Shadowlands

What is Shadowlands?

This is a 3 part immersive programme to aquaint ourselves with both the constituency of the night-time – its nocturnal denizens and its cosmic events – as well as meeting the shadow within. The 1st and 3rd part are virtual online sessions and the 2nd part is an immersive threshold crossing experience at our riverside meadow venue in the beautiful Dart Valley on Dartmoor. 

On the night trail we will experience awe and wonder, fear and trepidation, insight and revelation and cultivate an apprenticeship with shadowlands to enable us to begin a courtship with the night, transforming it from persecutor to ally, finding sanctuary and refuge. The night gives us a ‘horizon further than we can see’ (David Whyte), and to romance the darkness, we will guide you with nightwalks and sit-spots, star treks and vigils, ceremony and enquiry, accompanied by a glittering treasure bag full of stories and songs and poems.

The course journey will invite a slowing down, learning night languages, and bring us out of our modern exile to take our rightful place as a constituent of the night.

Who is the course aimed at?

This trail is not for everyone, it will be at times demanding and mysterious, playful and intimate, with an endgame of transformation, whether that be in your relationship to the dark, the wild or yourself. You will need resilience and self-responsibility, to navigate the physical challenges of nightwalking (no great distance, but rough paths), of adverse weather, initiative to engage with the core routines and assignments inbetween modules. Participants must therefore have good physical and mental health to meet the demands of the programme. A willingness to apprentice to Mystery and Uncertainty will definitely be an asset.

If you long for a deeper kinship to nature and community, and are willing to take risks and explore the frontier beyond your comfort zone, then this programme will perhaps align with your aspirations.

Support and provocation will come via your guides all of whom have crossed this threshold in different ways.

Fees

£585 standard rate / £695 supporter rate

Course structure

• Part 1 – Nightdreaming – Online – 23^rd & 24^th June
• Part 2 – Romancing the Dark – Residential – September 19-22
• Part 3 – Shadowcraft – Online – 20^th & 21^st December

Venues

The 4-day residential will take place near Newbridge on Dartmoor in Devon, UK and is in a beautiful camp setting, with basic facilities. Please note, this is not glamping, accommodation is in tents (your own or hired from us), and there is a simple infrastructure of compost toilets and group shelters.