Crafting Threads of Connection
December 16-19
ECOSS, Yarra Valley
One of the guiding questions of our times is how we create cultures of reciprocity that nourish both ourselves and the wider world to which we belong. This 4 day non-residential retreat offers us an opportunity to practice and immerse this principle in a culture of reciprocity, ancestral lifeways and myth. Join us in coming together in community on the land, crafting with hands and heart as we weave threads of connection to our lives, to community and to our wider web of relations.
This is an invitation to spend some days on the land away from screens and familiar responsibilities, finding the simple contentment that is born through a daily rhythm of myth and storytelling, wandering and crafting with the human and more-than-human world.
The rhythm of our days and evenings constellates around the telling of particular myths which will then set the thematic thread for our days of crafting and wandering in animate conversation with the world.
During our days we will work on a range of crafts drawing on the gifts of our animal, plant and mineral relatives. A range of crafting possibilities will be offered, including:
Plant: basketry / natural cordage / whittling and coal-burning locally harvested wood.
Mineral: ceramics - crafting and pit-firing locally sourced clay.
Animal: hide work – for example making rattles and pouches.
Our days will also involve solo time on the land, taking the themes from the myth and storytelling out in conversation with mountain, river, moss, owl, and all our wilder relations. Wandering alone, courting the mysteries, we will find the questions about our life supported by the ‘mirror’ of the land.
In the evenings we will prepare food together and come around the fire to share music, poetry and stories. Each evening Claire and Caiyloirch will bring in a particular teaching story around the theme of creating cultures of reciprocity, exploring the guiding narratives we live by and find meaning in and that in turn inform what we craft with the gift of our lives.
Our locations will include base camp at ECOSS as well as the day trips to wilder locations nearby where we will bring our crafts, our wanders and our human council.
The program will be guided by the land, the materials available, the weather, and the field of participants. As well as the above, the program may include elements of deep ecology, earth based ceremony and council processes.
Facilitators:
Claire Dunn
Claire is a writer, speaker, barefoot explorer, rewilding facilitator and founder of Nature’s Apprentice. Claire is passionate about human rewilding and believes that a reclaiming of our ecological selves and belonging is key to regenerating wildness on the planet.
For the last 15 years, Claire has been facilitating individuals to dive deeply into the mysteries of nature and psyche through the pathways of deep nature connection, ancestral earth skills, deep ecology, ecopsychology, soulcentric nature-based practice, village building, dance, ceremony and contemporary wilderness rites-of-passage.
Claire is the author of memoir My Year Without Matches, which tells the story of her year living wild. Her recently released memoir Rewilding the Urban Soul explores how we might embody wild consciousness within a modern city context. Claire lives in Melbourne where she lovingly tends her garden, community and her own wild heart.
Caiyloirch Rupert Marques
My background is in environmental and outdoor education with an emphasis on experiential approaches to exploring ecological identity and personal agency. For several years I trained and guided with the School of Lost Borders (U.S.) in Contemporary wilderness rites of passage, and now offer this work in Europe and occasionally Australia.
The other thread of my livelihood centres on contemplative practice. I have practiced in the insight meditation tradition for over 25 years in Europe, America and Asia, and teach at various retreat centres in Europe and beyond.
In recent years I have sought to bring the fields of contemplative practice and wilderness immersion together. This has been supported by living and working at Ecodharma, a contemplative retreat community in the Spanish Pyrenees dedicated to the movements for social justice and ecological sustainability.
I currently work with individuals and organizations offering a range of retreats and trainings that explore personal empowerment and resilience in service of creating a more just and beneficial human presence on this Earth.
Logistics:
The program is four full days: Starting at 9am on the 16th and finishing with a campfire dinner and celebration on the 19th. The beautiful Christmas twilight market is held at ECOSS on Friday the 15th and so we suggest camping the night before the program starts and we can arrange a group meeting that night to check out the crafts at the night market and in readiness for a 9am start the following day.
Location: ‘Base Camp’ for our day and evening program will be held at ECOSS: the beautiful 7.4 hectare permaculture designed farm and not-for-profit community organisation at Wesburn, in the Yarra Valley. On this beautiful property ECOSS demonstrates sustainable living solutions for the community of the Yarra Valley and beyond. Here we will use both the outdoor and indoor workshops spaces for our program as well as the kitchen facilities.
We will also drive to wilder locations in the Yarra Valley for parts of the program. A reasonable level of fitness is required for some walking.
The program is non-residential however we are imagining most people will camp together onsite. For those who live in the Yarra Valley or prefer to arrange other accommodation nearby we have ensured the program cost does not include the camping fee.
Food: Breakfasts and lunch will be self-catered (kitchen facilities available). Evenings we will provide ingredients to cook meals collectively.
Cost: Sliding scale: $580 Concession card holders, $675 low wage, $750 average wage.
Camping: Camping (with basic facilities) is held within short walking distance of the workshop space at ECOSS and costs $10/per person per night.
This program is sold out. Please email emily@naturesapprentice.com.au to join the waiting list.
Cancellation Policy
Payment due in full 4 weeks before retreat start date
Cancellation more than 4 weeks prior: full refund less $50 admin fee.
Cancellation 2-4 weeks prior: full refund less $200 deposit.
Cancellation within 2 weeks: No refund.
