CAVE and CAULDRON: A Weekend of Nurturing and Dreaming for Women

Slow down to the pace of nature, be deeply restored, and allow your imagination the space to dream and vision what you might bring forth in the Spring.

• Do you need time away from home to restore and be deeply nourished?

• Does your nervous system need a big release and reset?

• Are you craving space to access the ideas and creativity that are locked inside?

• Does being immersed in the quiet winter forest for two days sound super alluring?

• Does the wild woman of you long to drop into your depths and hear what has been brewing under the surfaces?

• Do you want to nourish the seed gestating in your belly that wishes to “grow and spread its branches against a future sky?”

• Does gathering with a circle of sisters in a wood-stove warmed lodge to share and dream together feel yummy?

Come spend Imbolc weekend in the Womb-Cave to nest and rest, and simmer in the Cauldron of creativity and deep dreamtime.

Imbolc — “in the belly” — marks the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox.

Imbolc is the time marked by the very first stirrings of spring — the baby lambs growing inside the ewes, the first seeds quivering in the belly of Gaia.  In these Northern Woodlands, however, we are still in the depths of Winter, knowing that regardless of whether the groundhog sees her shadow or not, we still have at least six weeks of winter.

While the culture expects us to keep going at full speed during the cold months, when we tune into Earth’s pace, we find that the rhythm has slowed, animals are conserving energy and holing up in their dens, the trees are dormant, the land is quiet.  Everyone is resting, dreaming, and incubating seeds for the coming of Spring.

The Deeply Nourishing Objectives of this weekend are three-fold:

1—Resting, nesting, and incubating, clearing

2—Dreaming, visioning and imagining

3--Gathering in sisterhood and celebrating our lives

Friday— into the Cave

⇢ Opening ceremony and personal altar and intention setting

Saturday—the Nurturing North

We will enter the North of the four directions wheel, and sink into the nourishing, quietness of the winter and the wisdom of the Earth.  There, we will create our own sumptuous nests (with pillows and comforters and sheep skins each woman brings) and rest by the wood stove and be held in the arms of Grandmother Winter (known to some as the Caillech—the winter crone) through:

• Opening ceremony and personal altar and intention setting

• Long journeying into the heart of Earth to be held, heard, cared for, unconditionally loved, supported and restored

• Slow and praiseful wanders in the forest, in conversation with the Sacred Others

• Wisdom Council to share stories

• Working with Oracle cards to deepen

• Evening ceremony to clear out old stagnant energy and begin to invoke the new dreams and visions

Sunday—The Dreaming West

We will work closely with our West facet to draw closer to our Muse, our dreams, our deep imagination to tune into what is incubating within.

• Morning Council

• Embodied movement and dance to deeply inspiring music to thaw the body

• Deep imagination work to access our Muse

• Inspiration wander in the forest

• Working with soul images to see what is incubating

• Creation of poetry and simple art to clarify and call forth our visions

• Closing Ceremony of going forth, restored, renewed and full of inspiration

Food:

Come having eaten supper on Friday. Bring your own lunches and Sunday breakfast.  We will be sharing a ceremonial, Imbolc-themed potluck meal on Saturday night. Think warm, nourishing, delicious, restorative dishes.  Classic Imbolc feasts include dairy, oats, cakes, bread, honey, root vegetables, berries, potato or other creamy soups, rice pudding, spiced wine. Traditional herbs include bay leaves, rosemary, rose hips, evergreens and willow, angelica, dill, cloves.

Coffee and tea will be provided all weekend long. You will have access to our indoor kitchen and a guest refrigerator. Please bring breakfasts and lunches that don’t need to be heated. as we will not have time for extensive prep and cooking. Spirit Hollow does NOT have a microwave.

Lodging

Spirit Hollow is a rustic retreat.  Lodging is slumber-party style in both of our yurts (bringing your own bedding and padding. This is a shared space, so if you need more privacy, we suggest you book a room nearby or stay in your own tent).  No showers are available in the winter. We have four outhouses for your use.

A What-to-Bring list will be sent upon registration.

There are plenty of inns and Airbnbs for staying in the area.

We recommend all of the following hotels/motels/inns, all within 20 minutes of Spirit Hollow:

• Harwood Hill Motel, Route 7A, 802-442-6278

• Governor’s Rock Motel, Route 7A, Shaftsbury, 802-442-4734

• Serenity Motel, Route 7A, Shaftsbury, 802-442-6490 (closed in winter months)

• Henry House Inn, Route 7A, N. Bennington, (802) 442-7045

• Eddington House, A Village Inn in North Bennington, 802-442-1511

Tuition

early bird (December 30, 2024) $295 Paid upon registration.  

Regular Tuition (after December 30t) = $345

Please email Tracey if you need a different payment option.

Please fill out this registration form.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE is JANUARY 12, 2025

Open to all women and femmes ages 18 +

Space is limited, so don’t hesitate to register!