retreats

Each year there are two residential retreats - in a quiet, rural environment close to Glastonbury. The venue is EarthSpirit, an award-winning centre with a huge, beautifully converted stone barn as the main meeting space.  Each retreat has a different theme, but always includes working with the voice, body and breath to develop more awareness and mastery of one's own energy field and personal presence. On the last night there's a sweat lodge, based on the Native American tradition, where we use our voices to help alter our awareness or our consciousness. These are very tender moments, full of physical beauty. You can opt in or out of the sweat lodge, or simply sit in silence around a huge open fire under a night sky.

The next date is August 8 (eve) to 15, 2010. You can come for the full week or weekend only. The focus will be Me or Them? We will debate and explore through discussion, meditation, contemplation and posture such themes as instinct versus general consensus, self-authority as opposed to falling in, self-nourishment versus service to others, self-assurance without rigid certainty and the fascinating business of knowing and delighting in oneself whilst staying open to the views of others. Participants are invited to suggest relevant themes or topics at least two weeks in advance of the retreat. The cost is £623 (£245 for the weekend) for shared accommodation, a little more for own room and en suite. Contact me if you would like more information, or to make a reservation.

Dates for EarthSpirit in 2011, each retreat beginning with dinner,  are  March 16 to 20 and August 7 to 14.

journeys

Every now and again a place, or something at a particular place, "calls". Of course I can't be certain that I'm not imagining that call, so I usually do nothing for a few years. If it's for real, the call comes in lots of different ways.

White Lions
In this way I finally arrived at Sanbona in the spring of 2009. This is a private game reserve in South Africa where white lions roam free. Some consider the white lions to be sacred or special, perhaps messengers from the gods. Their colour, which comes from a recessive gene, makes them stand out in many areas of the bush, so simply to survive and breed without natural camouflage, is remarkable. White lions were first recorded in the Timbavati region of South Africa, where the light-coloured sandy riverbeds are a good colour match.

At Sanbona the hills are scattered with near-white rocks. You can look up and easily miss the white lion looking out from a high point. Two young males and two females, all born to white lions in captivity, were learning last spring (their autumn) to fend for themselves. One tawny lioness at Sanbona had allowed them to hunt with her. Her role in their naturalisation was therefore significant, but when I arrived she was recovering from surgery.

In South Africa the role of the sangoma, or shaman, is recognised. Invited to see if I could help the tawny lioness, I found a natural intimacy with both her and the white lions. They came when I called. I cannot guarantee the same kind of contact, but you are invited to join me on a return visit to Sanbona

November 7 to 10, 2010. For more information contact me >