The Soulcraft Intensive
Feb
4
to Feb 8

The Soulcraft Intensive

An Animas Valley Institute Event

The Soulcraft Intensive is AVI’s popular five-day experiential plunge into the wild depths of Soulcraft; a synergistic set of nature-based practices designed to evoke the life-shifting experience of soul encounter. Your soul is your true self, those qualities that most deeply define and express who…

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Nature-Based Leadership Training 2025
Feb
14
to Apr 25

Nature-Based Leadership Training 2025

This immersive, nature-based leadership program is the first of its kind in Australia. Building from many years’ experience delivering community learning that is grounded in the natural world, CERES and Nature’s Apprentice are coming together to offer a 10-month program that will create the kind of earth-based leadership and resilience we and our communities will need in the coming decades.

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The Animas Quest
Feb
17
to Feb 28

The Animas Quest

An Animas Valley Institute event

The Animas Quest catalyses the encounter with soul by temporarily displacing everyday consciousness through five primary means: (1) solitude for three or four days and nights while (2) fasting (i.e., drinking water only), (3) being fully exposed to and enfolded within the forms and forces of nature,

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'The Naturalist Journey' Bird Language Retreat
Feb
27
to Mar 2

'The Naturalist Journey' Bird Language Retreat

  • 'Gilwell Park' - Around 1 hour from Melbourne (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

An Andrew the Bird Guy event

After sold-out inaugural retreat in the sprawling forests of Gilwell Park during autumn of 2024, Andrew is stoked to be able to return (a little earlier in the season) in 2025! The beautiful Dandenong Ranges offers us everything we could ever need for 4 days of unadulterated, genuine nature connection, with the local forest birds proving themselves to be ideal teachers for delving deeply into bird language.  

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Deep Imaginal, Soulcraft and the Reanimation of the World with Bill Plotkin
Nov
20
to Nov 24

Deep Imaginal, Soulcraft and the Reanimation of the World with Bill Plotkin

  • Motueka Region near Kahurangi National Park (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

An Animas Valley Institute event

Deep Imaginal, Soulcraft and the Reanimation of the World: This is an advanced immersion, suitable only for those who have previously encountered hints (or full blasts) of soul, and who are resourced enough with their four facets of wholeness to wander more deeply into the world.

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Sweet Darkness with Bill Plotkin
Nov
13
to Nov 18

Sweet Darkness with Bill Plotkin

  • Motueka Region near Kahurangi National Park (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

An Animas Valley Institute event

Sweet Darkness: The Initiatory Gifts of the Shadow, Projections, Subpersonalities, and the Sacred Wound, is Animas Valley Institute’s most intensive short program. Because of this, we require that people have participated in other Animas programs before applying to Sweet

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The Wild Mind Intensive
Nov
11
to Nov 15

The Wild Mind Intensive

  • Raven’s Nest Retreat Centre (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

An Animas Valley Institute event

Based on Bill Plotkin’s book, Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche, this 5-day intensive is an experiential exploration of our human psyches as unique expressions of the universal forces and patterns of nature.

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The Science and Art of the Hand Drill - Castlemaine Intensive
Oct
5
to Oct 6

The Science and Art of the Hand Drill - Castlemaine Intensive

  • near Castlemaine VIC Australia (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Please note this event has been postponed.

Have you experienced the electric feeling of creating fire out of just a stick and a piece of wood?

There is a both a science and an art to the hand drill. We will succeed only if we approach the hand drill humbly, in service to learning as much as possible of its magical and mysterious ways.

After a sell-out Melbourne series we are coming to Castlemaine!

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The Science and Art of the Hand Drill
Aug
31
to Sep 21

The Science and Art of the Hand Drill

  • Darebin Parklands, Melbourne Australia (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Have you experienced the electric feeling of creating fire out of just a stick and a piece of wood?

There is a both a science and an art to the hand drill. We will succeed only if we approach the hand drill humbly, in service to learning as much as possible of its magical and mysterious ways.

Nature's Apprentice is again offering a four-part workshop series to go deeper into this skill.

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Earth Time Winter 2024: Bird Language and Expanded Awareness
Jul
29
to Sep 23

Earth Time Winter 2024: Bird Language and Expanded Awareness

After a sell-out Autumn term, we are staying in the realm of birds for another term.

Birds: vocal, colourful and abundant even in the city, these charismatic backyard buddies are also powerful guides to the more subtle layers of nature observation. At any moment of the day, bird activity, or lack of it, can expand our awareness out beyond what we can directly see or hear, reaching our ears far across the land, appearing to others like magic.

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Earth Time Autumn 2024: Bird Language and Expanded Awareness
Apr
22
to Jul 1

Earth Time Autumn 2024: Bird Language and Expanded Awareness

Birds: vocal, colourful and abundant even in the city, these charismatic backyard buddies are also powerful guides to the more subtle layers of nature observation. At any moment of the day, bird activity, or lack of it, can expand our awareness out beyond what we can directly see or hear, reaching our ears far across the land, appearing to others like magic.

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Nature-Based Leadership Training 2024
Feb
23
to Dec 12

Nature-Based Leadership Training 2024

This immersive, nature-based leadership program is the first of its kind in Australia. Building from many years’ experience delivering community learning that is grounded in the natural world, CERES and Nature’s Apprentice are coming together to offer a 10-month program that will create the kind of earth-based leadership and resilience we and our communities will need in the coming decades.

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The Animas Quest
Jan
25
to Feb 5

The Animas Quest

  • Arcoora Arts and Ecology Training Ground (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

An Animas Valley Institute event - This contemporary Western embodiment of the ancient, pan-cultural vision fast is a dynamic wilderness rite for all who are seeking greater depth and clarity about life purpose and meaning.

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The Soulcraft Intensive
Jan
17
to Jan 21

The Soulcraft Intensive

  • Arcoora Arts and Ecology Training Ground (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

The Soulcraft Intensive is Animas Valley Institute’s popular five-day experiential plunge into the wild depths of Soulcraft; a synergistic set of nature-based practices designed to evoke the life-shifting experience of soul encounter.

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Earth Time: A weekly nature connection meet-up
Jul
3
to Nov 20

Earth Time: A weekly nature connection meet-up

For as long as humans have existed, we have come to know our place in nature not in isolation but as a community. We accelerate our learning when we share our stories, ask each other questions, and bask in collective awe at nature's mysteries. And so we invite you to come together as a community, like attending a weekly yoga or dance class, and collectively deepen our connection to the natural world.

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Women's Wild Threshold Crossing: A 48-hour solo fast
Mar
26
to Mar 31

Women's Wild Threshold Crossing: A 48-hour solo fast

  • Strathbogie Ranges Victoria Australia (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

This ceremony is for those who are ready to step out of their comfort zone and make space for deep listening. We offer this as an alternative to our longer Vision Quest for those who are not ready for a four day fast or are unable to take 11 days out from their other commitments.

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The Refuge
Mar
17
to Mar 20

The Refuge

  • Strathbogie Ranges 2.5 hours from Melbourne Australia (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

This is such a simple offering that it needs little explanation. Simple but profound. We are inviting you to do what humans have been doing for thousands of generations

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Dance in the Wild
Feb
17
to Feb 19

Dance in the Wild

  • Bell Park Scout Camp (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join us for this incredibly special Community Dance Festival for people of all ages and stages. Together we will gather on over 100 acres of bushland to celebrate our dancing community and the interconnectedness we share.

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