spellbook of poetic pedagogies

This exploration at the intersection of radical pedagogy and magick aims to create a space to devise new methodologies of knowledge transmission that can invoke new possibilities of relating. Using the symbolic and ritualistic methods common in traditional and contemporary occult lineages as experiential learning opportunities, this project hopes to make radical, liberatory pedagogy accessible to non-specialised audiences.

This research project is based on the understanding that commons include ways of being together in the world, outside the realm of marketisation and ownership. The focus of the practices offered and co-created will therefore be on the relational aspect of commoning. Symbolism and vocabulary from the realm of magick will be explored as a way to transcend the mind’s habitual barricades and to invoke new worlds of relating possibilities. The research will emphasize methods that focus on our embodied nature and learning through the body. Specific disciplines that will inform the research include Social Presencing Theater, Somatic Experiencing, Systemic Constellations, IFS, Circling, Authentic Relating, CI, Underscore and poetic ideation.

The tangible artifact resulting from this 10-month pedagogical research will be a co-created spellbook, containing all newly devised practices and rituals. This open-source Spellbook will be freely accessible online for anyone to play with and expand on during and beyond the duration of the project. The workshops/experiments that will lead to its creation will be open to anyone interested – no previous knowledge is required.

Each experiment, like each spell, will be independent from each other, allowing new group constellations to form in each workshop. 4 example sessions could include:

/ A potion to dissolve boundaries. The focus of this session will be on surrendered, decentralised leadership. The practice of Circling will be introduced and explored as a way to dissolve the common polar structures of traditional pedagogy – experts and amateurs, students and teachers. What type of constellation and power dynamic emerge when formal power is decentralised? What deep-rooted beliefs about learning and epistemological authority can be alchemically transmuted?

// As above so below. Playing with the communities within whilst connecting with the community outside. The method of Internal Family System, which creates a framework to explore the multiplicity of individuals will be used to create community Constellations.

/// No-sense. Movement-based practices to explore the possibilities of relating non-verbally. Devising of Initiation Rituals. What possibilities emerge when we learn and connect through the body?

//// The Sacred in the Mundane. Finding and creating the sacred and ceremonial in our everyday relating. Exploring devising Sigils as holders of meaning.