Emily Squadra (she/her) created Cascadia Mystery School to build the space she was looking for: a community rooted in myth, authenticity, food traditions, and embodied wisdom. This space is constantly transformed by those who choose to enter it. Together we are building a unique, heart-centered and land grounded community. Will you join us?
Emily Squadra has been a professional baker and chef in Portland, Oregon since 20`13, baking bread, pastries and desserts that reflect the abundant landscape of the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys using whole grains and seasonal produce to create foodscapes that are a snapshot of what we can find in the garden. An avid urban forager and gardener, she is inspired by the colorful gardens and fruit heavy on trees while walking through the ever-changing Portland neighborhoods with her dog.
Connecting students to the alchemy of baking reveals the subtle mindfulness that is present in each recipe, requiring patience and trust in the process. Emily’s baking classes not only teach the professional methodology of a recipe, but they are also infused with a particular philosophy of presence and connection to the land around us.
She has tended an Irish Earth-centered spirituality that is nourished by a relationship to psilocybin mystical experiences and the ancient and endless wisdom of the land beneath our feet.
Emily has received psychedelic facilitator training from the The SoundMind Institute and InnerTrek. Long ago, she received a bachelors in the Humanities at CU Boulder that fueled a desire to know more about the unseen world and the mystery found in stories, art and language. She is endlessly inspired by wisdom keepers such as Sharon Blackie, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Perdita Finn, Sophie Strand, Carl Strand, Tara Brading, Lindsey Mack, Marie-Louise von Franz, Robin Wall Kimmerer, John O'Donahue, Carl Jung and many more.
"My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered...Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement." - Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés