Incantations for Dreams (inspired by the Aesthean collective dreaming practice in Ursula K. Le Guin’s ‘The Word For World is Forest) was a foraged tea drinking ceremony that summoned the forces of the weed Artemisia Vulgaris, otherwise known as Mugwort, through a performative meditation. Mugwort is a common roadside weed, yet has many medicinal properties that have been used for centuries by curanderas. Known for inducing vivid dream states in people - due to its psychotropic compound thujone - Mugwort can open a deeper dialogue with other realms. Participants were offered a mugwort infusion, followed by a performative meditation led by Maia.

Following the performance, participants were invited to write down any dreams they could recollect from the following nights, after more offerings of Mugwort tea were made each evening. Dreams were collected and interpreted visually by Maia, first into collage form and then printed into a tablecloth.

"Astheans are gifted with a collective dreaming practice that helps them digest the past, metabolise societal change and project themselves into a collective future. We are called to start skilling ourselves into the art of collective dreaming. Dreams of, for instance, breaking the corporate grip on the food chain…dreams of a healthy, culturally appropriate food grown in ways that are ecologically sound and the ability of local people to control their own food and agricultural systems…” from Earth Craft // The Word for World is Soil