In the beginning was the dream.
Through the dream all things were made,
and without the dream nothing was made
that has been made.
-- Thomas Berry in The Dream of the Earth
Since ancient times the dream world has been understood to be a source of powerful messages, inspiration, and a pathway to wisdom and healing. Like everything around us, we humans were born from the dream world, from the heart of Divine mystery.
Today, entranced by rationality, efficiency, and our newfound technological powers, we’ve lost our connection to that mystical world and the treasure it holds. As a result, our Earth Home is in grave peril. The Earth cries out for our return to the world of the dream. In this retreat we will explore three paths of return:
Opening more fully to our nighttime dreams through conversations with dream characters, through images and symbols we find or create, and through simple gestures and ceremonies.
Cultivating a dreamlike consciousness in the day world, walking into forest and creek valley, along ridge and river, paying exquisite attention to all of its enchantments and allurements.
Entering the dream of Mountain, Forest, Wind and Waterfall, asking what images, what songs, what words are rising up now from Earth’s deep imagination, and what is our response.
In this retreat we will enjoy long solo wanders on the land, as well as gathered times of ceremony and sharing the images, journal notes, poems, and experiences that have come to us.
Leaders: Jim Hall and Cheryl Hellner, longtime associate members of Rolling Ridge Study Retreat, have apprenticed nature-based soul work through numerous programs with the Animas Valley Institute. They live and work at Dayspring, a 200 acre retreat center in Germantown, MD.
The retreat will be held at Rolling Ridge Study Retreat near Harpers Ferry, WV. It begins with supper at 7 pm on Friday and concludes with lunch on Sunday. Fee for the retreat is $280 and includes lodging in an individual room, six meals, and program. Two people registering together and choosing to share a room (bunks or full bed available) may pay a reduced fee of $230 each. (There is a space on the registration form for you to write the name of your roommate.) Camping further reduces the fee to $210. (Bring your own tent.) Scholarships are available.
To reserve your place, register with a $50 deposit. For more information or questions, contact Lindsay at 304-724-1069 or lindsay.rollingridge@gmail.com.
Please consider donating to our scholarship program so that we can offer this special retreat to those who cannot afford the full fee. Your donation is tax deductible, and we'll gratefully send you a receipt for any amount you add to your deposit or retreat fee.
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Directions to Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Center
If you do not wish to register online, you may download the form and mail it to Friends of Silence, 120 Jubilee Ln., Harpers Ferry, WV 25425, with $50 deposit to Friends of Silence.