Leading from within the web of life
An in-person workshop
Sunday 23rd Feb 10am to 5pm
Kinship with Stars:
Re-awakening our relationship with living, intelligent sky
at St Ethelburga’s Centre
for Reconciliation & Peace
London EC2N 4AG
“The sky is like a friend we have stopped listening to…”
(Richard Tarnas)
Human beings have always looked at the stars. They have the power to fill us with a sense of awe, reverence and mystery. But in recent years, the culture of materialism has stripped away many layers of meaning from this relationship and, for those who live in cities, light pollution has all but stolen the stars from us.
In the past we would have been in nightly communication with this vast dome above us, peppered with scintillating light. We would have known the names of the stars, been able to wayfind with them, and would have shared many stories and myths that bound our lives together with theirs. We would have noticed the movements of the heavenly bodies through the seasons, and maybe tracked patterns and correspondences between those movements and our lives. These days our knowledge of stars is two dimensional and limited. But in our DNA and in the marrow of our bones, this bond still lies within us. We have forgotten how to live in kinship with stars, but we can reclaim this knowing.
The aim of this day is to make friends with the stars again - to realign ourselves with natural cycles and ancient knowledge systems; to revivify our symbolic imagination and learn how to listen to the stars as we would a lover. Together, we will open our minds, play with ideas and embodied practice, and see if we can reclaim our relationship with a dynamic, interconnected universe, where everything has its own animacy, intelligence and wisdom.
We will draw on:
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Indigenous wisdom
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Different astrological systems
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Science, astronomy and wayfinding
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Embodied and somatic practices
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Active imagining and play
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Music, sound and storytelling
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Deep listening.
This workshop is for you if you….
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Sometimes feel your gaze turn towards the skies with a sense of awe - whether you are a navigator, an astrologer or just like lying in a city park staring at the stars
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Are a lover of the outdoors and the more than human world, and are reaching for greater connection with the wider web of life
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Are an astrologer wanting to discover another dimension to your work.
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Are an activist or change-maker wanting to align yourself with collective currents and be resourced by vaster cycles
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Are seeking a greater sense of belonging
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Are wanting to re-enchant your life and come into relationship with the wisdom of natural cycles and flows
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Are generally curious and have nothing better to do on the 23rd of February!
Facilitators
Amanda Simon is an Astrologer, Acutonics practitioner and Artist, currently studying an MA in Art and Ecology at Goldsmiths University where she creates sculptural fields that explore, through encounters, how our sensorium can be architected; constellated become available and receptive to subtlety, to the myriad of relations we are ongoingly made by and with. She has contributed a chapter to a forthcoming book dedicated to the Centaurs; she also has a passion for teaching, supporting people grow relationship with the depth and beauty of the Astrological art through monthly in person Planet Pulse circles, a more involved teaching faculty that mentors astrological foundations and beyond, a busy 1:1 reading practice as well as hosting a weekly Friday forecast live on Instagram. Amanda has built a vibrant collaboration with the East London ethical portal SLC where she creates, and teaches their astrology foundations course, and as in house astrologer has steered astrological understanding from an identity focused approach towards an ecological and experiential orientation connecting clients with their multidimensional depth. Amanda has also collaborated with landscape gardeners weaving the celestial into the terrestrial, in physical ways, has been a guest speaker for Angharad Wynne; ‘Feather, Fire, Stone and Bone’ and has completed a three apprenticeship in Contemporary Animism with Animate earth which helped grow confidence in the felt and living practice of tracking and tending the web animacy pulsing through worlds within and without. She has also journeyed with Josh Schrei of the Emerald and is an alumni of his year long Mythic body course, has trained in dream tending with Topo Ka and Pacifica university and is currently studying with Louise Livingston’s Heart Sense, Veronica Goodchild’s mystery school whilst continuing to develop her experiential, relational, soul centred astrological practice with Jason Holley and Brain Clarke. Amanda is also an alumni of Kincentric Leadership’s programme, The Way of Kinship and is delighted to be collaborating with Justine to grow animate astrological awareness beyond the astrological community.
Justine Huxley is a spiritual ecologist, author and visionary. Her core passion is the deep cultural shift that seeks to reconcile spirit and matter, bringing soul back into our relationship with an animate world. She is the Co-Founder of Kincentric Leadership, which works for a future in which everyone knows we are part of a living intelligent Earth. Kincentric Leadership runs a leadership programme drawing on indigenous wisdom, the revolutionary new science of animal and plant intelligence; embodied knowledge, and the practice of Earth Vigils. KL partners with organisations and communities in a wide range of different fields to seed this way of thinking, being and acting into all walks of life. Justine is also a Senior Consultant at St Ethelburga's Centre, where she was the CEO for many years. She has a PhD in psychology and belongs to a Sufi community which over the last decades has deeply integrated its tradition and practices together with Earth as a living, divine being. She has facilitated retreats, meditation and dreamwork groups in this tradition for over 25 years. She is the author of Generation Y, Spirituality and Social Change, a collection of interviews with young adults evolving new Earth-based spiritualities. Justine was raised by a zoologist (who had a passion for arachnids) and a teacher (who had a passion for astronomy), so her childhood was full of spiders and stars. She loves forests, and walking and kayaking at night. She is fascinated by all forms of wayfinding - natural navigation, digital ocean navigation, and embodied sensing. She is delighted to be working with Amanda on this theme of kinship with stars!
How to book
The cost is £65 (or £40 concessionary rate for students, uinemployed and anyone really struggling financially). Please fill out this form and you will be sent information on how to transfer payment.
Date: Sunday 23rd Feburary 2025 Time: 10am - 5pm
Location: St Ethelburga's Centre, 78 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG
"The stars teach us patience, to measure our time by the long cycle of their journey. They are our storykeepers, our celestial relatives."
— Richard Wagamese, Ojibwe author