Fall 2024 AstroErotics™ Cohort

Creativity and magic both demand an encounter with the unknown—with forces and ecologies that are celestial, chthonic, terrifying and awe-inspiring if we open ourselves to them. The premise of this container, “Performing the Wyrd,” is that it’s possible to make the most of the connection between artistic praxis, the sky and the underworld, and that this paradigm is both cutting-edge and primordial. It only takes courage, artistic hunger, a willingness to put our preconceived ideas aside, and the curiosity to learn new skills. 

This course offers ways to bring your magical practice, and your personal & sacred engagement with the sky and the underworld, into an art practice. 

I frequently hear, from people in circles connected to astrology, witchcraft and magic, something along the lines of: “I feel a deeply creative connection with my magical practices- spellwork, rituals, or devotional practice- but it’s a challenge for me to bring my experiences into a form of artistic expression (but I want to, so much!)” Conversely, there are several artists that have approached me saying they want to infuse a magical, mystical, mythical or celestial influence more into their practice of art-making, but that they feel disconnected from that world. This container offers embodied pathways toward artistic praxis in a way that integrates astrological, magical and mythical inquiry. While the main artistic medium we will work within is performance—through sound, vocalization, movement, gesture, objects, the written and spoken word— the practices learned here can benefit those looking to let their magical work inspire their practice within any artistic medium. 

Where is invocation, evocation and presences beyond the “I” in our ethos as artists? On the flip side, where is beauty, the body and creative joy in our ethos as mystical magicians, witches and astrologers? How can we take advantage of our astral, magical and herbal correspondences just enough to immerse ourselves into an artistic investigation—and then be willing to let that mental knowledge go in order to surrender ourselves to the experiential encounter that leads to genuine creative work? 

The practices, experiments & exercises offered in this course are a synthesis of my own decades of experience as a performance artist, writer, storyteller, experimental vocalist, improviser and theatre director. I was marinated in experimental theatre and performance art, having lived and worked with Pantheatre and the Roy Hart Center, an avant-garde performance company in France that explored the relationship between the singing voice, the psyche and the shadow. I have two degrees in performance, including a Master of Fine Arts in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University. I have been a storyteller at the United Nations, at the CG Jung Institute of NYC (Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism), Rikers Island (where I co-facilitated a therapeutic storytelling program) and to school children all over New York City and beyond. Myth, symbol, image, the imaginal and the cosmic and magical praxis are constantly interwoven into the stories I tell, the art I make and the consultations I offer. My vocal performance work stems from an ethos of listening to the ecosystems around me—including the ones less obvious to the naked eye, through what’s above and below the ground—and engaging in a vocal dialogue with them, expressing their characters & textures through through my voice and body. I am the co-artistic director of Nekyia Theatre, based in Brooklyn and in Mexico.

(dates TBD, in person in Providence and NYC)

This immersion is an exploratory space that offers you unique ways to connect to your erotic body, pleasure and relationships. You'll be invited to ask for what you want, explore your limits and, with the help of ecological & cosmic perspectives, tap into your undiscovered desires. We’ll ally with plant spirit medicine and herbal aphrodisiacs, find mentorship in planetary consciousness, vibrate erotic expression through our bodies with sound healing, and discover a galaxy of orgasmic possibilities.

This immersion combines the paradigms of Ecosexuality and Astro-Erotics to offer experiential entries into relating with the earth as lover. This is a core tenet of Ecosexuality, which has a long history as a movement founded by Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle*.  Astro-Erotics is a new body of work developed by Nate Speare that involves cultivating an awareness of the celestial sources of our erotic being: each of the planets represents a unique sensual & sexual reality, and our embodiment of them reveals our many possible styles of seduction, attraction, giving & receiving. Joined together, Ecosexuality and Astro-Erotics inspire us to access love, care, desire and relationship in expansive ways that liberate us from rote social conventions.

In a spirit of deep play, we'll discover our kinship with earth and beyond through our astrology chart placements and the mythopoetic pulses of desire available to us when we experientially connect to the planets. These explorations will reveal sexual fantasies that have been dormant and integrate a more expansive perspective of our erotic being.  We will play with ourselves, each other, plants, props, space, constellations, fetishes, kinks and imagination.  This is a place to experiment with making requests, naming your limits, asking to be seen in a way you want to be seen, say no, say maybe and say yes.

Join us to get curious about the interconnectedness of erotic bodies, earth bodies, and cosmic bodies! 

After this immersion you will have: 

A richer sense of your desires and erotic musings

Herbal remedies to support your continued exploration, integration, and nourishment.

A curious new way to be in relationship to nature and the cosmos

A community of explorers to accompany you on your personal erotic journey

This is for you if:

You want more access to your pathways to pleasure, erotic imagination, fantasies and desires.

You want to experiment with new ways of being seen in your erotic energy held in community with other explorers.

You suspect that there's something more to pleasure and sensuality than the dominant cultural paradigms teach us, and you want to see how your erotic being is more vast & deep than you've realized. 

You love inquiring into the nature of your world, environment and cosmos and you're curious how it all relates to pleasure & sensuality. 

You want to learn more about how your astrological placements connect directly with your unique expression of erotic energy. 

You want a space to play and try new things for your pleasure, free from pressure and free to change your mind. 

You’re in need of some erotic inspiration.

Your most pleasurable moments happen in nature.

Your sexual experiences are feeling stagnant, blocked, or rote.

You’re a slut.

You’re not a slut but you want to be.

You’re looking to find a more authentic erotic expression.

You find conventional sexual role models to be disappointing, banal, or unrelatable.

Link to the Ecosexuality Manifesto