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Boreal Sessions

The Scriptorium Echos

These are in-person events at Orphan Wisdom in the Ottawa Valley, Ontario and limited to a maximum of 15 participants. 

In these events we follow the example of those ancient monks, who put oral stories down onto vellum. We'll gather in the Great Hall by candle to listen to recordings of past teaching events. 

In the time we have together we'll review the mojo and accuracy of the transcripts and share those in our online Library. We have a lot more in store but we share that with those who participate in The Boreal Sessions.

We are honoured to place this open invitation before you. This for Orphan Wisdom scholars, for people with little or no familiarity with Stephen Jenkinson’s work, and for all those in between.

Applications, for all four Boreal Sessions, open at the end of March:

  • April 23-27 
  • April 30-May 4  
  • Aug 13-17 - Founding Patron Special Offer
  • Aug 20-24

The Scriptorium endeavour “is part dedication, part discipline, part necessity” and the same can be said of The Boreal Sessions. During these days we will listen to recordings of Stephen's events together and wonder about language and the art of storytelling. 

When people used to ask what they would get from coming to the Orphan Wisdom School, the response was often ‘that we do not know... what you bring to our time together will, in part, influence what happens. Your questions, your being puzzled by a certain something, your apprehension, your wondering, that is what you can bring’. We encourage you to bring these same good wonderings and inquiry to The Boreal Sessions.

Click an image to enlarge the slideshow.

In January 2025, a group of eight scholars were invited to Orphan Wisdom for a two-day Boreal Session, to bring in the ideas from our previous dreaming sessions into the fold.  To hear Stephen’s voice in the hall was more spirited than anyone one of us could have predicted. To carve out these few days to eat and work together was so splendid. We just can’t keep this ourselves:

“It was a gift to be in the Hall of Splendours with Steve's voice ringing the rafters. All around were the signs of human beauty-making. We were there for another purpose. Our methods and our goals are obscure, we bent to the work of building bridges. No engineers on site. As the man said: it was a privilege and a burden, being human.” A. Schmitz, OWS class: Red Sand White Sand People, 2012.

“The walk each day to the hall stands out. It was a time to remember without being nostalgic, learning to show up to the place so that each step - and pause - could be recognized as the thing that we had come for. And then there was the work of the scriptorium. We gathered to write, to listen, and to wonder deeply, we were stirred. I had never been a part of such a labour. Was this work about organizing and amplifying, being a part of a body that could resonate and echo the way the hall has for some of us who have been to the school or resonate the way the body and the strings do on a guitar. I would be a richer person to be able to include myself amongst a few, who get to take part in the scriptorium again. This was a time to begin to listen in a different way.” C. McLaughlin, OWS class: People Come Through Rain and Rune, 2017.

“We gathered twice a day; pens in hand, surrounded by beauty and good company. We were seated on handcrafted benches adorned with locally tanned hides in the exquisite Great Hall that is itself embellished with Stephen’s carvings and beautiful handwoven textiles. As recordings of past sessions filled the rafters we laboured on behalf of Stephen's stories; bore future readers in mind, and sought to resist the seduction of translation. The Scriptorium was a profoundly stirring experience and I continue to walk in the wake of it all.”  H. Daniels, OWS class: The People That Are So, 2022.

Logistics: 

The Boreal Sessions will take place over 5 days. Groups will meet in the afternoon of the first day and be given an overview of the work we are undertaking. Over the next three days, we will devote ourselves to the work of transcribing and readying the transcripts for the Orphan Wisdom Library. On our  final day together we will gather to present our questions to a long-time Orphan Wisdom Scholar(s). This is where our wonderings, and dreams, over the course of the time together, can have a place at the table. 

Depending on Mr. Jenkinson’s health and availability, he may be able to make an appearance.

Boreal Session Hosts

The Boreal Sessions are upheld by neighbourly hospitality, the generosity of village-minded patrons as well as from the dedication of Orphan Wisdom Scholars:

Nathalie Roy: Orphan Wisdom Co-Founder and Creator of The Scriptorium
Khadija Striegel: Manager, Scriptorium Caretaker, Boreal Sessions Hall Host
Dustin Ryckman: Scriptorium Hall Builder and Boreal Session Steward

For those who feel called to participate in this endeavour we invite you to add your good name  below. We will get back to you when registration opens at the end of March 2025.

Be the first to know:

For those who feel called to participate in this Boreal Sessions scriptorial endeavour, to lean in to the work of a modern day scribe, we invite you to join this notification list below. We'll get back to you when registration opens at the end of March 2025.

“You know, we could locate the word affection in here somewhere. Love is too strong. We could say affection or fondness. It's a beautiful word. To be fond. And you could imagine that that's what these, these scriptorial labours of yours are, declarations of fondness. Not approval. Not acceptance.”

- Stephen Jenkinson