BEGINNERS) - CHRISTOPHER CRITTER WATTS
Materials Fee: 0
Knots are incredibly useful and versatile. It's my hope that I can help make them easy and fun as well.
We'll start with a few of my favorite "go to" knots - simple to learn and tie; then we'll play with some concepts and applications.
Feel free to come assist folks to learn if you have the knowledge already. I can always use teaching help with this class. And please bring and show me exciting knots toward the end of class or outside class time
You will need:
* blankets, pads or chairs to sit on if you like
* books or rope (optional)
* water
* a good attitude
* questions
This class is open to everybody.
Children should be accompanied by an adult unless they are old enough to participate by themselves.
Please bring a mask with you and be prepared to wear it anytime you are within 6 feet of the instructor or another participant. Thank you for helping to keep us all safe.
VINEGARS AND FIRE CIDER MAKING - WENDY DAVIS
Materials Fee: 15.00
Fire Cider: Healthy Probiotic Cure for Almost Everything
We will talk about gut bioms and how they are often not given the respect they deserve in keeping the rest of our bodies healthy. Stories of cultural uses and production of vinegars the world. Together we are going to start our own apple cider vinegar mother to take home! And then diving in to what is fire cider and how to make it and make our own to take home as well. Two yummys to share with others!
Wendy has been making her own vinegars, meads, kombuchas, krauts and other naturally fermented foods for well over a decade now. Only recently has she begun learning to use packaged yeasts.. Ask about the exploding volcano mead. Sigh.
Vinegars and Fire ciders are a great way we can produce a good immune boosting medicine at home with ingredients we can grow.
âMake your food your medicine, and your medicine your foodâ, Hippocrates
Cost of class includes ingredients, containers, resources, time obtaining materials.
15.00
WEAVING WITH CATTAILS - FREA FORAGER
Materials Fee: $5-$20
Learn about harvesting and working with cattails as a weaving medium. You will make a small cattail container basket to take home with you. There will be a sliding scale materials fee* of $5-20. Pay-what-you-can discount available for members of the global majority, members of racialized communities, and those with very low or no income.
WILLOW SHOULDER BASKET (PART 5 OF 5) - TYLER LAVENBURG
Materials Fee: $50-$100
Welcome fellow Willow enthusiasts! In this two-day class we will be using locally grown European basket willow to weave up some fine hand or shoulder baskets. We will be using whole round shoots of willow varieties selected over centuries for ideal industrial strength baskets. Day one we will cover growing, propagating, harvesting, and preparingwhile weaving our bases and locking our spokes in place. Day two we will weave up the body, turn down the rim, and begin making straps. Strap material will vary in price depending on student's choice of webbing or home-tanned leather. You will learn several different weaves including twining, randing, slewing, waling, and all sorts of other fun words. This is class is a full two days at least, and 2.5 days depending on strap style. Materials fee will vary between $50-$100 depending on strap material selection.
WOODSLORE, WEEDS, AND USEFUL WILD PLANTS - DOUG ELLIOTT
Whether heâs pointing out poison ivy, pontificating on possums, extolling the virtues of dandelions, telling wild tales, or wailing out a jivey harmonica tune, Doug Elliott is known for his lively storytelling as well as his broad, practical, scientific and cultural knowledge of the natural world. He will be leading a fun, educational ramble around the fields and forests focusing on the useful and interesting wild plants as well as birds, insects and other critters we encounter.
WORKING WITH BONE, AN OVERLOOKED GIFT-CROCHET HOOKS - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: 5-25 sliding scale
Bone has met material needs for peoples around the world since time immemorial. harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, bone meets a material niche in ancestral skills and working with it helps us connect with the greater gifts of our animal kin.
during this class we will select appropriate bone pieces to shape into beautiful, functional, crochet hooks.
Minimal close contact required, mask at your discretion
ACROYOGA - AARON TREMPER
Materials Fee: 0
We will be doing some fun tricks together and standing up higher than usual. Then if we have time left, a few nice therapeutic moves to take care of each other.
BAMBOO SUPERSOAKER - JAMES CLINKSCALES
Materials Fee: 05
We're making bamboo supersoakers! Open to kids of ages 10 and up or with adult supervision. We'll be using stone tools to make a squirt gun that you can take home and squirt water wherever you need to! These primitive squirt guns are fun to make and fun to use!
BEESWAX CANDLE MAKING - JT STOKES
Materials Fee: 10
Come learn the basics of pouring & dipping 100% beeswax candles.
Weâll discuss crucial temperature ranges, safety, and calculating burn time. This workshop will include tips for selecting your wax-to-wick ratio and avoiding surface imperfections. Iâll also cover essential tools and low-waste strategies for this craft.
Weâll talk about tips for pouring âperfect,â single-pour candles in indoor kitchens. Our main focus will be dipping taper candles.
Each attendee will dip a taper set (2 candles).
BICYCLE MAINTENANCE 101 - MATTY SEMKOWICH
Materials Fee: Free
Learn to treat your bicycle like your best friend! Weâll cover basic bike maintenance including flat repair, sizing, weekly lubrication, ABC Quick Check safety inspection, and minor adjustments. This class will empower you to take care of most minor repairs/ maintenance on your own- with a minimal tool list.
Ages 8 and up- younger ok with accompaniment.
Bring your bike if you have it! We will provide bikes to wrench on and tools.
Capacity is 6 hands on + 6 observers.
BLACKSMITHING FREE-FOR-ALL - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Choose from a variety of blacksmithing projects such as decorative (and functional) hooks, bracelets, utensils such as spoon or ladle - or something else of your choosing that is reasonable for this class. Knives, axes, things like that are not reasonable for a quarter day class. Each participant will get half the class period at the forge.
BUCKSKIN BIKINI TOPS- ALL DAY CLASS! - TALCON QUINN
Materials Fee: $100-175
**Continuation of Morning Class**
Honoring your body by creating a buckskin bikini top.
This class is a top favorite of those who have attended other classes with Talcon. It seamlessly blends Talcon's cheer for body positivity with her love of braintanned buckskin and ethical fashion leatherwork. Students will learn how to properly lay patterns on skins, how to sew with a leather awl and buckskin thong in order to produce a custom bikini top that may also double as a bra.
Folks will work in teams of two, creating patterns of our breasts to craft this special top. This class is all day that requires pertinence, support and respectful of everyoneâs bodies and boundaries. Bring a mask.
Fee $100-175 for braintanned buckskin - if you have your own braintanned buckskin - dont' sign up, please talk to Talcon.
BUILDING A VILLAGE: FOUNDATIONS FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE - CHLOE BUZZOTTA
We are in a pivotal point in society. We know we must stop relying on the current system and live more closely with the land.
And yet, building your own homestead is exhausting when you are alone and conflicts arising within a collective homestead or community is even more tiring.
With ecovillage specialists, Chloe and Leonie, we will explore commonly missed foundations to building a successful community. This includes setting community agreements, resolving conflicts, establishing roles, and creating models for equity and inclusion.
CARVING KNIVES AND SHARP LITTLE THINGS - GRANT ADKISSON
Materials Fee: 10-25
Down and Dirty sharp little knives. Make a simple and effective carving knife with basic tools and found objects. We will do some light forging, filing, sharpening and heat treating some "wild" steel to create our own carving knife, grafting tool or simple edge tool. Empower yourself with the basic skills to create your own tools! Small class size to allow for more focused instruction.
CULTURAL FLOCCULATION - MARISSA PERCOCO
Materials Fee: $5
Join us as we meander down the road of fermentation, discussing historical & culture-specific ways of preservation, all while sampling many yummy fermented treats, including: jun/kombucha, kraut, kim chi, kefirs, sodas, meads & more. We also will explore various ways of transforming perishable items into more nutritious & stable food, with an emphasis on liberation from refrigeration, while exploring the metaphor of humans as a culture which we the wild are inoculating & transforming into something more viable, integrated & sustainable.
Some cultures will be available for participants to bring home, including: tibicos/ginger plant (water kefir), jun (honey loving cousin of kombucha), 140 year old sourdough starter, and more; so please bring donations. Some items will be for purchase at the end of the class, so come prepared!
$5 materials fee for all the yummy samples (more for purchasing things to take home)
DIDGERIDOO MAKING AND PLAYING - FUZ SANDERSON
Materials Fee: $10-20 sliding scale
Fuz Sanderson will teach you how to make and decorate your own bamboo didgeridoo. We'll touch on the rich cultural history of Australian original people, Ecology/uses of bamboo and how to use the tools to make your instrument. The class will finish with playing techniques and circular breathing. Please show up on time (or early!) as the first 15 minutes provide crucial information.
Age 13 and above.
Please show up on time!
DIVE IN THE HIVE- HANDS-ON BEEKEEPING - CHARLIE OAK
Materials Fee: $1 fee for gloves
ANYONE WITH KNOWN SEVERE REACTIONS TO HONEYBEE STINGS IS ASKED TO NOT ATTEND THIS CLASS.
YOU MAY GET STUNG. PREPARE ACCORDINGLY.
VEILS AND ONESIZE FITS ALL NITRILE GLOVES ARE PROVIDED. SMALL HANDS? Bring small gloves (NOT BLACK)
YOU BRINGâ> PANTS, LONG SLEEVE SHIRT, SOCKS AND CLOSE-TOED SHOES. AVOID DARK COLORS IF POSSIBLE
PLEASE ONLY ATTEND THIS CLASS ONCE TO ALLOW OTHERS THE CHANCE TO ATTEND AND LEARN
This is a class for beginner and intermediary beekeepers, whether you have a hive now or plan on getting one in the future. This class goes well after the Beekeeping 101 course. We will discuss basic Hive inspection protocol, how to gauge the health, growth, and present state of your super-organism, specifically for Western North Carolina environments. We will discuss classic bee behavior signs that can be the difference between a fun hive inspection and a very painful hive inspection, and we will take a dive into the more magical side and history of these mysterious little beeings. After we conceptualize, we will get into a bee hive or two or three together and get answers to all those burning questions you have.
Bring your notebooks, people, itâs time for a knowledge storm.
Long live the Bees! And their Keepers!
ELDERS WISDOM COUNCIL - NEW MOON BROTHERHOOD
This will be an opportunity at the Sun Camp where men pay homage and give time and space for the Elders in our community to be seen and heard. We will be exploring what Elderhood means, why it is important and how we as a culture can make more space for the Elders and their initiation. The space will be held by Elder facilitators and community involvement, and support is welcomed. This is an open invitation to Elder Men, to share their wisdom.
FIVE PATHWAYS OF THE INDIGENOUS CULTURE OF THE CARIBBEAN - AKITCHITAY CARLINO
Akitchitay will share the teachings of the 5 pathways, directions of the Taino Indigenous People,
Each pathway has virtues, teachings to bring awareness of how we can navigate our spiritual health.
This discussion will welcome all people to sit in a ceremonial relaxed setting and share your thoughts as we process through
the spiritual pathways and bring clarity to our lives from an indigenous perspective.
Akitchitay is a descendant of the Taino Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean, Cherokee also runs on my fathers side.
"Spending time in Boriken, now known as Puerto Rico with Those who were willing to share the medicine way with me
and gave me the pathway to an encouraging life"
GROW SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS ON LOGS - MATT WRIGHT
Materials Fee: 20
Shiitake mushrooms are a nutritional and medicinal powerhouse, especially when grown outside on logs with real (but preferably dappled) sunlight. Shiitakes have been cultivated on logs in Japan for centuries since they were discovered in the forest and befriended by the humans there. We will work together as a team to inoculate fresh oak logs with shiitake mushrooms and everyone will take home a log that will produce shiitakes for years! We will be using a drill or angle grinder as well as a camping stove and hot wax but there are plenty of tasks so we can work together as a team with everyone working where they're comfortable. You'll easily be able to throw your own inoculation party at home and scale up your production to really add resiliency to your homestead.
HAIR-ON BRAIN TANNING (PART 3 OF 3) ALL DAY - JADE BIRD
Materials Fee: Starts at 15$ for squirrels and goes up from there, max of 60$ for coyotes
This is a three part class starting Friday afternoon and running all day Saturday. You will be guided in the methods of tanning hides fur-on, using brain tanning methods, and leave with the skills necessary to practice this ancestral art in the future. Hides are provided by the instructor and each participant will leave with a fully tanned and smoked hide to take home. All hides are sourced from roadkill and there will be a variety of different animals to choose from. This practice is great for anyone who is interested in tanning but is looking for something a little less intense/time consuming than a full buckskin class.
Kids 10 and up are welcome (preferably with an adult guardian).
HAND-APPLIED TATTOO & CEREMONY (PART 2 OF 3) - KITTY LOVE
Materials Fee: $10 supply fee requested but not required
In this workshop, Kitty & Arulu will lead an exploration through the processes of ceremonial tattooing over three sessions, with each class building on the last, so participants must be committed to the whole journey. We will discuss elements of crafting a ritual container, developing a design, body placement, sterilization protocol and clean practice, handpoked tattoo application technique, and aftercare. The workshop will culminate in a group tattoo ritual on Sunday in which participants will have the opportunity to tattoo themselves or another class participant, or piece of fake skin, with the supervision of the instructors.
Session one (Friday afternoon) will cover a lot of introductory material and tattooing basics, including some history of tattoo & ceremony, creating designs, tools & supplies, safety, with some hands-on time for practicing tattooing on a piece of fake skin.
Session two (Saturday afternoon) will involve an instructional demo of a handpoked tattoo process, and time for participants to develop designs for a tattoo, or continuing to practice on the fake skin from the first class. In developing a design, participants are encouraged to explore a personal intention.
Session three (Sunday morning) will be entirely dedicated to the group tattoo ceremony and tattoo application on actual bodies of enthusiastic participants, or fake skin for those who prefer. Our ceremonial structure is based primarily in Earth-based practices. Participants are encouraged to bring an altar item as we will build the altar together. Instruments welcome.
*** THIS CLASS IS FRIDAY AFTERNOON, SATURDAY AFTERNOON, AND SUNDAY MORNING. IF YOU SIGN UP PLAN, PLAN TO ATTEND THESE THREE SPECIFIC SESSIONS ***
HERBAL SMOKE MIXING - JOSHUA MILLER
Materials Fee: 1
Plant medicine is not just teas and tinctures. Creating our own herbal mixes for smoking or incense can be used for fast-acting medicine, an aid in spiritual ceremony, for the brain-quieting ritual, or for the amazing smell! We will have a large range of herbal components (all legal and organic and/or wildcrafted) that we will discuss and then make our own mixes. Discussion of cultivation/wildcraft harvesting/processing of the herbs will be discussed.
This is an adult only class. Bring your pipe, vaporizer, and/or incense burner (preroll cigarette papers provided until I run out).
Materials cost is $1 to cover some of the more expensive components. If anyone wishes to exchange herbs/seeds (no monetary exchanges), stay to the end of the class.
HIDE TANNING (PART 6 OF 6, ALL DAY) - MEL BEAUX
Materials Fee: $50
Learn to turn deer skins into soft buckskin leather. This class is a 3 DAY, ALL DAY class scheduled for TH thru SAT! Students must sign-up IN PERSON on Wednesday, at the hide tanning area with Mel or Rain to reserve a hide! We will be making egg-tan buckskin and 6 students will leave with a finished deer hide! This is a labor intensive class that doesn't fit neatly into the gathering schedule, be ready to devote most, if not all your gathering time and energy to making a beautiful piece of leather! Be ready for a work-out! Hide tanning is also WEATHER DEPENDENT, our schedule will transcend satelite cell phone time and instead be dictated by sun, wind, and rain!
All are encouraged to come learn, observe, chat, ask questions, help out, use the tools for projects, play music for us while we get buff, and check out our leatherwork. Sometimes we get busy and miss the rest of the gathering, so come see us!
HOLISTIC SURVIVAL - POLYVAGAL THEORY AND HOW WE HEAL - LUKE MCLAUGHLIN
Materials Fee: 0
Healing in Nature. Sure it sounds so nice. But how do we actually DO THE WORK? What does it mean to heal in nature? What are some daily practices that can help us heal our bodies, communities, nervous systems and souls? During this class we will be talking about the core routines of Nature connection, the core routines of community connection and the core routines of self connection. We will also discuss Polyvagal Theory to help us understand our animal bodies. Class is free. Donations are accepted.
INTO THE DRUM CIRCLE - STEVEN TOWNSEND
Materials Fee: 0
There is etiquette and intention that is needed to create a good drum circle. Drum circles are for bringing people together, participation promotes group unity and teaches us how to take turns leading and following, there are many physical and emotional benefits linked to drum circles.
There is more to drum circles then just playing a drum, as a drummer we have a very important mission, to honor West African culture and to carry on an ancient tradition so that it does not die.
Spare drums available .
KAYAK ROLL CLINIC - CHLOE TIPTON
For those who desire to seek a deeper connection with rivers and river habitats, traveling downstream is a way to respectfully access areas that are difficult to reach otherwise. This is an open clinic to help develop and refine the skill of rolling a whitewater kayak. C-to-C and sweep roll instruction are offered. The instructor has spent her whole life playing in the river, has more than 10 years of experience leading trips and instructing on whitewater in various crafts, and is well trained in water safety. There will be room for two people in boats at any given time. More folks can be nearby to observe and learn until a boat becomes available. No sign-up required. Come to the upper pond and look for kayaks. All necessary gear is provided. Wear a swim suit or clothes you are comfortable getting wet in. Whether you have never sat in a whitewater kayak, or if you're simply dialing in your combat roll, you're welcome to come play in the water with me.
LONG STAFF AND SPEAR: AN INTRODUCTION - KORIE AND SEAN KENNEDY
Some of the oldest weapons in the world. Come learn how to connect with this powerful tool and learn how to make it dance for the protection of yourself and others.
Our martial arts lineage is from the Ninja and Samurai of ancient Japan. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to train with grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi in Japan over the years as well as Daishihan Nagato Sensei, Shihan Ed Martin and many other practitioners who have taught from this lineage in the US since it was released from Japan in the 1980's. This class will be led by Bujinkan instructor Sean Kennedy. He has 45 years of martial arts training experience and holds a 10th degree black belt in Budo Taijutsu as well as black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu.
MEDITATION OF RACIAL PEACE AND JUSTICE - MAKEDA MEEKS
I will lead the group in attendance in a meditation utilizing the law of attraction as well as some Somatic practices to extend our energy as a group and attract the racial peace and justice that this planet needs and deserves.
OWNING JUST 44 POSSESSIONS: HOW TO DOWNSIZE YOUR LIFE - ROBIN GREENFIELD
In 2011 Rob Greenfield began his journey of breaking free from âThe American Dreamâ and pursuing a simple, minimalistic life. He has lived in a 100 square foot tiny house, has simplified his life down to just 44 possessions and has committed to earning below the federal poverty threshold for life. Rob will share his adventures in minimalism and how you can attain a simpler way of life, more connected to Earth, one step at a time.
PLAYFUL YOGA + CREATIVE FLOW - LARK FRAZIER
Connect with self, community and the natural world in this playful, all-levels and all-abilities yoga practice. Drawing on principles of hatha yoga, mindfulness meditation, social emotional learning and the universal human need to PLAY, together we will co-create a yoga experience quite unlike any other using the chakra system as our guide. Come play with us! For your own comfort, please bring a blanket or yoga mat, if possible.
PRIMAL PLAY - ELIJAH STRONGHEART
Materials Fee: 0
Games we play to learn skills and stay young. Move like an animal, adapt and thrive. Organizing situations which give us an opportunity to explore creativity. Shifting strategies to meet the demands of a shifting environment. Come play! Ages ten and up
RIBBED BASKET- ALL DAY CLASS - NANCY BASKET
Learn what invasives bend to form rings and ribs. Then cut some! Split kudzu for the weavers. Cherokee stories and culture included.
SOUTHEAST INDIGENOUS ETHNOBOTANY - MARC WILLIAMS
This is a two part class. First we will discuss what it means to have an indigenous connection to plants and world view in general as well as concepts like the problem of cultural appropriation. Then we will explore some various first nations applications of plants from the southeast and North Carolina specifically as we walk around the gathering grounds. Tribes such as the Cherokee, Catawba, Creek and Lumbee will be a particular focus.
SOUTHEASTERN STYLE MOCCASIN MAKING - JEFFREY GOTTLIEB
Materials Fee: $35 if student needs buckskin. $5 if supply own leather.
Part two of a FULL DAY class. Take pattern we made in the morning session and sew your beautiful, comfortable moccasins!
SOVEREIGNTY & COLLECTIVISM: ETHICAL LIFEWAYS & DECISION MAKING IN TIMES OF CRISIS & BEYOND - JUSTINA PRENATT
In this class we will inspire and care for each other as we face the tough topic of the intense struggles we all face. We are witnessing the breakdown of outmoded structures and values systems of modern culture. Years of ecological devastation, declining human health, violence, oppression, and economic upheaval are creating personal and community overwhelm. How do we make choices about how to live well in our own lives while honoring and caring for other people, as well as the greater living web of Earth and the spirit of Gaia? In these complex times, we have a responsibility to reflect deeply on how we affect others, while honoring the importance of loving, trusting, and caring for ourselves. Letâs explore ethical and consensus-based decision making, compassionate communication, âpower withâ values implementation, and the importance of personal sovereignty in a world in which we intrinsically value the beauty and necessity of interdependence. We, the collective, passionately inclusive of beings whose needs are not easily met in current societal circumstances, have the greatest opportunity to thrive when we learn to speak up and listen, practice collaborative decision making, and uphold the importance of individuals as the building blocks of the whole.
STEALTH NAPPING - SPENCER TWO DOGS
My favorite class! It's Saturday afternoon at Firefly, are you planning on a late night? Get your rest in this class as we stalk quietly into the woods listening to birds, talking to plants, and find a soft spot to chill in the cool Appalachian shade. We will apply a simple, safe system from the Traps class and build a perimeter tripwire sound alarm with scavenged cord or wire and natural materials that you can use in any wilderness camp for security and awareness. Natural insect repellants/mitigation will be discussed as well as traditional weather forecasting. When we're done we will no-trace outta there ready for a celebration of our wonderful Firefly family. You may choose to bring a light blanket or bug mesh/net for covering. Light weight long sleeves and pants in earthy tones can be comfortable additions. If skies are darkening a personal size poncho or tarp may be nice also.
THAI BODYWORK - ERIC BLEVINS
This is an interactive healing art beneficial to both the giver and receiver. We will learn techniques that work on relaxing and mobilizing the feet, legs, back, neck and head. Please bring a yoga mat and/or blanket to lay on and a pillow or bolster if you think you may need additional support.
THE ART OF INTIMACY (NVC) LEVEL 2 - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
For those with some familiarity with Nonviolent Communication. Using NVC Dance Floors and Somatic Experiencing to move from pain to compassion, from the illusion of conflicting needs to finding win/win strategies, from grasping for approval to deep inner peace, and from negativity to the natural joy of life. With the former president of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
THE JUG SLING KNOT - CHRISTOPHER CRITTER WATTS
Materials Fee: $4-7 or bring your own rope
Hydration device or ranged wepon? It's both! Learn one of the best ways to carry your water bottle ever invented. Now in conjunction with an optional quick release shoulder strap configured as a sling you will be ready at a moment's notice to hurl objects at great distance. With this easy and versatile system, consisting of only 4 basic knots, you can carry almost any water bottle hands free. Bring a water bottle and rope, paracord, or string. Or, you can purchase some from our stock for a Materials Fee.
Note: if your water bottle dose not have even a shallow shoulder beneath its neck ie. A Nalgene, the jugsling will have nothing to hold on to and we will have to resort to making a net bag to hold it, which is more time, skill, and rope intensive at a slightly higher materials fee.
Please bring a mask with you and be prepared to wear it anytime you are within 6 feet of the instructor or another participant. Thank you for helping to keep us all safe.
THE YONIVERSE: WOMB CARE AND CYCLICAL LIVING - HANNA LIVENGOOD
Materials Fee: Donations accepted
The rhythms of the feminine are a direct reflection of the rhythms of our external world. Enhance your womb health, wealth, and happiness by using practical womb care methods and synching to the cyclical laws of the universe. Just as we experience the changing weather patterns of Earth as it rotates, so too do we have our own unique expressions as our inner landscapes evolve. Our hormones cycle in patterns and when we work with these patterns instead of against them, we find that life is more rich with pleasure and balance.
TIMBER FRAMING - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Come and learn about the ancient and useful art of timber framing.
WALNUTS AS FOOD, MEDICINE, WOOD, MUSIC, BUTTONS, INK, DYE & MORE! - KATE MARIE COFSKY
Materials Fee: $10-$15
LEARN TO LOVE WALNUTS! Walnuts have so many applications and uses. This class will weave discussion along with crafting. We'll make buttons, dye items, make nochino, tincture the green-hulls, plus roast, smash & pick the nutmeats. We will discuss sap-tapping, plant companions that are unphased by the juglans, how to incorporate this fabulous tree into food forests, and discuss experiments my partner Dojo & I have done with pollarding, making wood cookies and more.
Bring something white (or light colored) to dye!
Class fee covers one 1 oz bottle of ink and a pint jar of either nochino (will be ready in 6 months) or green-hulls extracting (ready to press in 3 weeks) that we'll prepare in class. Plus, you'll get some buttons & walnuts to take home. Sliding scale $10-15.
WORKING WITH BONE AN OVERLOOKED GIFT- AWLS - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: $5-25 sliding scale
Bone has met material needs for peoples around the world since time immemorial. harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, bone meets a material niche in ancestral skills and working with it helps us connect with the greater gifts of our animal kin.
during this class we will select appropriate bone pieces to shape into awls, a useful tool to further shape our world
Minimal close contact required, mask at your discretion
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
CHI GUNG AND PLANT SENSING (7:30-9 AM) - JEANNIE MCKENZIE
Celebrate our connection with the earth, and the depth of understanding that comes through the plant world with Chi Gung and Plant Sensing classes. The chi gung practice takes movements from ancient medical chi gung practices and focuses the understanding of the gathering and movement of energy in a new way. As we practice, guided imagery and actual images bring our presence into awareness of our larger, eternal energetic structure. From this expanded field, and with additional instructions, we tune into the plant world. We then set timers for 10 minutes, head out (or already be outside if you can be) and come in after the 10 minutes to share our significant messages and experiences.
GOAT MILKING DEMO - AMANDA COOK
Mornings and Evenings around 7:30
[separate sign-up for each]
The demo is open for all to watch but only 3 people can actually milk the goats per milking time slot.
Kids will need an adult with them. Folks who want to taste fresh milk need to bring a container.
ADAPTIVE EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL PLANTS - SPENCER TWO DOGS
Adaptive classes are ideal for someone with limited physical mobility. If you'd love to go on a plant/tree walk but are hesitant about steep, bumpy, long walks or difficult environments this class is for you (anyone else welcome as well!) Assisted walkers and wheelchairs welcome! We will have a solar powered slide show and discussion on Appalachian and southeastern plants, trees, and mushrooms, ethical use and harvesting, lore and history, and preparation of salves, teas, tinctures, and storage of hand made medicines and food. We will also learn about relationship with the plant world and how certain species are ideal for specific tools and practices on the homestead. The instructor will also have a book and video of this class available to support continued learning.
BECOMING A HUNTRESS - A HEART-TO-HEART DISCUSSION - KATE MARIE COFSKY
As passed down to me by Robin Blankenship of EarthKnack School of Stone Age Living Skills, I invite all women and femme-folk to gather round our fire to discuss heart-to-heart what it means to become a huntress. From mythological roots to practical applications in our modern existence, how might we engage in a multi-directional approach to hunting? How can we weave ritual gift-giving and life-honoring practices into our lives as they relate to putting meat and broth on the table plus hides on our bodies? What are the basic need-to-knows about signing up for hunter's education classes, obtaining a weapon, and practicing weapons safety? How might we navigate the obstructions we face in accessing these skills & practicing them out on the land? Bring your experience, your questions and your open-hearts to laugh, cry, sing, and speak about the sacred act of taking a life with your own hands. We'll discuss how to approach hunting solo & in groups. This class is a closed container to provide a safe(r) space for women and female-identifying folk to engage in exploring these topics together. We welcome gender expansive folks with the understanding that this is a container for aspiring huntresses with openness for all who feel affinity with this invitation!
BLACKSMITHING FREE-FOR-ALL - TOD KERSHAW
Materials Fee: $3 - $5
Choose from a variety of blacksmithing projects such as decorative (and functional) hooks, bracelets, utensils such as spoon or ladle - or something else of your choosing that is reasonable for this class. Knives, axes, things like that are not reasonable for a quarter day class.
CLOSED TOE SHOES REQUIRED!
BRING YOUR TIRED AND WORN: BASIC MENDING CLASS - WENDY DAVIS
Materials Fee: 12.00
Did you know that the sewing needle is what helped move the primates out of their caves and on the path to becoming nomadic beings that eventually conquered the world? Without the invention of the needle we would have never learned how to put together our hides, to create bags to hold our processions, to cover our bodies to protect us from the elements and wild creatures that we encountered. Without the needle we would have never evolved. So why do so many people still not feel confident with this most basic skill that next to fire really changed that path of humanity? So maybe it is time to learn! Bring a project to mend. Wait till you learn the story of the thread and needle and consentâŚ. Basic sewing class where all levels are welcome. Letâs celebrate our imperfections and learn how we can fight fast fashion and save the environment together with this most basic primitive skill!
Materials fee (12.00) covers cost of fabrics, threads, scissors, needles, time sourcing materials and stories ;)
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS - COREYPINE SHANE
You don't need to drive to the woods and hike four hours to find medicinal plants they are all around us!! This walk will focus on some of the more common medicinal plants, both weedy and native, in the fields and in the woods, and discuss how to sustainably harvest and then use them to support our health.
COOKING WITH ACORNS: ACORN PANCAKE BREAKFAST - FREA FORAGER
Materials Fee: $15-35
Come delight and revel in the exquisitely nutty and caramel-like flavors of the Glorious Acorn! We will talk about the various processes of harvesting, drying, shelling, grinding, leeching, and preserving as well as different ways to incorporate acorns into your diet. We will also make and enjoy some gluten-free acorn pancakes together! There will be a sliding scale materials/food fee* of $15-35.
*Pay-what-you-can discount available for members of the global majority, members of racialized communities, and those with very low or no income.
DEFYING CAPITALIST VALUES TO RAISE FULFILLED CHILDREN - JUSTINA PRENATT
To help the children of the world thrive, let's explore how gender roles, sexism, racism, classism, and other oppressive ideologies, including consumerism, are inherently woven into American culture and how they influence and diminish our children. More importantly, let's discuss what we as parents, educators, and grown up friends and family can do to support children to grow healthy and strong beyond these damaging messages. We'll learn about power-over vs. power-with dynamics, their role in parent and/or teacher/child relationships and disciplinary practices, how these impact children's developing sense of self, and perpetuate harm in society. Then we will unwind this paradigm and weave holistic, child centered, peaceful new and ancient ways of raising children. This class is happening only once at Firefly this year, so be sure not to miss it!
FACING ACTIVIST BURNOUT FOR THE PERPETUALLY FERAL BEING - LORE
This workshop gives attendees the option to consent to an exploration of the burnout that has debilitated activists as individuals, thus weakening radical movements throughout history. It is so easy to lose hope as an environmental or social justice activist, especially when we have faced trauma - whether it be physical violence, such as police brutality, or emotional trauma, such as seeing our families and loved ones not care about liberations that our hearts pound for. This workshop is for all beings who care - whether you have been on the front lines or tend a garden in resistance, whether you write radical literature or occasionally make a post on social media - there is not shame or hierarchy in what it means to be an activist and no limits to the sorrow and grief we may carry.
This class is a closed container, please arrive on time, as participants are asked not to come and go.
FINISH UP WOOD CARVING PROJECTS - BARRON BROWN
Materials Fee: 0
Time to finish up whatever you started earlier this weekend.
Bring a sharp knife.
Age limit: 12 and older unless accompanied by an adult.
FIVE PATHWAYS OF THE INDIGENOUS CULTURE OF THE CARIBBEAN - AKITCHITAY CARLINO
Akitchitay will share the teachings of the 5 pathways, directions of the Taino Indigenous People,
Each pathway has virtues, teachings to bring awareness of how we can navigate our spiritual health.
This discussion will welcome all people to sit in a ceremonial relaxed setting and share your thoughts as we process through
the spiritual pathways and bring clarity to our lives from an indigenous perspective.
Akitchitay is a descendant of the Taino Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean, Cherokee also runs on my fathers side.
"Spending time in Boriken, now known as Puerto Rico with Those who were willing to share the medicine way with me
and gave me the pathway to an encouraging life"
FORGING THROWING KNIVES - GRANT ADKISSON
Materials Fee: 10-20
Forge a simple and effective throwing knife. Forge tapers, find balanced proportions and create a sturdy point.
FUNGI FORAGING - NICHOLAS PARKER
This class will discuss the basics of fungi foraging. We will go over basic identification and location. Expect to walk.
GODDESS EMPOWERMENT MARTIAL ARTS - KORIE AND SEAN KENNEDY
Join us in a sacred, empowering space as we unearth greater personal power through ritual, connection and movement. This class is a jumping off point for your next level of empowered living. We have found that truly empowering martial arts encompasses both physical techniques as well as a way of life that helps us tap into the immeasurable, protective power within us. The two go hand in hand.
Our martial arts lineage is from the Ninja and Samurai of ancient Japan. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to train with grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi in Japan over the years as well as Daishihan Nagato Sensei, Shihan Ed Martin and many other practitioners who have taught from this lineage in the US since it was released from Japan in the 1980's. This class will be led by Bujinkan instructors Korie and Sean Kennedy. Korie holds a 4th degree black belt in Budo Taijutsu and has a background in dance, fitness and the Women's Empowerment Self Defense method. Sean Kennedy has 45 years of martial arts training experience and holds a 10th degree black belt in Budo Taijutsu as well as black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu.
GROUP SURVIVAL - MATT HANSEN
Materials Fee: handouts accepted
holy moly! the unfolding capitalist crisis, war, climate change, resource extraction, desertification, disease...(etc) has finally created empty grocery shelves in the 1st world. No longer can we rely on our personal investments to meet needs but must turn to our neighbors for resiliency. Humans are designed to work together because its efficient. Let's pretend, play games, improvise tools, and approach the grounds as our canvas for surviving a rapidly changing world.
HAND-APPLIED TATTOO & CEREMONY (PART 3 OF 3) - KITTY LOVE
Materials Fee: $10 supply fee requested but not required
In this workshop, Kitty & Arulu will lead an exploration through the processes of ceremonial tattooing over three sessions, with each class building on the last, so participants must be committed to the whole journey. We will discuss elements of crafting a ritual container, developing a design, body placement, sterilization protocol and clean practice, handpoked tattoo application technique, and aftercare. The workshop will culminate in a group tattoo ritual on Sunday in which participants will have the opportunity to tattoo themselves or another class participant, or piece of fake skin, with the supervision of the instructors.
Session one (Friday & Saturday AM) will cover a lot of introductory material and tattooing basics, including some history of tattoo & ceremony, creating designs, tools & supplies, safety, with some hands-on time for practicing tattooing on a piece of fake skin.
Session two (Friday & Saturday PM)will involve an instructional demo of a handpoked tattoo process, and time for participants to develop designs for a tattoo, or continuing to practice on the fake skin from the first class. In developing a design, participants are encouraged to explore a personal intention.
Session three (Sunday AM) will be entirely dedicated to the group tattoo ceremony and tattoo application on actual bodies of enthusiastic participants, or fake skin for those who prefer. Our ceremonial structure is based primarily in Earth-based practices. Participants are encouraged to bring an altar item as we will build the altar together. Instruments welcome.
HEALING RACISM AS A VISCERAL EXPERIENCE - MAKEDA MEEKS
In this class we will examine how our society, where racism is rampant, and black people are routinely hurt and gunned down by police. A revolutionary new approach is needed to heal the hearts minds and bodies of the People. Using Resmaa Menaken's book, My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, and number is others we will explore a healing journey through what has become known as "white supremacy". Guided by somatic healing practices, as well as, the knowledge that white supremacy is understood as cultural trauma, affecting all of us (white, black, blue bodies), we can each expect some form of a trauma response traceable to it, and then have the choice to respond instead of react.
INTRO TO SACRED SEXUALITY - STEVE TORMA
Materials Fee: 0
After our survival instinct, sexual energy is the most powerful force in the human experience. How do we access and guide this energy? With the heart. And what guides our heart? The overall spiritual purpose of our lives. When all three are combined: sex, heart, and spirit, we can live a deeply satisfying life of service to our ultimate vision. Ideas and practices for improving your physical and emotionally-intimate relationships. With the former President of Earthaven Ecovillage and co-founder of The REAL Center.
ITS A RIVETING FINISH DAY - GRAY TAYLOR
Materials Fee: 0
If you joined me in any of my riveting classes and did not finish your project or need guidance in further projects, now is the time to pick my brain and use my tools.
KUDZU WEAVING - NANCY BASKET
Using a round vine ring, you will warp it and weave it with kudzu. Learn all about kudzu uses and how to split it. Cherokee stories/culture included.
PINE PITCH GLUE STICKS - JAMES CLINKSCALES
Materials Fee: 05
Pine pitch recipe. We will be making pine pitch glue sticks for attaching stone points to shafts. We will discuss different applications of pine pitch and variations of the recipes for the task at hand.
RITUALIZE YOUR LIFE - HANNA LIVENGOOD
Materials Fee: Donations accepted
Rich with meaning or mundane and monotonous, life is what we make it. This workshop explores ancient ritual practices and how we can incorporate intention into our everyday lives. This class will incorporate a history of ancient ritualism, ritual in religion, and components of a ritual. We will do a group activity and a small group activity.
Bring journal, pens/pencils, and whatever will help you feel comfortable during workshop.
STUDENT CHOICE! - JEFFREY GOTTLIEB
Jeff will have his ears open during the event and if there's a popular or in-demand idea, he'll teach it!
WORKING WITH BONE, AN OVERLOOKED GIFT - SCRIMSHAW AND FINISHING TOUCHES - JOSH BARNWELL
Materials Fee: 5-25 sliding scale
Bone has met material needs for peoples around the world since time immemorial. harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, bone meets a material niche in ancestral skills and working with it helps us connect with the greater gifts of our animal kin.
during this class we will put the final polish and finishing touches on bone projects started earlier in the week and go into the basics of scrimshaw, a method of marking and drawing on bone pieces
Minimal close contact required, mask at your discretion