Eleusinian Mystery Field School
This pilgrimage was born of a seed that spoke of a woman’s deep and necessary transformation through the heart of her own inner darkness: the passage to recognizing unconscious behavioral patterns, beliefs and ideas that she carries with her about how a woman should behave, act and think. These external conditionings are passed down from family, religion, society, education and culture and must be unshackled so she may be reborn into the light of her individual, sovereign, unique and innately Divine Feminine Nature.
Each day is designed to integrate, activate and embody the archetypal qualities of one of the goddesses in the Greek pantheon.
Prepare to tap into your inner thea.
Nous
: Transmission :
Artemis: Wild abandon is your divine nature.
Aphrodite: Let your innate allure arise through renewal in Nature.
Athena: Integrate opposing aspects of our being, bears the fruits of serenity, wholeness and completeness.
Demeter: Just as the forest regenerates itself with potent new growth after a fire, mourning the loss of something dear to us is a natural and unavoidable life process that incinerates old chapters, aspects and parts of us, making way for new growth and opportunities.
Hera: Inherit your sovereignty through integrating the shadow and light aspects of your being.
Hestia: Resacralize domesticity.
Hygeia: We are entrusted with the sacred task of maintaining the body, for it is the temple of spirit.
Gaia: The vessel that holds all, nourishes all.
The Pythia: Attune to Source, through knowing Nature, both inner and outer, and let the transmission flow.
Rhea: Honor the ones that precede you, honor the ones that come after you and honor will be yours.
thiasos
the guild’s abiding principle
These goddesses are our lifeline and connection to the Womb Mysteries that flourished throughout Europe from the Paleolithic until the Bronze Age. They represent the Old Religion that venerated the Great Goddess known by many cultures of countless names and aspects. We are here to celebrate, invoke, awaken and reclaim you.
Telesterion
our Base: The goddess-revering isle of Crete
The island of Crete is a place of legends. It is reputed to be the birthplace of Zeus, who was hidden from his father Chronos and raised by Nymphs on goat milk and honey in a cave on the southern coast. It has been continually inhabited since at least 3000 BC by a remarkable blend of ancient cultures including primarily the Minoans but also Mycenaeans and Phoenicians. It was home to the famed palace of Knossos where the myth of the Minotaur and the labyrinth hails from. Crete is also renowned as a center of goddess worship since megalithic times. Europe's mother goddess culture flourished here in the second millennium BC. Thousands of years of matrilineal influence and reverence for the goddess infuses the very soil of this beautiful island.
It is a fertile womb space in which to revive the Mysteries of the Divine Feminine.
POWER PLACES &
SHAMANISTIC PRACTICES:
We will spend 3 days on the Greek mainland, visiting sacred places in and around Athens before heading to Crete for the remainder of our journey.
You will experience movement, meditation, breathwork sessions and women’s circles where the goddess archetype teachings are disseminated as well as specific rituals and ceremonys held in nature and on location in certain temples.
SACRED DRUMMING:
You will be initiated into the ways of sacred drumming, an ancient and mystical portal practice to shift ordinary states of consciousness and to connect with both Gaian intelligence and specific frequencies associated with sacred places like Delphi.
Receive your own personal frame drum, learn basic strokes and playing techniques as well as receive instruction on how to develop a meditation or ceremonial practice with the drum.
NUTRITION & SELF CARE
FOR WOMEN:
Explore Ayurvedic nutrition as it relates to the traditional foods of Greece, study herbalism and aromatic medicine. Experience essential oil distillation in the Cretan countryside. There will be opportunities to learn artisanal bread making and Greek culinary arts. Enhance your beauty and wellness with a visit to a traditional Turkish hammam, considered the “silent healer” of ancient Greek society.
COMMUNING WITH NATURE:
Romp on pristine beaches and meander through ancient gorges, cypress groves and mountainsides overlooking the turquoise Aegean Sea. We will gather as a group in gorgeous places all around Crete and the Grecian countryside to share in the ancient ways of women.
Skeletos
: The framework :
Group work with the Goddess Archetypes +
The pilgrimage will unfold as a living tarot of teachings as told through 10 archetypes of the Greek pantheon. The teachings are disseminated at the sacred sites and while in ceremony and encompass experiential exercises to understand the divine qualities and attributes of the goddesses as well as how to access, experience and integrate them.
Ceremonial approach to interfacing with the sacred sites +
Experience the Acropolis, which includes the Parthenon, temple of Hephaestus, the Greek and roman agoras, Delphi and the temple of Apollo, Artemis's sanctuary and the tholos of Pronai Athena not as a tourist but as a pilgrimess. These experiences are not meant to merely sightsee but to imbibe and integrate the energies of the sites. We will practice how to do this.
Shamanic Practices +
Experience esoteric practices including those of Andean and Amazonian shamanic traditions, entheogenic rites, rituals, breathwork, meditations and sacred drumming practices on location in power places throughout Crete and the Grecian mainland.
Movement, breathwork & meditation +
Designed to recalibrate the endocrine system, open the heart, support reproductive health & rejuvenate the mind and senses. This practice aids in cultivating deeper receptivity towards the subtle energetic teachings and medicine of the land and sacred sites.
Sun on pristine beaches, hike beautiful gorges +
Day trips to play in the Aegean sea, sun on some of Crete’s most pristine beaches, hike beautiful gorges and explore the tranquil surroundings and way of life of a 17th century mountain settlement.
Farm-to-table breakfasts, lunch & dinners of local delicacies +
Think home cured olives, freshly baked breads, local feta, and ripe tomato salads overlooking craggy mountains, ancient cypress groves or temple ruins. Cuisine is fresh, nutrient-dense, locally and lovingly grown, harvested or procured from these ancient lands that are steeped in a such a rich history of gastronomy. Experience traditional foods at their finest and most nourishing.
Gorgeous and comfortable accommodations +
While on Crete, experience the peace and quietude of life in a 17th century mountain settlement, nestled into the beautiful and rugged Kissamos Mountains. Enjoy the simplicity of staying in a stone cottage among the plane trees, chestnuts and glorious mountain vistas. The complex where we'll be lodging has more than 15 uniquely individual handbuilt cottages of varying sizes.
Turkish Hamman +
A trip to an authentic Turkish Hamman where you’ll be exfoliated and massaged with locally made olive oil soaps.
Culinary lessons +
in healthy and delicious traditional Cretan cuisine. Learn recipes and taste the fruits of your studies after.
Artisanal bread making classes +
Learn to bake your own bread in an ancient and time-tested technique.
Study and practice local botanical medicine +
A full day immersion with a veteran aromatherapist and herbalist, learning about medicinal herbs, their properties and preparations for women’s health and wellbeing. Practice essential oil distillation from a master who specializes in wild plant medicines gathered from the most pristine biomes on Crete.
Ayurvedic nutrition perspectives +
Focus on ancient ingredients that embody health, wellbeing and vitality. Learn why foods such as honey, yogurt, goat’s milk and cheese and olives have been considered hallowed substances throughout history.
Enjoy time in solitude or in the company of women +
We will walk together in the mountains, on beaches, through cypress groves, in gorges and within temple ruins. We will learn to hold impeccable space for one another and for ourselves.
Where You’ll Stay
In the city:
Explore Athens from the comfort of a newly renovated apartment in art deco styling, complete marble details and with a rooftop view of the Acropolis. You'll be located on a quiet street of the old neighborhood of Psirri, full of vibrant night life, cafes, tavernas and outdoor cinemas, within walking distance of the Acropolis and all the important ancient sites of Athens.
In the mountains:
While on Crete, experience the peace and quietude of life in a 17th century mountain settlement. Enjoy the simplicity of staying in a stone cottage among the plane trees, chestnuts and glorious mountain vistas. The complex where we'll be lodging has more than 15 uniquely individual handbuilt cottages of varying sizes.
Kykeon
WHAT YOU WILL IMBIBE
“The ritual has been consummated, and we are seers forever.”
~ Edouard Schuré, The Great Initiates
Culinary Wonders
Greece is a culinary wonder to experience and home to some of the finest ingredients in the world: olive oil, yogurt, feta, honey as well as aromatic herbs and spices. Savor healthy, traditional and artisanal Greek cuisine both in some of the finest restaurants in Athens as well as during picnic lunches in the pastoral hillside overlooking Apollo’s temple at Delphi. While on Crete, be treated to organic, farm-to-table traditional Cretan dishes and learn to prepare them yourself. We’ll even learn artisanal bread making.
We will take our meals in a beautiful handbuilt dining hall or on the terrace overlooking the Kissamos mountains. Almost all the ingredients we will be enjoying are grown organically either on the property or close by.s
Integrating the Goddess Archetypes
Artemis +
Explore Crete’s gorges and pristine beaches with the eye of the huntress.
Aphrodite +
Be treated like the goddess you are in the Hamman. Experience a traditional Turkish bath house in the company of women. Massage and scrubbing, heat and water will reveal your most sparkly essence. Nourish, restore, rejuvenate and indulge.
Athena +
Empower yourself with the herstory version of the myths and cosmologies behind the sacred places and the practices that took place there.
Demeter +
Honor the grain mother just as the ancients did by participating in entheogenic ceremonial work.
Hera +
Pay homage the queen of the Olympians by laughing, sharing and making merry in the company of women.
Hestia +
Master the domestic arts of bread making and traditional foods preparation. Understand Ayurvedic perspectives on traditional nutrition including the historic and therapeutic importance of Greek foods such as olive oil, feta, yogurt and honey.
Hygeia +
Study and practice herbalism and aromatic medicine in the Cretan countryside.
Gaia +
Honor the earth mother for her bounty and generosity in an Andean despacho ceremony adapted to the Mediterrean lands and spirituality.
Pythia +
Unleash your inner oracle through meditation, dream recall the cultivation of inner spaciousness.
Rhea +
Venerate the mother of the Olympians through developing your own sacred drumming practice.
Mystai
INITIATES, THIS JOURNEY IS FOR YOU IF:
You are ready for profound and supported self-transformation and the deepening of your personal growth as a woman.
You desire to express your Feminine Principle creatively, practically, sensually & spiritually.
Your intention is to empower yourself with herbal, nutritional and yogic wisdom to enhance your feminine health, vitality and wellbeing.
Are deeply in need and deserving of a nourishing, beautifying and activating pilgrimage to the epicenter of goddess worship in the ancient world.
Have always felt the call to experience Greece/Crete and want to do it in a truly special way, outside of the typical tourist routes.
Desire to cultivate and express the wild, unconditioned, ancient ceremonial aspect of your being.
Metanoia
: The conversion :
WHAT YOU WILL TAKE WITH YOU
A deeper connection to yourself as a woman.
Hands on experience for creating nutritious and herbal recipes to nourish, heal & beautify yourself and others.
Your very own sacred drumming practice, unique and original to your being.
Yoga and meditation practices to implement in your daily life for vitality & balance.
A deeply felt sense of feminine traditions to pass on to our next generation.
Inner strength, wisdom and a beautiful glow.
Self-acceptance, compassion for others & embodiment of your feminine essence.
