Riding the Wind
“…To ride the horse is to ride the wind….”
October 1st - 9th, 2024
Fireflies Intercultural Centre, Bengaluru
“…There is a moment when a great nothing happens, almost as if the Ancestral Stars are holding their breath, nothing stirs and nothing moves and nothing speaks; in all of everything there is a deepness of nothing….”
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Wind & Horse, synonymous with strength and direction, within the Sagh’ic Tradition they also are songs of the Seanachais, the storytellers, and the Vitha, the dreamers. Both had the craft and gift to carry the other into worlds of possibility, through stories and divination.
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When there is the stillness and silence of nothing, all things are possible and revealed by the Ancestral spirits.
In the days long gone by, we were a simpler people, we were childlike, wandering, and wondering, explorers and adventurers. We may have been wild and primal; however, we were in balance with the world and all the gifts and opportunities that it shared with us.
We were songs sun g in the great story of creation, and that story spoke directly to our hearts and our hearts shared that story in many stories, which were. Of the times before, the immediate times and the adventures yet to be imagined.
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Creation, the world, the great wild forest, held no secrets from us nor we from them, or each other.
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The wind was the song of life, and this wind had four singers, four winds which snag of and through all things. And there were those, it is said, who rode those winds, and in this shared the stories of all things.
“…The whispering song sings of the great mountains, the rolling oceans, the green valleys and the fiery plains, of places to be found and held in her heart.
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Slow step follows slow step follows slow step, hoof following hoof, until her legs move faster to a trot; the Breath of the Winds a bridle on her fiery heart.
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None can say whether her feet touched the earth or the earth skimmed across her feet, but with each breath she moves faster and faster caught in the Breath of the Winds.
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The song of the Breath of The Winds calls her first to the Great Mountains and the cold of the snow, then to those Fiery Plains, till she gallops along the shores of the Great Ocean and comes to rest in the Green Valleys.
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She looks back on her great journey and considers how far away that still moment was compared to the moment she rests in now. She considers that once it seemed so far to go to, and how long that took unless she was running like the wind. Then she knows that, having come from, it is not so far away especially when you are flying with the wind.
… in every drop of water, ever briny wave, every wisp of smoke and dust, every whirl of sand, every cloud, every sunset and sunrise, every movement in the great forest, can be found the chasing of Epona and her foal Gaoth of the Winds, knowing that the measure of the distance of the chase between them is the measure of the closeness within them….”
The Song of the Ancestors, all those who came before this moment, is the wind which fills the sails of our lives, every note, every rhythm, every lyric, every whisper, guides, carries, and holds us. These sails ‘ride’ the wind and in that riding know every note, rhythm, lyric, and whisper. In a quantum world, every breath of wind which catches a sail, is a moment that is before; in each moment we are the ancestors that sing. Ancestors are as a forgotten song, the trick, the prayer, the devotion, is in remembering who the ancestor is and who is singing who.
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This Retreat is a letting go into the potential and mystery of who and what we have forgotten. In a riding of Gaoth and Epona, the two horse spirits, we will catch or be caught by the circling winds of the Traditional stories which will start and ground each day in trance, dance, ceremony, healing, and community. Maybe in and through the magic of the stories to touch that which we believe is out of our reach, as perhaps/maybe we will touch the wild in our hearts that shared the songs of everything.
This is a nine day residential Retreat in cool green of Fireflies at Dinnepalya, Karnataka, with ceremonies, prayers, healing, singing and dancing, which come to us from our Sagh’ic animist tradition.
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​There is an option to attend the student practicum day, during which participants have the opportunity to participate and partake of student rituals and receive healing practice.
And as we always say, this is not a retreat from, rather a running to.
A gathering to remember that wildness, though tamed, within ourselves, to share the stories and divinations of the world around us.
Riding the Wind - Gathering & Retreat
October 1st - 9th, 2024
September 30th (Student Practicum Day)
September 29th (Drum-making Day)
Schedule & Programme
Abstracts of Ceremonies
There is an additional opportunity to make reindeer drums on Sep 29th.
Registration for Drum-making is on a Waitlist Basis, we only have a few spots left.
Register for Drum-making here.
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There will be limited places for children, please inquire.
From last year's retreat:​
FEES & REGISTRATION
EARLY-BIRD REGISTRATION DEADLINE: JULY 1st
Fees include all meals and full Retreat experience.
Please note there are limited spaces for this Retreat.
To reserve/book a place, a ₹5000 deposit will be required.
Please register using the form below.
Full Early Bird fee must be paid on or before the early bird deadline, 1st July 2024,
Failure to do so, fees will revert to regular prices.
All fees must be paid on or before 15th August 2024.
Those registering after 15th August must pay fee in full.
Prices include relevant taxes and appropriate discounts.
Partial payments scheme available.
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The SAF in keeping with its Memorandum of Association, to provide opportunity for learning and healing, is working on raising funds so as to offer scholarships for those who may have some hardship with the fees of this Retreat. These scholarships will be partial, limited and discretionary.
Cancellations and refunds:
Full refunds up to 28 days from invoice date, providing invoice date is before June 1st.
50% refunds less deposit up to July 1st. No refunds after July 2nd.
REGISTRATIONS & NOMINATIONS CLOSE: August 31st, 2024​
All information is gathered in strictest confidence and used only for registration purposes.
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For enquiries or further information please email ridingthewind2024@gmail.com
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As part of our commitment to the community and in accordance with our founding mandates, a portion of participant fees will go towards supporting the Pipal Tree Organisation.
The organisation is currently in search of funding for their Children's Learning Centre, which serves children between the ages of 6 and 16 living within a forest environment. The learning center operates within the forest and currently provides education in a single classroom that accommodates students across different grade levels.
This one-room school is faced with challenges, as there are instances when teachers are unable to attend, resulting in missed educational opportunities for the children. To address this issue, the Organisation have identified and engaged individuals who have completed their 10th or 12th grade to serve as facilitators and ensure continued learning for the students.
For a clearer understanding of this unique learning environment and the children's living conditions, we invite you to view the video attached. It will provide you with a visual representation of the situation being addressed. Your support and consideration for funding would greatly assist the Pipal Tree Organisation in providing quality education and improving the lives of these children in the forest.
With Love and a shared hope and holding for patience, understanding, compassion and transformation for us all and all living beings and the planet, we all being One.