Saints Alive! Workshop & Registration

Traditionally, those ancestors that show up and help us from the other side have been known as saints. Long before institutional authorities got involved in beatification, ordinary people knew that the dead each had areas of interest and expertise. St. Anthony, for example, helps us find things, St. Christopher protects our cars on the road, St. Rita and St. Jude show up when all hope seems lost. They were saints, simply and powerfully, because they were helpers.

But what if anyone on the other side could be a saint?

In this four-week journey with Saints Alive! we will explore the saints as ancestors. We will try to determine what saints might be reaching out to us, and how we can respond best to access their magic. We’ll revel in the diversity and multiplicity of helpers available to us from the other side—from saints and pagan deities to the many manifestations of The Virgin Mary as well as modern figures who, upon death—and with the right devotions—can function like the saints of old. We’ll look at traditional devotions, spells and prayers, and folk traditions, which we’ll adapt to our own use. We will look at what it means to become devoted to the dead, and how that devotion can change lives and the world we live in.

Week One: Summoning Our Patron Saints

Week Two: Secular Saints in Need of Prayers and Pilgrimages

Week Three: Beatifying Our Own Ancestors

Week Four: The Ancient Mothers Beneath Our Feet