Anima
A re-wilding photography retreat on the West Coast of Vancouver Island
"This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” - Toni Morrison
In ancient cultures, shamans and mystics guided societies during times of transition. Those with the gift to see into the unseen offered their wisdom to their communities
MAY WE RISE IN BEAUTY
As photographers and storytellers our work has the power to transform the world while our soul longs for the fulfilment of our purpose. To dwell in our purpose helps us to respond to great suffering, trauma and grief.
For those who care deeply about the planet and for people, whose earth walk has guided them to different worlds-seen and unseen, who hear their ancestors, who gather seeds and tend to the dying. who birth new worlds, we desperately need a place to be seen, held and uplifted.
ANIMA is for those who currently dwell in deep listening and soul tending, and who are devoted to creating beauty out of suffering and who are seeking community.
all of you is welcome here.
This is a multidimensional, experiential space
It goes without saying that we will journey to the Otherworld, meet our edges and experience connection through embodiment, nature connection, ritual and creative practice.
We will orient to our creative processes, practices and tools as portals into unseen realms.
The camera, for example, is a conduit for capturing the interconnectedness of all things but only to the extent that our bodies are connected to the animate. So too is the pen.
The lens and page serves as a magical mirrors through which the unseen can become seen, the unknowable, known.
We will deepen our embodiment and connection to the Living and Grieving Earth so that what our creative tools able to be seen by and see into is a our deepest soul longing and knowing as oracles of the earth.
Our Journey Together
This space is for those who wish to attune their creative process to the animate, living earth and to be witnessed, held and cared for in body and soul by others who are on a similar path
Anima is a live small-group mentorship container for creatives, seekers, mystics, visionaries, and culture builders who desire to deepen into relationship with other kindred folk who similarly walk open hearted to the wild terrain of our initiatory times. This intimate container is designed to hold you in your quest to unearth and embodying your creative vision.
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All of us have a wild love for the land. We have our intimate rituals of showing the earth that we love and appreciate her. We receive her blessings in the form of Shakti. In this opening month, we will presence this love through rituals of creative practice. We will open up a collective prayer field in which we invite Earth to enter our space together and our individual creative pursuits.
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Imagination and the animate are intimately connected. Through the portal of the body, we will begin to see deeper into what the Earth wants us to create. We will explore how our creative practice, and the objects of our creative work, are an axis point between our individual self/cells and a the greater animate field.
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Movement, movement, movement! In our final month we will embark on a deeply embodied and alchemical process of creating direction for our creative vision. Through embodied movement we are able to create momentum for our creative projects, call in support, be witnessed and share with greater courage.
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By the end of our time together we will have created something very beautiful. During this closing ceremony, we will each have an opportunity to share a fractal of our emerging animist work.
Rituals of Creative Practice
As creators, mystics, wild souls, seekers, ………….., how we do not fit the preferred archetypes in our dominant photography culture and industry?
During Anima, we will co-create rituals of creative practice that will support you in deepening into and embodying your creative mythos.
Your creative mythos is the soul story that you are here to tell.
As creatives, ritual skills are core competencies that will support your self-structuring, resourcing, confidence, and development as a wild soul storyteller.
What truth about yourself must you insist on? What are your natural talents? How can these be joined to call forward a body of art that can transform culture?
Your Guide
Jenny Ann Holden
Jenny is a Canadian photographer and embodiment guide who specializes in rewilding the mind, body, and soul through animist rooted principles in her photography and embodiment work.
The Details
We will gather at Sombrio Beach about 1 hour drive from Victoria.
Although we want to leave many of the details to the mystery of this beautiful ritual co-creative experience, Here are some details that will help you decide whether this is the event for you!
In the morning…
In the afternoon…
Accommodation is not provided so if you are traveling a distance you will have to secure your own accommodation. Lunch is provided but please bring snacks and your own water bottle.
What to bring:
your camera
tripod (if you have one)
1-2 ceremonial or special to you garments
notebook
items for an ancestors and grief and praise alter (mmore details in registration email).
your authentic vulnerable self.
if you would like to camp on the beach the night before or after the workshop, bring your camping gear.
