There are a couple of spots open for this retreat. Come for one day--Friday or Saturday or for both days. $25 for the day, $45 for both artandsoul.wm@gmail.com to register
Re-Storyation: Kintsugi for the Pandemic Soul Temenos Retreat Center, 65 Mount Mineral Road, Shutesbury, MA Friday, September 17, Saturday, September 18, Sunday, September 19*(optional) Commute or, if you prefer, stay overnight Friday or Saturday nights in rustic Pine Lodge.
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of restoring broken pottery by joining the fragments together with gold. The broken places are not covered up but gathered together as something new and beautiful.
The COVID pandemic fiercely disrupted our lives and for many, shattered them. Some of the pieces are small and manageable, others are large chunks we are now only discovering are missing. This retreat offers you the opportunity to reflect on inner work of re-turning, whether from the pandemic experience or from another transition that has or is taking place in your inner life or around you/us communally, as the fragments seek a new whole.
Temenos Retreat Center is the perfect setting in which to nurture individual and shared reflection as we gather together to mine the many pieces of the pandemic to see what gold we might find there. Set deep in the New England woods and on the cusp of the season turning, lovely Pine Lodge will welcome us, inviting us into spacious time for reflection, whether walking in the woods or the labyrinth, sitting in silence in the meditation chapel, stretching out on the screened porch or cozying up to the wood stove. Our time will have structure to it, balanced by time for creative response, be it writing, artmaking or simply resting. A variety of art supplies will be provided; feel free to bring your own.
Schedule for this retreat:
Friday, September 17 10-11am: Individual Walking Silent Meditation—gathering materials for our communal earth altar 11:30-12:30 We gather and create an earth altar; opening meditation 12:30 Potluck lunch 1:15-3:30 Gathering the Fragments: Hindsight and Re-Turning snacks 4:00-6:00pm Now what? Story and conversation fire circle
Saturday, September 18 10:00am: Gather at earth altar; morning meditation 10:30-12:30: Mining for Gold: Foresight and Re-Imagining 12:30 Potluck lunch 2:00-4:00 A Whole New Story: Insight and Re-Storyation 4:30 Closing Ritual: Walking the Labyrinth 5:00- ? Informal time for finishing up creative projects, final conversations, quiet personal time
*Sunday, September 19 (optional) We have Pine Lodge through early afternoon so come be in the woods for personal writing or artmaking time, forest bathing, or whatever.... About Temenos: Temenos Retreat Center is gorgeous--and rustic. You will need to walk for about 5 minutes from the upper parking area to Pine Lodge, along a clear but rooty path. There is no parking directly at Pine Lodge. Also, the bathroom is a lovely and comfortable composting outhouse just outside Pine Lodge. There is a good-sized equipped kitchen with running water and a refrigerator. There is no electricity or cell service. Participants are welcome to sleep overnight in Pine Lodge if they choose. There is a double futon on the screened in porch, large padded window seats and padded floor mats.
Wonderful, rustic cozy individual cabins to sleep in may be available at an additional cost. Please contact the good folks at Temenos to check for cabin availability by calling 413- or emailing Viva and Colin at 65mountmineral@gmail.com.
Cost: art + soul is continuing its pandemic practice of love offerings rather than a set fee for its events, trusting that participants will support the work of art + soul as they are able. To cover basic rental/expenses for the weekend, there is a minimum cost of $50 per person for this retreat. You are, of course, invited to increase your offering as your financial situation and spirit are moved.