This autumn, join us for a very special event honouring the turning of the wheel and the thinning of the veil between worlds.

SECRET CEREMONY – the esoteric pop-up film club – is back with its landmark Samhuinn screening, in partnership with the Chelsea Physic Garden. 

London’s oldest botanical garden Chelsea Physic is the perfect setting in which to escape the material world for an afternoon and commune with nature while exploring your relationship to the witch wound this 31st of October. 

The witch wound is a profound inter-generational trauma that lives on through the burning times, that silences authentic expression and the innate power of our intuition.

Partake in a crafting workshop led by herbalist Odhran from Mordica Herbs where you will make your own smoke bundle using various herbs with a long history of folkloric and medicinal uses for your own magical intentions.

Through ceremony, a crafting herbalist workshop and our potent line-up of short films we hope to awaken the witch within, and guide you to reclaim your magick and honour our ancestors during this deeply ethereal time of year. Ceremonies will be led by Shamanic Practitioner and Filmmaker Emma Swinton.

ORDER OF THE DAY 

2.30pm: Doors Open

3.00-3.40pm: Tour of Chelsea Physic Garden

3.45-4.00pm: Opening ceremony connecting to the witch’s herb; an immersive Mugwort tea ceremony held by Emma Swinton, we will deepen into our intuition and explore our connection to the plant and spirit realms.

 4.00-4.50pm: Film Screening Session 1: The Witch Wound

5.00-5.55pm: Smoke bundles workshop – the power of cleansing & smudging

break for light refreshment. Complimentary drinks supplied by botanical brand, Feral.

6.00-6.50pm: Film Screening Session 2: Healing

6.55-7.15pm: Closing ceremony with Emma Swinton connecting with rose, the flower of Venus, to soothe the heart centre and soften into the healing of divine feminine energy.

CURATION & CEREMONIES LED BY EMMA SWINTON

 Emma Swinton is an Edinburgh-based director, writer and shamanic voice alchemist whose work moves fluidly between the visual and the unseen. With a devotion to telling stories of silenced voices, her BFI-funded short The Witch’s Daughter earned a nomination for Best British Director at the British Short Film Awards.

Her path has taken her through the production companies of Ridley Scott and Sally Potter, onto the set of The Crown, and to festivals including Palm Springs, Calgary and the London Short Film Festival. It was during a two and a half day shamanic initiation in darkness, that she received a spirit name from beyond the veil: Blue Rose of the Sacred Heart. Since then, light language, shamanism and voice alchemy have become her portals of empowerment and alignment, supporting others back to their intuitive sovereignty and the voice of their soul.

A witchtivist and co-founder of the Justice for Witches campaign, Emma has spoken publicly through BBC News, BBC Radio and The Observer, and helped bring a petition to parliament that saw the Ministry of Justice acknowledge, for the first time on record, the events of the witch-trials in 16th and 17th century Britain, as a historic injustice. Currently, Emma is developing her first feature film, centred on the Pendle witch trials in Lancashire, where she grew up.

SECRET CEREMONY

SECRET CEREMONY is a pop-up film club where the aesthetic meets the esoteric. We screen witchy fantasies, surrealism and other gems with mystical and occult influences, always seeking to match the film to an atmospheric and evocative setting.