Samhain Bardic Ceremony

Name: Samhain Bardic Ceremony
Start: 2024-11-01T18:45:00+00:00
End: 2024-11-01T22:00:00+00:00
Location: The Glade, Parsonage Copse, North Woods, TQ9 6EH Totnes, United Kingdom

Schedule

Fri Nov 01 2024 at 06:45 pm to 10:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

The Glade, Parsonage Copse, North Woods, TQ9 6EH Totnes, United Kingdom | Totnes, EN

Come join us inside the cosy Nest space in The Glade, to mark Samhain and the end and beginning of the Celtic year together in community. Over 2000 years ago, the Celts celebrated their new year at the beginning of Winter, and the night before they celebrated Samhain. Halloween has its origins in this ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, this magical time when the veil between the physical seen world and the unseen spirit world becomes thin. And so too this is the time to connect with and honour our ancestors, this is the time to remember and vision, to drift and enter the dream world as we enter the darker months of the year.

So come delve and dive into the liminal dream world with us, with songs and a story from our in-house performers Adam Powell & Madeleine Honor, stories and a guided meditation from energy intuitive and spiritual mentor Kirsten Holmes, seasonal songs from talented folk singer Danny Emmerson, poetry, song and a grief ritual from Michelle Cadby, and a special one-off performance and transmission from storyteller and multi-disciplinary artist and musician Sisonke Papu who will be visiting from South Africa. See below for more in-depth description on what Sisonke will be sharing with us.

This promises to be a truly magical evening!

If you wish to continue the festivities in the Glade through to the following day, our friends at Nature Dance are hosting a Samhain Dance the next evening. We are intentionally synching the events together so that it's possible for you to experience a ceremonial deep dive on the Friday evening and then an expansive dance the following. The link is in the text above.

Planning to be with us: We invite you to arrive in the space from 6:15pm ready for the ceremony to promptly start at 6.45pm; we ask you to be comfortable in your seat by 6:45pm so we can start on time. There will be no admittance from 7pm as the ceremonial space will have been opened and in progress, so please allow enough time to walk the short woodland path from the car park - details and directions: https://thewoodland.co/directions/

Logistics: This event is held within the Woodland Glade of the Dartington Estate. We have versatile indoor and outdoor spaces, refreshments and the warmth of the hearth-fire to cheer us. We suggest dressing for warmth or coolness - outside may be cold and the log burner in the Nest can create a very warm space.

A sober event suitable for ages 12+. Pre-booking is required. Tickets are £16 / £22 per person depending on your means. We also have a few £11 concessionary tickets available if these prices are out of reach for you at this time.
(Please note dogs are not permitted at this venue)
We hope to see you there and we look forward to welcoming you.
The Totnes Wheel of the Year Collective

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Totnes Wheel the Year Collective host events focused on the 8 festivals of the Celtic calendar.
Follow our Facebook page for updates of future events and other offerings : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556023942743

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Sisonke Papu brings you Ancestral Continuity…
In this sacred Samhain Ceremony, Sisonke Papu// KHNYSA invites you into a sound journey of remembering and deep communion. Guided by the breath of life and the timelessness of African cosmology, he will weave ancestral wisdom through the sacred sounds of the mbira dza vhadzimu, a sacred instrument connecting the living with the ancestors, the marimba known as ‘the mother of sound’ with its grounding rhythms, and the ethereal temple flute to lift and free the spirit.
Each note is an offering, a call to the unseen, a bridge between worlds. Through these instruments, the ancestors speak, the land breathes, and the spirit is stirred to remember its timeless journey. Expect a meditative exploration of breath and spirit, where the pulse of ancient rhythms and the flow of sacred sound awaken deep resonance. Here, you are invited to honour those who came before, to sit in the presence of their wisdom, and to reconnect with the eternal cycles of life, death, and rebirth. This is a sonic prayer for continuity, a healing space for reflection, and a return to the oneness of all being.
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PERFORMER BIOS

Adam Powell
Bard of Totnes 2024, Adam is a multi instrumentalist storyteller with a passion for bringing the indigenous British Isles to life. He has read a degree in Medieval History, is a member of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, is a menswork facilitator in the Mankind Project and an interfaith world pilgrim.

Madeleine Honor
Madeleine is a mother, singer, performer, sound & energy facilitator, kundalini yoga teacher, and creative practitioner. Madeleine has spent years as a performer and running drama and singing workshops with groups of women, children and refugees.
In her performances she often includes song, movement and mantra. Her deep connection to the natural world and shamanic practices are woven into a mesmerising landscape to create a sacred ceremonial experience.

Michelle Cadby
As an experienced space holder, breathwork facilitator, ceremonialist and grief tender, Michelle loves creating rituals and holding ceremonies with ritual, song and poetry woven throughout, in reverence to this one wild and precious life, and as an invitation to come together in community like our ancestors did; whether that be to grieve, to breathe, to dance, to share in circle, or to mark the change of seasons and the turn of the wheel.
Michelle holds 121 and group breathwork ceremonies, Grief and gratitude ceremonies, Womben Nature Dances in Dartmoor and is the host and ceremonialist of the Totnes Wheel of the Year Collective, and sometimes performer, sharing her poetry and musical offerings at such gatherings as these seasonal ceremonies.
To gather in person or online, and find out more, visit: www.michellecadby.com

Danny Emerson
A gently crafted musical poet with a generous twist of magic!
Danny weaves an emotionally rich tapestry of heart touching songs of love, loss, transcendence and stumbling. This musical poet dreams intimate song magic, playful with benevolent mischief, naked honesty with an enchanting voice taking you on a folk and blues infused journey deep into the open heart of matters.
Finely crafted, occasionally naughty, combobulating medicine. A sound hug for the soul.
https://www.dannyemerson.com

Sisonke Papu
Sisonke, a.k.a. KHNYSA*, is a South African traditional healer, storyteller and multi-disciplinary artist who explores storytelling through writing, photography, sound, film and conceptualisation. Their work explores spatial, emotional and spiritual temporalities by engaging ideas of everydayness, the real and imaginary, dreams and memory, the unseen and mythical, ritual, sonic and cosmic. A former English Literature lecturer at Nelson Mandela University where their academic papers were presented internationally, now their poetry, art and music has been published and shared internationally.
Sisonke is also the founder and director of ISPILI Network, a transmedia platform dedicated to shifting the creative energy of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, with collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship among young creatives, focussing on the preservation and transmission of indigenous knowledge and collective healing. Through ISPILI Network, Sisonke has founded a magazine, podcast, web series and organised a series of public activations, performances, and artist residencies.
*Sisonke also goes by the name KHNYSA, meaning “the ones who brings the light”, which was given to them by their ancestors when they accepted their spiritual calling to become an igqirha, (the isiXhosa designation for someone has been called be their ancestors to heal) so with his close connection to the ancestors, we are particularly excited to have Sisonke join us at this Samhain time of connecting with our ancestors.
To find out more or connect directly with Sisonke, visit:
https://www.instagram.com/sisonkepapu
https://ispilinetwork.co.za/

Kirsten Holmes
Kirsten Holmes is an Energy Intuitive, Spiritual Mentor and Teacher. She has been delivering Readings and Mentoring clients for over 20 years. Kirsten is passionate about living in Truth, aligned with Heart & Soul energy and guidance, in a practical, grounded way. Is all this possible?…. Yes! This is what she supports people in accessing more of, in her potent work. Kirsten works with a strong Intuition & Guide Team, alongside her Heart Held containers of grounded support, insight, healing and guidance. She leads a life true to her own guidance and has a deep understanding of the Soul lead life. She has a speciality in supporting and translating experiences on behalf of Neurodiverse & Highly Sensitive children, alongside this, working with adults 1:1.
https://www.kirstenholmes.com
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