INVOKING THE INNER GODDESS A Weekend Retreat for Women! JULY 8 - 11, 2010 |
Supplies needed: Camping equipment such as a tent, sleeping bag, flashlights, food utensils etc. Please also bring grass seed to put down under your tent when we leave, and garbage bags to haul all your garbage away with (leave no trace!). There are showers available, but remember there is no electricity, so hair dryers and electric curling irons are not needed. If you have not done this sort of camping before, please do not hesitate to contact me for more details. Don’t forget to bring a camping chair! Be prepared for all types of weather. This retreat will go on regardless of the weather! Candles, candles, candles, never have enough candles! Tea lights work great to light the paths and decorate the areas around your camping space. We just have to remember to clean up the cups afterwards. Bug repellant is a must, as is sun screen. We will proceed regardless of the weather so come prepared for all weather; rain, sun, heat, or cold. This year we will be doing our own drumming. If you have a drum, bring it or something else you can drum on or can rattle. We will be learning some basic heart beat drumming so don't worry about not knowing how to drum! We will once again try to go out into the woods and do some work on the shrines, weather permitting, so bring gardening gloves and whatever else you think you might want for this type of work. Altar items Please bring a personal item to set on our Goddess Altar. This year I will be setting it up in Thunder as I am not sure the stage will have a roof. We will do our best to set up a tarp above it to help with the elements. Feel free to set up an altar outside your tent, express yourself! Also bring something to leave at the Goddess shrine that represents your intent to connect with the Goddess energy. Clothing Thursday night we will be doing a sweat for purification. So bring a sarong or something you can wear while participating, also a mat or towel to sit on. You are not required to do the sweat, but those that do not go in will be drumming and chanting outside. Also please bring an offering for the ancestors such as tobacco. For during daylight hours bring clothes to fit the weather. Layers help especially if it is cooler in the early a.m. and warms up later in the day. Goddess clothes are always appropriate, but make sure you have shoes made for walking out in the woods! Also, on Fridy we will be playing in the dirt a bit. Friday night will be the descent and darker cloths are preferable. You will be the initiate going into the underworld, bring clothes that will assist you in becoming one. Saturday night is the Goddess Night Out and we dress to the hilt! Bring all your makeup, dangly jewelry, fancy dress up clothes. GODDESS NIGHT OUT! I want EVERYONE to feel like a Goddess that night, so bring what makes YOU feel good! We will all help each other get all dressed up! Face paints will be available! As we will be dancing around the fire, belly dancing outfits or fancy scarves would be great additions. AGAIN, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE COMFORTABLE SHOES! Be prepared for walks into the woods; make sure you have the appropriate clothes for that. We will also be dancing but not always on sand. Food You will be responsible for all food. Please make choices that are easy to prepare due to the shortness of time periods for eating. If you are going to fix hot food, please bring a camping stove so that you are not dependent on starting a wood fire that might get delayed because of wet wood. Suggestion would be bagels or muffins for breakfast and sandwich makings for lunch. Also bring any snack items you might want, enough for you and enough to share. Dinner on Saturday night will be a Goddess Feast. So bring your favorite dish to pass, something that makes YOU feel like a Goddess. Once again I will be bringing five gallon jugs of blessed water that will be available for drinking. Please bring anything else you want to drink! FYI – I am not a coffee drinker, so those that need their coffee will need to bring what they need to fix it. Sorry, I am clueless when it comes to coffee! Craft Work All supplies needed for craft work will be provided as part of the fees involved. If anything else is needed, you will be contacted when you register. A Gift I would like each participant to bring one item to give to someone else that would go on their altar as a memory of this weekend. I do not want anything expensive, a small crystal, a feather, a stone, something that has meaning for you or something that YOU would love to put on your own altar. I would like this article to be wrapped prettily in a small package with a note giving words of encouragement that you would be thrilled to receive. Please make sure to have it wrapped before you get on the land. Again, it does not have to be anything fancy or expensive, just meaningful. Don’t try to think about what someone else might like, think about what would be meaningful to you! I will need it to fit into a small paper lunch bag. I will have a journal for all those that pre-register. Bring your open mind, your open heart, and your inner selves. PLEASE be aware that you will only get out of this what you are willing to put into it. There will be rules to be followed, but there are reasons for them. We will be doing guided meditations, walking meditations, dancing, drumming, chanting, and journaling. On Sunday after breakfast, if you have wares to sell or services you would like to offer, we can set up a little “mini market” type affair. Let me know if you are interested in doing this so we can coordinate it, and let others know what will be offered! CAMERAS For those that have digital cameras and wish to participate, we welcome their use. Everyone always loves a record of what happened. I will be bringing a card reader, but if your digital camera is downloaded off a cord, please bring it with. We will synchronize all the cameras to the same time and then download the photos to a hard drive. I will then edit them for everyone, and send out a CD with all the pictures. By synchronizing the time, we can organize the photos easier. We all take pictures, but seldom do we get pictures of ourselves. This way, everyone will be covered. Of course if there are those that do not wish to be photographed, just let us know and we will do our best not to include you! Hopefully that covers it, any questions, do not hesitate to contact me! ZE at razena@razena.net or 630-222-1174 |