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August 26 - September 2, 2012 An eight-day wilderness-based, car-camping expedition in the canyon country of southeastern Utah. The world is a chorus of more-than-human voices, a tapestry of multi-species reciprocity, a dance of endless encounter; an invitation. Much of our work in transforming modern cultures requires us to re-member how to perceive the world as alive and aware and to allow our own lives to be changed by this ever-deepening engagement with the mysterious, non-human Others with whom we share and comprise the world. These Others - the animals, plants, insects, rocks, winds, canyons, mountains, waters, sun, moon, and stars - bestow much of the magic and mystery of our lives. Indeed, our distinctly human psyches have been shaped by them, emerging as we have out of endless cross-species encounters over billions of years; the world always and everywhere encountering itself. In our 8-day journey together, we will each follow our own tracks through this ineffable matrix of nature and psyche in order to encounter more fully that unique place that we were individually born to inhabit. Just as we must learn to perceive what is happening in the landscape, so we must learn to perceive the tracks of soul in our own lives, to discern the subtle calls emanating from the shadowy edges of consciousness and beckoning us into the lives we were born to live. In our time together, we will seek to consciously entwine the tracks and signs of the Others with the unique mysteries of our own souls and come to recognize that our souls are inextricable dimensions of the numinous body of relationships that we call "nature". If soul is that unique and ultimate place each of us is born to inhabit, the more-than-human world itself is the field of relationships within which that place exists. To engage the imminent mysteries of the world and one's place within it is to engage soul. During this exploration we will practice basic skills of nature awareness and wildlife tracking, and we'll employ a variety of other soulcraft practices with the reminder that each is a form of tracking and nature awareness. Our soulcraft practices will include soulcentric dreamwork; accessing the deep imagination; the art of council; trance drumming, movement, and other consciousness-deepening practices; befriending the dark; and dialogues with nature. Here in this red rock canyon matrix of towering ponderosa pine and gnarled oak brush, where the dance of light and constant transformation of color lure us into the edge-regions of our own consciousness, we will follow what the land opens up for us in our individual and group encounters with the numinous currents of soul. Some days will be more about wildlife tracking and others more about awareness practices. We might end up walking lots of miles and covering lots of ground, or we might spend our days relatively stationary. It's best that you arrive with little expectation regarding our itinerary and much willingness to be changed and, as Rilke suggests, to be "defeated, decisively / by constantly greater beings," thus allowing your deeper life to emerge from the ashes of your own disintegration. No prior experience with wildlife tracking or nature awareness skills is required. Prior experience with exploring the mysteries of soul in some context (need not be with Animas) is necessary. An application is required. Please contact the Animas office to receive an application. Please refer to the Animas Valley website for a full description to this seminar and others. www.animas.org or call 800-451-6327 Costs Retreat Center: Southeast Utah Or Contact Jade for more information about this expedition. (Back)
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