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Kathy Scott Founder of The Trailblazery and Moon
Medicine How do we begin to process the pains of the past? Thanks to Repeal and Marriage Equality we have slowly started healing the injustices that Irish society perpetrated on its people through religious orthodoxy and sheer poverty, but these past injustices leave their imprint on a collective psyche. Kathy Scott wants, among other things, to provide a space for women to process their trauma. “I saw there was an upsurge from Me Too to Repeal where women had really put their lives and stories on the line and there needed to be a space to come back, and be minded, and lean into our greatness,” she explains over the phone. “We all need space to drop into our own empowerment, whatever that looks like.” Kathy is a stalwart of the culture world. Working in strategy and communications, Kathy lists the Galway Arts Festival, the ireland:iceland project, and Wonderlust – a bespoke cultural stage at Body&Soul Festival – amongst a myriad of events, activations, and experiences she has created. One of Kathy’s most recent endeavours is Moon Medicine, a mystery gathering for wild women. It’s an element of The Trailblazery, a platform created by Kathy to tackle questions of national identity, creative development and mentoring. At every Full Moon a hundred plus women gather at a location in Dublin. Here they listen to guest luminaries – from psychotherapists, to medical anthropologists and wisdom holders – they practice yoga and engage in ritual. They make intentions and listen to live music. In Kathy’s words, it is “good craic.” Yet within the confines of that space, and within the timeframe of those few hours, serious topics are explored: sensuality, trauma, community, and womanhood, to name but a few. As we grapple with the pains of the past, Kathy’s work holds space for women in Ireland to connect and process; it brings them together to reflect, look inward and empower each other. “There is a piece of collective trauma that was frozen over. In the individual psychotherapeutic map we’d say parts of it are frozen,” explains Kathy. “So, on a collective level parts of our collective identity are frozen and when something like [the Tuam Mother and Baby Home] comes out into the open it takes a community to heal it.” From personalised horoscopes to mindfulWe all need space to drop into our own empowerment, whatever way that looks like. ness apps, much of the products born from this upsurge in spirituality circle around the individual. ‘Self-improvement’, ‘self-actualisation’, ‘self-healing’ are centrepoints of new spirituality’s lexicon. Moon Medicine feels refreshing in that community is at its core. For Kathy, trauma exists not only in individuals but also in the collective system, and therefore needs that collective to overcome it. Not only is Moon Medicine a time to process trauma and reflect, it is an opportunity to form bonds and collaborate with other women. Moon Medicine is social as much as spiritual. Kathy hopes her work provides people with the tools and resources to let their wild woman free. Oftentimes, providing a space and template to explore that wildness is all they need. “People are looking for maps: what’s going to help me navigate my way through this life? Because the old system is falling apart,” she says. For all the talk of cosmic cycles and spiritual awareness, the connections drawn by women coming together may prove the most powerful map of them all. thetrailblazery.com 24