Jane – Page 18 – Forest Halls

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019

Upcoming Welsh Harp and Storytelling Performance

The Seattle Storytellers Guild presents:

When Harpers Once in Wooden Halls: Celtic tales, poetry, folklore, music and song for the dark of the year

Followed by more Music, Songs and Poetry presented by Puget Sound Welsh Association

Saturday, October 5th, 2019 7:00 PM
At the Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Church,
14724 1st Ave NE, Shoreline

Bardic harper and storyteller Jane Valencia will present tales of transformation for the dark of the year interwoven with early Welsh poetry, threads of medieval Welsh language, tree and herbal lore, music, and other Celtic magic.

A lover of Celtic tale and lore since she was a child, Jane took up the harp after studying medieval Welsh bardic poetry, language, and literature (including the Mabinogion) at UC Berkeley and at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. With harp and storytelling, Jane has found that she can weave everything she loves into bardic performance, including folklore, song, poetry, art, and the beauty and wonder of nature.

Jane’s harp duo partner, Deb Knodel will join Jane in this performance. As the harp duo Spookytree, Deb and Jane have performed together since 1990, have three recordings, and have offered bardic storytelling since 1994. Their music is described as “intelligent, playful” and “pure magic.”

Members of the Puget Sound Welsh Association in the second half of the program will bring even more Welsh music, songs and poetry. They are partnering with the Seattle Storytellers Guild in this program – which is a prelude to an Epic Telling of the Welsh Mabinogion to be presented by the Seattle Storytellers Guild this coming May.

Refreshments provided!

Admission: $10 Guild and Welsh association members – $15 non-members of the Guild

Info: seattlestorytellers.org or Contact Barry at eldrbarry@gmail.com

^{This Event will be preceded Saturday Afternoon, October 5th with:}

A Taste of Storytelling Workshop

at the Haller Lake United Methodist Church, 13055 1st Ave NE, Seattle — 1-4 pm

Explore your curiosity about Storytelling while learning to tell a tale without memorization

– a sample of Susy Irwin’s North Seattle College Storytelling Class.

$20 Guild and Welsh Members $25 Non-members

August 30, 2019August 31, 2019

Forest Halls Celtic Resumes this Sunday

It’s back! Our radio show resumes this Sunday, Sept. 1, 12 noon to 2pm PST. Listen to traditional and contemporary Celtic music, with forays into other genres, such as Indie-folk, historical music, World, and more. You’ll always hear some harp music. I also love to share ancient Celtic poetry, folklore, tales and other magic. We aim for a refreshing, relaxing, and fun show. If you’re on Vashon, please join me at KVSH 101.9 fm, otherwise listen in at Voice of Vashon.

April 25, 2019

Caught up in Blackberry Bramble: Herbal Music, Art, and Magic

My “Blackberry Bramble” illustration is now complete. Yes, the melody notated is playable, one that Blackberry shared when I became entangled in this mischievous, merry, and medicinally and nutritionally potent plant! Blackberries are high in flavanoids, notably anthocyanins, which are high in antioxidants and help lower cholesterol and reduce inflammation.

One of this herb’s super-powers is Astringency, the ability to tonify and tighten tissues, thus reducing or stopping unwanted release of fluids. The leaf as a poultice (don’t include the prickles/”thorns”!) or a very strong tea can help stop bleeding, and is helpful as a wash in any weepy skin condition. Decoction of the roots can help slow diarrhea when that function has ceased to be useful to one’s body (such as clearing pathogens and allergens).

This is just a very short glimpse of the power of Blackberry. Of course much of Blackerry’s magic are this plant’s gifts of delicious berries, which reignite our wild child nature, leading us into adventure and feasting amidst the beauty and bounty of summer! Next time you’re involved with Blackberry (such as cutting back the brambles or attemping to remove the whole plant), I encourage you to take a moment to appreciate this plant, to consider ways you’ve enjoyed Blackberry.

Consider its ways of growing and thriving. What can we learn from Blackberry’s ways? What benefits from Blackberry’s presence (birds, insects, companion plants? Who do you notice?). What does Blackberry tell us about the land and ecology in which it grows? Blackberries can be deemed and experienced as invasive, but what is that expression telling us about the land and our human involvement with it? How might we listen, observe, mindfully work with the soil and the plants to restore a balance? In our society most of us don’t know beneficial stewardship practices, so take restoration slowly, mindfully — starting from a place of respect for all life, for all of nature, and for us humans as nature, interwoven.

Journaling Himalayan Blackberry - photo — Journaling Himalayan Blackberry – photo by Jane Valencia