The Circle Keepers Deck
The Circle Keepers Deck
The Circle Keepers Deck is a stunning conversation deck of 36 cards featuring illustrations by Misty Sol and Ayah Pearson McCoy. 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 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.
The deck has three categories of cards: People, Places, and Plants. Each card is a unique work by artist and healer Misty Sol, bringing to life archetypes developed by Circle Keeper collective founders: fifth-generation African-American herbalist Folami Irvine, community arts organizer and somatic healing practitioner Lillian Dunn, and community music therapist Pamela Draper, based on our belief that healing begins when we connect to the ground beneath our feet and all the beings that surround us.
The deck and guidebook serve as tools for Circle Keeping: a restorative gathering practice fostering emotional intimacy and interpersonal strength in community. These cards function as conversation starters and catalysts for play and reflection, to add a guiding or grounding element to support future Circles. They can also be used for individual reflection and divination.
How the deck began
In 2018/9, Folami and Lillian worked together teaching herbalism via artmaking at New Pathways Project in North Philly. In 2021, Folami and Lillian connected with Pamela as lead artists within Rosine 2.0, a project exploring Philadelphia legacies of mutual aid and harm reduction.
In response to the burnout we saw in our communities caused by intersecting emergent environmental and human crises, our guiding question became: “Who’s healing the healers?” We committed to amplifying Folami’s practice of Sister Circles, a structured gathering she has facilitated in high schools, rec centers and kitchens for decades. Our goal is to share copies of the deck with community members, and to sell copies of the deck to fund a train-the-trainers Circle Keepers model.
What is Circle Keeping?
Folami’s practice of Circle Keeping is informed by her experiences as a Black woman, doula, mentor, and herbalist in Philadelphia, and is also based in part on restorative justice practices with roots in Indigenous community traditions in North America. Each circle has roughly 6 phases: opening the circle, building the centerpiece, sharing guidelines, introducing the conversation piece (now the Circle Keepers Deck), guiding questions, and closing. Each circle is unique and is adjusted by the Keeper (facilitator) and the participants. The methodology creates a container for sincere reflection and connection.
Circle Keepers works to nourish the healers and helpers of Philadelphia by hosting circles, sharing copies of the deck with community leaders, and seeding Circles in neighborhoods across the city.