ReStorying Ecological Interdependence
Me As Tree: We As Forest ~ Eco-Arts Healing Retreat
September 22-24, 2023
ReStorying Ecological Interdependence
Me As Tree: We As Forest ~ Eco-Arts Healing Retreat
September 22-24, 2023
Facilitated by Two-Spirit Art Therapist Fyre Jean Graveline, Art Therapists Jean Tait and Chris Larsen, together with LIFE as Medicine collaborators in celebration of the Fall Equinox.
Want to Deepen your Rootedness? Expand your Reach towards Sky Energies? Share your Blossoms, Fruits, Seeds and Nuts in an OpenHearted Community?
Consider Joining LIFE as Medicine for a fun-filled land based Eco-Arts Healing Retreat. Experience a Welcoming Circle, deepening into a Ceremony around a Sacred Fire to connect with our Ancestors and set our Healing Intentions. Wake up Saturday morning for Nature Connection, followed by Me as Tree Meditation, and Creating our Living Landscape Eco Sculptures and WearAble Art with Natural and Found Materials. We will Deepen our Healing processes through collaborating on We as Forest coCreations and sharing our Curiosities and Inspirations through Song, Dance and Spoken Word. We will close our Sacred Space by Creating and Dancing our Divine Dollies in Ceremony to Bless Trees and Honor We as Forest.
As LIFE as Medicine has heard and honours desires expressed for a longer event, we will have an earlier arrival time (11ish for set up and lunch) with an Opening Circle at 1ish and Closing Circle mid-Sunday afternoon, around 3ish.
Some Photos From Our Previous Me As Tree: We As Forest Retreat
What You'll Need to Know
September 22, 23, 24, 2023
Location: The Deanery Project, 751 West Ship Harbour Road, Lower Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia
- All participants get full programming and food.
- Mi’kma’ki scholarships and sliding-scale available. (See section below.)
- Accommodation available at an additional cost. (See section below.)
- Open to 30 participants.
- All genders, families, people of all ages and stages of life are welcome here!
In the spirit of reciprocity, some attendees will be eligible for Reciproci.Tree Pricing. This would allow for a lower cost to attend the workshop, or at no cost if you are eligible for a scholarship or willing to work-trade or offer something else in exchange. If you would like to be considered, please indicate so in the registration form below and we will get in touch with you.
The Deanery Project is offering on-site sleeping accommodations in bunkies* @ $25/night. Three tenting platforms are available @ $20/platform/night.
Please indicate in the form below if you’re interested in a bed in a bunky or tenting platform and we will endeavour to reserve them for you, if available.
There are two established motels nearby:
- Salmon River Inn, Salmon River Bridge – 16 minutes from The Deanery. Rooms are $120 and $155, depending on how many beds you wish and this price is $10 cheaper if you opt out of the breakfast option.
- Webbers Motel, Lake Charlotte – 10 minutes from The Deanery. Rooms are $120 (2 double beds) and $150 for a queen and double bed in a slightly larger room. This is a self-check-in system with lock codes sent out in advance of your stay.
Please indicate in the form below if you’re interested in a room in one of these motels and we will endeavour to reserve them for you, if available.
* Bunkies are small dormitory-type cabins. You’ll need to bring your own bedding.
The Deanery Project is, to quote its mission statement, “a not-for-profit organization with a focus on the environment, the arts, youth and community, natural building and permaculture.”
To learn more about this place and its people, you can visit the organization’s website.
Mi’kma’ki Reciproci.Tree Scholarship
LIFE as Medicine values that we are living, breathing, co-creating, and playing within beautiful Lands of Mi’kma’ki, ancestral, traditional, and current territories of Mi’kmaw Peoples. We acknowledge, appreciate, and honour that these Lands have been cared for, by, and with Mi’kmaw Peoples for thousands of years. As a form of actualizing this acknowledgment into action, and Honouring Spirit of ethical Reciprocity, we aspire to waive fees for Mi’kmaw community members. We are seeking your assistance to make possible offering up to 10 scholarships (free entrance, including accommodation and food) for Mi’kmaw adults, youth, and families wishing to participate in our Land-Based Healing Retreat weekend experience.
If you are interested in receiving a Scholarship, please indicate so when submitting your registration through the form below. Someone will contact you directly.
If you are interested in sponsoring a Scholarship, please contact us.
Reciproci.Tree Sliding Scale
Mother Earth teaches us to work in harmony and with one another…The sacred covenant we have with Mother Earth should never be taken for granted as she provides all our medicines and sustains life. The principle of reciprocity asks that we never take without giving in return…
Elder Betty Letendre–Sacred Star Woman
In Spirit of Reciprocity, or Reciproci.Tree, we have created a sliding scale for Me as Tree: We as Forest. Paying a little more contributes to Reconcili.Action and also helps offset costs for those who would not be able to attend our event otherwise because of limited access to resources. Contributing money, time, labour, and material goods are ways of helping LIFE as Medicine cover costs of events and continue our work within Communities.
Please use our Seasonal Reciproci.Tree Sliding Scale Guide below to determine which Season best represents your current situation and select one option accordingly in the registration form below.
To see which Reciproci.Tree resonates with you, consider the Tree with most statements that reflect your current situation. Not every statement may resonate, so consider the Tree that represents best at this time.
Generosi.Tree Fall
$666
Generosi.Tree has reached a place of fullness and is able to generously offer ripe fruits and share colorful leaves with Forest.
- I have substantial earning power due to education, gender identity, racial privilege, family connections, or physical abilities, and a steady income stream.
- I consider the cost of this Offering to be an act of Reciprocity and Responsibility, acknowledging that resources are not equitably distributed.
- I am inspired to generously share my abundance as part of my personal Reconcili.Action practice, in solidarity with Indigenous communities and land-based healing.
Relationali.Tree Summer
$555
Relationali.Tree is a lush, vibrant Green and well on its way to producing Fruits. This Tree provides shade and shelter to Forest in Spirit of Relationality.
- I have the ability to comfortably cover my basic needs and some expendable income that enhances my life.
- I have funds to support my personal healing or professional development.
- I have the capacity and desire to share and I am inspired to share my access to resources as part of my personal ReconciliAction practice, in solidarity with Indigenous communities and land-based healing.
Sustainabili.Tree Spring
$444
Sustainabili.Tree is budding and beginning to grow Leaves and Flowers, has enough to be sustainable, and is not yet full of Foliage or Fruit.
- I have an income and can cover my needs, and do not have substantial savings.
- I have housing stability and food security.
- I can cover the financial costs associated with my individual or family participation in this event (food, rent, materials, facilitation, etc.) and I am willing to make an investment in my wellness.
Communi.Tree Winter
$ Pay What You Can & Energy Exchange
Communi.Tree is surviving Winter and conserving energy in order to sustain immediate needs. While Communi.Tree may not be abundant, many Gifts are still Offered to Forest, such as presence, strength, rootedness, and groundedness.
- I experience frequent stress about sustaining immediate needs (food, shelter, transportation, childcare).
- I am an unpaid community organizer.
- I have little to no income/no support and/or I am unemployed/underemployed.
Thank you so much for your contributions – all Offerings are deeply valued as important ways of contributing, and allow us to Honour ourselves and each other – both as Me as Tree, AND also as We as Forest.
And added thanks to Liliami Maney for the epic Tree.ific Illustrations above.
