Building Sacred Community

 

Ritual practice and play is a big part of the retreat. 

Good ritual isn't mystified woo-woo. It's about using tangible objects and embodied practice to express and expand our awareness of what's moving inside us--as individuals, and as a community as we bond. 

One of the first things we'll do together is sit in circle the evening we arrive and tell each other about the personal meaning of objects that we've brought with us. Then we'll create a communal altar using those objects. 

If the idea of an altar is unfamiliar, maybe even uncomfortable, then don't think of it as an altar. Just think of it as a visible focal point for what we're bringing to the gathering.

That same night, we'll dedicate the repurposed barn where we'll gather as a space consecrated to what we build together throughout the retreat. Please bring materials that will help enrich  the space: colourful fabrics, sacred images, beautiful objects.

Raising our erotic energy--and keeping it circulating as a resource for our connection to each other--is central to this experience. The practice of mindful self-pleasure, individually and with one another, is a key element of our time together.

Sustained erotic arousal can be an extraordinary vehicle for transforming our consciousness and bonding as a community. So our emphasis is on cultivating deeper awareness of the present moment rather than on racing to the "finish line."

Holding onto sexual energy for hours, or even days, can open our hearts and and shift our perspectives in amazing ways. Treating ejaculation as a conscious choice rather than as an inevitable conclusion to erotic activity is fundamental to our process. Our erotic experiments and the rituals we develop together will go hand in hand as expressions of our community.