WELCOME!
Lughnasa: We Are Sky

Come in, come in! I’m so happy you’re here. Lughnasa (pronounced LOO-na-sah), marks the halfway point between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. Lughnasa always falls on August 1st. This ancient Gaelic feast-day honors the Irish deity Lugh and celebrates the beginning of harvest.

All Creative Alchemy Cycle bundles are self-guided. I’ve created this landing page as a home base for us as we journey through the season of Lughnasa. We’ll also meet in person each month (scroll down for links.) Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Table of Contents

PART ONE: DIGITAL CONTENT

• Story of the Season: a Homily for Lughnasa (audio & PDF)

• The Great Wide Open (video)

• In the Studio (video)

• Collaborative Alchemy Podcast Episodes

• Fuel for the Fire: Writing prompts, links, reading lists, Spotify playlists, etc.

• Further Connection: Monthly Community Zoom Call / Recording (links)

PART TWO: FOR FULL SUBSCRIBERS

• CAC Network: Online communication platform

• Please note that we discontinued mailed Altar Boxes in September of 2022.

NOTE of ENGAGEMENT:
Please do not share the link to this page with others. This content was created just for you. Thank you for your respect and understanding.

PART ONE: Digital Content

Seaonal Focus — Accountability Practice

At this time of year, the Earth showers us with riches and invites us to share the plenty, redistribute the wealth, and acknowledge all who made harvest possible. Let this season’s harvest shatter the illusion of ownership. Everything we have is a gift from the living Earth. We own none of it, but are instead its stewards, siblings, and soul-friends. We are visitors here. This land does not belong to us. We belong to the land.

This bundle is filled with creative inquiries and inspiration for building right-relationship with people, land, plants, and animals. Creativity plays an enormous role in how we form our ideas about the world and about ourselves. This is why I feel it is imperative that we marry our creative process with an accountability practice. This season, Lughnasa asks us to allow our mistakes to work their magic. But the magic won't simply happen on its own. This kind of growth requires that we tend to our mistakes, learn from them, take risks, and surrender our addiction to hoarding resources. There is enough for all.

Calling You Home — A Homily

This is a great place to begin. For each of the eight bundles that make up the Creative Alchemy Cycle, I write a seasonal story to set the container for the bundle. These homilies are my way of practicing alongside you and using the creative alchemy tools to create my own work. You can download a copy using the button below and/or listen to the audio.

The Great Wide Open

My creative process always begins outside. This is where I weave the outer landscape with the inner one. We’ll soar over Eagle Valley and walk through cultivated fields that border open expanses of wildflowers. We’ll also explore our family’s 1890’s farm house and excavate the complicated history of the land on which it stands.

In the Studio

After viewing The Great Wide Open, let’s head into my studio. This is where I metabolize, incubate, and process all the elements which make up my current state of creative alchemy. This harvest season, we are taping into our inner wisdom and creating our own oracle cards. So grab your pens, paints, stamps, glue sticks and washi tape!

Collaborative Alchemy Podcast

The Collaborative Alchemy Podcast features conversations with artists, thought leaders, activists, farmers, educators, creatives, and other polymaths. This is a place where we tell our stories, expand our histories, and hold space for new ways of being. This season for Litha, I’ve curated three powerful conversations that relate deeply to our creative work for justice and belonging. Happy listening!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Invitations for Further Connection

CREATIVE ALCHEMY COMMUNITY CALLS usually occur once a month on a Sunday from 10:00—11:00am PST via ZOOM. This is a chance to gather in person, build creative community, and create something new together! These gatherings are recorded and posted right here the day after. Sarah will send a reminder email the week before and the day before each call.

RECORDED ON: Sunday, September 3, 2023 at 10:00am PST

PART TWO: For Full Subscribers

The Lughnasa Community Network & Gallery

The community network & gallery is a communication platform for those who are full subscribers! It’s like Facebook but WAY better: no advertisements, completely private, and built collectively. As a member of the Cycle you received an invitation to join our Creative Alchemy Cycle (CAC) online network via Mighty Networks. The button below will take you to the network.

Gratitude.

“You are the sky.
Everything else –
it's just the weather.”

― Pema Chödrön