Details
a conscious Samhain rite of silence, sightlessness, song, sensation and self-discovery
This Halloween, we’re drawn to the things our culture keeps in the dark.
Bodies. Pleasure. Death. Grief. The hunger for touch. The wildness we learn to suppress, & the intimacy we’re so rarely given space to explore.
We love Halloween’s permission to unleash; its embrace of strangeness, darkness, transformation & taboo. For our second RITUAL, we want to take that permission deeper - into a fully sober, immersive ceremony exploring the edges of voice, movement & human connection.
We gather in the wake of Samhain, as the nights lengthen & the year turns towards winter. This time of thinning veils, visiting spirits & encounters with the unknown offers a rich invitation to explore the boundaries of our own world: what we welcome, what we exclude, what we hold sacred, & what we’ve been taught to shame.
For 6 hours, we’ll move through a carefully composed arc of ceremony, performance, song, dance & sensation. We’ll explore collective sound, uninhibited movement & conscious touch; the exquisite intensity of deep attention, & the joy of becoming a little wild together.
We offer a secular sacrament, suffused with the sensual & spiritual; an intimate, intentional gathering that explores the depths of self, and connection.
------STEP INTO THE DARKNESS------
At the heart of this RITUAL is a journey beyond sight.
We loved the blindfolded encounters at our first Solstice gathering so much that we took the exploration further at Medicine Festival - leading an entire 3-hour session with our guests fully blindfolded.
It was extraordinary. People sang, touched, moved & gradually transformed into forests, oceans & strange collective creatures. At one point, a vast swathe of humanity became worms, joyously wriggling across one another. There was so much trust, invention, tenderness & utterly beautiful absurdity.
We want to go further.
Alex & Lauren will lead a new blindfolded exploration of sensation, intimacy & collective imagination. Without sight, a simple encounter can become astonishingly vivid: the texture of a hand, the anticipation of contact, the warmth of another body.
We’re passionately interested in the freedom this offers from appearances & visual judgements; the chance to slough the shackles of self-consciousness, become more present, & discover unfamiliar ways of connecting.
The ritual will centre on 3 group workshops, each exploring different modalities. We’ll be joined by the brilliant Dominik Schnell, returning with the depth, intensity & musicality of his Heart Wave movement practice, slipping deeper into eros, & an exquisite vocal facilitator, whose wild, elemental voice will transport us all into powerful collective choral resonance.
Together, we’ll weave a world of sound, movement, & touch - carefully held, deeply participatory, adventurous & alive.
------WHAT TO WEAR?------
Our clothes generate atmosphere, meaning and opportunity. When we attune, we create magic, and a powerful collective field. Each thread and line we choose contributes towards a larger whole, and all our events explore the ways in which these simple choices bring joy and impact. Rituals entail gifting. Thoughtfully attuning through what you wear is the only physical gift we ask of you.
For this RITUAL, we move from all white into ALL BLACK.
Think thin, light, wafty, flowing, veil-like; sensual & ceremonial: robes, cloaks, gowns, shawls, billowing sleeves, loose trousers & generous layers - perhaps alternately concealing and revealing, and liberating skin.
Dare to add a little drama, mystery & ritual to your silhouette.
Dramatic black eye and other makeup deeply welcomed.
Just think black.
Please wear something more alluring, intentional and ritualistic than ordinary black daywear. We invite you out of the ordinary - and to leave the quotidian at the threshold. We invite you to re-imagine how you wrap your temple.
This need not be complex, stressful or expensive; it might entail just a swathe of fabric, or a creative repurposing, or a strategic borrowing.
Please stay comfortable: you’ll need to move, stretch & lie down. Avoid restrictive clothing, sharp jewellery or anything likely to snag on another person.
Please bring warm layers just in case.
Please enjoy the process.
------CARE & CONSENT------
Wellbeing is at the heart of what we do. Taking care of one another is one of our highest ideals & deepest motivations.
We require every attendee to act consensually: seek clear agreement and enthusiasm before touch, respect each person’s boundaries, & check in as interactions evolve. Every invitation is optional; everyone can change their mind, decline, pause, remove their blindfold, or speak at any time.
A rich team of attentive spaceholders will help hold the experience, offer guidance & support anyone needing care. We ask everyone to share in that attentiveness - to themselves & each other.
This is a sensual, non-sexual event, free of substances and alcohol.
Please come with curiosity, an appetite for discovery, & whatever wildness you’d love to give some room.
We deeply look forward to exploring this with you <3
------TESTIMONIALS FOR PREVIOUS RITUALS------
--“Thank you so much again for a truly beautiful experience yesterday and for the devotion and attention to detail you put into your unique creative gatherings. What a beautifully curated experience. A true ritual in every sense of the word. The whole afternoon felt utterly delicious. Every detail felt like a love letter to every soul who gathered there. Everything had been woven together with so much love and intention. It felt so deeply nurturing. It was so sacred.”
--“My favourite experiences of the whole [Medicine] festival. It really pushed me out of my comfort zone in a growth way, and felt so empowering and safe.”
--“Your workshops were incredible; truly life-changing. I’ve taken a huge, huge step forward in being able to be present with others.”
--"The chanting was mind blowing. It was amazing, beautiful and profound. I left on a natural high."
--“I felt so safe and free, and went so deep. I cannot thank you enough.”
--“Unbelievable - we felt transformed! Thank you so much!”
