Pilgrimage Avila, Spain 2010    ONLY 1 PLACE LEFT

Avila, Spain Retreat & Pilgrimage:
Walking With Teresa of Avila

May 16-22, 2010

 

"What are you waiting for God?

What am I waiting for?

 

These were the words of Teresa of Avila as she journeyed into her Inner Castle.

Walking with her we will ask ourselves that same question,

What am I waiting for?

 

Visit this famed Heritage medieval walled city and walk in the footsteps of one of the greatest women mystics to have lived. Teresa of Avila takes us deep into our Interior Castle, deep into the beauty of our own soul, and helps us to awaken to our inherent power and love. She also teaches us how to know an inner peace that is entirely secure.

We will visit the Encarnacion Monastery where Teresa lived for almost 30 years and spend time in meditation in the private chapel where she experienced the ecstatic transverberation (when the angel pierced her heart with the arrow of God’s love). We will visit the monastery that she first founded in reforming the Carmelite Order, her birthplace, and also the place of her death, Alba de Tormes, sitting in the sacred silence to feel the vibrations of her soul, which are still readily felt today.

The theme for our retreat will be letting go of our attachments and addictions and opening with a new love and determination to the will of God. This is the path Teresa personally walked as she struggled with her attachments and her own personal will. In her teachings, and with her presence in Avila, we have the perfect guide.

I would highly recommend arriving in Madrid at least 2 days before pilgrimage begins. Spend time in Madrid visiting the Prado and other museums/historic places. And definitely spend a day in Toledo (a 30 minute train ride from Madrid) – a wonderful city full of fabulous architecture honoring the Muslim, Jewish and Christian heritage of Spain

Click Here to read "Walking with Teresa of Avila," my reflections on Avila.

 

To View YouTube Video please click on link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZYP3xQuhoM

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I would highly recommend arriving in Madrid at least 2 days before pilgrimage begins. Spend time in Madrid visiting the Prado and other museums/historic places. And definitely spend a day in Toledo (a 30 minute train ride from Madrid) – a wonderful city full of fabulous architecture honoring the Muslim, Jewish and Christian heritage of Spain.

After the pilgrimage I again would highly recommend spending a day/night in Salamanca and definitely one or two days in Segovia. These are both easily accessible from Avila. If you wish to travel further, then I would suggest Seville and Granada.

DEPOSITS AND COMMITMENT REQUIRED BY:

15TH DECEMBER 2009

Retreat Includes:

Single Accommodation with private bath

Breakfast and Dinners

Entry to museums on pilgrimage schedule

Chartered private bus to Alba de Tormes

Use of Dominican Sisters Chapel

Retreat Fee

Extra Costs:

Airfare to Madrid, Spain (approx. US$800-900)

Taxi from airport to train station (approx. US$30-40) Or subway (approx. US$3)

Travel to and from Avila (approx. US$15 one way)

Visits to other museums/sites not on scheduled pilgrimage (approx. US$3-5)

Lunches (approx. US$3-5 for simple bread/cheese/fruit etc).



Retreat Fee: US$1695 - $1795 depending on exchange rate.

Deposit Required by Dec.15, 2009: $US695

Balance Due: 1^st April 2010 (Payment options available if needed)

Hotel Recommendations:

Madrid: www.hotelcortezo.com

Segovia: www.el-hidalgo.com  

Salamanca: Email for information from tourist center: informacion@turismosalamanca.com

I would recommend buying a Lonely Planet or Fodors travel book also and see other options available.

Retreat ends at mid-day Saturday

Buses Leaving on Saturday from Avila:

Avila to Salamanca: 3:15,  5:00, 7:15 (Journey takes approx. 2 hours or less)

Avila to Segovia: 7:15 (approx. 1 hour arriving in daylight still)

Ticket Prices: Approx. US$8-10.

Ireland Pilgrimage: Exploring the Divine Feminine, 2010

Come and explore the rich mystical land of Ireland, with its myths, otherworldly dimensions, and strong and bold women, both in ancestral and contemporary context.

We will enter deeply into The Mother, visiting Holy Wells and sacred sites where the women were honored, and more importantly, honored themselves.

Our itinerary includes visits to:

• Newgrange Neolithic Burial Sites (built before the Pyramids)
• The Stone of Destiny and the Holy Well of Tara
• Brigit’s Garden in Galway, with guided tour and a special private talk on the Brigit Tradition. We will also learn how to make a Brigit Cross.
• Kylemore Abbey in Connemara
• Inishmore on the Aran Islands, where we will visit many sacred sites. We will sit and meditate in the “clochan” or hermit’s stone hut (dated 6th- 8th century). We will visit Holy Wells and the church of the early Christian woman saint, St. Surnai.
• We will also visit magnificent pre-Celtic and pre-Christian sites, which open the doorway to other dimensional realities.
• We will have a private talk by a local woman who is an expert in the field of Celtic women’s spirituality, and enter into ritual with a Celtic priest.

We will be creating our own ritual as we visit these sites, and we will delve deeply into our own feminine nature, bringing forward the innate power, sovereignty, truth and wisdom of who we are.
We will seek to understand how we can integrate our experiences of this pilgrimage with our everyday lives back home.

DEPOSITS & COMMITMENT REQUIRED BY JANUARY 1ST 2009

• Retreat Includes:
• Double Accommodation
• Breakfast & Dinners
• All transport on buses, privates buses, taxis and ferries
• All entrance fees to sites
• Retreat Fee

Extra Costs:
Airfare to Dublin, Ireland
Lunches

FEE: Exact Fee To Be Advised (Approx. $2500)
Depending on exchange rate
Add on $550 for single accommodation

Deposit of $600 required by Dec.1st 2009
Balance required by May 1st 2010
Payment Installments available

"My work is to love the world" - Mary Oliver

Assisi is a place of clarity. Visiting the sacred sites of St.Clare and St.Francis, we will attune our bodies and souls to the greater vision that our life holds.

Many people have received very clear indications as to the direction of their life while in Assisi. During this pilgrimage we will open our bodies and souls to receive whatever the spirit of clarity and transformation wants to gift us. This pilgrimage is suitable for all people, whether wondering what to do next in your life, or simply wanting to deepen where you already are.

 

Above all, be lovers of your souls. - Clare of Assisi

Where We Stay: La Cittadella, a lay retreat center, right in Assisi, giving a quiet and calm retreat atmosphere. They serve delicious Italian food and are very hospitable as befits the Franciscan way.
	Where We Do Retreat Work: We have private use of the Chapel at La Cittadella - a very beautiful and contemplative space. We will travel to the mountains outside of Assisi where Francis and Clare entered into their spiritual prayers and songs. We have private access to a chapel in San Damiano - where Clare lived most of her life.
Places we will visit: San Damiano - where Clare lived and created community The Basilica and Tomb of Clare - where we will feel the power in her still-enduring spirit The Basilica and Tomb of Francis - where his bones still radiate the light The Porziuncula - the original church of Francis The Eremo - the caves where Francis and the brother's meditated and Francis composed his songs & prayers Mt. Subasio - the sacred mountain since pre-Christian times St. Stephen's Church - where Francis was baptized To View YouTube Video please click on link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRxRrfpQ8U

ASSISI PILGRIMAGE FEES:

(FEES WILL DEPEND ON EXCHANGE RATE)

Approx $1695 double accomodation with private bath

Approx $1795-$1895 single accomodation with private bath

$695 Deposit to be paid by 1st December, 2010

Balance to be paid in full by April 15, 2011

If you need to organize payment installments please email to discuss options available.

Please email for registration form or further information

Email: clarepilgrimage@yahoo.com

ASSISI PILGRIMAGE FEE INCLUDES:

Glastonbury, England Retreat & Pilgrimage:
The Union of Being
May 2012

 

Meet the dawn on a mountain

Wash your face in the morning dew

Feel the favor of the earth,

Go out naked in the wind,

Become subtle enough

to hear a tree breathe.

                                                                  -  John O’Donohue

 

We will be receiving the blessings of 2012 in a very sacred place on this earth. Honoring the Mighty Tor, cleansing and healing at the Chalice Well gardens, blessing the union of the feminine and masculine in all their beauty, and binding the Ancient Pagan and Gnostic Christian ways into a harmonious whole.

More details to follow.