SOMATAXY is a movement-based mindfulness practise in the lineage of butoh.
It does not exist to help you regulate yourself into compliance with an inherently corrupt system. It does not exist to help you ‘make sense’ of your emotions. It is not for gaining control of whatever haunted artefacts might be burrowed within you.
It is not safe. It is not beautiful, at least not in any conventional sense. It is not easy to describe.
It is a bright glimpse into freedom.
It exists to show you what you did not know was there. To bring you back to the still, quiet place from where all sensations, emotions, and thoughts emerge. To remind you what it is like to be fully alive in a world that is constantly trying to lull you to sleep.
To ask people to have hope, to stay strong, to push through and maintain a sense of normalcy while everything collapses around them…
This is profoundly f*cking tone deaf.
I myself am not doing a great job of ‘carrying on’ in the face of every horrible thing that we have been forced to face in the past year or so. I’ve been having a hard time writing, a hard time committing to my meditation practise, a hard time feeling safe and present in my relationships…
I cannot pretend. I won’t ask you to, either.
I will only tell you that life is precious. It is sacred. It is miraculous and mundane, all at once.
I will tell you that these are the times to really slow down and enjoy the banal sweetness of humaning. To revel in the saccharine. To be kind to strangers, simply for sh*ts and giggles. Take a deep breath. Be present with every lovely little second of it.
I will only tell you that being human is a blessing. To treat it like a blessing. To cry for those who have fallen. Get angry, not just at those who perpetrate atrocities all over the world, but on behalf of the wounded ancestors that possess them to do so.
I will only tell you that an unshakeable peace can be found within this sh*t-show—not an emotionless bliss-void, but a radical acceptance streaked with grief and reverence.
// WHAT IS SOMATAXY? //
SOMATAXY is a movement-based mindfulness practise in the lineage of butoh. You can cultivate emotional regulation, mental calm, and mind-body integration through it. However, I consider these benefits secondary.
SOMATAXY is mostly here to help you make peace with the paradoxical nature of existence: wonder and terror, grief and elation, becoming and unbecoming.
This is the kind of work that empowers us to be the antithesis of evil.
As a ritual movement practise, SOMATAXY (which translates to “body between”) can help us rebuild our sense of communion with the more-than-human world.
Musicians, dancers, flow artists, and performers of all kinds will benefit from this process-based imaginal somatic practise, which expands the bodymind’s capacity for regulation, connection, pattern recognition, and creative expression.
There are 6 sessions in this series.
// SOMATAXY: VOID //
October 19th. 6pm - 9pm.
Trance begins in the place beyond place, in a time outside of time. Before accumulating new skills, perspectives, and qualities of embodiment, students will first be led to forget everything they think they know about being in a body. From here, they will re-learn and re-imagine the potential their bodymind has for expression, relationship, and movement.
// SOMATAXY: VESSEL //
December 21st. 6pm - 9pm.
What does it mean to fill, to hold, to contain? What subtle shifts occur when we move as a vessel for forces beyond the tactile world? This session will encourage students to explore the qualities of emptiness, fullness, containment, and integrity as they invoke what seeks to move through them.
//SOMATAXY: FLOW//
February 15th. 6pm - 9pm.
What is it like to shift shape, to be contained, to distribute the agency of movement to forces beyond? The body is a container of mostly fluid and space. Having related more deeply with emptiness and containment, students will now explore what it is like to fully yield, surrendering the body to the forces of gravity and momentum.
// SOMATAXY: FLAME //
April 19th. 6pm - 9pm.
Energy, warmth, friction, and impact are all qualities of an interesting dance. In this session, students will notice what it is like to bring tension, push, and heat into their movement, learning how to enfold discomfort, unpredictability, and edges into their movement.
// SOMATAXY: OTHER //
June 21st. 6pm - 9pm.
How do we dance with that which we cannot see? We do not dance in a vacuum; we dance as whole-parts in an interconnected web of complexity. This session will guide students deeper into relationship with unseen forces, such as ancestors, memories, mythic beings, and more.
// SOMATAXY: CENTRE //
August 16th. 6pm - 9pm.
In a distributed network of aliveness, what element can be accurately classified as “centre?” From an “extended body” perspective, the centre is both everywhere and nowhere at once. In this final session, students will play with techniques for re-distributing weight, oscillating attention, and leading from various systems of the body.
// COURSE PRINCIPLES //
Scout uses a system of 5 presuppositions, called the WEB OF WYRDCRAFT, to design ritual practises and containers. These principles are derived from a wide scope of domains, including but not limited to somatics, cognitive science, hypnosis, and occultism:
✪ The human body is a ritual body.
✪ The imaginal puts us in contact with reality.
✪ Ritual is a way of knowing.
✪ Ritual is embodied mythos.
✪ Ritual guides us through a reality that is unknowable.
i use five simple principles to design rituals of support for highly sensitive creative intuitives. this booklet will take you through each of them and show you how to apply them in your own practise. (it’s free for paid subscribers!)
// MEET YOUR FACILITATOR //
Scout Rainer Wiley (they/it/sie) is a poet, diviner, and ritual artist living on unceded Cherokee lands. Over the past 11 years of study and practise, they have learned directly with various ritual teachers, such as Josh Schrei, Jacquelyn Marie Shannon, and Jason McClain. Scout also draws from many theoretical frameworks, with influences from John Vervaeke, Malidoma Patrice Somé, Catherine Bell, Nora Bateson, Bayo Akomolafe, and more. Dedicated to bridging the worlds of intellect and intuition, Scout has developed a well-rounded and methodical approach to ritual that rests on strong theoretical and experiential foundations. By weaving together threads of animist practice, systems theory, and religious studies, Scout’s mission is to midwife a global culture centered in respect, reciprocity, and authenticity.
// PROTOCOLS FOR OUR TIME TOGETHER //
✪ Please arrive on time. This is a closed ritual container, and latecomers will not be admitted. Please plan to remain in attendance for the full duration of each class you register for. There are NO refunds, except for in the case of emergencies--so please respect everyone’s time, including your own!
✪ Please come dressed in comfortable, dark-coloured clothing. This is to minimise distractions and bring us into grounded presence together. Refrain from flashy patterns and bright colours, if you can.
✪ If you have specific accessibility needs, reach out to me ahead of time so I can plan to accommodate you. SOMATAXY is meant to be accessible to all bodies. Some of these practises may be taxing or challenging for some bodies. Some of these practises will require touch, eye contact, and being in close proximity with other bodies. If you need to stop, take breaks, or refrain from certain practises, do so. You are strongly encouraged to honour your body’s signals and needs above anything else. Tend to yourself before, during, and after our time together.
✪ Please arrive with a clean body and refrain from wearing any strong scents. Practise situational awareness, attunement, and consent. Be mindful of the needs and potential sensitivities of the other bodies in the space.
✪ Please bring a water bottle and arrive satiated.
✪ Please bring one portal object for the communal altar. In the practise in which I am trained, we often dance with ghosts, ancestors, and things that haunt us--things that exist in the world beyond. During this practise we will reach beyond the veil, inviting our senses to touch the unseen. Bring an item that is meaningful to you and represents such themes.
// ADMISSION //
Each class is $15 - $30, sliding scale. Purchase a ticket here:
https://hyperphantasiaritualarts.as.me/somataxy
// LOCATION //
These classes are all in-person in West Asheville, NC. The address will be emailed to you upon registration, along with the parking map.
Have questions? Message me: