Online Library & Colloquium
The Scriptorium contains the online Library and hosts the Colloquium.
The Library houses Stephen Jenkinson’s work. Transcripts from The Boreal Sessions are continuously added to the Library, alongside an expanding collection of audio and video recordings from Stephen Jenkinson’s vault.Â
The online Colloquium serves as a vibrant meeting and gathering place, where long-time Orphan Wisdom Scholars initiate and facilitate events, sessions, and conversations.
Membership options include monthly and annual subscriptions, though folks who are not members are welcome to register to participate in a particular event or individual classes.
The creation of the Scriptorium marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the Orphan Wisdom School.
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Opening May 2025
The Library and its Chambers
The Scriptorium Library houses Stephen Jenkinson’s work. The Scholar-led Ensemble have created Chambers as a way to walk Members through these vast, rich and diverse teachings. Through the work of the scribes who partake in the Boreal Sessions, the Library will become even more fulsome over time. Scriptorium Members will be able to browse and search by theme.
And, we’re stoked that some Orphan Wisdom School sessions were recorded. These sessions will, in time, open up as special events and be Scholar-led.
The Chambers
Culture Work
“If the culture was a sailing ketch, signs of course correction would be easy to read. But the culture is a bloated, top heavy luxury liner, and the alteration of a degree or two - my goal - takes generations to show itself in the foam and the flotsam of its wake.” -A Generation’s Worth, pg. 311
The Culture-Work Chamber houses talks that touch on some of the following themes: Dominant culture of North America • Unauthorized history of North America • Time • Radical hospitality • Skills • Ancestry • Kinship • Gods/Deities/Angels • Self sufficiency • Striving for belonging • Land stewardship • Money •
Death
“Not success. Not growth. Not happiness. The cradle of our love of life is death.” - Stephen Jenkinson in Griefwalker Film.
The Death Chamber houses talks that touch on some of the following themes: Ritual/ceremony • Gods/Deities/Angels • Eloquence/Language • Ancestry • Death phobia • Medical assistance in dying (MAID) • Euthanasia •
Grief
“Grief is the mature, disciplined achievement of radical citizenship in a troubled time.” -A Generation’s Worth, pg. 29
The Grief Chamber houses talks that touch on some of the following themes: Grief as a skill • Grief as a function not a feeling • Ritual/Ceremony • Eloquence/language • Striving for belonging • Skill of brokenheartedness •
Elderhood
“There is something about limits and endings, that conjures elderhood from age”. -Come of Age, pg. 44Â
The Elderhood Chamber houses talks that touch on some of the following themes: Elderhood as a function not an identity • Cultural feeding • A generation’s worth • Acts of one’s life • wondering about the capacity to have elders in our midst •
Matrimony & Patrimony
“Matrimony, when it's taken up at all, is usually mistaken for marriage, and marriage for love, love for romance, romance for belonging, belonging for home, for God and the world, for the end of loneliness, the end of loneliness for salvation”. - A Generation’s Worth, pg. 81
The Matrimony/ Patrimony Chamber houses talks that touch on some of the following themes: Weddings • Family/ Kinship • Parenting • Children • A generation’s worth • Ritual/Ceremony • Godparents •
 Ceremony
“Whenever we of the dominant culture of North America gather, it detonates a great longing for the occasion to be marked by the presence of something venerable, old and enduring. All peoples of the world have such occasions for such longing, but ours is most often a longing for something missing, or unknown, or gone”. (Homecoming)Â
The Ceremony Chamber houses talks that touch on some of the following themes:  Ritual/Ceremony • Ancestry • Gods/Deities/Angels • Land stewardship • Animism •
Orphan Wisdom School
“Being at home is knowing your obligation to your home and proceeding accordingly…. a competence born of deep knowledge of your belonging.” -Die Wise, pg. 252
The Orphan Wisdom School Chamber houses talks that touch on some of the following themes: Eloquence/Language • Translations • Songs • Forensic audit method • Patron saints • Striving for belonging • Land stewardship •
Cultural References
The Cultural References Chamber houses those Stephen Jenkinson has mentioned in his talks, books and work.Â
Stories • Books • Songs Poems • Quotes • Religious references and prayers • Patron saints • Orphan Wisdom Forensic Audit Method •
Online Colloquium
The online Colloquium serves as a vibrant meeting and gathering place, where long-time Orphan Wisdom Scholars initiate and facilitate events, sessions, and conversations. Several times a year, we delve into the Vault to offer rare, stand-alone teaching events, presenting unique classes that deepen our shared inquiry. This space is dedicated to remembering what has been entrusted to us—a way of seeing, questioning, and honing our capacity for wonder through observation and contemplation.
Events
Stephen Jenkinson, an eloquent storyteller and sought-after speaker on matters of culture-work and ceremony has given his blessing to share some of the recorded teachings he’s offered in the past decades.Â
More people than were ever able to come through the doors of the Orphan Wisdom School are ongoingly in touch. Many scholars who did attend continue to express a desire for ongoing connection, to have a dedicated online space to deepen their learning and work.Â
So, whether you be a care-giver devoted to death & grief work, inclined towards a hand-made life, or be you a concerned citizen desiring soul-work and connection navigating the particular troubles of our time please know that The Scriptorium Ensemble has in mind to host a variety of online events, classes and immersive teachings. You will receive periodic notices, invitations to participate.Â
Among those online events will be 2-hour, 1-day, and 3-day sessions as well as 1-month long study groups and 6-month long immersive. ALL are welcome, Members get a favourable price.
