An Invitation to Explore and Deepen Into the Heart and Soul of Mother Africa
With Jane Bell, Mary Elizabeth Mason and Ruth Underwood
16th – 30th March , 2017 (14 nights)
This journey of transformation was birthed out of our desire to share something essential that lives deeply in our psyches and hearts. Our own experiences in Africa have awakened our soul to remember its primal beginnings as we walked the ancient earth, rocked in the womb and the heart of the Mother. To be with the mystical nature of this land, to immerse in the deep African mystery is to be called into palpable Presence, that vibrant field of Oneness with all living things.
The Nilotic Meridian traverses the continent of Africa from South Africa near the Blyde River Canyon to Egypt. According to the ancients, it is the only meridian, or energetic ley line, that covers a land mass without being broken up by water, and it represents the integration of spirit and matter. Under this meridian is what the Africans believe is the River of Gold. In South Africa at the root of the Nilotic Meridian, we expand into Mother Earth and experience our embodied selves as being one with her: earthy, essential, wild and free. At the top of this meridian in Egypt it is more cosmic. For those who have stood on the Giza Plateau with the Great Pyramids creating a surreal landscape, you might remember how you entered into your light body and experienced yourself as a cosmic being. When we as individuals tap into the Nilotic Meridian during the journey of awakening, we too are integrating our spirit body with our physical one.
Beginning this journey at the Origins Center in Johannesburg, we will be introduced to the relationship of the ancient Bushman with their spiritual connection to the animal world. From the city, we drive north into the silence of primal Africa. Our first stop will be Adam’s Calendar, a 60,000 year old stone circle. After ceremony and meditation, we will spend three nights at a Bush Retreat Center, a nature reserve on thousands of acres where we will sink into the land and begin to ground into the African bushveld. There we will walk the land, meditate, do ceremony and connect to the animals that roam free. From here, we go on safari in the Kruger National Park, the largest game park in the world. Our immersion in the animal kingdom continues at Tsau, the White Lion Trust, where we will be inspired by Linda Tucker’s project to save the white lions of the Timbavati. Our final stay will be in the Blyde River Canyon at the Pyramid Mountain called Modimolay where the Africans believe “God created the world.” Here we will have six nights to explore the Canyon in meditation and ceremony from the base of the river to the escarpment. We will spend an afternoon at projects in the Acornhoek community including the Mapusha weavers, a children’s art studio and the Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. We will also visit a local art gallery displaying work by the community. Next to the art center is the Reptile Farm, a sanctuary for snakes and other reptiles where we will learn the basic nature of these often misunderstood creatures. Whilst in the Blyde Canyon, we will have time to integrate and circle, balancing our time of new experiences with quiet contemplation.
Price of retreat per person sharing: $5870 (A deposit of $800 secures your place)
For more information email: ruth@mysticalplaces.org
