8th Annual Fall Drumming-Shamanic Retreat

Dark Mother Comes to Change You

Drumming & laughing, forest & lake, respite, hoo-ha & wahoo, soul-talk with fellow earth-loving-soul-seekers, comfortable cabins with private rooms and actual beds, sauna (otherwise known for this weekend as the womb of the Great Mother), rhythmic, sensual delight, freedom to let your wildness dance itself out of you, all under the half-moon heading toward darkness.

There is a simple, yet potent, intention for all of our drumming retreats: to offer you time away from the psychic clutter of your life, so that you may come close to Spirit in whatever way is right for you. The drum is a powerful, easy and fun tool that helps you shake off toxins and distress and open your heart, body and spirit to grace, forgiveness, insight, vision and wisdom. The weekend offers some structure, opportunities to go deeply into shamanic work, and to commune with people on the same winding, beautiful, frustrating, joyous, grieving spiritual path as you. There is also much open time, and you are free to engage with the structure and community as much or as little as you desire, and free to spend as much alone time, quiet time, or prayer and healing time as you need. We have always had incredible people come to our retreats - warm, loving, funny, devoted seekers of wisdom. The participants make the weekend what it is, and they often form lasting bonds. No drumming or shamanic experience is needed. Drums and rattles are provided, or bring your own.

Our ceremonial work this weekend will focus on the Dark Mother. She is the transformative power of autumn, a goddess figure appearing in every culture -suppressed and repressed in our culture. She is the power of dreams and intuition, the voice of the deep, the night wind, the song locked away in the abdomen, she is the tears that come when awe fills you, she is the song of loss, the feeling in the chest as the sun vanishes below the horizon in the west. She is often present in what we are told to fear. When she is denied she comes as a storm, when repressed, she appears as neurosis, anxiety and violence. When listened to, she offers us complete transformation and she opens us to our authentic powers. To connect to the power of the dark mother is to give ourselves a lifeline to the great unnameable, unclaimable, untamable creative Spirit - a lifeline to hold onto when we re-enter the clattering, nattering, spattering world of our day-to-day lives.

Crow Wing Crest Lodge near Akeley, Minnesota (about a 3.5 hour drive north of the Twin Cities). The Star Tribune calls Crow Wing Crest Lodge "one of the 5 best resorts in Minnesota." We will have the entire resort to ourselves. The usual price for the weekend would be around $500 per person. Our retreat Price: $275. Price includes all lodging, retreat fun and Saturday dinner. (Early bird special: Pay before September 15: $250. Wahoo.) Spaces are limited. Some scholarship places are available. To reserve your spot or ask questions, please contact Jaime Meyer: drummingthesoulawake@gmail.com or click on the blue box below. The best way to reserve a spot is to pay on-line by going to http://www.paypal.com/, click on "send money" and type in drummingthesoulawake@gmail,com as the recipient.

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