WORKSHOP JOURNEYS FOR WOMEN 2010 with Carolyn Hillyer
WEEKEND
WORKSHOPS ON DARTMOOR
Wild, creative and magical journeys into the deep spirit
of the landscape
Nov
26-28 WEAVING THE LAND Stone and Sky
This
weekend is now fully booked but we do have a reserve list
in case of cancellation and are also taking names of women
who would be interested in the 2011 women's workshop programme
on Dartmoor. Dates and details for next year will be available
at the end of this year.
Feel
the silence of the russet and the brown
weavers of the mountains are drawing you down
they rest in your memory and glide through your sleep
weavers of the mountains are singing you deep
calling you back to the weave.
Feel the secret of the black and the bone
weavers of the caverns are taking you home
they bind blood and clay, dark and womb, kiss and tear
weavers of the caverns are singing you near
calling you back to the weave.
The
songs and stories of wild nature play constantly across
the ancient land. They exist without us being there to hear
them but once we add ourselves into the weave, the remembered
threads of journeying, yearning, returning and belonging
entwine to become our deep mythologies and rich harmonies
of word and sound. In the second of a new series of workshop
journeys to coincide with the publication of her new book,
SACRED HOUSE: Where Women Weave Words
into the Earth, Carolyn will guide a winter journey
that combines the raw experience of stone and sky in the
ancient landscape with the magical bindings of our words,
stories and songs as we move around the loom of the land.
We will also be making small totems in which to catch the
elements of stone and sky. Other details as above.
Lower Merripit Farm / Friday from 4pm to Sunday 6pm / £235
/ deposit of £100 with booking /
max. 24 places / inside accommodation provided / breakfast
basics, evening meals, materials and a special book for
your woven words are included.
Both
these workshop journeys are located in the high centre of
Dartmoor and based in the guest cottage at Lower Merripit
Farm along with 24 acres of meadows, marshes and woodlands,
hidden shrines, moorland streams and a neolithic-style ceremonial
roundhouse that we will be using throughout the weekend
for ceremonies and shared circles. The farm is run as an
organic small-holding, protecting some rare natural habitats
and caretaking a small herd of wild hill ponies on the open
moors.
To
request a booking form
email
- info@seventhwavemusic.co.uk
phone - 01822 880301
post - Seventh Wave Music, Lower Merripit Farm, Postbridge,
Dartmoor, Devon. PL20 6TJ.
PLEASE
NOTE :
All women are very welcome, whether experienced or new to
women's circles.
The weekend will involve some walking on the open moor -
this is integral part of the weekend experience. If you
are uncertain about this please contact us to discuss options.
There are some concessionary places on the
workshop - please contact us to apply.
Deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable.
Workshops tend to fill quickly so early booking is recommended.
Lower Merripit Farm is not easy to access by public transport
but we aim to put women in touch with each for taxi shares
or lifts from the train station.
Food is vegetarian wih vegan options and organic where possible.
All our water is drawn from two spring-fed wells. We encourage
visitors to use eco-friendly washing products as we maintain
our own sewage system.
Please
contact Carolyn if you have any questions.
OTHER
2010 WORKSHOPS FOR WOMEN...
GERMANY,
near to Stuttgart
October
30-31
THE
CAULDRON OF CROWS: A Winter Journey
A weekend retreat inside the primordial vessel that holds
our most profound mysteries of death and life; to celebrate
Samhain as we move along the edge of winter. This workshop
is held in beautiful countryside in the Stuttgart region.
This
workshop is woven around Carolyn’s most recent cycle
of work Ashes and Earth,
which describes four spirit women who embody a winter journey
into the primordial cauldron of crows, the vessel that holds
our most profound mysteries of death and life, as we enter
the earth along the harsh edge of winter and deep into the
silent lands. During this weekend we will use drum, song,
simple ritual, ancient craft, primordial mythology, sacred
gardens and a circle of women’s wisdom to create and
enrich our shared journey.
We
will travel through a starkly beautiful landscape of death
and restoration, touching into dark solitude with the Dissolving
Woman (who carries the burden of wounds within the deep
belly of the cauldron); silent incubation with the Hollowing
Woman (hidden far inside the marrow of ancient bones); inspired
renewal with the Bleeding Woman (as she follows the strange
seam where death and life are knitted together); and the
blessing of lament with the Illuminating Woman (who dances
on the cauldron rim where the ultimate gifts of light are
finally revealed). Through all of this we trace our intimate
connection with the moon as she carries us around the circle
road.
The
waxing and waning of the moon move her like a shuttle on
the loom. The symbolism of spinning and weaving, of spun
threads and woven cloth, extends into all life. The fabric
that gives shape to birthing and living and growing and
dying is frayed, picked apart, cut and rewoven into new
cloth. And so cloth forms a significant aspect of this work
and a physical testament to the ancient hands that work
the sacred loom. Old fabrics woven on hand looms, memories
and songs sewn into skirts, the shawl in which we nurse
our babes, the veil that protects and binds, the threads
onto which we bleed, the shroud into which we are sewn,
the spindle that winds us out to the very edges of death,
all the weavings of loss and return…
For
further information and booking please contact the organisers
ARKUNA (Ursa):
ursa-heilehaus@freenet.de
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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GENERAL
BOOKING INFORMATION
For
further information and booking forms please contact info@seventhwavemusic.co.uk
Places are generally quickly reserved so early booking is
recommended. All places are confirmed on receipt of deposit.
Some bursary places at a reduced price are available for
women on low income ~ please ask.
ABOUT
THESE WORKSHOP JOURNEYS
Since
1995 Carolyn has created and guided many workshop journeys
for women throughout the UK and in other countries including
Russia, USA, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, Estonia,
Hungary and Czech Republic. Many of her workshops take place
on the ancient farmstead of Lower Merripit amid the wild
hills of Dartmoor. The journeys are rooted in the oldest
traditions of women’s spiritual and creative gatherings,
weaving together sacred drum, voice, contemplation, direct
engagement with the wild landscape, creating and interpreting
with our wise hands, simple shared ceremony, personal ritual,
mutual nourishment and an intent to explore beyond the farthest
reaches of our perception….as well as the opportunity
to sit within a warm, supportive and inspiring circle of
sisters.
Over
the last fifteen years the workshop programme has developed
organically to form a continuous unfolding journey, held
within the spiralling cycles of Carolyn’s paintings,
writings and songs and venturing with each year into unexplored
landscapes. All women are welcome to participate in these
workshop journeys, whether stepping out for the first time
or carrying the experience of long-time travellers.
PRACTICAL
INFORMATION
The
workshops are located in the high centre of Dartmoor and
based in the guest cottage at Lower Merripit Farm along
with 24 acres of meadows, marshes and woodlands; hidden
shrines, moorland streams and a neolithic-style ceremonial
roundhouse. The farm is run as an organic small-holding.
We draw all our water from two spring-fed wells and encourage
visitors to use eco-friendly washing products as we maintain
our own sewage system. The farm protects some rare natural
habitats and caretakes a small herd of wild hill ponies
on the open moors.
Accommodation is generally in shared rooms in
the cottage, with camping in the meadow or additional rooms
at the nextdoor farm available for larger groups. Food is
vegetarian wih vegan options and organic where possible.
Public transport onto the moor is very limited so those
using bus or train services are advised to travel to Exeter
from where we are usually able to arrange a shared taxi
or lift.
**************************************************************************
WORKSHOP
ARCHIVE
WEAVING
THE LAND: Wood and Water (2010)
The
songs and stories of wild nature play constantly across
the ancient land. They exist without us being there to hear
them but once we add ourselves into the weave, the remembered
threads of journeying, yearning, returning and belonging
entwine to become our deep mythologies and rich harmonies
of word and sound. A creative and magical journey into the
deep spriit of the landscape, combining trips onto the open
moor to meet ancient wood and wild water, with the weaving
of our expereinces into words that we will sing and speak
and pray. We feed our ceremonial fires and turn our women's
circle around the loom of the land. We make small web looms
in which to catch the elements of wood and water.
THE
AMBER ROAD: Return to the Ancient Land and a Sacred Journey
into Sisterhood (2010)
Held in the beautiful North Hungarian countryside,
attended by women from Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany,
Sweden, Denmark and the UK. We shared a powerful journey
into the mysteries of women's ancient spiritual traditions,
rooting our travelling souls into the wisdom of the grandmothers,
the beauty of the season and the blessed earth of this ancient
landscape. We worked with our creative hands, our singing
hearts and our deep magic to make a strong circle of women.
We bound together the bright elements of copper, amber and
flame to celebrate sun and moon. We sang to the earth and
danced inside the storm. We gave laughter and tears to honour
the wild land around us and within us.A wonderful gathering
of women from 6 countries with our translated words flowing
between us like small rivers. There are plans afoot for
more gatherings like this in Central Europe so watch this
space!
CAULDRON
OF CROWS: A Winter Journey (2009)
A
winter retreat inside the primordial cauldron of crows,
the vessel that holds our most profound mysteries of death
and life, as we enter the earth along the harsh edges of
winter and deep into the silent lands. A journey through
a starkly beautiful landscape of death and restoration,
touching into dark solitude with the Dissolving Woman (who
carries the burden of wounds within the deep belly of the
cauldron); silent incubation with the Hollowing Woman (hidden
far inside the marrow of ancient bones); inspired renewal
with the Bleeding Woman (as she follows the strange seam
where death and life are knitted together); and the blessing
of lament with the Illuminating Woman (who dances on the
cauldron rim where the ultimate gifts of light are finally
revealed). Through all of this we trace our intimate connection
with the moon as she carries us around the circle road.
ASHES
AND EARTH: The Illuminating Woman (2009)
A
blessing of light. The
final weekend in the Ashes and Earth cycle of journeys that
has explored our intimate connection with a moon that repeatedly
carries us on a circle road through dark solitude, incubation,
inspired renewal and the illumination of memory. In the
full brilliance of the Illuminating Woman we discover the
ultimate blessing of ashes and earth. She slowly dances
around the rim of the cauldron of crows, where light is
revealed through its relationship with shadow, creting deep
ceremony enriched by the intricate weavings of soul songs
and lament and the wonder of life. Together we prepare a
white ritual house, a ceremonial dancing ground and small
looms on which to catch light, air and bright memory.
ASHES
AND EARTH: Raw Earth (2009)
A
moment of awakening. Over
the raw spring earth runs the quickening woman, following
the strange seam where death and life are knitted together,
where a perfect balance exists between the winding of shrouds
and the vibrant expression of new energy. We are midwoves
of so much: last and fisrt journeys, blodd of grave and
of womb, return and release, physical and elemental bodies,
all lifted on a rising wave of change. Involves a profound
connection with a wild place and the alchemy of sacred water.
We use willow and hazel on which to spin some spring magic
and paint our red journeys as we catch the early spring
waves of energy that carries us onwards towards the illumination
of summer.
ASHES
AND EARTH: The Hollowing (2009)
A place of incubation. A special retreat
for the deep winter. Within the silent stillness of the
hollowing woman, caught in the marrow of ancient bones and
far inside the cauldron of crows, rests one seed that holds
the key to the restoration of life. So we create a journey
of germination and renewal as we pause before the last out-breath
of winter, held at a turning point within the protecting
hands of the oldest guardian, and guided by the visions
that wait behind our eyes. A time for mending, dreaming,
tending fires and travelling gently, supported within the
circle of women and nurtured by the ancient land.
ASHES
AND EARTH: The Cauldron of Crows (2008/9)
A journey into shadow. Solitude,
the disintegrating woman and the bearer of wounds are aspects
of the darkest mythological guardian of the Ashes and
Earth cycle. She is found within the primordial cauldron
of crows, the vessel that holds our most profound mysteries
of death and life. In this workshop we
enter the earth along the harsh edge of winter and deep
into the silent lands. Involves a personal ritual journey
into the Cauldron House and the shared creation of a winter
book.
SAMHAIN
DRUM NIGHT (2008)
An evening around the hearth fire in the ceremonial ancestor
house with drums, songs, prayers, spells, remembrances,
sacred tales, shadowy myths and earthy ritual to honour
the veiled season, the silent lands and the bones of our
ancestral mothers.
THIRTEEN
MOONS Autumn Festival on Dartmoor for Women (2008)
Celebrating bright edges, deep shadows, ancient sisterhood
and wild hills with workshops, talks, presentations, craft
workshops, concerts, song circles, drum house & simple
earthy rituals. The festival is shaped as a journey around
thirteen moons: copper, fallen crow, salmon, warriors,
healers, nameless, leaping hare, drummers, weavers, granite,
bone, honey and finally honouring our sacred journey
with many sisters moon. An ancient pilgrimage of
sisters sharing wisdom, wonder, music, old magic, inspiration,
spirit, food and fun.
DRUMS
OF THE HEATHEN HILLS (2007)
Women’s drum making weekend.
A weekend of creating wild skin drums (with reindeer,
red deer and horse) and using them as sacred tools
for harnessing the raw power of the autumnal shift. We walk
into the ancient hills to find inspiration for our own drum
song and make a ceremony around the roundhouse hearth to
bless our drum journeys and honour the spirits of the skins.
RIVENSTONE:
Song of the Harvest Drum (2007)
Day workshop to make and decorate a harvest drum, a bright
moon deerskin dancing drum conceived within a place
of fruition and celebration. A drum with which to honour
the abundance of the earth and the rituals of the gathering
time. With our drums we create and perform a special harvest
rite.
THE
UNSEEN MOON AND THE DARKEST DRUM (2007)
Pausing on the bridge between a cycle of work that describes
the primordial grandmothers of ancient ice and a new work
that travels the silent lands of the death mothers, this
day workshop uses sacred song, quiet ritual and strange
mythology, as well as the making of dark moon drums (small
reindeer skin finger drums) to shape and honour night
shadows and hidden places.
INTO
THE WINTER HOUSE (2006)
A day of winter ceremony and preparation for
the hibernating months. As we turn to face
the darkest nights and the dead of winter, we explore the
themes of feeding the hearth fires, keeping safe the winter
light, and moving ourselves into quiet hibernation where
we may rest and dream and mend. Together we share a winter
ceremony around the roundhouse fire, brewing the elements
of ice, flame, mist, stone and black earth within our cauldron
and drawing inspiration from the wise bones of our ancestral
mothers.
WOMEN
OF THE BEAR DRUM (2006/7)
The deepening winter journey and long night
vigil. A winter retreat and intense journey
into the powerful territory of the bear drum. We work together
to prepare for a special all-night ceremonial vigil in the
roundhouse, deepening our connection with ancestral and
inner landscapes. We learn ancient song techniques from
the cold northern lands and use clay, ashes and bear magic
to make traditional fire oracles. A chance to investigate
the maturing of our journey and travel through the mysteries
of our ancient mothers to a place of silent strength and
fierce courage.
WOMEN
OF THE SALMON DRUM (2006)
The returning autumn journey and the dance of
life. The ancient salmon drum draws us into
a
spiralling dance of seasonal ebb and flow, initiations,
rites of passage and circling currents in the
rivers of our own lives. Following the magical routes of
water, laid out as living veins across the
wild earth, we seek the gifts of the salmon drum: freedom,
perseverance and clarity of intent.
Around the sacred fire of our ancestral mothers we build
the power of the long journey, honouring
its sacrifices, its challenges and its changing shape. We
learn how to tan salmon skin using
traditional Arctic methods and we make salmon rattles and
small fish leather pouches in which to carry tokens of our
journey out and of our return.
WOMEN
OF THE HARE DRUM (2006)
The awakening summer journey and full moon celebration.
A weekend of bright circles, drum songs and sacred chants,
gentle ritual and shared council at the roundhouse fire.
We travel lightly and dance wildly/ We work with the primordial
symbols that lie at the core of our constant dance with
the moon: dark blood, white salt and soft black earth. We
walk beneath the night sky across the moon-lit moor to visit
a hidden ancient shrine and we make hare drums (small
deerskin finger drums) on which to sound the pulsing
lunar rhythms in our veins.
THE
NORTHERN SISTERHOOD OF DRUMS (2006/7)
A workshop created for women in Russia and Germany.
ARCTIC
DEEP WINTER WOMEN’S RETREAT JOURNEY (2006)
A journey for thirteen women to the far north of Sweden
within the Arctic Circle, living for nine days in forest
cabins beside a frozen lake. The retreat combines silent
days and nights within the frozen landscape, visits to Arctic
craftspeople and teachers, plus experiences with dog sleds,
wild reindeer and the northern lights with a series of group
circles during which we explore aspects of our most ancient
northern women’s spirit traditions.
ONE
THOUSAND ANCIENT MOTHERS (2005)
A workshop created for women in Hungary, Holland and
Sweden.
INSIDE
THE WINTER HOUSE: A Journey Through Ancient Ice (2005)
Set within a circle of primordial grandmothers, The
Northern Sisterhood of Drums, as they sit together
in council, and sourced from a body of work created both
on Dartmoor and in the frozen north, this workshop travels
into deep archetypes, the power of the sacred drum voice
and a women’s mystery that was born 25,000 years ago
from ancient ice. Includes the opportunity to use our wise
hands to make a spirit of ice pouch using materials
gathered from the Arctic.
THE
PRIMORDIAL GRANDMOTHER DRUM (2004/7)
A workshop created for women in Hungary, Holland and
Sweden.
THE
ROAD TO RED OCHRE WOMAN (2004)
A workshop (for women 38 years and over) that traces
a deepening spiral into the spirit of midwoman and explores
our sacred responsibilities as older women. We begin to
unravel the threads of what might be waiting for us as we
journey northwards, facing our mortality and our aging,
slipping into our old skins and moving closer to our final
transformation as crone women. We challenge our boundaries
of perception and courage at a time of year when the shadows
of the coming winter reach towards us and the mists of samhain
swirl around our feet. We draw on the untameable moors as
a source of gentle and fierce darkness, quiet secrets, unexpected
mystery and wise revelation.
THE
WILDERNESS DAUGHTERS OF GRANDMOTHER DRUM (2004)
A weekend to explore and experience women’s ancient
drum mysteries, share drum songs and dances, learning drumming
techniques as well as embracing the autumn elements of the
wild moors. We make and decorate traditional Arctic reindeer
paddle (or dancing) drums using reindeer or red
deer skin, and we create a ceremony to honour the spirit
of wild deer.
RIVENSTONE
WOMEN’S MEET: Our Oldest Magic (2004)
A gathering to nourish, celebrate and honour women’s
creative and magical energy with song and drum, simple ceremony,
the work of women’s ancient hands, the secret testimony
of the land and the power of sacred circles. In the heart
of wild moors, women meet together to share ancestral wisdoms
and express wild spirits. Includes guest presenters, contributions
from participants and a special creative group project using
traditional felting techniques and involving the hands of
80 women. Concludes with a shared ritual within a marsh
labyrinth and around the roundhouse fire.
HOW
STRONG IS THE FACE OF A WOMAN’S DRUM? (2004)
A sacred journey to the colds lands of our ancestral mothers
and the mysteries of the ancient Grandmother Drum ~ a symbol
of our ancient woman spirit, our mystical journey and our
original raw connection to the living landscape. Working
together in three clan groups (Bright Wings, Amber and
Red Ochre) we share sacred mythology, ritual song and
ceremony to strengthen awareness of our rich and deeply
rooted women’s heritage, and ultimately travel into
the distant territory of the Grandmother Drum. Includes
the making of red deer or horse skin rattles.
THE
WOMEN’S HOUSE (2003)
A workshop created for women in Japan
WOMEN’S
DRUM CAMP (2003)
We prepare and craft a traditional deer skin drum, including
ceremonies to honour the skins and bless the finished drums.
We make drum beaters and prayer tokens, share drum songs
and explore the drum traditions of northern Europe.
THE
SACRED HOUSE OF WOMEN (2003)
A workshop created for women in Sweden.
MIDWOMAN
The Gift of Amber (2003)
A workshop intensive (for women aged 38-59) to
embrace, honour and commit to the journey towards and through
the middle years. Exploring the outer and inner dynamics
of menopause, working with words, music, herbs and sacred
myths and tokens, creating rites of passage and simple ceremony
to bring power, courage and wisdom to our understanding
and experience of the midwoman time.
WOMEN’S
HIBERNATION RETREAT (2002)
A chance to prepare for the winter months in a nurturing,
warm and inspiring atmosphere, with time to be quietly alone,
enjoy the magic and peace of Dartmoor as well as share in
close group work.
WEATHERED
EDGE: The Deep Landscape of Women (2002)
Ancient ragged spirit women, concentrated fusions of wild
energy, gather in the Weathered Edge cycle of paintings
and songs to create the gateway through which this workshop
is experienced.We meet the concealer, the protector,
the hunter, the summoner, the bestower, the visioner, the
destroyer and the drummer. They are all shaped
by weather, by season and by the hidden patterns of the
land. They are formed from the deep life and death forces
of nature. They help to shape the landscapes that we are.
Through them we remember, rediscover and bind together a
story that describes our own spirit land.
RIVENSTONE
WOMEN’S MEET: The Ragged Megs (2002)
A gathering to celebrate and honour our sacred relationship
with the wild land, weaving together ceremony, talk, creativity,
shared song, ritual dance and drum, tending the roundhouse
fire plus the stretching of limbs and the moving of spirit.
We seek out the strange and ancient megs of the
wild weather and the enduring seasons, who dance the cycles
and rhythms of the earth, the ebb and flow of the year and
the deep magic of the elements found at the very edges,
and in the secret places, of the ancient land.
THE
ORACLE OF NIGHTS (1999)
Binding together ritual, myth, drum and chant, this workshop
enters the Oracle of Nights through a series of
challenging encounters with the five protectors: toad,
crow, spider, bat and mare. A black-wrapped
journey into the cave, a descent into a personal territory
of darkness and shadows, and an intimate exploration of
underworld. A place in which to seek, confront and ultimately
understand our fears...and from which to emerge again empowered.
OLD
SILVERHEAD: Songs and Initiations of Womanhood (1998)
A powerful exploration of the experiences and transitions
that define our passage through womanhood. This journey
is created around song, rites of passage and a cycle of
eight initiations to honour and celebrate our changes from
girlhood to old age: from girlseed and first
blood; through fruitmother, spinmother and
midwoman; to earthcrone, stonecrone and
Old Silverhead herself.
THE
HERON HOUSE: A Women’s Ancient Mystery Round (1997/8)
The Heron House is the place through which we travel to
meet and honour our very ancient foremothers and to rediscover
our indigenous ancestry. It represents a forgotten spirit
land and the primordial cycle of life and death. The Heron
House contains the memory of all that we have been and all
that we are as women wed to the earth. The Heron House is
the woven fabric of our wise stories, our strong truths
and our deepest relationship with the earth.
A
CIRCLE OF THIRTEEN (1995/6)
Sitting within a circle of grandmothers, we experience thirteen
powerful deep-woman archetypes, each of whom holds a key
to an aspect of our inner landscape. We uncover and absorb
the mythology and wisdoms that lie behind them, gather together
the fragments of our own ancient memory and explore our
personal myths as women of wisdom.
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