The Ceremonial Way: calling to the land

14 – 18 March,
West Cornwall

How can ceremony help us build a meaningful connection with the land? How can we sink deeper into the land until we know we are at home? Can we open our hearts to the earth and embrace all of life as our true family? Can we remember ways that our ancestors found and make them our own?

In these four days Annie will offer ways to connect with the land through some of the ancient sites that abound in the far west of Cornwall. We will stay in a house close to a fogou (a prehistoric underground chamber) and a stone circle. We will move between the external and the internal; sitting with rocks, watching for the flight of birds, celebrating out on the land; opening to currents of energies, to visions and faint messages from other realms; then sitting together indoors with our dreams and our reflections. This training is open to the experienced and the inexperienced alike. There may be opportunity for some to be supported to hold ceremony for us.

Offering a rare opportunity not to be missed, Annie is joined in these four days by Christiana Aro Harle from Finland who brings a wealth of knowledge from Northern Europe and from her time spent in Tuva. Christiana will focus on divination, working with rock, the ancient memory keeper and calling to the land with staff and with song in the traditional seidhr way. There are many forms of divination using stone(s) throughout the Peoples of this place we call home. Divination can contain predictive and advisory guidance. At the root are the spirits of place, of the questioner, the reader, even the culture. Our senses for seeing, deep listening, and the practise of forming questions are all pulled in towards formulating fluid and direct answers. We shall form relationship with one form of divination and speak of stones, these ancient relatives containing much knowledge.

“Leave no word unsung” is a saying from the Baltic region. Singing the land, singing the multi- sensory visions perched on a question and on the land, we come to be curious about our voices, about words and the flow of the multitude of song varieties which each of us carry. Perhaps we shall return to our lives with more voice and more words sung than unsung.

ANNIE SPENCER, a ceremonialist and workshop leader with an Oxford MA and a diploma in Humanistic Psychology, has been running groups and trainings for over 30 years. Having been apprenticed in a North American tradition for seven years and later studied Guatemalan Mayan teachings for over a decade, Annie weaves these with the traditions of this land. Her experience is broad: Annie sees people one to one, runs groups, holds vision quests , takes teenagers out on the land, is currenly holding an initiation programme for young women and has published many articles. As a teacher, Annie opens pathways for others – illuminating their life’s journeys. Her primary interest is the renewal of ancient ceremonial forms for creating a path of beauty upon Grandmother Earth. Visit her website: http://www.Hartwell.eu.com.

CHRISTIANA ARO-HARLE (Chrissy), aChristiana Aro-Harle: a shamanic healer, holds degrees as a Music Therapist, Breathwork Therapist, Women’s Consciousness, as well as a Beekeeper, former cider maker and long-time shamanic drum-birther. She has been working in the field of shamanic healing for over thirty years. Her path is woven with Land and Song, through Tuvan shamanic initiation with deepening paths into the Spirit of Song found in Tuvan and Northern traditions. Spirit Voice, the singing of the multi-sensorial vision for the land and with the land for healing has been with her since childhood.  Christiana is passionate about supporting and guiding people to find their path, heal, remember and re-connect with Mother Earth and all Beings. Visit her website: www.solavoima.fi

Venue: Rosemerryn, Lamorna is a beautiful house set in its own grounds which run down the valley to a small river and shelter a fogou (a prehistoric underground chamber). It is within walking distance of the sea. Bedrooms are shared.

Time of arrival : Afternoon Monday 14 March – lunchtime Friday 18 March

Cost : £350

To book : Please send payment/non refundable deposit of £100 to MISS H V PALMER.
Sort code – 40-47-64
Account Number- 30961957