Circle Keepers — Rosine 2.0

Circle Keepers is a multi-faceted project that seeks to bring folks together to support each other and learn about resources for healing in Philadelphia. The Circle Keepers card deck, created in 2022-2023, has three categories of cards: People, Places, and Plants. These cards are simple, practical touchstones that can function as conversation starters and catalysts for play as well as future Circles.

"The deck holds special emphasis and reverence for networks of Black folk healing and Black women in Philadelphia who provide life-giving care to their communities. Into this circle of celebration, the Circle Keepers invite the networks of plant life, cultivated and wild, that cradle our concrete city.

Circle Keepers led an herbalism workshop at Rosine 2.0 in Practice at Icebox Project Space on March 18, 2023 to welcome and initiate the Circle Keepers Deck: a collaboratively created conversation deck featuring the healing plants, people, and places of Philadelphia. They shared in a Circle Keeping practice together: a simple, yet nourishing, gathering and sharing structure. People experienced the practice that they used with healers and helpers across the city to create this deck, but also received a deck of their own. Participants also left with herbal At-Ease kits for walking with herbs that support their well-being.

Workgroup Members: Folami Irvine, Lillian Dunn, Pamela Draper, Misty Sol & Aya, Kirstin Mosley, Abiola Irvine

Folami Irvine, Lillian Dunn and Pamela Draper at Rosine School, October 2021.

Interviews

The Circle Keepers Deck

The Circle Keepers Deck has three categories of cards: People, Places, and Plants. These cards are simple, practical touchstones that can function as conversation starters and catalysts for play and reflection, to add a guiding or grounding element to support future Circles. The deck features original artwork by Misty Sol and Ayah Pearson McCoy.

This guidebook offers information about each card and related prompts. The deck holds special emphasis and reverence for networks of Black folk healing and Black women in Philadelphia who provide life-giving care to their communities. Into this circle of celebration, the Circle Keepers invite the networks of plant life, cultivated and wild, that cradle our concrete city. The places uplifted in the deck range from famous gathering spots to quiet, green corners known only to locals, and hold specific energies that define Philadelphia and fortify our collective spirits.