This course is animistic, that is, we understand the world and its many aspects as alive and worthy of reverence and respect.

In the spirit of animacy, we recognize songs as living beings and we also celebrate the peoples and cultures that brought these songs into the world.

Ancient European pagans recognized a large number of deities who expressed themselves in a variety of ways. Goddesses, gods, non-gendered, many gendered and queer identities and deities are all honored in this class.

Most people have complex lineages, with ancestral practices worth repeating and others worth discarding. For those of us whose ancestral practices connect to European paganism, we can look with a discerning eye at ancient practices and choose to accept, reject and adapt practices as they seem right to us. No practice need be repeated for the sake of itself.

Connecting to European ancestral folkways can help to heal the wounds caused by white supremacy culture that have purposefully shut out a sense of belonging to culture and place. Connecting to these practices with care can also help any of us learn to approach all cultures with more appreciation and less appropriation.

Many of us will be participating in the class in the unceded and/or occupied territories of Native peoples and we will have a few practices in the course to help us become aware of how to begin engaging in reciprocity with the peoples on whose lands we occupy. We will practice land acknowledgements and be supplied with resources on topics concerning cultural appreciation and sharing.

This class is not meant to provide a thorough overview of European or Celtic folk traditions. As we learn our songs, Saro will introduce many of the themes and traditions associated with the holidays in England, Ireland and Scotland, but overall our focus is on learning songs that connect with the multi-faceted spirit of these holidays. You will be supplied with resources to do further research on holiday traditions!

You do not need to worship or even believe in the existence of any deities to attend this class, but you do need to attend with respect to other people’s experiences, and be aware that we will be singing to or of deities and animist forces during the course. Some students will understand various deities to exist in very real and concrete ways, while others might view these deities as useful concepts. Regardless, all of these beings will be spoken of with respect, gratitude and adoration. These deities will include the Irish deities Brigit and Lugh, amongst others. 

This class does not follow a specific pagan faith path or discipline such as Wicca, Heathenry, or Asatru. Instead, this class is broadly animist while honoring the celebrations of the holidays as they’ve appeared in several traditions and in neopagan contexts.

The number of songs will vary, especially based on complexity. But generally we will be learning 4 to 6 songs per session.

All of us are meant to sing, and all voices are welcome in this class! In this class, singing is first and foremost about community and expression of the divine, not how we sound or perceive that we sound. However, this is not a class on vocal instruction (though we will be doing a lot of exploratory sound making) so it may feel helpful for online students especially to feel confident carrying a tune or singing without instrumental backup.

In this course we will be learning songs using sing-and-repeat and lyric sheets. We will not be engaging with sheet music or chords.

Currently there are no plans to learn songs in Irish or Scots Gaelic. However, many of our songs will be English-language songs from Scotland and England, use traditional melodies, or be inspired by Celtic traditions.

Yes. This course is designed to be inclusive for nonbinary, gender expansive and trans attendees. Some neopagan traditions emphasize the binary of the god and the goddess. In this class, we’ll acknowledge these beliefs, but we will generally be approaching paganism through a polytheistic lens, where there is room for all deities and an awareness that many European deities switched gender and expressed in a variety of ways.

A community sing is a song-sharing gathering in which anyone can teach a song or simply solo sing a song for the enjoyment of others. There will be opportunities for a few community sings during this course. See details for the in-person classes or online classes. For each community sing, we will have a suggested theme or themes inspired by the season and historical traditions (e.g. moon and sun, protection and boundary keeping etc.) to inspire singers to bring songs they know. It’s also fine to simply enjoy learning songs at a sing, and not share or sing any of your own! Our online and in-person community sings will work in relatively the same ways, with folks taking turns sharing songs while others learn and listen (online participants, unless teaching, will need to be muted).

For those attending the in-person sessions, participants experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 are asked to exempt themselves. Covid levels will be monitored throughout the year, and in cases of high rates, participants may be asked to take rapid tests and provide proof of negative results before attending in-person sessions. There are no requirements for vaccinations or boosters.

You will be asked to stick with the singing session you have committed to in order to maintain intimacy and cohesion within our year-long cohorts. All singing and ritual sessions will be recorded, so you will have access to review any material that you miss in the live session. 

In this class, we will be following the seasonal cycles as they occur in the Northern Hemisphere. Our musical content, discussions and ritual will be influenced by this fact. However, taking the class can still be a way to learn songs for your practice or community, though you will likely want to use the songs on the other side of the year!

Yes. While many of the songs are intended for group singing, for each holiday there will be songs, chants and/or ballads that can be sung solo. You can also choose to treat lines from the layered songs as their own chants for your personal practice.

All of the online singing and ritual sessions will be recorded and made available to students for perpetuity! You can use these recordings to learn the songs or engage with ritual at your own pace. You will also still be able to comment and hear other participants’ thoughts in the private facebook group. A subscription option, in which you can get access to the song materials but not attend any live sessions, is also available. Learn more here about the subscription option.

The classes and singing sessions will take about 4 hours a month, and another hour or so of time may be required to read email prompts leading up to the ritual, or to participate in suggested seasonal activities shared via email. Online attendees will also be encouraged to gather simple materials ahead of time for rituals (a snack, a candle etc.), which may take extra time. In addition, if you choose to spend more time practicing the songs and integrating them into your body, you may spend more time on the class per month. 

All song recordings and lyrics will be available to students forever. You can learn at your own pace and review material whenever you want. For online students, all virtual sessions will be recorded and can be reviewed at your leisure. In-person classes will not be recorded, and recordings of virtual cohort sessions will not be made available to in-person students for privacy purposes.