Licking the Dark Forest & Laying the Sunset Forest
Honcho Campout is a 5-day queer gathering located in the forests of Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary. As part of the festival’s wellness program, Nocturnal Medicine designed two eco-sensual ceremonies for communion with the forest — with their creatures, their energies, their mysteries, and their gifts.
Working with the full human sensorium as a vehicle for intimacy, we led participants through a series of sensuous spells that tuned our own animal bodies to that of the greater forest body who hosted us throughout the festival. Providing prompts, tools, and an atmosphere rich with pleasures, we invited participants to be the guides of their own experiences, whether working individually or with partners.
Working with erotic exploration to sink deeper into our connection with nature, we entered into a collective trance state. We ignited our senses through ritual play with foraged materials like stones, soil, foliage, and water, smearing, caressing, and rolling them onto our own bodies and the bodies of our partners. The ceremonies wove together hypnotic sound, performance, and guided meditation to create a playful yet poignant space for feeling the forest not just as a backdrop to our festival, but as a living, breathing entity guiding and holding us in our revelry.
Materials: Foraged plant material, soil, and stone from Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary grounds, Blackberries, Honey, Textiles, Fire, Water
Partners Honcho Campout
Photography Farhad Mirza
Location Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary, PA
Year 2024
