Our Ritual & Ceremony Retreats

New Year Ritual Retreat
January 13-15th 2023

Every January, we offer a weekend retreat exploring rituals for self care & community care. Together, we release what we need to let go of from the previous year, find stillness in the present moment, and create a story vision to guide us forward. This is a wonderful way to welcome a new year and set new intentions for what's to come!

Please note that this year's retreat will take place at Rivendell on Bowen Island, BC. We will be closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and will follow BC Health Guidelines. We recommend everyone attending be fully vaccinated to protect the wellbeing of those joining who are immunocompromised or working with vulnerable populations.

Thank you for your care and consideration,
Megan

Bowen Island, BC

Rivendell Retreat Centre is a living sanctuary. Set in a tranquil, natural environment, the Lodge at Cates Hill is surrounded by forest, lakes, and sweeping ocean views. We will have the Lodge to ourselves, which sleeps 25 people comfortably.

While Rivendell has Christian roots, our retreat offers a secular and universal approach to ritual and ceremony. We aim to create a diverse and inclusive gathering, holding space to acknowledge our relationship with ourselves, with each other, and with the ancestral land that surrounds us.

Be Ceremonial

Being ceremonial is both a way of life and a frame of mind. For many, it begins with unpacking our past expectations and understandings of what ritual and ceremony are and how they can be woven into our daily life.

We all hold a connection to ritual and relationship with ceremony, we may simply need to remember. The retreat will be based on Be Ceremonial's signature ceremony framework of acknowledging what was, what is, and what will be. We invite you to explore our DIY Ceremony App before you join us.

Story Visioning

At the heart of this work is a desire to shift the cultural narratives and personal stories we tell ourselves. Together we will explore, unpack, and intentionally step into the stories we want to create for the coming year.

Over the course of the weekend, we'll each craft a Story Vision Box that holds symbols, metaphors, and wishes for the year ahead. We will fill them up with ritual tools to support us on our individual journeys, while also connecting us to a larger story that we are now each part of.

Investment

The cost for the retreat is $925 CAD which includes two nights accommodation in a single or semi-private room with bathroom, a fully catered vegetarian menu (6 meals in total), ritual tools, story vision supplies, and more! We have a few scholarships available for anyone facing financial barriers. The cost does not include travel to or from Bowen Island. *There is a 50% deposit to secure your spot, a non-refundable $100 processing fee, and we cannot issue any refunds within 30 days of the retreat. You are welcome to find someone to take your spot though.

Schedule

The retreat begins Friday, January 13th at 3pm with our welcome ceremony. We will then share our stories, release what we need to from the previous year, and enjoy a beautiful dinner together. Saturday will be focused on crafting our Story Vision Boxes, as well as solo reflection time and possibly a dip in the sea! Sunday invites an opportunity to share our story visions for the year ahead, followed by lunch and our closing ritual. We will wrap Sunday, January 15th at 3pm, with plans to catch the 4pm ferry home.

Ritual & Ceremony with Megan Sheldon

Megan is a Cultural Mythologist, Celebrant, and End of Life Storyteller. She will be guiding the weekend and framing the entire retreat as a ceremony itself. She will share the foundations of ritual, ceremony, and storytelling, offering different ways to weave ceremony into your daily life. With a focus on both self care and community care, Megan will be introducing simple rituals that can support your Story Vision for the year ahead.

Brain Health with Alix Dunham

Alix Dunham is a trauma-based certified meditation teacher and runs Grit Meditation in Vancouver. Alix will be leading several workshops over the weekend exploring the neuro-science behind a mindfulness practice and how that can boost our brains to make us healthier, happier humans. Through discussions around release, resilience, and creativity, we’ll explore how it feels to sit in the quiet of our lives in order to find some calm amongst the chaos.

Vision Boxes with Zinnia Falcon

Zinnia is an artist, crafter and creator. She will be leading us in creating our Story Vision Boxes that will clarify our intentions for the year to come and hold ritual tools to support us on that journey. Zinnia’s favourite part of her artistic practice is that her creations become a conduit of love and support between beings and a means to ease the burden of what it is to be human.

Photo Documenting with Corrina Holburn

Corrina Holburn is an award-winning documentary family photographer in North Vancouver. Prior to having a family, she considered the darkroom her second home while she studied photography and fine arts at university. She will be photo & video documenting our weekend together, capturing moments of authenticity and ritual-in-action. Together with Megan, she will be creating a slideshow documentary that explores our evolving relationship with ritual and ceremony.

Application Request

PREVIOUS RITUAL RETREATS

Rituals for Renewal ~ Spring 2022
Photos by Corrina Holburn Photography

End of Life Retreat - Fall 2021

Photos by Felicia Chang Photography

New Year Ritual Retreat ~ Winter 2020

Photos by Felicia Chang Photography