LIKE WILDFLOWERS YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO GROW IN ALL THE PLACES PEOPLE THOUGHT YOU NEVER WOULD…
 

These heARTbeat retreats are for the seeker; those courageous enough to dive deep and journey the delicate underbelly of BEing. Steeped in wild earth based ancestral tradition, over the course of the weekend you will ceremoniously birth your own healing colleague, a traditional style Medicine Drum and Sounder.

 

Focus is on the Irish Celtic traditions, lore related to these ancient earth festivals (within the Celtic Wheel of the Year), the seasonal elements, directions, and archetypes, and the wild native medicinal plants and trees that relate with these festivals. 

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Over the course of the weekend each participant will birth their very own personal Drum and Sounder. We work with local sustainably sourced Birch for the drum hoops (Celtic tree of new beginnings and overcoming difficulties), and ethically sourced Reindeer rawhide which we receive directly from the Saami peoples of North Finland (northern Earth Element ancestral medicine). We incorporate natural botanical colours, eco dyeing methods, wild native medicine bundles, and a wide selection of botanically dyed raw sheep's wool for your felted Sounder.

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These are not merely weekends to birth your drum colleague though, they are a dedicated time to birth yourself fully into BEing. Given the nature and energy of the seasonal element, the Celtic festivals, and moon phases over these weekends, it's important to make clear that these gatherings are full sensory initiatory experiences that will demand deep introspective 'work' on your part. This demand, in whatever shape and form it comes in, will be your unique invitation to 'step up' and empower yourself through the natural forces of (non human) nature. Should you choose to embrace it or not is entirely up to you and where you are at in your journey. Some are consciously aware of this immediately, others become aware of it as they evolve together with their drum colleague.

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*A special note on the RED DRUM retreat weekend for women

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The RED DRUM retreat weekend is specifically created as a safe female only space for those currently navigating themes such as ancestral healing, bloodline lineage, intergenerational trauma, healthy boundaries, thorn medicine, womb health, the Smother wound, patriarchial matriarchs, the path of wild rose plant medicine, the heART of peaceful resistance, and war energy within the Celtic context of The Mórrigan and Raven Medicine. On this special occasion we will each birth our own Red Rose & Red Ochre Ritual Drum and Sounder.

 

The dye vat we will work with for the Reindeer rawhide is made from Red Rose petals and hand dug Red Ochre that I gathered in Ireland. We will work with Birch hoops (as above), and I will have Birch tree pigment (new beginnings, overcoming difficulties), Oak tree pigment (strength, endurance, courage), charred Willow pigment (emotional wellBEing, lunar BEing, dreams, intuition), that we can work into the rawhide on the drum heads as well as a bone black that I have crafted from Raven bones and charred wild Mugwort (vision, protection, cleansing, lunar journeying).

 

As it is the season of water and the enchantress archetype, throughout our weekend together we will reflect upon inner rhythms of embodying fluidity, flow, renewal, and release...for equilibrium, solace and inner peace. As it is the first month in the lunar half of the year, we will also explore cyclical BEing and the dark side of feminine consciousness.

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The beauty you see below is Niamh's personal Red Drum colleague in the botanical crescent moon birthing nest she created to honour its arrival. The Ravens heralded the arrival of the spirit of this Drum over Lúnasa 2019, the path it was to take, and the elements of ritual needed in the time ahead. It birthed itself into BEing at dawn on Imbolc in 2023. It is lovingly co-created with Red Rose, Birch, and Oak botanical pigments, and Red Ochre - the sacred colour palette of plant, tree and earth medicines that we work with during the upcoming RED DRUM weekend together. The Reindeer rawhide was soaked in virgin snow to invoke Bríd, purity, the virgin womb, the cleansing of the bloodlines and fluid bodies, and new beginnings.

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