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The Vessel and the Voice

Confident Witch Circle: Ingwaz • $49 • September 11, 8pm • Pre-Registration Is Required

America/Detroit
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Set it and forget it? Almost.

Hold a seed in the palm of your hand. You can learn the species, the harvest date, the germination rate, the soil pH, your planting zone and dates and everything. You can get every single one of those right, and you still won't know whether this particular seed will come up, how tall it will grow, whether or not it will flower and fruit. Whether or not you get to eat.

The only way to find out is time, patience, and regular tending. If you get impatient and concerned, and you dig it up to check on it ... that's how you kill it.

Most of what we commit to works a lot like this. You carefully put your spells together, writing down in your Book of Shadows the promise you made and the year it was done. Or you make plans to get married and start a family, put your life on the trajectory society says is the guaranteed win. But we don't really know, do we? And then we go poking at things, and trying to micromanage, and we end up digging up our seedling before it ever had a chance to sprout.

Let's get comfortable with uncertainty and tend our commitments anyway.

Never been to a Confident Witch Circle? Never studied the runes, or Norse myth? You're not behind; start from right here!

✽  What you'll take home

The God in the Wagon

The year a fugitive put on Freyr's clothes and rode the wagon as the god was the best harvest anyone could remember. Is this the story of a fraud, or of the god tapping an uncertain vessel for His own reasons?

The Ladder of Invocation

From devotional prayers to full possession, we'll look at the mechanics of invocation. Then you'll get a chance to practice devotional invocation for yourself.

A Practice to Keep 

You'll build a sealed container spell. The container doesn't matter; the important part is committing to not looking ... NO PEEKING! (Psst...this might be a good spell to share with your kids when they want to get sneak peeks at their presents.)

A small corked jar holding herbs, surrounded by amethyst and clear quartz on a dark starry cloth

Do you want to know, or do you want to succeed?

Checking up too often has a cost. Every time you poke your working, you pay for it.

You already know this about things like bread dough and wine and photographs and teenagers. It's true of spellwork, too. We'll dig in to some stories about what our ancestors did when the harvest was at stake, and how they dealt with uncertainty about little details like "how" and "why".

A lit green candle beside dishes of rosemary, thyme, and dark tumbled stones on a wooden altar surface

Empty enough to be filled

Devotional invocation is the practice of connecting with deity by bringing that divine energy within our own bodies. Done well, the energy invoked can be felt by everyone in the room, bridging the gap between spirit and mundane. 

In our devotional practices here, the Charge is memorized as an integral part of the invocation. Not only does the practice of memorizing a devotional prayer also serve to strengthen your connection to the divine, it also allows you to get out of your own way and become an empty channel for that energy. 

Real humans study and work here.

Queer, neurodivergent, disabled, chronically ill, and socially awkward people are what passes for "normal" around here. (Psst: "normal" is just a setting on the dryer.) Straight, neurotypical, socially effortless people are welcome too. We assume they can adjust.

Two hours. The same structure every time; only the content changes.

We begin with a short round of sharing: name and pronouns, your current energy level, one thing you are proud of accomplishing or learning this week, and a question to think about while we work. "Pass" is a complete sentence.

Iron Stillness is a simple guided grounding practice accessible to everyone. You arrive as you are. We work from there.

I open our lessons with myth, folklore, lived experience, and other stories to give us a world to walk around. Then we build on it.

The stories create the framework that gives the practical material somewhere to live in your brain. Long after you forget which handout contained which detail, you'll remember that bowl, the storm, the slippery frozen bridge, or the god who made a particular mess of things.

That story becomes a place where the rest of the lesson can live.

We take the stories apart and look at their pieces. Depending on the night, that might includes lessons on runes, herbs, chakras, Tarot, numerology, astrology, deities, elements, ritual technology, energy work, spell structures, ethics, cosmology, whatever the season and the material calls for.

There may be handouts. There will probably be a lot of scrawling on the whiteboard. There may be more correspondences than any reasonable person would attempt to memorize in two hours. (Nobody ever accused me of starving for details.) You will keep what is important to you. Nobody expects you to keep all of it instantly.

Every Circle includes a place for journaling prompts and some quiet time to notice what's coming up for each person. After journaling, there is space for some voluntary sharing and group coaching.

Sharing is helpful as we can learn from others' experiences and get new perspectives on our own. But it's always optional. You can share what came up, ask for help working through it, listen to others make their own connections, or keep your business in your own journal.

We do some practical work together!

That may mean building a spell you can take home, creating or charging a tool, working with an herb or stone, or taking a guided meditation journey.

The goal is for you to leave having practiced some real witchcraft, not just having heard about it.

The night ends with a story to weave it all together, and some optional reflective homework to carry the lessons into the rest of your life.

"Homework" isn't what grade school wanted. There's nobody handing out gold stars, nobody will be disappointed if you don't do it. (Except maybe you.) The work belongs to you.

This is a workshop, not a rite. We do not cast circle, invoke deities, or ask you to participate in worship. It is a personal development class, using the stars and the Gods as our guides.

Here are a few things I want you to know without making you work up the nerve to ask:

  • You are not required to share anything. Passing is a complete answer, and nobody will circle back and pressure you for a "real" response.
  • If you are late, walk in. Find a seat and join in where we are.
  • If you need to leave early, leave. Nobody will follow you out or ask you to justify it. (We might ask if you need help.)
  • If you attend once and never come back, I will not chase you. (I might wonder what I did wrong.)
  • Attending one Circle is not a hidden commitment to an initiatory or monetary track.
  • You will not be asked to swear an oath, declare a belief, or pray to a deity with whom you have no relationship.
  • You do not have to arrive well-rested, well-regulated, caught up on chores, fully prepared to socially engage, or having done preparatory reading. (Even I sometimes show up low on spoons.)
  • You may stand, sit, pace, stim, doodle, knit, use a fidget, wear headphones, leave for the Sensory Room, turn your Zoom camera off, or otherwise operate your body as required by your needs while learning.
  • You may talk about what you learned and what you personally experienced. You may not identify who else attended or repeat another person's story outside the Circle. You are allowed to be vulnerable in this room; confidentiality is what lets that happen.

Around these parts, our rooms have more than one kind of seat.

Some people sit here in the chairs, in person, which is everybody's favorite. Some need to join through a Zoom call. Some people register, but then have bodies or transportation or children or work schedules or whole weeks that collapse at the last minute; they enter through the secure recording instead.

All of them are inside the Circle.

I teach to the physical seats and the Zoom together as one room. There are always off-camera seats available, just as Zoom participants have the option to turn off their camera. You're always free to pass and remain silent, too.

My promise is that the Circle is securely bounded. The recording is only shared with registered attendees through a secured link that expires after thirty (30) days. The recording is not posted publicly or re-used for anything else.

The confidentiality rule applies to everyone with access to that recording just as if they were sitting in the classroom. 

Class is held at Keys To Manifestation, 809 Center Street, Suite 7A, Lansing, Michigan.

Here is what you can expect to walk into:

The store is on ground level. There are no stairs and no elevator.

Parking is in the lot directly around the building. If you come straight up the front walk, there is no curb.

The front doors pull open and are not automatic. Inside, the doorways have low metal thresholds (a lip rather than a step). The floor is commercially carpeted from the lobby into the library classroom; the retail floor is wood.

Our classroom is in our library, which doubles as the meeting place for Weavers of the Web's community nights. There are rainbow curtains, moon goddess banners, a wall of books you are welcome to browse, tables, a whiteboard, overhead fluorescent lights, and enough open floor to reach a table with a walker or wheelchair without requiring everyone in the room to rearrange around you.

We have an eclectic mixture of rolling executive chairs with arms, upholstered office chairs, folding chairs and stacking bucket chairs, even a couple of wingbacks and bar stools.

Take the chair that works for your body.

Or the not-chair; there's open floor space, too, and yoga balls and floor cushions. Or bring your own seat. Make yourself comfortable, please.

There is one single-occupancy non-gendered restroom.

It has grab bars beside the toilet and along the wall. The sink is wall-mounted with open space beneath it, allowing a wheelchair to roll underneath. The floor is tile, with no rugs to trip over.

A separate sensory-friendly room is available throughout the class.

It has low lighting, a futon, pillows, blankets, exercise balls, and a rug. It is much quieter and darker than the classroom.

You do not need permission to use it.

Get up and go. Stay for five minutes or the rest of the evening (you DO have to leave when I lock the doors). Come back, or don't. I will keep teaching, nobody will follow you, and nobody will demand an explanation afterward. (We might ask if you're okay.)

The sensory room exists so that needing it doesn't cost you the class.

Incense made from herbs, woods, and natural resins ordinarily burns in the shop and church space. We do not use synthetic fragrances.

Natural smoke and residual scents can still be an access problem. With sufficient notice, I can keep the combined space incense-free for 24 hours prior to class.

That reduces the scent, but it cannot turn an active metaphysical space into a 100% fragrance-free environment. This is just one reason our Zoom access exists.

Still and sparkling water are available from Weavers' refrigerator. Help yourself. Hydrate or die straight! (j/k, you're welcome to die straight if you want)

The parking lot is lit at night. If you would rather not walk to your car alone at 10 o'clock, I (or somebody more physically imposing is usually available) will walk out with you. Just ask.

A'Kos is Kender's retired autism service dog from 4 Paws for Ability. Once upon a time, he was the key to helping Kender have more independence. Now, he's doing everybody's favorite retirement job: Store Greeter.

He's in the building regularly (though not EVERY day), usually stationed wherever he predicts the belly rubs will be most plentiful. If dogs are difficult for you, let me know when you register and I can keep him out of the classroom that night.

One Confident Witch Circle class is $49.

Class runs Friday from 8:00-10:00 PM, in person at Keys To Manifestation or live through Zoom.

Same class. Same price. Same room. Your choice of seat.

If you register and your body, your ride, your children, your work, or your whole damn week falls apart, you do not lose your class.

Tell me at least 5 minutes ahead of time. I will make sure we record that night (I don't unless I expect Zoom folks) and send you the secure recording link. It will remain available to you for 30 days.

If $49 is the reason you cannot attend, email me and we will sort it out. There is always a way.

We don't do financial aid forms and burdens of proof. We DO do work-study and scholarship programs. So please, reach out and ask.

You can sponsor a seat for someone who would otherwise be priced out.

Contact me directly to purchase a scholarship seat. I'll hold the credit until someone needs it. 

You get to quietly make the room bigger.

About Your Teacher

Solinox raises an athame to cast circle at an outdoor ritual

Lord Solinox Silverstar

they/them

Lord Solinox Silverstar is a 3rd-degree High Priestx in the WISE-ATC tradition, founding clergy of Weavers of the Web, ATC, a teacher at Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary, and the owner of Keys To Manifestation. They teach because they believe that every person deserves access to the tools and supports that help make a better life.