Befriending the Dark & Birthing the Light

An Online Advent retreat in the fierce, fecund Love of Mother Mary

As the season of Advent approaches and the darkness grows, how is your soul? Your heart?

What does your body most long for?

In these days of growing dark, we have an opportunity to become more intimate with the fierce, fecund love of the Mother.

Her Way is so often not the way of the world. When things speed up, She slows down. When we are afraid of the dark, She reminds us that this is where the seeds begin. When we are cold, She brings us a cup of tea and the warmest, softest blanket in the house. When we stand at the precipice of total unknown, She offers us a hand to hold. This is who She is. This is what we come home to— again and again— every winter, every turn of the wheel of time, cyclicly, rhythmically, constantly.

This Advent, you are invited to journey into the dark, into the wintertime, hand in hand with the fierce fecundity and Big Love of Mother Mary. Hers is a Presence that has transcended time and space— still as relevant and necessary for us today as She was for her own child over 2,000 years ago. She has a way of showing up when things are scariest, darkest, seemingly beyond hope, when her children are suffering the most. She hears and holds every cry of distress. She defies and destroys the patriarchal narratives that have sought to limit Her love. When we free Her from these binds, we free ourselves. We step more and more into who we are. We grow our hearts. We give birth to light.

Details

What:

An online retreat in 5 mini-sessions, throughout the weeks of Advent and Christmas. Part teaching transmission, part wisdom sharing, lots of embodied soul practice and care. Think of it as a deep, nourishing respite for your soul, in community with kindred ones.

When:

Thursday evenings: Dec. 5, 12, 19 and Jan. 2nd (no session Dec. 26th) 6-8:00 pm CT AND Saturday, Dec. 28th, 1-3 pm CT

Where:

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

Investment:

Supported: $88 // Standard: $111 // Supporting: $133

Choosing to pay at the “Supporting” rate directly supports someone only able to pay at the “Supported” rate. Thank you for your generosity and co-weaving of community!

BONUS -- Add an Embodied Soul Session (1-1 private spiritual companioning session) with Erin to your retreat experience.  + $88  (for a 60-min session, a 30% retreat-only discount) 

Embodied Soul Practice & Prayer.

Community Connection.

Wisdom Sharing and Reflection.

Weekly Themes:
Week 1: Annunciation: Yes in the Darkness 

Week 2: Visitation: Holding Hands in the Dark 

Week 3:  Preparation for Birth: Straddling Darkness and Light  

Week 4: Presentation: All the Heart Holds 

Week 5: The Finding (& Staying) with Her 

 More info…

  • Our two hour sessions will be a combination of prayer and practice, in a more embodied spirituality style (simple breath work, sensing the body, gentle movement, etc.); teaching and transmission (uncovering some juicy Wisdom reclaiming in the the Christ-light lineage); reflection and sharing together and deeper practice (guided meditations, and other creative engagement with the material).

  • This retreat is for femmes and thems: women and non-binary siblings. We will be centering the feminine principle in a reclamation of Her in our spiritual lineage and in ourselves. Folks of any or no spirituality or religious lineage are welcome, but know we will be focusing on the Mysteries of the Christ-light lineage. This can be particularly helpful for folks healing/ recovering from or reclaiming anew the Christianity of their upbringing or ancestry.

  • Mother Mary will be our primary guiding ancestor and embodiment of the Living Goddess for our entire 5 weeks. We’ll be tracking the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary— powerful archetypal stories that can be potent portals for our contemporary lives.

  • We will be recording every session and sharing it with all those registered, so if you can’t come to every live session, no worries! The content will be rich and the spiritual practices accessible even if you can’t come in live time. That said, the experience of community connection will be richest in live time, so we hope you can drop in live at least a time or two!

Why Mother Mary? 

Isn’t she an outdated, co-opted tool of the patriarchal church? 

Mother Mary is a powerful archetype and embodiment of the Great Cosmic Mother, Goddess Herself. 

Like all archetypal energies, this is NOT about some being far away.  The Divine Mother is showing us Her heart to call us into our own— to empower our lives for who we are and all we’re called to do and be in this lifetime.  Her heart mirrors our own.  Her love and liberation are ours. 

It is true that she has been used and abused by sexist and misogynistic  forces.  She has been silenced and stifled and repressed— like the feminine in so many of us. Yet it seems that when you go right into this pain, when you dare to meet the truth of her diminishment, and yours, an equally great stream of power, presence and transformative grace is released. The place that has been distorted becomes the very site of great liberation.

For those of us who grew up in a Christian lineage (or whose ancestors did), Mother Mary is one of the ways Goddess, or the Divine Feminine, has been hidden in plain sight right in our midst.  She is a potent way to come into relationship with the Divine Feminine without appropriating Her from another tradition.

Yet most importantly, Hers is a Presence that remains and draws closer in the most excruciating of circumstances, the most acute transformations. Nothing is too much for Her, and She has a way of meeting all Her people just where they are. To touch Her immense Love is to come into direct contact with the deepest reality of who you are— Love Herself.

Your retreat guide…

Hi, I’m Erin.

I’m so glad you’re interested in this work. The Divine Feminine is rising in unprecedented ways in our time, and I’m so grateful to be of service to Her return, particularly in the tradition of my origins, the Christ-light lineage. Rooted in Catholic Christian sacrament, spirituality, and social justice, I work in service to the reclamation and renewal of Sophia, the Feminine heart of Christ, in devotion to the liberation of all beings.  I’m honored and 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. I hold masters degrees in Catholic Education (U. of Notre Dame), Multicultural Ministry (Franciscan School of Theology) and Christian Spirituality (Graduate Theological Union) and over two decades of experience teaching, facilitating and leading retreats.  I am also an embodied soul care practioner, yoga therapist, facilitator of embodied transformation, birth doula, theAlogian and writer.  I live and love with my found family in the Dutchtown neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. 

Wondering if this retreat would be a good fit for you? Set up a FREE connection call here with Erin to explore. Chat with Erin now.