the SELKIE CIRCLE
“A circle of women may just be the most powerful force known to humanity. If you have one, embrace it. If you need one, seek it. If you find one, for the love of all that is good and holy, dive in.”
Dive in indeed…
There is no denying the chaos and darkness of our times. There are mighty forces at work that want us helpless and powerless, and we’re not going to give them the satisfaction. Let’s take refuge in story, in myth and fairytale: because imagination bows to no-one.
Will you swim in the selkie’s wake with me?
If you want a taste of the clarity and wisdom, the solace and courage to be found sitting in circle with other women…
If you want a glimpse of the future our hearts are aching for, built on meaning and community…
If you want to shake off this false sense of inevitability and powerlessness, and step into a grounded sense of agency – from ‘fuck no’ to ‘holy yes!’…
What to expect from the SELKIE CIRCLE
As befits the seal-woman’s story, the SELKIE CIRCLE will be a journey of seven stages. Each session will open with a short reading (poems, prose snippets, etc), followed by one or two questions, then going around the circle to discuss our answers to said question(s).
Begin
Tell us about your eco-feminist awakening. Was there a catalyst: event, relationship, book, friend?
Rise
In what ways have you lost your true skin/power?
What are you saying “fuck no” to?Root
What is it that sustains you when everything else dissolves?
If “what we pay attention to, grows”, what do you want to pay attention to and grow over these 7 weeks and beyond?Dare
What is your relationship to your body? To desire, pleasure, rest?
Imagine
What if things turned out for the better?
Where do you see possibility alive and growing?Gather
Who are your role models?
How can you become a good ancestor, rather than a dutiful descendant?Belong
What are you saying “holy yes!” to?
Now for the logistics…
The inaugural SELKIE CIRCLE will run from Bealtaine to Summer Solstice: 7 sessions over 7 weeks, starting on Thursday 8 May at 8pm Irish/UK time.
We will meet on Thursday 8, 15, 22, 29 May & 5, 12, 19 June at 8pm Irish/UK time, for 60-90 minutes on Zoom.
Who can join?
Any woman who signs up between now and 7th May. I would like to keep the group small –max 12– but I may run it again later in the year.
Enrollment is only open for a short window (April 2025), and it will be the same group of women meeting every week, so we can all get to know each other.
How much is it?
€45–75 (as per your means), which includes an annual subscription to Another World is Possible + signed copy of Sensual Soul Shine (EU+UK addresses only)
If you are a paid subscriber and you would like to join the Selkie Circle, you will have to upgrade your subscription.
If you want to join the SELKIE CIRCLE but can’t afford it, or can’t figure out how to do so on Substack, please message me or drop me an email me at annettevaucansonkelly@substack.com.
Where do I join the SELKIE CIRCLE?
Click here:
Alternatively, go to your Substack settings here, click on Another World is Possible and when you get to this screen, select “Selkie Circle” and put in the amount you wish to pay, from €45–75:
In Celtic folklore, selkies are magical seals with the ability to change into humans, most often a woman. The story goes that, once upon a time, a man stole a selkie’s skin as she danced on the beach with her sisters, thus trapping her on land. When seven years later he reneged on his promise to return her sealskin, she set off on a harrowing journey to find her true skin, and return home to the sea.
When I first read the tale of the selkie, it felt like a homecoming – a story to hold and frame my own, at last. As it turns out, I am the selkie’s story – perhaps you are too?
Will you dive with us into the life-giving waters of the selkie’s tale?
