Cascade Mountains Rewilding Retreat
Rewilding Spirituality | Remembering Our Sacred Nature
April 5-7, 2024 New Date TBA
Grunewald Guild Retreat Center; Plain, WA
Come rewild your wonder through a weekend away that will reconnect you to the holy reality of a Wild God in our midst. Eco-theological teachings will ground our practices that will invite us to remember how to speak to the Earth once again and learn divine wisdom from the more than human world (Job 12: 7-10). We will explore metaphors for God and spiritual streams that will reclaim the Earth as both Divine embodiment and sacred text. One could argue that there is no greater spiritual project in today’s world than the reclamation of the numinous wild. By bringing ourselves back into relationship with the sacramental nature within the more than human world, we remember how to conceive of ourselves as members within the whole community of Creation!
You are invited to a sacramental experience that explores the wild edges of our faith tradition through eco-theological teaching; eco-spirituality exploration; and nature based prayers and practices that will deepen one into a spiritual ecology worldview.
Mary DeJong will guide and facilitate the weekend. She is a spiritual ecologist, eco-theologian, urban naturalist, and practitioner and guide of place-based pilgrimage. She specializes in the spiritual companionship of “rewilding.” Mary facilitates retreats and pilgrimages in the Pacific Northwest and in Iona, Scotland that strengthen the unique and mystical interconnection of participants, the sacred, and the natural world. She has studied and practiced within the Celtic Christian spiritual tradition, her own maternal line heritage, for over twenty years, and is influenced by the lives of Celtic saints, the post-Heroic Journey, and the emerging field of eco-psychology, eco-mythology, and, Christian animism.
Mary uses multiple disciplines to delve into why place matters, the sacramentality of creation, and how together this informs the development of our ecological self. Mary terms this work “sacred eco-awakening” and sees this as a critical and holy endeavor as it allows us to come to grievous terms of our human history and to posture ourselves once again side-by-side with the whole of creation. She lives in Seattle, Washington’s Rainier Valley in Columbia City with her husband, four children, a kitten named Loki, and a flock of urban chickens.
What is Included
2 nights at the Grunewald Guild in comfortable shared double room lodging
5 delicious and whole-foods meals, accommodating to all dietary preferences
A facilitated candle-lit labyrinth walk
Sauna treatment
Rewilding Wheel Workbook by Mary DeJong
Expert teaching on spiritual ecology
Facilitation of soul-centric and nature based rewilding practices and rituals
Facilitation of Joanna Macy’s Council of All Beings
Preparation and packing lists will be provided to all registered guests.
About the Grunewald Guild
The Grünewald Guild is an arts education nonprofit retreat center nestled on 16 acres of Cascadian woodland, bordered by the Wenatchee River in the Plain Valley of Washington.
Throughout the year the Guild offers art classes and workshops in our studios and contemplative spaces. When there are no scheduled programs, our facilities are available to groups and individuals for retreat, personal study, workshops, reunions, etc. Snowcapped peaks, rushing waters and sweet smelling ponderosa pine welcome, inspire, and create an environment in which people come to learn, grow, and explore the relationships between art, faith and community. At its core, the Guild a place of learning. People come to study their chosen area of art in the context of a community of artists. When they leave, they are charged with the work of returning to their homes and sharing what they have learned with their communities. This is straight from the artisan guilds tradition, stretching back into the depths of human history.
Our Spaces
LODGING. The Cascade Mountains Rewilding Retreat can accommodate 20 individuals. We have reserved 10 spacious private double rooms that can comfortably sleep two people each. Room pairings will be arranged and room-mate requests can be accommodated. We will be residing within the Fiber Arts facility and the Homestead center. Fiber Arts is named for the large, airy studio space it houses, this building also offers five guest rooms and two bathrooms. Homestead features a shared living room and kitchenette. Freshly laundered linens and towels are provided. Rooms are not en suite; shared bathrooms are accessible.
GATHERING. We will have our learning circles and opening/closing ceremonies within The Centrum. This is a space that will also be akin to our communal living room where guests can relax, read, sit around the fire, and enjoy lively conversation. Located at the heart of the Grunewald Guild’s campus, The Centrum is also near the dining hall.
EATING. The Dining Hall will be where we gather for our collective meals. Meals are served buffet style during scheduled mealtimes. Friday night dinner; Saturday breakfast, lunch, and dinner; and Sunday brunch are included in the retreat cost. Outside of mealtimes, an assortment of food is available for snacking – fresh fruit, breakfast cereals, homemade bread with peanut butter and jams, and various baked goods and snacking items prepared by the kitchen. Coffee and tea is available at all times. Meals are locally sourced and organic ingredients are utilized when available. Food sensitivities and preferences are considered and accommodated. Please note any food sensitivities you may have in the registration form. The kitchen makes every effort to accommodate, and we have strategies in place to minimize the likelihood of cross-contamination. But please note that the Guild kitchen is not an allergen-free facility. If you wish to bring food to supplement your meals, there is a “community fridge” available for your use in our Dining Room.
CONTEMPLATION. The Grunewald Guild’s 16-acre campus offers a variety of spaces that invite private contemplation as well as group quiet times. The Labyrinth takes the form of a Celtic triple spiral, located in a quiet clearing amid the pine forest and overlooking the Wenatchee River. This will be the site of a facilitated candle lit labyrinth walk. Finisterre is a contemplative space at the River’s edge and is a place to connect to the personal and collective spiritual journey. The Sculpture Garden is near the labyrinth and offers benches for quiet sitting. The Wenatchee River is an always-present and faithful witness The always-present Wenatchee River watershed is witness to our gathering and the lives of the Wenatchee Tribe, who have stewarded this land for millennia. May our presence be a blessing to the land and its people.
Getting Here
The Guild is located in Plain, a small unincorporated community about 15 miles north of Leavenworth. Unfortunately, there is no transit system that stops in Plain. The nearest transit hubs are Leavenworth (Amtrak and Greyhound) and Wentachee (Alaska Airlines, Amtrak, and Greyhound). If you fly into SeaTac airport, you can take the Wenatchee Valley Shuttle to the Peshastin Park’n’Ride.
For connection to Plain, consider Leavenworth Shuttle & Taxi. Guild staff may also be able to offer local pick-up. Possible pick-up spots and pricing is listed during registration, through which you can submit your request for pick-up. We will review your request and let you know if we are able to accommodate a pick-up.
The Guild’s main address is 19003 River Road, Leavenworth, WA 98826.