In this class we will kill one animal all together, and process every part into complete projects.
This is a great class for folks who want a smaller scale introduction to animal harvesting, who aren’t quite ready to kill their own, or who have limited time.
This class will cover the very basics of butchering, but we will focus more on crafting lots of different magickal items from as much of the animal as possible.
This class will weave our own ancestral folk magick traditions with new emergent creations and stories.
Each person will leave with a completed craft of their own.
Sunday we will roast the animal around the fire as we craft together!
Topics that we cover:
-information on animal husbandry - regenerative grazing for soil, animal, and ecosystem health
-how to herd, catch, and move an animal for slaughter
-how to efficiently and humanely kill an animal with just a knife, wrapped in song, prayer and ceremony
-how to catch blood and keep it well
-how to gut cleanly (either in the field or hanging, depending on your needs), and how to sort the organs for food and non-food uses
-how to skin the animal and process the hide to preserve it until further use (like for tanning or rawhide)
-how to break down the entire animal with just a knife (no electric saws or hand saws necessary)
-a simplified approach to cuts of meat that is accessible to everyone : roasts, jerky, stew meat, grind, or “hot and fast” searing
-how to prepare each organ for maximum nutrition and taste
-rendering fat for food and/or topical salves etc
-cooking on an open fire, roasting whole legs, etc
-how to find, remove, clean and store sinew for rope and thread
-how to skin the lower legs, and how to make them into adorable little pouches, sewn with sinew
-how to find, remove, clean, and prepare the pericardium heart sack into a beautiful pouch
-how to find, remove, clean and prepare bladders for many different uses as a receptacle
-how to remove and process the eyeballs for painting pigment and magick
-how to find, remove, and prepare the gall for various uses
-how to remove hooves for rattles, buttons, etc
-1 dinner and 1 lunch worth of gourmet recipes using different parts of the animal, including parts that aren’t often thought of as desireable, like liver, spleen, raw blood, kidneys, adrenal glands, and eyeballs.
-folk magick traditions of Europe, Scandinavia, and the Celtic Isles involving sheep and goats
-PLUS lots of breaks to eat our world famous blood cookies and blood nog!
Class includes:
1.5 days of hands-on instruction with Harmony Cronin
One dinner and one lunch cooked up by Sarah Bellum using animals we’ve killed, fresh organic vegetables from our garden and other organic staples (a great opportunity to learn our favorite recipes, tips, and tricks!)
Bring your own tent camping or car camping
A finished craft of your own design!
Sliding scale $475-700
Non-refundable deposit required
Discounted work-trade spots available
Please email gatheringwaysschool@gmail.com for information and to register