Befriending the Dark and Birthing the Light

An Advent Retreat with Mother Mary

We all feel it these days-- a darkness that threatens to overwhelm.  A sorrow we hesitate to enter, because… what if there’s no way out?  An unknown that confuses and confounds us, a lack of control over our lives within the still-convulsing patriarchal lie of control at all costs.  

What would it be like to enter the dark?  If we knew in our bones we weren’t alone?  What would it be like to let the Dark Mother, Goddess, meet us there in all her fecundity and grace?  What if we felt her dark mantle embrace us, opening to give us a glimpse of every luminous star held within that inky dark?  

This Advent, we enter the dark in sobriety, sensing and seeking the Love of the Mother.  It is always there, it’s just a matter of turning towards, of stepping onto the spiral that leads us right into the center of our own hearts. It is letting ourselves be held in her womb of life that includes death, that holds destruction, that rocks us in Her rhythms and teaches us how to be more fully human, more fully awake and alive, true bearers of the light.  

We journey with Mother Mary as an archetype of the Goddess Herself.  We reclaim her from the grip of a patriarchy that has said she is virgin, handmaid, meek and mild.  We honor and embrace the strength, ferocity, tenderness and wholeness in Her, and in Ourselves.  We listen to the stories and learn from Her way, living into vibrant companionship with Her now, as sister, mother, guide and friend.  

Logistics and Details

Time:

Tuesday evenings: Dec. 7-Jan 11 (no session Dec. 28th) 

7-8:30 pm CT 

Sessions will be held on Zoom.  Option to attend live and/or receive recorded sessions.  

Cost:

Register by Nov. 30th-- $111

After Nov. 30th-- $125

Please ask about scholarships and payment plans.  

BONUS Package-- Add a Soul Session (1-1 private spiritual companioning session) with Erin to your retreat experience.  + $60  (for a 90-min session, a 30% retreat discount) 

*Includes admission to weekly live retreats and recording of retreat after each session, access to all teachings and prayer practices.  

Weekly Themes:


Week 1: Annunciation: Yes to the Darkness 

Week 2: Visitation: Holding Hands in the Dark 

Week 3:  Preparation for Birth: Straddling Darkness and Light  

Week 4: Presentation/Epiphany: Holding the Light (and the Pain) 

Week 5: The Finding: (& Staying) with Her 

What/ Why

  • dive deep in Advent prayer and practice 

  • meet Mother Mary as an active archetype and true feminine guide for your life 

  • learn practical ways to embrace her love, power and help 

  • engage pivotal moments of her life (annunciation, visitation, birth, presentation/ epiphany, finding) as mirrors and gateways of your own soul’s journey through darkness and light  

This retreat is for: 

  • anyone wanting to cultivate practices of the fertile darkness 

  • those seeking Spirit companionship in their quest for soul sobriety, sovereignty and growth

  • those who know Mother Mary but want to deepen that relationship; those who want to meet Her; and/or those who seek to reclaim Her/  heal their relationship with Her 

  • Folks already comfortable with the Feminine Divine in some form-- we assume you have this grounding and will be taking a deeper dive into relationship with Her

  • Those willing to open to the darkness/ depths of soul within.  This might mean encountering places of struggle and suffering-- it is important you have your own tools of grounding, coping, and resource in place.

  • People of all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, religions, faith backgrounds or none.

This retreat is not for:  

  • anyone who would feel uncomfortable meeting Mother Mary AS an archetype of God Herself (not just the “Mother of God” or “intercessory for God”, etc.) 

  • anyone still challenged by or uncomfortable with the feminine face of God 

  • anyone unwilling to allow feminine wisdom to be centered

  • Folks with acute unaddressed trauma 

Tools/Resources that will be engaged and taught 

(and what will fill your “toolkit” by retreat’s end)

  • Mary’s sacred heart (and yours) 

  • Embodied prayer (simple tools & techniques to pray in a more embodied way) 

  • rosary & Mysteries of the Rosary (newly interpreted)

  • guided meditation practice 

  • womb prayers (no need to have an anatomical womb-- we will work with this energetically) 

  • prayers:  Hail Mary, Our Mother, Memorare, Hail Holy Queen, Magnificat (these aren’t your Catholic grandma’s prayers of old!  We rework them and reclaim them in the Divine Mother, Goddess of All Life) 

Your Facilitator and Guide:

Erin Duffy-Burke is a contemporary catholic priestess, in service to the reclamation and renewal of Sophia, the Feminine heart of Christ. She is honored to stand in the lineage of Mary Magdalene, Mother Mary, Joan of Arc and so many other female spiritual leaders, healers, teachers and priestesses. She is excited to re-member and reweave this golden thread of Sophia Christ all the way from the Great Cosmic Mother Goddess into our lives today. She is a trained minister and thealogian with over twenty years of experience leading retreats and holding space for potent prayer. She holds masters degrees in Catholic Education, Multicultural Ministry and Christian Spirituality. Her primary initations and teachers have been the death of her sister by suicide almost 9 years ago and the grief journey; the love of her husband John and building true partnership together; her journey with depression and the deep dark; all of creation and the Beauty Way of it all. She is available for 1-1 Soul work online or in person, wedding officiating, baptism, reconciliation and other sacramental needs, birth doula work and retreat facilitation. She lives in the Dutchtown neighborhood of St. Louis with John and their two fur babies.