Braided Relations

Braided Relations is collectively led by visual and performing artist Marcela Torres, writer Aja Couchois Duncan, and social justice leader Susan Misra. It recenters Indigenous, spiritual, artistic and ancestral practices as paths to shared liberation. Braided Relations recognizes that colonialism—its structure of capitalism and its predecessor of imperialism—creates intersecting forms of oppression, distancing people from ancestral knowledge and causing a schism between humans, the land and her collective sentience. Braided Relations brings together scholars, artists, activists, and other practitioners to share rituals, experience spiritual and cultural (re)awakening, and reconnect with ourselves, each other, the earth and all her kin so that we can build the power needed to liberate all beings.

Programming

We engage in practices that combine cultural identities and practices with nature and the grander cosmos to catalyze balance and wellness, individually and communally. Ceremony is a sacred container for these practices to become collective. Through the power of healing ceremonies participants re-remember that the planet, humans, and other-than-human kin (animals and biota) belong to one whole system. By grounding in that interconnected and interdependent system, we can begin to dismantle supremacy. This ceremonial work - and its meaningful offerings to all our relations - contributes to the rebalancing of people (two legged, four legged, winged, and of the sea) and place.

The results of individuals sharing their diverse cultural, ancestral, and spiritual traditions through the cocreation of sacred ceremonies are:

  1. finding deep relationships with nature, kin, the cosmos and other practitioners

  2. grounding that strengthens mental, physical, and emotional health, and

  3. a sense of purpose interwoven with others’ well-being as stewards of the cosmos, planet, and kin that drives actions and decisions for equity and mutual liberation.

These results push us towards the transformation of culture towards interconnectedness and justice. A culture of interconnectedness and justice means that people are self aware, grounded in the power of their specific lineage and history, and manifesting their role within nature and the cosmos to bring about a healthy equilibrium together.

Spiral Journey

Braided Relations creates containers for a range of practitioners, from those who have lifelong commitments to their ancestral, cultural, and spiritual practices, to those who are beginning their journey full of curiosity. This work is achieved through a spiral programming model with ceremonies, joint projects, and public programming.

The spiral journey intentionally links people’s inner transformation to wider interconnected social transformation. Participants are asked to reflect on their experience: How do they practice and share invocations? What does it mean to give thanks and gratitude? What have you learned in your culture around closure? What is the relationship between our ceremony, healing, and building power? How can we bring these practices into our day-to-day work?

Individuals deepen their own spiritual and cultural practices with peers and then, in turn, share their cultural practices more broadly with the public. Because participants walk together collectively, sharing knowledge back and forth and moving between the roles of listener, facilitator, and mentor, they have the opportunity for deeper reflection and practice. As they learn about each other, they learn about themselves and develop confidence as leaders rooted in their own culture and ancestral lineage.

Braided Relations builds a community that supports each other to become civically engaged. Joint projects enable participants to take an active role in stewardship of a multicultural community of kin. These projects move leaders from mutual sharing and care to honing an intentional, active stance for building power for mutual liberation. Ultimately, we encourage participants to exercise leadership in influencing organizations and movements.

Community Offerings with Partners 

Any long-term vision of liberation must be realized with many partners. Aurora Commons works in partnership with other social change organizations, networks, and philanthropists, and we are grateful for past and future opportunities to germinate the seeds of Braided Relations with consultants, coaches, artists, and frontline leaders. Below are a few examples of our offerings to weave liberation of all beings.

Conviviendo: Living with Each Other

We are partnering with base-building and policy advocacy organizations to host an in-person gathering to explore what it means to weave liberation for all beings. We will build a collective ceremony by sharing practices we are using to create narratives and campaigns grounded in interconnectedness, design organizations based on ecological principles, develop rituals that reinforce inter-mutuality with all living beings, and nurture communities across differences. Through this ceremony, we will embody and deepen our praxis.

WElab Field Guide

In partnership with Socrates Sculpture Park, we hosted a series of public workshops. Daniel Lim led the Our Ecology workshop. He shared lessons around how to be in right relationship with nature. This included information around the transition of land now known as Socrates Sculpture Park and how we re-indigenize living beings whether they are considered invasive or native. Ana Polanco and nisha purushotham led the workshop Remember & Reawaken: A ceremonial journey to heal our connection with the land. They led us in sound healing and family constellations where we remembered our connections with land in our lineage and strengthened our relationship to our inner child, family, community, and the land itself.

Resources

Resources on Braided Relations

Resources That Have Inspired Us 

Connect with Us

We recognize that many people are doing work aligned with Braided Relations in many different existing contexts. We're always eager to bring folx with deep wisdom together to see what emerges from connecting across communities, issues, and sectors. 

We invite you to join us in curiosity, play, deepening commitment, and practice. If you are interested in learning more, staying in touch, or getting involved, please connect with us.