WORKSHOP JOURNEYS FOR WOMEN 2010 with Carolyn Hillyer
The
full details for 2010 workshops will be available from March
but meanwhile here are some dates:
Carolyn
will be running two new workshop weekends for women on Dartmoor:
WEAVING
THE LAND: Wood & Water in July (2nd-4th) and
WEAVING THE LAND: Stone & Sky in November
(26th-28th)
These will be wild, creative and magical journeys into the
deep spirit of the landscape.
Full information to follow.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SONG
WEAVINGS & UNTAMED DRUMS - Brighton
A workshop for women with Dartmoor musician and
artist CAROLYN HILLER
Saturday, May 1st, 2010 from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Manna Bio-Alive Centre & Restaurant, 24 Coombe Road,
Brighton And Hove BN2 4EA
Carolyn
is renowned for her work creating and guiding unusual spirit
journeys for women. On her first visit to Brighton she will
be leading a celebratory gathering of wild voices and drums
to honour earth, ancestral mothers and sisterhood. We will
share a simple ritual to mark the Beltane festival, and
a journey into women’s sacred drum mysteries that
will bring us to the ancient hearth of the grandmother drum.
Please bring a drum or rattle if you have one or simply
come with your enthusiastic voice – you are also welcome
to bring along a piece of nature with which to decorate
our Beltane shrine. This workshop will be followed by an
evening concert in St Nicholas Church (see concerts
page for details).
Bookings
online via eventbrite http://carolynhillyer.eventbrite.com
or call Kyle on 07883270560 (to pay via cash, cheque or
bank transfer).
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE
AMBER ROAD
A
VERY SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE A WEEKEND WITH WOMEN IN
HUNGARY
RETURN
TO THE ANCIENT LAND, THE AMBER ROAD AND A SACRED JOURNEY
INTO SISTERHOOD MAY
21-23
Workshop
with Carolyn Hillyer in Northern Hungary
This
weekend workshop will be held in the beautiful Hungarian
countryside, where we will share 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 will work with our creative hands, our singing
hearts and our deep magic to make a strong circle of women
who together can create and carry forward a new prayer and
a clear vision. We will bind together the bright elements
of copper, amber and flame to celebrate sun and moon. We
will drum and sing and dance and give laughter and tears
to honour the wild land around us and within us.This will
be a wonderful opportunity to work in sisterhood with women
in Hungary.
The weekend is being organised by Szilvia Simon, a shaman-healer,
priestess and earth-loving woman. She invites any women
in the UK and elsewhere to visit Hungary for this event
and join this gathering of Hungarian women as well as share
a day being guided around Budapest. In addition there is
a concert being given by Carolyn and Nigel in Budapest on
May 20th.
PROGRAMME
EVENING
CONCERT May 20
Concert
with Carolyn Hillyer and Nigel Shaw in BUDAPEST in old theatre
near the Danube River with beautiful courtyard restaurant
where dinner may be eaten before the concert. Venue details
available from organisers.
Tickets in advance 3200 HUF/ £12 or 4000HUF/ £15
at the door.
Please book through Kriszta Veres on kriszta@vereskriszta.com
WORKSHOP
May 21-23
Held at Sun Farm between the Börzsöny hills in
North Hungary. From Budapest it is one hour by train to
Zebegény where cars will be provided for the 20 minute
journey to Sun Farm.
Accommodation
is in the house (18 places) or camping (please bring your
own tent & sleeping bag)
Vegetarian food is included. Please bring raincoat, comfortable
shoes and clothes, torch, mosquito repellant (the site is
near to a forest), drum or rattle if you have them.
Arrival Friday afternoon in time for the evening circle.
Workshop finishes Sunday evening. Szilvia will be able to
help with suggesting accommodation in Budapest for that
night if you wish to stay for the tour on Monday.
Translation
in both directions will be provided.
Fee:
30,000 HUF (Hungarian and Eastern European residents); 46,000
HUF/ £125 (accommodation in own tent); 50,000 HUF/
£136 (accommodation inside) Exact prices will depend
on the current exchange rate.
TOUR
OF BUDAPEST May 24
If
you would like to explore the beautiful city of Budapest,
Szilvia and her friend Beatrix invite you to join them for
a one-day tour on Monday 24th May. You will be able to experience
this amazing city together, walk by the Danube River and
visit some of the museums, parks, coffee-houses and wonderful
old buildings. A very special part of the day will be the
visit to the famous Hungarian healing spa baths (bring swimming
costume)
Fee: £26 pounds + entrance fees.
FLIGHTS
Flights
are not included. Cheap flights may be booked through Easyjet
from London to Budapest. We are happy to put any UK participants
in touch with each so you may travel to and from Budapest
together.
A
message from Szilvia:
Until
2007 I lived in Budapest, now I live in north Hungary, in
Nógrád. I like to be here, to walk and feel
the spirit of the land. Our land is full of wonderful energies
and we have many special places - one of the most famous
is Dobogóko. If you would like to discover your own
experience here, we invite you with love, to awaken the
wild heart inside you and share a journey of ancient mystery
with your Hungarian sisters.
Pictures
of sacred site:
http://www.dobogokosi.hu/nature.html
Pictures and general information here:
http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/general_information
About
Hungary:
http://www.hungary.com/
All
bookings to Szilvia through ravenszil@gmail.com
but please contact Carolyn directly if you have any questions.
**************************************************************************
GENERAL
BOOKING INFORMATION
For
further information and booking forms please contact SEVENTH
WAVE MUSIC
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
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.
back
to the top
|
