Please Note: This website is out of date. The Steward Community Woodland sustainable living project ended in 2018 for legal and planning permission reasons. The contents have been left here as a historical archive.

The Wild Pagan Course - 5 day

This course is now confirmed and will run for five days in September. It will be held in mixed woods on magical Dartmoor: a lush landscape of - if you wish to see them - rocky troll lairs and faery glades.

It is non-denominational, suitable for anyone who derives a spiritual or magical awareness from the world around us and all course participants will be invited to contribute their energy during ritual.

It is a practical course suitable for those who wish to experience outdoor living to deepen their understanding of the natural cycles that influence our lives and spirituality. Learning will be informal and experiential.

Connecting more deeply with lives other than our own enhances self-reliance. It contributes to clear communication on material and ethereal levels. It enables an energetic awareness of the food we eat; the air we breathe; the water we quench our thirst with.

The course syllabus will include:

    * Making fire: taking part in tree felling; appreciation of the full cycle of taking a tree and processing the timber by hand; making fire by friction; completing the cycle by planting a tree.
    * Gathering and preparing plant food: learning to recognise edible wild plants, harvesting plants for dinner, preparing food as a group and appreciating the plants that have contributed.
    * Skinning and butchering an animal: this will be an optional session for those who wish to connect more deeply with taking animal life.
    * Shelter-building: cutting the materials and working as a group to make a structure.
    * Nature awareness: learning to lose yourself in the woods; changing your awareness of the animal lives that surround us. A dusk session listening to bats.
    * Picking fruit and beginning the process that will turn it into wine!
    * TBC: making a basket with which to gather food.
    * The course will end with a celebration.

Course participants will need to bring:

    * a headtorch
    * sturdy footwear
    * weather-appropriate clothing
    * a tent, as you will be sleeping in your tent on your first and fourth night.
    * sleeping gear
    * cutlery, plate and cup
    * a sheath knife.

We ask participants to leave behind their laptops! Bring your mobile phones, there will be a place to charge them, but we ask that they are left alone or turned off during the sessions. When booking the course please let us know of food requirements and any allergies or medical conditions.

This course will not be suitable for those with mobility limitations due to steep, rocky terrain.

The price is still to be confirmed and we will publish it as soon as possible.

No. days: 5
Hours per day: 7
Cost: £0

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Last updated: 2011-04-06

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