Workshops

Spring Equinox Workshop 2018

Posted by Laetitia on April 1, 2018

Posted in: Community, Events, Seasonal, Workshops. Tagged: Candle carving, Egg painting, MMW at Revolver Newquay, Spring Equinox, Spring Equinox workshop, Workshops. 3 Comments

It was a pleasure to visit Michelle once again at MMW Revolver in Newquay to provide a Spring Equinox workshop. After a long winter and bitterly cold weather, celebrating the Spring, looking forward to brighter days and warmer temperatures is needed to lift the spirits.

We were welcomed by Michelle with a glass of Prosecco, she had also provided an Italian lemon bread, chocolate cake and seasonal eggs. We had arrived a little early and it was a good opportunity to browse the interesting items in the shop. There were beautiful egg-shaped wax candles and Cassandra purchased a sea salt candle.

The workshop began with Cassandra Latham Jones speaking about the symbolism of the season. She included the views of Christianity and Jews that have their unique way of celebrating Easter and calculating the Equinox as a moveable feast. Cassandra spoke about the fertility symbolism of hot cross buns, rabbits, hares and the eggs. At the end of the talk she allowed time for questions and these give an indication of how each person interprets the season and which points raised during the talk left an impression with them.

I had arranged for the group to decorate hard-boiled eggs while focusing on future projects that would be born in Spring along with new hopes for themselves and their families.

The food colouring when applied to the eggs seemed to have a life of its own as intriguing patterns and shapes transformed each one.

Our photographer John Isaac was accompanied by his twin daughters who enjoyed participating in the seasonal activities under his supervision.

I provided yellow candles for each person to carve symbols upon while focusing on their hopes and projects.

A small cauldron was then placed in the centre of the table containing potted daffodil bulbs.

Each person lit their personal candle and I guided them through a short meditation using visualization of their hopes and projects springing to life with all the plants and flowers of the land.

It was a wonderful evening and members of the group returned home with their decorated egg, carved candle and instructions for utilising them at home.

We thank Michelle for her excellent hosting and recommend a visit to her fascinating shop when you visit Newquay.

https://mmwstore.com/

A Yuletide Workshop 2017

Posted by Laetitia on December 17, 2017

Posted in: Community, Events, Working with Spirit, Workshops. Tagged: Cassandra Latham Jones, Charm construction, Laetitia Latham Jones, Magical charms, MWM at Revolver Newquay, Old Christmas, Working on the Wild Side Workshops, Yuletide, Yuletide Workshop. Leave a comment

Cassandra and I were invited to hold a Yuletide workshop at MWM at Revolver in Newquay. Michelle has a unique shop that provides clothes, jewellery and other interesting items which are rustic but with a classic presentation.

It was the first time we had agreed to do a winter workshop as we usually arrange them for Spring and Summer. On arrival we were greeted by our marvellous host Michelle with a glass of champagne from a HUGE bottle along with mince pies, ginger cake and pieces of orange covered in dark chocolate.

Cassandra began the workshop with a talk on Old Christmas and how Yuletide symbolism of long ago connects with modern-day celebrations.

The talk went on for about 30 minutes so that we allowed time for questions from her audience.

We brought with us a box of wooden decorative stars, reflective baubles, ribbons, holly, ivy, mistletoe, rowan twigs, pine cones and coloured twine, so that the group could construct their own seasonal charms.

I explained the process to them and the type of focus required for construction. We then left them to concentrate on their creations.

The charms were all beautifully made and it was obvious that much thought and intent had gone into the construction. When they were complete, I set up an altar and demonstrated the blessing of a charm with the elements. I then guided each person through the process with their personal charm. It was an emotional process for some and a profound experience for all, especially when the group joined together to charge their charms with energy.

They left us late that evening, delighted with the experience and their personal charms which they carried home to display with their seasonal decorations.

Cassandra assisted our host Michelle in constructing a rowan cross.

A special thank you to Michelle for hosting the workshop. We both had a wonderful time and met a group of lovely people. A huge thank you to John Isaac for his help.

Yuletide blessings to you all with a happy 2018 ahead!

https://mmwstore.com/

“Thank you so much for coming to Newquay , it was an amazing experience and we all had a wonderful evening ! Michelle.”

“It was lovely to meet the both of you last night and I enjoyed it. Will see you again soon, many blessings M”. (This lady travelled from Exeter!)

“I feel a bit bad for being a bit antisocial whilst making the charms. I wanted to see if I could block out the surroundings and focus on what I was doing even in a room full of people. I also didn’t want to waste the beautiful natural things you gathered so wanted to do it properly. It was definitely a good learning curve for me! G”

This particular workshop occurred during the full moon phase. It was workshop 3 utilising different methods of spirit communication. During the afternoon we focused on elemental spirits and then other spirit forms during the evening. The energies from the full moon came to the fore and provided profound experiences for our group.

Cassandra took the group members to woodland and set exercises for them to encourage insight into the hidden world of the elementals. I remained at the cottage on this occasion as I had some urgent work to do for another client.

The exercises need total focus and discipline as it is easy to let your mind wander onto other matters, however this occurs less with practice. The group returned to the cottage to discuss their personal experiences and discoveries.

After guided meditations in the evening to set up a protective space and connecting with spirit symbols and guides, we utilised various methods of spirit communication.

We discussed symbolic meanings of visitations and experiences during meditations.

The group then experienced methods of psychometry, scrying and use of a communication board.

We had significant evidence from spirit communication particularly with the psychometry exercise. It is wonderful to see their reactions when group members discover they can access information from tuning in to these objects.

This particular workshop is intense and group members work hard and therefore achieve results. They left us commenting on how much they had learnt about the subject and also about themselves.

“”Thanks to u both, I got such a lot from the workshop, really interesting & so useful to me on a personal level. If you do decide to start a development group let me know. Amazing workshop, I’m completely worn out today & cant stop thinking about the things I experienced, thanks so much xx“

“Third workshop done and this weekend was amazing. Cassandra & Laetitia have been amazing teachers. If you get the chance book your place on their workshops. Again thank you ladies was amazing weekend see you September”

Working on the Wild Side Workshop June 2017

Posted by Laetitia on June 18, 2017

Posted in: Morvargh Sea 'Oss, Sea Working, Workshops. Tagged: astrology, divination, Morvargh the sea oss, sea legends, sea magic, sea spells, sea spirits, sea witchery, Tarot Readings, use of sea shells, Working on the Wild Side Workshops. 2 Comments

Our June workshop on Sea Magic was wonderful. We were joined by 3 adorable people who have attended previous workshops. The weather has been glorious and enhanced the powerful energies we experienced.

Members of our workshop discussed their personal spiritual journeys and there were also some interesting subjects raised for discussion.

On Saturday afternoon Cassandra spoke about divination methods such as Tarot, Astrology and Dowsing. It was enlightening to hear experiences from the group concerning results they had achieved by utilising these methods.

I spoke about the history of sea witchery, the local legends, sea spirits and utilising various sea shells, coral, pearls, sea pods and mermaid’s purses.

Our visit to Sennen Cove was just what the group needed after an afternoon of digesting so much information.

Morvargh’s presence was requested and her energy fits in well with a Sea Workshop

I took group members to a part of the beach with fewer people, so that we were able to connect with the spirits and cast spells we prepared at the cottage.

It was then time for relaxation and contemplation by a small fire while watching the sun go down. How sublime!

A fabulous workshop with lovely people and perfect weather.

Feedback:

“Feedback “It went too quickly….so much, and so many treasure chambers to explore.
The sea spell was the highlight, both the preparation and the casting. I felt free, not bound in any way. For me it was important the next day to sit for a while in a stone circle to come back to earth. The magic of the sea as a child returned and made much more sense.I would have loved to have spent more time on the tarot and astrology, but next time eh.

Enjoyed the saffron cake thank you very much.” A

“”Had a very interesting and informative weekend with Cassandra and Tia and two great people who attended the workshop. Cassandra went through Astrology which I am very interested in and tarot her knowledge is amazing. Then Tia explained about sea magic and the spirits of the sea and how to use shells in spells. The icing on the cake was going to the beach and releasing the spells into the sea and watching the sunset was Magical I highly recommend Cassandra and Tia’s workshop it’s not to be missed ” N

Working on the Wild Side Workshop May 2017

Posted by Laetitia on May 21, 2017

Posted in: Community, Events, Working with the Land, Workshops. Tagged: Boscawen-un stone circle, Cassandra Latham Jones, Laetitia Latham Jones, Magical charms, planetary hours and tables, wise woman work, Working magically with the land, Working on the Wild Side Workshops. Leave a comment

Workshop 1 Working with the Land

After our Swiss workshop in April on a larger scale, we have returned to our usual Spring and Summer workshops with a smaller group. It was a beautiful sunny weekend but still quite cool for the time of year.

On Friday evening we discovered more about our members, their lives and spirituality. This raised some interesting spiritual topics, ideas and experiences.

During Saturday afternoon Cassandra discussed the use of magical charms and working with clients. All members of the workshop are given copies of correspondences for the construction of charms, the planetary hours and tables. They were also shown the use of an Ephemeris.

I (Laetitia) then took the group through the process of planning their charms and constructing them. Each charm is unique as the maker chooses their own ingredients, metals, gemstones, plants and aromatic substances to generate energy within them. Not all people enjoy or are able to sew charms bags and will use another method of housing their chosen ingredients.

On Saturday evening I took them through the process of blessing their charms at the hearth. We then visited the magical Boscawen-un stone circle as the sun was setting and gave members of our group time with the stones and feel the energies of this wonderful site.

As the last person completed the circuit the star of Venus graced us with her presence, shining brightly in the sky. We then raised energy to magically charge their charms.

The temperature lowered as the darkness enveloped us and it was time to return to the glowing embers of our hearth to partake of Cornish mead and saffron cake. A fabulous weekend!

If you would like to join us for one of our workshops, visit the relevant page for details and see our feedback on the Testimonials page.

Feedback from this workshop:

“Such a lovely few days with all of you, lots of interesting discussion & lessons learned, looking forward to seeing u soon Had a great weekend with these amazing women & two lovely guys, I would highly recommend trying one of their workshops.”

“Hi thank you both for a great weekend really enjoyed and got a lot out of it.”

“The weekend was wonderful!”

Swiss “Working On The Wild Side” Workshop

Posted by Laetitia on April 19, 2017

Posted in: Events, Sea Working, Working with the Land, Workshops. Tagged: land magic workshops, Land workshops, sea magic workshops, Sea Workshops, Switzerland Museum of Witchcraft, Working on the Wild Side Workshops, Workshops. 3 Comments

Wicca, Cassandra and I. Image – Sus Bachmann

Our 2017 spring and summer Working On the Wild Side Workshops began with a workshop for twelve Swiss Pagans. As we were unable to fit them into Cassandra’s tiny cottage, we used the small room at the St Buryan village hall.

Village Witch books

Wicca, a lovely woman who is involved with the Swiss Museum of Witchcraft, http://www.hexenmuseum.ch/Englisch.htm arranged for her group to meet with us and translated the relevant information to the group. Cassandra gave a talk on her life and work as a Wise Woman and I spoke about sea spirits, mermaid legends, elemental work and uses for seaweed, sand and other materials found on beaches. I also explained the magical properties of various sea shells, sea beans and mermaids purses.

Cassandra was asked to construct a few protection charms that she sold at the workshop.

After allowing time for questions from the group, we provided various materials for them to construct personal charms. The unique designs they created and the type of materials they chose, gave us insight of their individual personalities.

Image – Sus Bachmann

After blessing these charms we visited Boscawen-un Stone Circle to charge them with meditation and energy raising dance to the beat of a drum.

Sunset at Sennen Beach. Image – Sus Bachmann

We visited Sennen Beach and watched the deep red sphere in the sky as the sun set over the sea. The group members live inland and sadly do not get a chance to experience the wonderful energies from the sea in Switzerland.

Image – Sus Bachmann

Cassandra built a fire and we sat around it discussing the local folklore.

Image – Sus Bachmann

We sang chants by the shore to invoke the sea spirits and raise energy for casting spells with sea shells. When this was done we returned to the fire for Cornish blackberry mead and saffron cake.

A wonderful workshop with a group of fabulous people and despite the difference in language the sister and brotherhood of the Craft connected us all.