The Conference of the Birds: A Telling of the Great Sufi Folktale

Name: The Conference of the Birds: A Telling of the Great Sufi Folktale
Start: 2025-11-21T18:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-11-21T21:00:00-05:00
Location: ritual botanica, 10 Old Leicester Hwy, Woodfin, NC

Schedule

Fri Nov 21 2025 at 06:30 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

ritual botanica, 10 Old Leicester Hwy, Woodfin, NC | Asheville, NC

Medicine of the Starry Heavens's Stories from Stardust presents...
The Conference of the Birds:
A Telling of the Great Sufi Folktale
The Great Turning has arrived and the birds of the world have gathered to plan a sojourn through the mystical landscape of these alchemical times. Some fear it is the Times of Trouble and the dangers are too many. Others seek the whispers and unveiling hidden inside the pain and suffering of the world. A few who remember their lost longing venture off with the Hoopoe, the great guide of pilgrim souls, who promises to take them on a perilous journey to find the Phoenix of the Lake, the mythic bird who holds the long forgotten secret of the world’s renewal.
The Conference of the Birds is the great Sufi epic poem and folktale from medieval Persia, carrying the mythopoetic murmurs of the Starry River & the Silk Road. It was written by 12th century poet Farid ud-Din Attar. This will be an astrology-rich, alchemically-infused contemporary telling.
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~What is Stories from Stardust?~
A one of a kind story-telling, stargazing deep-dive that braids together myth, cosmology & poetics with intellectual history, cultural remembering, practical astronomy & heart-centered teachings. These events are a form of ritual attunement that weave together imagination, landscape, cross-cultural star-lore, wonder, ancient perceptions & an alchemical courting of the night sky. I tell stories the way our ancestors did: under the night sky, around a fire, along shorelines, communing with the treasure trove of constellational images and folklore that is our starry heavens. Doing it this way is an inheritance that reaches deep into an embodied culture of belonging and plucks the long-forgotten heartstrings of the human psyche.
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Date: Friday, November 21st
Time: Doors 6:30pm, Telling 7pm
Where: Ritual Botanica, 10 Old Leicester Hwy, Woodfin, NC
**important directions and parking info below**
- and on Zoom, info below -
Suggested donation: $12-36, no one turned away for lack of funds
You can Venmo @MedicineOfTheStarryHeavens, book a ticket on Eventbrite, or bring cash the night of the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-conference-of-the-birds-a-telling-of-the-great-sufi-folktale-registration-1963079319088
This event is indoors. There will be chairs available, but bring blankets and cushions if you want to get cozy, or whatever you need to be comfy and open to the medicine of the starry heavens.
Thank you to Ritual Botanica for hosting us in their magical apothecary! www.ritualbotanica.com
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Zoom info
Meeting ID: 810 4745 1754
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81047451754
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**IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS/PARKING**
Type "ritual botanica" into Google or Apple Maps and it will bring you to the right place. Usually typing in the address does not bring you to the right place. There is a graphic shared in the discussion section of this event page that shows where you can park.
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Frank Salzano is an astrologer, cultural astronomer & storyteller that focuses on old-world astrology, cross-cultural star myths, and celestial folklore. He is based in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Learn more at www.medicineofthestarryheavens.com