Koselig, pronounced “KOOSH-lee”, is an emotive word in Norwegian. It is both a noun and a verb. From ‘kose’, meaning to enjoy oneself / to cuddle. Koselig is related to and associated with the word “hygge” (Old Norse) which is built from the word “hugr” which later became the “hug” meaning soul, mind, + consciousness. It’s also speculated that hygge may stem from “hug”, which comes from the 1560’s word “hugge” meaning to embrace.
Winter descends upon us + unfolds within as a time of gathering in. Longer, colder, + darker nights invite us to embrace portals of slowness and mystery. Offerings, feasting, storytelling, dancing and singing around the fire – we all have ritual ways of tending to the land, our communities, and ourselves during the shorter, colder days of the year — and our ancestors did too. Let us deepen + delight in the winter ways of rest, reciprocity, + care rooted into disabled, queer + trancestral cultural + collective memories.
This offering is an exploration, deepening, and recognition of our attunement to the energetics and living folkways of winter. We will work with the elemental magic of fire, folk rituals, herbal remedies, holy tides, mycelium mysteries, and protective spirits of the land, hearth, and home to queer, crip, remember, and embody what is means to be koselig.
Our collective container will open us up, anchor us down, and carry us all the way from the Winter Solstice to the Spring Equinox.
Anyone who wants to join after the series begins will receive access to all previously recorded sessions and materials.
SYLLABUS + REGISTRATION
Session 1: December 19th
OPENING
Blessed is the bough. Welcoming Jul as season + spirit. Meeting + greeting spirits of the land, hearth, + home. Song and dance as ancestral ritual tools + technology. Naming our nauthiz, Nourishing + sharing the needfire. Straws + evergreens
Session 2: January 2nd
Toasting the Trees. Wassailing / Vas-hailin. Communal rites, rituals, + performances of interdependence + gender fluidity. Time out of time, days of play, days of rest. Herbal infusions + decoctions.Herbal winter wassail recipes.
Session 3: January 16th
Rites + rituals of herbal sauna + switching. Ancestral bathhouse preparations + ceremony.
Bathing with plant waters.
Session 4: January 30th
Imbolc, Candelmass, Brigid as queer saint, Divine Mother of the Thunder Candles. Beeswax as divination tool, oracular guide, + the original lamp. Cakes + sweet offerings of protection + perseverance through persecution of the people’s medicines. Cakecraft.
Session 5: February 13th
Rites of pleasure. Mardi gras, carnivals, lupercalia, ash wednesday, saint valentine, madonna of montevergine: patron saint of queer love + liberation, shrovetide.
Herbal honies + marshmallows.
Session 6: February 27th
Grain, bread, + birds. Seed singing. Blessings of the hearth, field, bough + plough.
Drowning of Marzanna + rituals of grief-giving.
Session 7: March 13th
Disting the dísir. Honoring our grandmothers + gender-bending generational grandkin.
Connecting to our crip femme lineages + intelligence. Communal divination rituals of seidr + staving.
Session 8: March 27th
CLOSING
Thawing ice + rising sap. Pussywillows + paskris.
Sacred springs, well visitation + decoration. Signs of spring coming.
Time: 5pm - 7pm CST
Dates: Alternating Mondays, December 19th, 2022 → March 27th, 2023
Cost: $400
Location: Zoom. Recordings provided to all participants. Please note that this offering was intentionally created and designed to be experienced in real time. That being said, in this course we value disability justice + crip theory, meaning as a facilitator I ask you to show up when you are able to and don’t when you aren’t.
Accessibility:
Live captioning provided.
Sliding scale fees available, email to arrange.