Briar Rose: Sleeping Beauty & The Indigenous Memory of Mother Europe

A six week exploration with Indigenous, cultural activist Kakisimo Iskwew and Tad Hargrave delving into the deeper layers of the tale of Sleeping Beauty.

WHEN: January 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th + February 3rd, 10th from 9am – 11am PST.

WHERE: Meetings will take place on ZOOM, and we will also have a Mighty networks online space where we will share resources, articles, and communicate with each other. Participants will receive a link to this online space before the meetings begin.

COST: $300 CAD. 100% of proceeds from the evening will go to support the important work being done by Albertan indigenous, cultural activist Kakisimo Iskwew.

About The Program: 

We live in a time when many people of European descent are waking up to but feel cut off from their indigenous, folk ancestry that suffered waves of colonization from Rome to the Holy Roman Empire, famine, disease, war upon war before washing up on the shores of what would become known as North America.

There seems to be no way back to the forgotten wisdom those people held and so the only place to find it seems to be in the traditions and practices of other still intact (or more intact) indigenous peoples.

The Story Of How This Program Came To Be:

LIke all stories, it can be hard to know…where to begin? As time passes, the details mist over. Memories foggy…or sleepy perhaps.

Is it in the moments sitting with Elders, there Kakisimo Iskwew heard about the importance of knowing where we come from, in order to know where we are going? Is it in the years of sitting with story tellers in Scotland and across Europe as Tad connected the stories he heard to the cultures he was told were long lost. Or…in the beautiful efforts of community builders like Michelle Christine who called those two together to share on a tempest blown summer’s night in a yurt, to discuss culture and the grief we swim in in its absence?

Who knows.

All of these moments, and so many others, led to an evening, in that same yurt, months later where Tad and Kakisimo Iskwew wove a picture of the deep meaning within a story all present had at some point heard: the story of Sleeping Beauty.

The time together was far too short and the rich discussions left un-uttered too deafening. Both felt it would have to happen again.

After deciding to offer the evening of storytelling a second time, deep dives were taken into the history of textiles, spinning, roses and all of the threads (visible and invisible) in the story of Briar Rose.

It became clear, this needed to grow into something more.

The clues were too delicious, the crumbs left behind for us to find had become a feast. And, when you dine on incredible dishes, it’s only natural to want to share them and sing their praises. And so, it was decided…a longer program would be carved. A sign post pointing to the wisdom still whispering from the past.

Perhaps you joined us on those first events, and have found you left with a greater hunger than you knew you carried. Or, it’s possible you happened upon this invitation. Stubbing your toe on the sign post pointing to this open door.

“However it came to be, we are happy you found it, and that perhaps you will sit at this table and dine with us on story and wonder over the coming weeks.” Kakisimo Iskwew (Natalie) and Tad Hargrave

This Could Be A Perfect Fit For You If You:

• Are drawn to your European ancestry and have a love of European folklore (and know there are deeper layers to them than you know how to get to).
• Have a deep respect for indigenous peoples, their traditions and lifeways
• Are open to an animist understanding of the world
• Are drawn to the works of Stephen Jenkinson, Sharon Blackie, Michael Meade, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Martin Prechtel, Martin Shaw and the Emerald Podcast.

Over The Six Weeks You Will:

• Attend six, weekly, two-hour zoom calls.
• Come to see that more memory survived than we’ve been led to believe – much of it in the form of common folk and fairy tales you likely heard as a child or watched as Disney movies.
• Come to understand fairy tales as more memory than metaphor.
• Engage with a small portion of that cultural memory via multiple versions of the Sleeping Beauty story that exists in many versions around the world.
• Learn a new, beauty-making handcraft.

This Might Not Be A Great Fit For You If You:

• You cannot accept that humans before our current day lived by cultural wisdom that guided their lives.
• You cannot accept that the cultures of Europe grew out of indigeneity to those places they are from.

Painting The Picture: 

The program begins by having you go back to watch that movie you may have watched as a child: Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

Each week, you pour yourself a cup of tea and log onto zoom, with a cohort of others who you’re coming to know. You have read a different version of the Sleeping Beauty story from another country which unfurls another layer and aspect of the story, with one layer adding to the previous until the deeper meaning and magic of the story begins to appear.

In each session, you break out into small zoom rooms with people just like you, exploring what’s emerging for you in the story and sharing the progress on the hand craft you have taken up as another way to explore the story.

In between the sessions, you are crafting a little piece of beauty whose fate or purpose won’t be revealed until the fourth session and reading yet another version of the story, perhaps from your own ancestry and beginning to see how the story lives out in your life. With additional readings, videos, articles and prompts, you will be invited to dive deeper between sessions. As you reflect and craft your learnings into physical existence between sessions, you will be invited to dream of the other ways this learning will sprout into your daily life.

When you close your laptop after the final session, your eyes are wide in amazement. The story you watched as a silly, fairy tale romance full of unrealistic expectations about relationships and other troubling messages now seems so different. What you might have seen as an adorable, if not a bit problematic children’s tale, has become a vast table laid out in the finest feast you’ve ever seen, a treasure chest loaded with gold, and the whispers of your ancestors telling you they had you in mind all those years ago in keeping this story alive for you now.

And, perhaps, with their voices bouying you along, you’ll be ready to explore the wisdom they hid for you deep within the stories repeated for generations with new eyes, new ears, and a new heart.

What Will Be Asked Of You:

• That you order Amelia Curruthers’ book Sleeping Beauty (And Other Tales Of Slumbering Princesses).
• That you set aside at least three hours per week in addition to the calls to engage in the material (e.g. reading and handcrafts).
• You will need access to the following tools: a blender, a spoon, a large salad bowl, a thread and straight pins and some sort of meaningful charm (the kind you might put on a necklace). You’ll be guided on exact types once in the course.