Wild Awake! 2018:
5 Elemental Pilgrimages for Women*
Reclaiming Purpose through Play
In the land where dreams come to be reborn...
I am developing a set of five 3-day weekend retreats for women* out of a deep impulse flowing through me, possibly but not necessarily toward a stream of livelihood, and I feel moved hold an informal test run of all five this year based in Boulder, Utah. I wish to make an offering of this year's explorations to friends, family, and local community. I am excited to offer this gift from my heart to yours, and I hope at least some of you can find a way to participate in some way.
I successfully led a version of these same retreats based in Eugene, Oregon in 2014 for a committed group of women. I feel they are a collaboration with the land, so I know that transferring them to our Southern Utah Landscape will change them significantly. I also see them as a form of group experiential art, where I envision the skeletal guidelines for the weekend based on certain guiding principles, and when the group comes together, we get to flesh out the experience through our participation and the unique qualities each woman brings with her at this particular time of her life.
The trust that builds when a consistent group of women undertakes these 5 weekends together during the course of a year is powerful. However, for this year's informal offering, I feel it is best to offer them as stand-clones with the option to do any or all of them as you are available. I would like to know who is coming as soon as possible, and at least three weeks before the start of each retreat. This is to give time to discuss and finalize planning based on the specifics of each group. (You could potentially join a retreat less than 3 weeks out, but you may have to go along with what's already been decided.) Space is limited.
The 2018 Dates:
1) April 26 - 29 Hero's Quest
2) June 21-24 Deep Collaboration
3) August 9 - 12 Heart Sovereignty
4) September 20 - 23 True Authority
5) December 6 - 9 Transformation
The retreats begin on Thursday evenings and come to a close on Sunday afternoons. They will be at cost: partial potluck, sharing any expenses that arise, with any donations toward continuing this work welcome but not necessary. Cost estimates and more detailed descriptions available on request, and somewhat variable depending on the needs/desires of each group.
The vision is for an immersion experience: for the group to sleep and dream together/nearby as much as possible. Lodging for most Thursdays will be either a shared room or cabin or our house, with Fridays and Saturdays mostly camping, BYO gear. December we will definitely sleep indoors. I will organize food and lodging, with input from the group, and I will send out detailed gear and food lists well in advance, once I know who's coming and what the group's needs are. Each retreat has its own logistics, and there is some flexibility for us to tailor each weekend to the needs, means, and abilities of the participants. It may even be possible to do part of one weekend to get a small taste of what they are about. This would be a question for each group to decide.
Each weekend has a corresponding season, element, direction, emotion, voice, time of life... There are many varying systems for aligning these qualities; I am working with the way that I have studied (a form of Chinese medicine) as an organizing principle, because I am most familiar with it and it works.
The "pilgrimage" is in both inner and outer landscapes. The outer movement over the land is a certain direction is both metaphorically and physically evocative. We practice relationship with self and other, with the land, with the Divine, with Creator in All, including ourselves.
Each weekend involves movement, voice work, meditative journey, dreamwork, connection with inner marriage and chakras, plant medicine (non-psychotropic), and both solo and group creative process. We will listen to talks by such women as Sobonfu Some and Clarissa Pinkola Estes during parts of our journeys. The retreats generally tend to begin with intensive preparatory activities and move into a more open, individual experience, ending with the group coming together to share our stories.
Conference calls or video calls could be available both before and after the retreats to help plan and prepare, and to integrate our experiences.
Please trust that each of these is appropriate for any woman, regardless of her current stage of life, for we all carry the archetypes within us. Much is waiting to be reclaimed and healed. We all have much to learn from each other, whatever part of the journey we are in.
Please contact me and let me know as soon as possible which weekends you plan/wish to attend. I'm looking forward to sharing this beauty with you!
Thanks for paying attention to your Heart.
Thank You,
Amber 435~335~73~99
axanthy(at)gmail(dot)com
Brief descriptions here.
*Trans, woman-identified, or gender-fluid individuals who are interested in this experience, please contact me to discuss whether this would feel like a safe space for you.
