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Dreaming of the Sea: The Selkie Story

A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie

Registration Fee: $150 USD

Program Description

Stories offer us a map of transformation.

We step inside their dream space. We are invited to release our thinking and striving minds, to surrender to a wisdom that is far deeper and more expansive. They call forth new archetypal energies within us that have been hidden and forgotten. Stories call us to re-member which means to make whole again.

In the ancient Celtic stories Selkies are shapeshifters. They move between worlds. They are women who take the form of a seal when in the sea and human form on land. These stories appear across Ireland, Scotland, and the Faroes. When the Selkie comes ashore, she takes off her skin, and if this skin is captured by a human, she is forced to stay on land.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes: “The doors to the wild self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door. If you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.” (from Women Who Run With the Wolves)

Over the last five years of living in Ireland, I have fallen passionately in love with the landscape and the stories that are rooted in it. This work with the power of stories comes from my love for Jungian psychology and working with the narrative structure of the psyche that is illumined through them.

They carry us across a series of thresholds, moving inward, and then moving back out into the world again with new gifts and treasures. Stories are potent agents of change. Stories offer us the healing medicine we are so hungry for.

Mythologist Martin Shaw says: “Myth insists that in each of us a great kingdom presides: filled with forests, remote castles, giants, witches, lovers, the dreams of the earth itself. To hear a story well told was to bear witness to the wily tale of your own life meeting the bigger epic that those before you had walked. Such speech was a way you tasted your ancestors. We don’t have such stories: such stories have us.”

In this 7-week experience, we will move through the Selkie story slowly together, letting each of its thresholds infuse us with courage and solace, with insight and inspiration. We will cross through each doorway drawing us deeper into ourselves and ask what it demands of us. We will help break open its invitation through expressive arts, movement, dreams, calling on the ancestors, and with the alchemy of herbs as allies on this journey.

Together we will create a temenos, a safe sanctuary to lay down our defenses and soften to what is unfolding within us. By speaking aloud our experiences we invite alchemy, by witnessing the transformation of another, we are empowered.

The weekly audio recordings of the webinars that were offered during the community offering of this retreat are a temple time for poetry, meditation, and listening to each threshold of the story. We are called together into this circle and its power by a much wiser presence who invites us to say yes. Transformation happens when our moments of unfolding and discovery are lovingly seen by another.

Does this Sound Like You?

  • You have a deep love of the sea and a sense that the wide expanse of ocean is calling you home again.
  • You hold a desire to journey with other soulful women and dive deep, helping to hold space for powerful inner work.
  • You are willing to be a loving witness, to hold back your desire to fix things for others and yourself, and rest into the discomfort and the unknown.
  • You know that when resistance arises in the form of fear and trembling or other roadblocks, you recognize that you are getting close to something profound and true and stay the course.
  • You feel excited (and maybe even a bit daunted) at stepping into a lovingly created process which invites you to explore your own creative edges.
  • You are ready to allow yourself to be seen on many levels and to finally make time for your own process.
  • You identify as a woman (or femme, female, etc).

Recommended Reading

If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging by Sharon Blackie
– a fantastic new way of reading the old stories. Sharon calls forth the Celtic stories as empowering guides.

Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Song of the Sea(movie)

*Links are to Amazon.com and when you use them we receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you. These funds go to support our scholarship fund.

Where have you been forced by circumstance of family or culture into a life that no longer feels like your own?

What has been sacrificed that you thought was lost?

How might you reclaim this in your life? Who are the wise ones to help you guide the way?

What's Included

Six days each week you receive an email with a link to the day’s content. The 7th day is a time for rest and integration. The materials are in written and audio format which you can view and listen to at any time. You have lifetime access to the materials in the course.

Day 1: Audio recording with Christine Valters Paintner includes overview of the week, hearing the next threshold of the story, and an invitation into an herbal ritual.

Day 2: Working with Dreams

Day 3: Nature-Based Explorations with Polly Burns

Day 4: Listening to the story again and responding

Day 5: Invitation to Moving with the Story with Aisling Richmond

Day 6: Closing Reflections/Invitations for the week

Day 7: Sabbath rest

  • Ongoing access to the materials in our private and easy-to-navigate retreat platform on Ruzuku.
  • Audio recordings of Christine reading each threshold of the story and offering invitations into work with herbs, dreamwork, writing, and creative process.
  • Rich content from our guest teachers Aisling Richmond (weekly videos) and Polly Burns (weekly written reflections) to deepen your experience through movement, art, and nature process.
  • Not included are the herbs we will be working with each week. If you want to participate in the herbal rituals, you can purchase mugwort, rose petal, and rosemary (only need about 4 oz of each) plus some rosemary essential oil, carrier oil (4 oz of almond, rose hip, olive, apricot kernel oil, etc), sugar, small cotton bag, charcoal and incense burner. You can purchase these at a local health food shop or an online herb shop like Mountain Rose Organics.

Weekly Themes

The Gates We Enter, The Thresholds We Cross

All stories have gates that the reader enters alongside the protagonist. The gate leads to a threshold that once crossed, initiates a series of challenges and invitations for the protagonist and for us. We find the Selkie within us.

First Threshold

Dancing Under the Full Moon

First Threshold:
Dancing Under the Full Moon

We begin under the light of the full moon, celebrating what is luminous in our lives, what are the radiant lights that points our heart's direction, and where we love to dance. We will work with mugwort, also known as cronewort, bringing us in connection to the wise old feminine, to create a dream pillow.

Second Threshold

The Agreements We Make

Second Threshold:
The Agreements We Make

We explore the many subtle and overt agreements and compromises we make in our lives which stifle us and examine the roles we play, how we try so hard to live up to others' expectations or to please them. We will work with rose, a healer of the heart, and create an anointing oil.

Third Threshold

Deep Longings Arise, Depression Descends

Third Threshold:
Deep Longings Arise, Depression Descends

We pay attention both to the longings being kindled deep within as well as the places we numb ourselves and seek distraction in compulsions. We continue our work with rose and make a syrup to continue to nourish our heart.

Fourth Threshold

The Exhausted and Desperate Searching

Fourth Threshold:
The Exhausted and Desperate Searching

The virtues are those qualities we can cultivate in our lives to act as an antidote to the vices that might tempt us. Humility is considered to be Queen of the virtues.

Fifth Threshold

Seeking the Wisdom of the Elders and Ancients

Fifth Threshold:
Seeking the Wisdom of the Elders and Ancients

We don't make this journey alone, we seek wise guides and ancestors to support us. We engage mugwort in the form of incense to call forth this cloud of witnesses in our lives.

Sixth Threshold

The Task is Given , Endurance is Demanded

Sixth Threshold:
The Task is Given , Endurance is Demanded

Commitment is required of us to sustain this work. We must be willing to stay through the resistance, the discomfort, the desire to know or to control. We work with rosemary in the form of a scrub, a herb which supports us in remembering why we are making this journey and what essential things we have forgotten.

Seventh Threshold

The Great Remembering

Seventh Threshold:
The Great Remembering

We embrace the act of re-membering, which is to make whole again. We are still on the journey but we realize that what we have been seeking all along is right within us. We continue to work with rosemary in the form of an anointing oil again, to bless us on our way, and to support our ongoing act of remembrance of our inheritance.

Your Guides for the Journey

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Christine is the director of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery exploring contemplative practice, creative expression, and ways to nourish an earth-cherishing consciousness. She is a spiritual director, teacher, pilgrimage guide, and author of nine books on spirituality and the arts. Her deepest belief is that the earth is the original monastery–a wisdom guide and mentor in living a soulful and vibrant life. Visit the “About Christine” page for more information.

aisling

Aisling Richmond, MA

Aisling is a teacher, therapist and soul guide living in the West of Ireland. She loves to share with others a juicy, embodied, and creative approach to life. Aisling holds three teaching qualifications in Yoga, Conscious Dance, and Somatics, and is a fully accredited Somatic therapist. In 2011 she earned her Masters degree in Movement Research, which focused on dance as a spiritual practice and healing art. Aisling teaches weekly Yoga classes, runs Somatic Wisdom courses, and works as a therapist to help people to overcome life challenges through Somatics or body-mind wisdom. She runs retreats set in the beauty spots of Ireland, inviting people into a deeper connection with nature. Having worked collaboratively with many organizations including Amnesty International, Aisling has also been a guest lecturer with both Galway and Limerick Universities. Her passion is to support each person’s soul growth, and invite a home-coming to the wisdom and wonder of our sacred bodies. Visit Aisling’s website here>>

Polly Bio

Polly Paton-Brown, MA, UKCP

Polly has worked for many years as a psychotherapist and trainer in the field of trauma. Most days she can be found in her Lodge by the Lake, creating art and helping clients to connect to the Divine through art and nature. Polly has travelled widely to train as a facilitator of Equine Facilitated therapy, Expressive  Arts and Eco-therapy. Always been a lover of nature, horses and creativity Polly now integrates all of these into her practice. She is a licensed facilitator of Chakradance,  The Art of Allowing , Creative Awakenings and is a facilitator and Instructor for the HEAL method of Equine Facilitated Therapy. A member of the Iona Community, Polly was coordinator of their healing ministry for 11 years and when in that role ran regular retreats on the Isle of Iona.  With roots in the contemplative and monastic traditions, Polly also draws wisdom from other spiritual paths such as Druidry and Sufism. She is passionate to help those wounded by the institutional church, to restore their image of God and themselves. Visit Polly’s website here>>

 

Praise for the Course

It's Easter Monday and I am sad to see the end of this Creative Flourishing retreat, but oh so grateful for the multi-layered experience. I made the decision to take this journey at the last minute, but with great conviction it would deepen my Christian life. I had no idea what it would be like. It was like nothing I have experienced before. Thank you to Christine for originating the idea and doing such a thoughtful and tender job of guiding us through this journey. My deepest joy was to reconnect with the artist within me. The art literally flowed from me. Like living water. A well-spring fed by Christ himself.
Laurie Wagner
I'll be stepping into the season of Easter and spring with more ease, joy and awake from having prayed with, reflected on, moved with and daily witnessing of the mandalas during the past five and one half weeks. Thank you Christine for your vision, knowledge, design and guidance throughout this Lenten season; Hildegard of Bingen is now a living Saint for me. Betsey, i've become more embodied, through participating in your interpretations of Hildegard in dance and chant. This spiritual community has filled my heart with divine blessings. I will pass these blessings on.
Beatrice Randall
I'm so grateful for this retreat. It has been the most amazing experience of learning and growth, spiritually, artistically, and emotionally. Most of which I was not expecting when I signed up. Christine, I want to thank you again for this amazing Lent retreat. It was a joy, honor and privilege to attend. This has been an experience I won't soon forget. I've learned so much about myself and this process of healing through artistic expression. I look forward to doing more with you
Tamara Mapp
Thank you, Christine, for the best retreat I've ever experienced. I'm hooked on Hildegard! She will ever be part of my spirituality as she has added both depth and richness to my faith.
Evelyn Jackson
Sincere and grateful thanks for this marvelous retreat. Your guidance and song will live in my heart. Hildegard's presence has been a source of light and love. Your ministry is much appreciated. We are greener!
Mary Mason
This has been a very rich retreat. I have loved creating, singing, breathing, moving, reading and praying with you. Thank you.
Judith Bryan
My heart is so full. This has been the best retreat in my life.
Louise Thigpen

Registration

Your registration constitutes an agreement with our online program Terms and Conditions below.

All prices displayed in USD.

$150

Registration Fee

If you need a different payment plan or a scholarship to make this program accessible, please get in touch with us.

Terms and Conditions

Please consider your purchase carefully and review the many free materials we have on our website to make sure the program will be a good fit or get in touch with any questions.

We ask that you honor our work by not sharing the program materials with others who are not enrolled.

Please contact us for permission to quote in settings beyond the program

Some self-study retreats include video or audio recordings of sessions that were recorded in a live community offering of the retreat and may make reference to forums or other modes of sharing. Please disregard these as self-study retreats do not have these available.

If you choose a payment plan and stop payment before fulfilling the commitment without contacting us to make other arrangements, your access to the program will be removed.

First Threshold

Dancing Under the Full Moon

First Threshold:
Dancing Under the Full Moon

We begin under the light of the full moon, celebrating what is luminous in our lives, what are the radiant lights that points our heart's direction, and where we love to dance. We will work with mugwort, also known as cronewort, bringing us in connection to the wise old feminine, to create a dream pillow.