Our story for WorldWide WitchCamp 2024 is the Dark Forest & the Eternal Ritual. Read the whole story on
our website here.
The Dark Forest story has been shared with us from the Reclaiming Brasil Community, who hold it to be a mythical being and ally who has supported individuals and communities in healing from trauma.
Here's the history of how this story emerged for the Reclaiming Brasil community, written by our Tech Witch, Lilo: "The Dark Forest came to our Reclaiming Brasil community in 2018, during a terrible period in our country: we were on the eve of the worst election we have had in recent times. Democracy was at risk, and fear was a constant among everyone in our community at that time. We were (and still are) a Queer community, of marginalized people, who found refuge and power in Witchcraft.
While weaving our Beltaine ritual, we decided that we wanted to go to a place of power where we could feel safe, protected and, at the same time, filled with power and magic. From this idea, we visioned together the path to the place of the eternal ritual, the Great Sabbat.
The Witches' Sabbat as the unique place where we meet and dance with the Spirits, make our pacts with the living Earth and the Little People, fill ourselves with ecstasy and remember our myth, our origins, who we are: witches.
This place where the Great Ritual always happens was named the Dark Forest, and over time, we discovered that the Dark Forest was much more than just that: over the years, we found places within it where we kept the memory of our community, where we communed with Spirits, where liminal spaces with other magical places appeared - the Dark Forest seemed endless and full of mysteries.
It was a place of healing and regeneration. Each time we work with this Ally is a time of wonder, transformation through power and self-possession, and a constant remembering of our connections - among green and red blooded beings, spirits and more and more and more. The Dark Forest reminds us of community, of belonging, of pride and power, and teach us the way to have a better relationship with the land.
The Dark Forest is a spiritual and physical place we meet - it is everywhere. It is an ally we can call to our Rituals, it is a teacher, a lover, and a mystery we work with."
~Lilo Assenci
