{IN PERSON} Animal Magic in the Contemporary World

PLEASE READ: This class is IN PERSON. TICKETS ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE.

Class fees are non transferable, we stick to the student agreements agreed upon during registration. Please ensure you are able to attend the scheduled class time.

This class will guide you through some sustainable and responsible ways to work with animals and animal materia in your magical practice. We will touch on a bit of animal symbolism, mythology, and energies, how to sustainably and legally source animal materia (if you wish to do so), and how to practically incorporate animal magic into your own magical practice.

This class will not follow the typical guides to animal magic. Jess takes a more scientific approach, one of correlation, study, and research. Often, we turn to books and the writings of others when we are new to a subject, which is a very important way to begin learning and start building a framework for your practice, however during this lesson, we will dive deeper. We will work on how to more heavily rely on our own intuition, observation, and personal experiences in order to develop meaningful relationships to the animal world.

Most of us live in urban environments, surrounded by concrete and landscaped city parks, and it may seem almost impossible to find the truly natural world in our surroundings. There is some truth to this, the contemporary world feels so disconnected from the wild that our ancestors knew. But honestly, nature surrounds us, all we need is a shift of perspective. Sit outside anywhere on a nice day, even deep in the city, and you will find resilience in nature. Plants growing through concrete, beetles dutifully searching for food, and stray cats or dogs surviving despite it all. It is so wonderful and healing to get deep into the mountains of our state, hearing the calls of native birds that sound exotic to city dwellers, or witnessing a family of deer beyond the trees along a trail… but there is something equally as wondrous about watching city crows scavenge from dumpsters behind a restaurant, or butterflies and bees pollinating the carefully curated gardens in a city square. These are the lessons that we need right now. We are all dutifully surviving in the circumstances of the contemporary world at this moment, and the animals that have been nearly pushed out by human civilization have been doing this for much longer.

Following the lecture, we will be practicing our observational and intuitive skills by connecting with animal materia first-hand. You will also be provided with several materials to create your own charm bag to honor and harness the spirit of the silk moth, working with the energies of metamorphosis and adaptability. Animal, herbal, and mineral materials will be provided for you to choose from. It is not required, but feel free to bring materials from your personal collection to add to your own bag.

It is highly recommended to bring a journal, notebook, or piece of paper and a writing utensil. This will be helpful in lecture, and we will also be completing an exercise prior to crafting our charm bag that will require writing down your thoughts.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR:

Jess is a Denver-based artist who creates small sculptures and jewelry using elements of nature.
Jess creates imaginative miniature worlds honoring elements of nature and science. These sculptures contain magic in the form of preserved insects, bones, stones, moss, and plants. Inspired by the natural curiosity assemblages of the Victorian Naturalists and the Wildlife Halls of modern science museums, Jess hopes to inspire wonder, curiosity, and understanding for our natural world. Each piece she creates is a reminder of the beauty that lies in death and its importance in the cycle of life.
Jess teaches classes that stitch together magic, art, and science with an aim to inspire her students to to approach the world, and their practice, with endless curiosity.