Moon Ritual: A Weaving World

Byuka will hold a series of rituals exploring multispecies myth, embodied storytelling and queer ecology.

We will work with the magic of the spider, wolf and moth. We will play with divination games, practices of entering the collective body, guided visualisations, writing, dance-spells & other experiments of weaving queer multispecies stories of love and re-enchantment.

T his series is also an embodied research into anti-speciesism. We will inquire about our own biases, fears and unconscious hierarchies related to non-human people, as well as be curious about how they can act as our mentors, friends or inspiration into our lives at this moment in time.

We will allow these ritual interactions to help us deepen intimacy to our sensorial body, as well as collectively research worlding practices inspired by speculative fiction, through a feminist, anti-capitalist and anti-colonial lens.

A Weaving World :

In the "A Weaving World" ritual workshop we will explore spider magic inspired by spider-human stories of intimacy, the latest research in extended cognition (ExC) and world building practices.

Through drawing, movement and sound, we will learn about talisman making by mapping our personal and collective webs of care, as well as healing via spider magic - as present in histories of folk medicine & present advancements in bioengineering.

By soothing our collective nervous system, we will explore how weaving acts as a method of resistance to the exploitative systems we are under.

through webs of silk,

a slow dance unfurling

through webs of silk,

the moon expanding &

e x p a n d i n g

their shining body

milky like a bone,

blooming like a spring.

through webs of silk

o ur skins are waxing too-

w e grow

i nto threads of (be)longing

w e conjure

a joy

with the teeth of a wild beast

w e weave

our breaths together

like braids

from my chest to yours

from your chest

t o the land's many hearts

pulsating into fungi.

w e witness

our ancestors' dreams

softly incarnating

into moss beds.

Lunarrr Playgroundz is a container of queer magic for the queer community and its allies.

All workshops will play with movement, breathwork, voice and writing in different measures, depending on the theme and facilitator- but you will always be in charge of how you wish to interact with our suggestions and guidance, as well as the intensity and rhythm which feels pleasureful and needed to you on the day.

There are no prerequisites for the rituals. Any levels of movement or magical practice are welcomed: from curious creatures to baby witches & to geeky magicians who speak crow language! (if you do, please message for a skill swap :)

Access: The ritual is open to all abilities, and people with mobility issues are very welcomed- you can choose during the journey to sit on a chair, lay down or move as and when you are comfortable. Unfortunately we do not know until the day of the event for certain which space we will be in, and one of the studios is on the first floor. If you need any access support please let us know in advance- we are here to help!

For any questions feel free to email: @[email protected]

T ickets are on a tier system in order to ensure financial accessibility to the community. No one turned around for lack of funds, so please email us if the tiers are too much for you at this point in time.

T hat being said- if you do have the capacity - please be aware that the facilitators are also part of marginalized communities, and they do work days on end, if not weeks - to prepare, research, experiment and formalize a 2 to 3 hours long ritual to be shared collectively. Ugly Duck is offering us an incredible support with the free space, but otherwise we do not have any other funding.

Byuka (they/them) is a migrant witch & performance artist, working at the intersections of poetry, dance and film. Their work investigates animism, queerness and intimacy through ritual and speculative fiction.

They are the co-creator of the Intimate Animals collective, where they explore eco-somatics through experiments of multispecies mythology-making and hybridisation workshops. Their work is also focused towards community engagement and ancestral healing through the collaborative project Your pain is humming in my vertebrae.

Byuka holds a BA in Performance Art from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has performed and facilitated workshops internationally.

Recent residencies include ‘Transcendence’ with Kimatica Studio at the Watermans Art Centre (London, 2018) and “Beauty Kit female farm” with Isabel Burr Raty at Mediamatic (Amsterdam, 2019). Performances include ‘Walking through porous soil’ at the Royal Albert Hall (London, 2018), ‘Wet’ at Camden People’s Theatre (London, 2019), The Ghost Port (Iklektik, 2022).

F ollow us on instagram for regular updates: @lunarrrplaygroundz

Lunarrr Playgroundz is an experimental open coven that tries to offer safe(r) spaces of spiritual inquiry, transformation and healing for the queer community and its wonderful allies. It is hosted by Ugly Duck - an arts organisation that supports under-represented voices and emerging artists, on a bi-monthly basis.

The project unfolds through ritual-workshops in accordance with the phases of the moon. It is curated by the main facilitator ByuKa (they/ them), as well as by invited guest queer magic practitioners. Some of the themes we explore are:

Ways of queering and embodying the tarot

Elemental magic

Queer ancestor altars

Rebirth rituals

Shapeshifting techniques &

How to create relationships to non-human familiars

Frameworks for moon worship

Ways of befriending grief

B lood magic

A strology

T ranspersonal Psychology

C haos Magick

A lchemy

The project unfolds through the lens of moon magic- an ancestral and animist ritual technology. This framework can help us reclaim our embodied cyclical rhythm of living, and guide us into how to honour both our phases of growth and celebration, as well as our grief, rest and reflection. Like the moon, we wax and wane.

Instead of the linear, productivity-driven timelines of patriarchal capitalism, we devote ourselves to the creative flow woven by the magnificent planetary dance between the moon and the earth - which directs the seasonal changes, the movement of tides and our planet’s axis. As we are mammals who are birthed, fed and held between the cosmic and the earthly landscapes - we are made and unmade by these rhythms. Like the moon, we wax and wane.

Empowering our lunar bodies can help us rebel against the industrial, machine-like clock that dominates our lives and our relationship to the ecosystems. Our lunar bodies can dream into being futurities that bloom with collective care, care that heals us from the violent spells of hierarchy, binaries and normativity. Futurities that are guided by myths & stories full of playfulness, solidarity, rest. Full of camp hybrids, sacred disruptors, wise fools. Full of recycled altars, ceremonial raves and sensuous technologies.

The project also asks the question- what is queer magic?

Lunarrr Playgroundz - both as a magical praxis & as an embodied mythology that is being collectively written- is inherently queer. Strange, fluid, playful. The moon is a shapeshifter. The moon transitions all the time- from one phase to the other, showing us its many faces, energies and qualities via an intricate dance of reflected sunlight, darkness, vulnerability and power. It’s a performative ceremony of many genders, many kinds of prayers, many pains and many sensualities - gifted to an entire galaxy.

F ollow us on instagram for regular updates: @lunarrrplaygroundz

This work is been developed with the support of Ugly Duck.

Ugly Duck is a London based arts organisation that supports under-represented voices and emerging artists. Established in August 2012, their programme enables makers, community groups, professionals and the public to come together around unique cultural experiences and curated events.

They have converted a beautiful empty Victorian warehouse in SE1 into a busy creative space which became, and still is, the home to countless rising artists.

More info

http://uglyduck.org.uk/

@weareuglyduck

Host or Publisher Intimate Animals & Ugly Duck