**PLEASE NOTE THE REDWOOD INITIATION RETREAT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED**
Redwood Initiation Retreat
with Carole Guyett, Sept 30th-Oct 2nd 2017
In celebration of the mighty Redwood
Join us in joyful sacred ceremony to honour and celebrate the magnificent Redwood!
At this time of massive upheaval on our planet, the Redwood stands as a bridge between Heaven and Earth, showing us how we can help to manifest a Dream of Beauty. Redwood teaches us how to stand steady and hold our centre in time of crisis, for ourselves and future generations. Redwood helps us to be in our power with compassion and active hope.
As ancient wisdom keepers and messengers for the planet, the Redwoods have a powerful mission and now is the time for us to step forward and assist! Redwood offers to help activate a new Dream, and as sacred humans, we are required to co-create in this activation.
This retreat is a ‘Plant Diet’ ceremony, an opportunity to immerse yourself in the energy of the Redwoods and to come into close relationship with this remarkable tree. Ceremonial Plant Dieting is a traditional shamanic method of honouring and connecting with a plant. The ceremonial process opens gateways to spiritual realms and facilitates potent transformation at physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. The plant acts as one who initiates us into the next level of awakening, offering an initiation into what it truly means to live as a Sacred Human on this planet.
Aligning our intentions with those of Redwood, and uniting in love and respect, we will work together to help re-awaken our divine nature and evolve as human beings. Be prepared for beneficial change as initiation strips away your familiar beliefs and opens your consciousness to new possibilities.
During the three days of ceremony, we will ingest a Redwood elixir, prepared in a sacred way to honour and provide easy access to the consciousness raising aspects of the tree. By regular ingestion of this sacrament, we will receive and integrate the Redwood’s vibratory quality into our bodies. We will receive the gifts of the Redwood, giving us an opportunity to heal any imbalances we may have created in the web of life, both individual and collective.
The days of ceremony will be spent in deep dreaming with the Redwood, both inside the Healing Tree Yurt and out on the land at Earth Matters, having access to the many Redwoods and beautiful facilities. While fasting, we will drink the specially prepared Redwood elixir, thereby facilitating full communion with the trees. We will surrender to the Redwood and spend our time in practices such as journeying, meditation, art work, movement and the use of sound to deepen our initiatory experience. Our intention is to bond, to blend, and ultimately to merge. We sleep in the yurts at Earth Matters, or if preferred, under the stars in the company of the trees. If you are unable to fast for medical reasons then small amounts of specific foods will be available for you. The ceremony finishes on Monday afternoon (by 4pm) after a shared feast.
Friday is an additional (optional) day of preparation when we will make a group pilgrimage to old growth Redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains. We make this pilgrimage to honour and commune with these wise and magnificent Elders, to prepare ourselves for initiation, and to harness the collective energies in the best way possible.
For the pilgrimage, participants can arrive on Thursday evening or Friday morning.
Those unable to attend the Friday pilgrimage can arrive on Friday evening or Saturday morning. The Redwood Initiation starts on Saturday at 10am.
Accommodation (either camping or B&B) and meals for Thursday and/ or Friday are payable separately, please enquire when booking.
In the 3 days leading up to ceremony, you will be asked to prepare yourself for the initiation by eating particular foods and refraining from certain activities. This helps you receive the most benefit from the ceremony. All dietary and other guidelines will be given nearer the time. Anyone with significant health issues should let us know in advance.
Be willing to step into the Mystery and change your life for the better. Join us for a profound weekend of expansion and beauty with the majestic Redwoods.
Redwood Initiation (includes optional pilgrimage):
Early Bird Price $425 (payable by July 1st 2017) Full price $475
Places are limited so early booking is essential.
Previous experience of shamanic work is welcomed but not required
Email kathren@wisdomecology.com for bookings or further information.
This ceremony will be facilitated by Carole Guyett, medicine woman and medical herbalist from Ireland. Carole is a passionate lover of Redwoods. She was first called to do ceremony with Redwood trees during a visit to the Sacred Forest of the Damanhur Community, Italy. This led to a public Redwood Initiation ceremony at Rivers Bend, California in 2015. At that event, Carole made a commitment to the Redwoods to help them further their mission. Her contract with the trees involved doing ceremony with them for three consecutive years. In 2016 this took the form of a Redwood Pilgrimage and Initiation in Ireland, linking with groups doing simultaneous Redwood ceremonies in Northern California. Now in year three, Carole is returning to California for this sacred retreat which represents the culmination of energies gathered through time and space. She welcomes the presence of all whose hearts are called to assist and who wish to co-create a world of Beauty.
Carole is author of ‘Sacred Plant Initiations’ (pub. Bear & Co. 2015) and has developed and led ceremonial Plant Initiations since 2008. A passionate plant spirit healer, teacher and ceremonialist, she is dedicated to bringing the gifts of the plant world to others, and to healing the relationship between humans and Nature. Her work blends the Celtic tradition with the teachings of the Beauty Way. Carole offers apprenticeships, workshops, plant medicine, personal and group ceremonies both internationally and from her herb centre Derrynagittah in County Clare, Ireland.