Wisdom of the Four Directions—June 2011
June 21, 2010 – 7:32 am
Finding Healing and Guidance in Nature:
A Summer Solstice Celebration
June 25, 2011 – Vancouver
“Journeys start from where we are. Everything starts from where we are. Where we are is where we’re supposed to be.” – Evelyn Eaton, The Shaman and the Medicine Wheel
This day-trip in the North Shore mountains, just 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver, and 10 minutes from the Commercial Drive area, will teach you tools and ceremonies for working in nature to access your own inner guidance and the guidance that nature can bring. This could be in the form of answers to questions, deepening connection with the greater mystery, healing, letting go, accepting, or gaining new strength. Whatever you need is available to you, and can be reflected to you through the mirror of nature. You will learn different ways of working with the four directions to access this guidance.
Our ceremony will begin with setting our intentions for the day and creating a sacred container for learning by creating an altar together. You will learn the four shields, an ancient model of understanding the psyche of humans and nature. Each shield corresponds to a cardinal direction, with its own colours, textures, seasons, stages of life, and qualities of true nature.
Then you’ll explore what you’ve learned on a solo medicine walk. After brief instruction, you will go on your own solo walk in nature, seeking guidance from our dear earth mother and her diverse creatures. Following in the footsteps of our ancestors from many cultures and traditions, this solo time includes fasting from food, human company, and human-built shelters. At the end of the day we will break our fast together with brown-bag lunches while we share our stories with each other around the circle.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 is the summer solstice. Sunday, June 19 is Father’s Day. Spending time in nature with your Dad might be the perfect way to deepen your connection with each other while celebrating the turning of the year in sacred ceremony. If bringing your Dad isn’t practical, perhaps you’d like to spend your solo medicine walk in a contemplation of how to heal, celebrate, or enrich your relationship with your father. I offer this as a possibility because this daytrip takes place the Saturday after Father’s Day.
If looking at your relationship with your father is not timely for you, bring along a question or area of your life that you’d enjoy the opportunity to delve into more deeply.
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Saturday
We’ll meet at a location in the Commercial Drive area and carpool from there. Bring your lunch. Wear comfortable shoes for walking on hiking trails, as part of the day will be spent wandering through the woods by the Seymour River.
Cost: $30 (free for those who wish to participate and the fee is an obstacle)
To register, please fill in the online Registration Form. For payment information, see Fees.
Tags: Four Directions, four shields, medicine wheel, setting intentions, summer solstice 2010
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