Beltane 💐 Women’s Day Retreat {Circle + Celebration}

This intimate women's day retreat gathering includes workshops held by four facilitators who offer warmth, insight, and knowledge to share with the community in theme with Beltane.

Beltane was first mentioned in Irish literature in the 9th century. The festival began on the 1st of May, a midway point from Spring to celebrate the coming of Summer. Beltane translates to “the fires of Bel," referring to the Celtic sun god, Belenus. These festivals were a celebration of the returning Sun and growth to come.

We will retreat on this day within a circle of women, to connect to each other and to nature, and to honor our own inner light.

Add-on spots for tarot card readings (limited) are also currently available.

Schedule:

- Women's Circle: Opening Ceremony

Hosted by Samantha. Here we will open and drop into our sacred space, honoring our community and the ancient origins of Beltane. We will hold a guided group discussion to introduce ourselves and connect. We'll learn, sharing the wisdoms and lore behind what this special day of the Wheel of the Year traditionally symbolizes- such as fire, celebration, and rebirth. We will be guided through a meditation on living in alignment with nature and honoring your Inner Light.

-Plant Wisdom: The May Tree~ Hawthorn Myth & Medicine

Hosted by Jordann. Dive deep into the wisdom of a local medicine tree honored in the Celtic tradition: the Hawthorn. Also known as the May Tree, key to Beltane celebrations and Faerie lore, this tree offers healing for the physical, emotional, and mythic heart. Our time together will be devoted to the myths and medicine of Hawthorn, from a magical as well as a clinical herbalism perspective. We will get to partake in Hawthorn medicine, connect to this plant spirit, and learn from our own intuitions as well as traditional wisdom. Leave with a new friend in the plant world, as well as an approach you can take with you as you continue your herbalism journey.

- Kitchen Witchery: Beltane Blossom Cookies

Hosted by Rebecca. This is a magical workshop where we delve into the enchanting world of edible spells and intentional, symbolic creations. Embrace the essence of Beltane, celebrating fertility and the blooming of spring, by infusing cookie decorating with natural flora. We will be discussing an array of ingredients with deep symbolic meanings – from violets symbolizing love and intuition to rose petals invoking passion and purity. Diving into the mystical properties of natural elements like dandelion as love’s oracle and cacao for sensuality, as well as the rich hues of turmeric and beets.

As we gather with a mindset of creativity, each attendee will craft their own edible spell on oat cookies, tapping into the energies of Beltane. Learn and explore the connections between flora, symbolism, and the spiritual significance of this sacred holiday.  *includes tasting

- Dinner Break

Including song performance with Jordann {Bring your own dinner}

- Celtic Storytelling Circle: Fairy Folk

Hosted by Marisa. For the ancestors, Bealtaine was a time of great fertility as the crops were planted and the herds were blessed. It was also a precarious time because the well-being of the entire community depended on a good spring planting and a gentle start to the summer season. Bealtaine is a celebration of fire and light, and the ancient people would use this bright energy or rebirth to keep the shadows at bay. At this time of year, the veil between the worlds was thin, and the fairy folk had a tendency to get tangled in the human world. In honor of the day, Marisa will share a story of otherworldly mischief and magic with us.

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Held at Moss and Moonlight's Sanctuary for Healing Arts located in Hopewell Junction, NY. Exact address to the Sanctuary will be sent after registration.

There will be an inclement weather date of the following day, Sunday May 5th, as the event will be partially outdoors. 

For more information, reviews, and photos of previous circles, click here!  Read more about your hosts at the bottom of the page. 

Facebook Event Here

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About Your Hosts

Samantha Stengle is the owner of Moss and Moonlight. She is a Reiki Practitioner, Yoga Teacher, Doula and Women’s Circle Facilitator.  Samantha specializes in trauma + emotional healing, feminine empowerment, and holding safe spaces that give permission for release and grounding relaxation. She is passionate about nature, creativity, somatic awareness, community connection, and sharing the wisdoms of the divine.

Jordann Funk has immersed herself in the language of plants from an early age, growing up in the Appalachian foothills of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Since 2013, she has devoted herself to herbalism, spending hundreds of hours in class and field learning from teachers and plants alike. She practices Vitalism with a focus on bioregional herbs— the flora and fungi that neighbor us in these Appalachian mountains and river valleys. Her teachings uniquely blend the perspectives of Plant Spirit Medicine and Clinical Herbalism— at once relying on the power of our intuitions as well as the traditional, scientific wisdom of herbalism. A skilled medicine maker and gardener, she runs her apothecary Sensitive Earth and tends a community herb garden in Kingston, New York, where she currently resides as a writer, musician, and mother.

Marisa Goudy is an author and Irish studies scholar. A coach for writers and for creative entrepreneurs, Marisa is the writer of The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman’s Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic. She is also the host of the KnotWork Storytelling podcast and the founder of the Heroine’s Knot, an online creativity and spirituality community.

Rebecca Carbo is a practitioner of kitchen and green witchery, who uses knowledge of herbs and their magical properties with her passion for cooking to infuse food with intention and magic. She has a deep connection to the natural world and finds inspiration in the power of plants, herbs spices, and other natural ingredients. Using the bounty of the earth and power of intention she blends ingredients to enhance the energy of the kitchen, as well as those who are nourished by the food, to purify, heal, manifest ambitions and attract love and abundance.

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*Pay What You Can*

Low-cost: $133

Median: $144

Help us cover low-cost tickets: $155

You must be over the age of 18 to attend an event.