Photo by Kelly Grabianowski
We invite you to a pilgrimage to the Sacred Mountain, a journey of remembrance and worship of the Wild Mother through your own form. A deep in-the-body communion with the feminine mysteries by inhabiting your own wild nature and tuning into to the body-to-body guidance of the mountain, its waters, animals, meadows and crisp skies.
The body of mountain breathing alive in a woman's body.
A quiet, deep, and timeless communion between the sensuous mountain and the woman who has come to remember herself in the mountain's embrace.
Mountain and woman, body to body, the landscapes merging, calling the wild soul back to these bones, veins, and hips.
WHY WOMAN AND MOUNTAIN ?
A woman’s body fitting into the curves of the slopes
A womb resounding the ancient molecules of deep, clear lakes
The slopes of the sacred mountain mirrored in the feminine forms
Sensuous skin remembering its once-upon-a-time slithering through the landscape
The wild body recalling its agility, its stamina, the purpose of its muscles
Feminine sensuality opening deeply and safely to the rhythms of the living earth
The soul remembering Medicine Woman in this body, at this time
The ritual of women dancing, their bodies an altar at the foot of the mountain
IN ESSENCE, WHAT WILL WE DO ?
We will spend plenty of the time in deep-body embodiment practices and soul inquiries on the gorgeous private land where we will be accommodated, and an even greater portion of our time out on the mountain, in the wild forests, meadows, and lakes.
As a whole, our time will be held as a pilgrimage of the soul, a 'cry for vision' at this point of your personal mythic journey–– in a quest to meet our deepest and wildest longing in the reflections of the ancient mountain. What lost parts of ourselves and what answers to our soul searches can we find, body-to-body with the animate terrain?
You will be guided and supported to explore the intimate topography and geology of your own body and to traverse your own inner nature––as you find yourself reflected, sparked, and enhanced by the natural landscape that holds us. We will work with the different layers of (what we call) the deep body–– physical, emotional, sensual, perceptive, and archetypal/mythic– to uncover inherent resources for self-knowing and for catalyzing important chapters of our personal myth. Re-harmonizing our bodies with the rhythms of the living earth, we will engage in the deep re-inhabitation of our feminine psyche and sensual anatomy, while communing with the sacred mountain.
We will perform organic rituals, be medicine women together, move intuitively, dance wildly, hike, sing, howl, swim, bathe, connect, and nourish the feminine heart. You will learn skills for cultivating your body's openness and fluidity and to stay engaged with your deep life in the day-to-day setting. You will leave replenished and enriched with long-lasting resources for sustaining your relationship to our animate earth and the deep feminine, in an embodied way.
YOU CAN ALSO EXPECT TO:
––Explore the deep connection between your body and Earth, and the teachings of the elements through their composition in your own ecosystem
––Discover the mountain's correspondence in your own body and its wisdom for the practical matters you face in your life
––Walk with the deepest questions of your life and listen to the responses whispered by the Mountain
––Learn practices for cultivating the body’s stamina and prime the body as the instrument for perception and fluidity
––Recover the depth of the senses and the intelligence available through the felt self
––Move in ways your body longs for so you can be taken to the wells of your deeper life and nourish your mythopoetic identity
––Restore feminine flow through the body-mind system, and nourish it continuously
––Reconnect with an aspect part of the feminine nature that has been long silenced by cultural normalcy
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT ?
To reconnect with your wild soul. To rediscover that which cannot be contained, downsized, or forgotten about your nature and purpose. To come fiercely alive in the wake of your sensuousness and revived sensuality. To allow your deeper life to inform your day-to-day life. To dance awake the Mythic Woman inside you. To strengthen the roots growing down your own feet into the soil. To stoke the fire of women-together beyond cultural definition. To take leadership in creating the future of the world. To come home.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR?
We are adding an extra day and an extra night to the pilgrimage so we can explore even more of our inner and outer wilderness at a slower and relaxed pace.
PHYSICAL FITNESS
Our practices will be sometimes mild and gentle, in one location, and on 1 or 2 days we will walk for extended periods of time, with small portions of rougher terrain and at high altitude. People of various body types and with normal/average fitness level have had no trouble doing this with us in the past. If you have Qs about this, please ask.
WITH COVID IN MIND....
We will do our best to keep the shared spaces clean, disinfected, and well ventilated. We will require participants to have proof of a negative PCR test 48/72 hrs prior to arrival, regardless of whether you have been vaccinated. Please note, however, that we enter the space in trust rather than fear and we each take responsibility for our own wellbeing and health. If you are generally not comfortable with gatherings and the thought of being with others is troubling for you, it is best to wait and join us at another time.
Photos from a past pilgrimage
WHY IS SHASTA A UNIQUE AND SACRED MOUNTAIN ?
Mount Shasta, located near the Oregon border in northern California, holds the distinction of being one of the world’s most distinguished sacred mountains. It is recognized as an eligible Native American cultural and cosmological property on the National Register of Historic Places. With at least 11,000 years of human habitation, the region is one of the longest-occupied areas of North America.
Mount Shasta is a volcano that is expected to wake up and erupt one day again, and it is structurally and energetically connected to a wide range of important volcanic landscapes and mountains. A primordial geological and spiritual connection is believed to link all these energetically powerful sites together, including Mount Shasta, Lassen Peak, Lava Beds, Medicine Lake Highlands, and Crater Lake.
Famed as one of the world's premiere power spots, and honored by Native Americans as "holy ground" for centuries, Mount Shasta's significance is often viewed in the same category with the world's most prominent sacred sites, including the temples and pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, the Mayan pyramids, and Machu Picchu.
The mineral waters found on the mountain are considered to be some of the most potently healing waters.
Photos from a past pilgrimage
IN WOMEN'S WORDS
"This work is truly life-changing and life-giving!"
––Debra Mauro
'Expect to explore deep and uncharted waters within your own being. Stefana is a timeless and multidimensional facilitator. Her skills in providing space and practices to bridge one's inner world and outer world are unlike anything I have ever experienced before.' ––Allison Mezen
"The energies Stefana gathers to weave the web are incredibly powerful. The atmosphere of the experience is one of deep mystery: Grounded in practical reality, it is equally attuned to cosmos."
––Natanya Apfelbaum
“Working with Stefana has changed my life. It is a shift that is felt. Embodied. Lived. It is infusing into the way I teach. The way I love. The way I speak. It is not a system I've had to master. It is an opening up to life. So simple. So powerful. So real.” ––– Carina Lyall
“This work has been powerfully healing and transformative for me. I have allowed myself to be seen and uninhibited in ways I have never experienced before." ––Jayelle Greathouse
ACCOMMODATION and MEALS
We will be accommodated on a gorgeous piece of private property, with a creek flowing through the 10 acres of forested land, in direct proximity to Stewart Mineral Springs. Each woman will have a bed in a shared a room with 1–3 other women in the lovely guesthouse. Alternatively, you can choose 'glamping', luxury camping in solid, weather-protected tents with real mattresses, bedding, and lights. We may be able to accommodate you solo with the latter option, a matter of availability, please ask. The price is the same regardless of whether you stay indoors or outside. All bathrooms and showers are shared, with some porta-potties available outside as well.
All meals are included in the fee. Delicious local, organic, and mostly vegetarian food will be provided, with some fish and chicken options. Our meals will be catered by a wizard chef who grows her own food and bakes her own bread! Some of our meals we will prepare together, in the spirit of women running their own village. Please let us know about your dietary restrictions; we will do our best to accommodate them.
ABOUT YOR GUIDE: STEFANA SERAFINA
Stefana Serafina, M.A. is an embodiment educator, facilitator, and writer.
She is recognized for her unique and multi-faceted approach to body–centric self–discovery and transformation, weaving together embodied journeying and expressive arts approaches, earth and nature-centric practices, sensuality and mystery traditions, embodied archetypal psyche, dance, circle, and ritual.
Stefana is the founder of Intuitive Body and Dance ©, an international platform providing resources, experiences, and education for returning to our bodies’ inherent intelligence, creative and mythic genius, and sensuous wisdom. For over a decade, Stefana has been teaching and facilitating transformative, movement-based embodiment in California, Europe, Central America, and online, and developing the Deep–Body model which is at the foundation of the work.
Stefana has been teaching in California, Europe, and online since 2009. She also hosts and produces The Embodied Way Podcast, and authors the Embodied Way Blog.
See Stefana's FULL BIO and 'meet' her in videos
All-inclusive immersion, Thursday Sept 30–Monday October 4, Includes accommodation for four nights, all organic, freshly prepared and catered meals, workshop fees, and materials:
EARLY RATE by July 30
$1111 USD, with slight variation possible depending on accommodation type.
REGULAR RATE after July 30
$1222 USD
Payable in up 1– 3 installments if all are completed by Sept 15. Emails us for details. The fee does not include transportation to our meeting place, but we do assist with carpool arrangements)
To register, ask for more information, or if you have any Qs, please email connect@intuitivedance.org
See below for info on GETTING THERE, ARRIVAL + Schedule
GETTING THERE, ARRIVAL, AND SCHEDULE
GETTING THERE: The retreat center where we gather is located Weed, California, at the foot of the mountain. While everyone is responsible for figuring out and paying fo their own transportation, we will do our best to help with arranging carpooling from the SF Bay Area and back. If you are flying, the closest airport is in Medford, Oregon, about an hour away by car. Many people fly to Sacramento International Airport, or to San Francisco or Oakland, and carpool with participants from there, or rent a car together.
SCHEDULE (Subject to changes)
Thursday Sept 30
4 pm–4:30 pm: Arrival and Orientation
5 –7:30 pm Welcome, Opening Circle, and Workshop
7:30–8:30 pm Dinner
8:30–9:30 pm Community Time
Friday Oct 1
Breakfast 8:30-9:30 am
Group Activities 10 am -1 pm
Lunch 1-2:30 pm
Group Activities 2:30– 6:30 pm
Dinner 7 pm
Saturday Oct 2
Breakfast 8:30-9:30 am
Group Activities 10 am -1 pm
Lunch 1-2:30 pm
Group Activities 2:30– 6 pm
Dinner 7 pm
Sunday Oct 3
Breakfast 8:30-9:30 am
Group Activities 10 am -1 pm
Lunch 1-2:30 pm
Group Activities 2:30– 6 pm
Dinner 7 pm
Monday: October 4
Breakfast 8:30-9:30 am
Circle: 9:30-10:30
Checkout 11 am
Last journey on the mountain: 11-3 pm
3 pm Departure