Suilad, or elvish greetings. I wanted to offer a concise summary of a recent shamanic retreat, based on my notes and personal experience. Please enjoy as I hope it gives some insight as to what a retreat like this can be like. Again this is based on my experience and mine alone.
Ocean View Photo by: Raven
I have recently returned from a weekend-long retreat at Windhover Performing Arts Center, located in Rockport, Massachusetts. The Northeastern chapter of the Society For Shamanic Practices 2024 Shamanic retreat was held here for the second year in a row. I can only describe this experience as incredibly wholesome and repairing. I am a member of the planning committee, so I had some idea of what to expect, or at least I thought I did.
This year's theme was healing through ancestral alchemy. The idea of healing my ancestral trauma was daunting, to say the least. On top of that, I myself was presenting this year! Talk about stepping up to the ancestral plate, but more on that later. I should first state briefly what shamanism is. Sandra Ingerman describes shamanism as "working with compassionate and loving spirits or guides to heal oneself, the world, and/or one's community." I think that sums it up quite beautifully. Cultures from around the world have some version of the medicine woman or man, someone to address not only the physical health needs but spiritual needs of the community. It is something I think our modern world has been lacking for far too long. That is why I wanted to share my experience at this retreat, to inspire others to look to this path for the incredible healing it has to offer.
With all that said, let's get into the meat of things. The retreat itself goes on for 3 days and 2 nights, Friday to Sunday, with the option to arrive a day early to explore the beautiful surrounding area of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Gloucester is a coastal city on Cape Ann. Its fishing and boating heritage is reflected in the harbor-side Fisherman's Memorial, with a fisherman statue and names of all those lost at sea. The Cape Ann Museum has work by 1800s maritime artist Fitz Henry Lane. East, the sands of Good Harbor Beach extend to Salt Island at low tide. I personally arrived Friday, so I didn't get to explore the city much that day. However, even just driving through the streets near the harbor made me feel like I was in a movie.
When we arrived at Windhover, it felt like I was getting ready to be dropped off for camp. The butterflies in my tummy, the excitement to get to my bunk. As you walk into the little village, as I call it, small buildings welcome you, once farm structures, are now our housing. Six cabins in total, each one unique, a few of which are set aside for board members. So, I got to stay in cabin Wood Nymph with two other gentlemen. The beds are what you expect for cabin housing – a twin mattress (bedding was also an option) and a pillow, all covered and sealed to keep the buggies out. The cabins are rustic; sometimes critters do find a way in. I think that's all part of the experience though. Overall, the cabins are well-furnished, clean, and spacious. Once I was settled in and unpacked, I began to assist in helping others unpack, introduce myself to new faces, and greet familiar ones. It really does feel like a community coming together again after years apart, a reunion if you would. Even with those who were attending for the first time, it felt like they had been with us all along. After welcomes at sign-in, where you make your name tag and go over the itinerary and have a cup of coffee while taking in all the sights around you, dinner soon began to be prepped. Community-style meals, as in everyone volunteers to assist preparing or cleaning up meals. Boy, were the Friday night dinners good! I had three bowls of corn chowder.
While dinner was getting taken care of, over in the chapel building, named rightfully so as from the outside it appears to be a small cathedral, there is a large table set up for the craft! I am an avid crafter, so I was, in a way, tasked with helping others through it. The activity was felting ancestral dolls, or Waldorf dolls, sacred tools and relics that would be incorporated throughout the weekend. It took some adjustments, but ultimately I got the hang of it, just in time to help others create theirs. It was kind of amazing the amount of help and shared medicine that went into these dolls. Laughter could be heard from outside, tears from poking oneself with the felting needle; through all the creative laughter and shared knowledge, the dolls really began to come alive. A few of the participants were more knowledgeable in the arts of felting, and through their shared wisdom, I even made improvements to my own doll. A board member had generously put together all the kits for the dolls, an array of different colored fabrics and fibers. I feel like it really helped lighten the mood as it was soon time to get serious.
The calling drum began echoing out, followed by a special surprise I had not even recalled. A piper, bagpipes began to echo out across the buildings, fields, and beyond. Calling us and our ancestors into attendance. Signaling to everyone to gather in the back studio. We would smudge one another, ethically sourced of course, then enter where the main altars had been set up. An ancestral altar, a central altar, and an alter to the whales (more on the whales later). We were instructed to set our dolls around the central altar. Set in the center of the room a large ritual cloth with each direction represented by a candle and bells. A center candle, and now our dolls. We invoked the directions by lighting the corresponding candles and the ringing of the bells. It was a great segue into the rest of the introductions and some announcements about the weekend.
We were each told to pair up with someone as a support buddy. Working with ancestral medicine can bring up a lot of emotions, this way we had someone to confide in if things got overwhelming. Upon registration you receive a run down of what to bring for the weekend and what to expect schedule wise. One of the items of importance were memories for the ancestral altar. Pictures, jewelry, knick-knacks, vast items of love and importance joined together on this altar. My photos of some of my dearly departed, and some of those who still guide me today. Just from joining together in these moments you could feel the energy building in the room.
We took a short break, it was then time for the first presenters a close soul and friend, and myself. The time had come. The nervous build up i had been distracting myself from all day. I stood forefront of the group, and spoke. Not from the page i held tightly, a few glances for reference but it felt more right to just speak. Speak about what i had read. What i had been taught by my elders, teachers, friends. Ancestral Alchemy by Daniel Foor was a recommended reading that highlighted a lot of what we would be doing, I used a quote mentioned in the material "Graham Harvey -To be an ancestor is to continue relating". I used this quote to segue into the subject of my journey, the act of entering a trance like state to commune and work with healing spirits or guides. My journey was to travel to the upper realm, a place of ascended masters, angels, deities. The task was to go to this place to find a compassionate healed ancestor to work with over the course of the weekend. Now what do i mean by healed ancestor? Well Daniel Foor describes the dead as being well or unwell in nature. Well spirits are those who have completed their life journey, released their past traumas, and joined the other well healed ancestor above. Unwell spirits are those who's journeys are not complete, who hold some tie to their previous time here unable to ascend beyond it. The whole purpose behind this journey was to establish this connection to better understand our linage, and to be better equipped to aid the spirits who remain unwell. My co-instructor then lead us all in a sound healing where we Om'd and Journeyed to our ancestral sound. Something we may have been unaware of before. The feedback we received really melted any self-doubt that remained. I am so blessed to have had someone I love and respect so much working there beside me.
That day ended with a small fire and some shared stories, then bed. Not that I slept much that night. As promptly at 4am a gray squirrel would scurry across the top beam above my head. Waking me up to the sound of them enjoying their breakfast. I couldn't hold a grudge though, after all I was a guest in his home. After my shower (There are multiple showers available for use, I didn't have to wait once) the morning began with some beautiful flute music. Members of the group had brought instruments and would place softly across the campus welcoming the sun and the new day. Morning movement was offered at 7am. Yoga to be exact. It was so refreshing to start my day by invigorating my body with beathing and stretches. Followed up by tarot and coffee. We played this wonderful game where each person gets a card from everyone's deck. We go around the table interrupting the various cards and giving input on their meaning. Its such a wonderful way to tie in the experiences of the weekend. Breakfast is served and then morning ritual is held. We would all drum together raising the vibrations of the circle and honoring each direction. The morning presenter was introduced. Sharing wonderful wisdom on the meeting place of the ancestors. Handing out crystals to each of us for use in our coming journeys. Bloodstone and Angelite. The focus of the days first journey was to go to this meeting place and seek guidance on an element that tied to our ancestral line. A table next to the ancestral altar held items, each representing a corresponding element that would to our ancestral line. A table next to the ancestral altar held items, each representing a corresponding element that would be placed upon the altar. A candle for fire, feathers for air, The next journey was to again travel to the meeting place of then ancestors this time to find a totem that represented our ancestors. The final journey was to a tree within the meeting place. Our individual ancestral tree, to take in healing light that would then be shared and offered to the ancestors. A way of opening those healing channels to ancestral traumas.
It was then time to prepare to break for lunch. A wonderful little cookout began as people started to set up for the shamans market and shared medicine. Individuals within the community share items they craft, or healing services they offer. There was emotion coding, reiki, oracle cards, and I myself offered tarot readings, and had brought a few of the items I make, anointing sprays, soaps, salves, bone charms, smudges. It is so wonderful to see everyone supporting one another. There was some free time after the market, which some of us used to walk down to a state park that leads out to the ocean and is only about a 15 min walk. The park itself is beautiful, flowering trees and blooming flowers line the path as it leads to a large stone quarry that connects to the ocean side. Standing on the rocks, feeling the ocean breeze watching the sunlight glisten across the waters surface like light through a crystal prism. I collected shells while others discuss the day and the work ahead. Each year there is healing brought forward to the group. This particular healing was one that would require organization, respect, and proper preparation. Earlier in the day we had discussed who would be comfortable where in terms of what work needed to be done. Out of respect for the practice and the individual I wont disclose too much on the subject surrounding the healing. First it was time to gather for the later portion of the day. The Saining ceremony. A Celtic/Scotts ceremony involving smoke to clear and consecrate important items, places, people. It is a way to protect and make pure of something. We would be Saining our ancestral dolls. To prepare them to join upon the ancestral altar. The scared herb blend, smelled like nirvana. Just inhaling it seemed to lighten my body and help quite my mind. We started by journeying with our dolls. To the ancestor that they represented. Introducing ourselves and inquiring a partial wisdom from them. Everyone took turns going through the ceremony. There was a beautiful incantation to say as we passed our dolls through the smoke. Then placing them upon the altar. The whole process was beautiful to behold. As the dolls gather together on the altar it was like they too were joining together. Witnesses to the work we had been doing over the weekend. Not only that but shortly after we finished the owner of Windhover was walking around with a friend showing him the grounds and how it had changed. He was a priest. Once we had completed our task we moved on to the next portion of the presentation. The whales!
As part of our efforts to heal our planet and make it a better, safer place for all its lifeforms, we adopted a North Atlantic right whale! Aphrodite is her name. Sadly, the North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered animals in the world. Named by sailors as the "right" whale to kill due to its friendly, approachable nature and slow swimming speed, approximately only 350 remain today. North Atlantic right whales help maintain healthy and diverse ecosystems. As they migrate, they fertilize the ecosystems they move through and support the marine life inhabiting them. They're also symbiotic with the ocean. While they consume large amounts of plankton, their waste products provide nutrients that support the growth of that same plankton. This process is particularly important as phytoplankton captures about 40% of all carbon dioxide produced and generates over 50% of the atmosphere's oxygen. These incredible creatures deserve our support. Part of our work for the whales involved journeying to them in a meditative state, simply observing, listening, sharing healing light and love. We helped clear any interference with their migration patterns and their ability to locate young. Just being there for support. Whale songs played alongside the ultimate Om. The level of emotion felt and heard through this experience was breathtaking. We truly did some amazing work for those whales. I know Aphrodite and all her brothers and sisters felt that they were loved that day.
We then began preparation for the working, which we had discussed earlier in the day. An extraction and soul retrieval were established as necessary. In short, extractions are a method of removing negative attachments, and soul retrieval is the method of locating and returning fragmented parts of the soul that break away from us when exposed to any kind of trauma. We set up our workspace in the chapel with circles of candles and crystal grids laid upon the floor. Chairs were placed in alignment with the candles and crystals. Again, I can only disclose so much information on this as there are certain ethics in place. I can say the working was a powerful connection of energies. Working as a unit, I certainly feel we did some powerful healing together.
After the working, we moved into the last program of the evening: the ancestral feast and tying in the weekend's material. Opening with a quote and retouching on some subjects from the previous day, the group prepared for the first journey. I cannot speak on the first journey as I was helping my buddy through something, which is why the buddy system was there and I'm glad I was present to help. As we rejoined the circle in time for the working of tying our ancestral altar all together. What was to be learned from the ancestors. From within ourselves. We then broke to prepare for the feast. Everyone had brought a piece of food that represented their chosen ancestor/s. My mom and I brought marshmallow cookies. My grandma would hide them in her underwear draw so my mom wouldn't take them from her. She was a diabetic. A lot of peoples loved ones liked their sweets maybe a bit too much. Thought I think that was an expression of fondness. As so many of these treats were shared with us, through youth and into adulthood. Always carrying that special meaning behind them. That special candy or cookie you only got when grandma, or grandpa were around. As we placed the offerings on the sacred fire and offered them to the ancestors beyond we could feel, and even see them there with us. It was an incredible memory I am honored to have shared in. After we closed out the circle a few of us remained behind to fire keep. Making sure the sacred fire burned out in dignity. Laughs echoed around the fire as we enjoyed the reaming time we had there with each other, and with the spirits present.
As dawn approached we had one last morning of movement followed by tarot. We used the cards to tie in any last stings of the weekend and its many messages. I think each of us were surprised on how hammer to nail the cards were that morning. We enjoyed breakfast and then onto clean up and clear out. We all came together to try and leave things better than we found it. Saying our goodbyes and showing our gratitude to the host, and the land. As we drove off. Leaving Windhover in the rearview mirror until next years gathering. A quote rang in my ear....
"To be an ancestor is to continue relating"
