Ritual Landscapes. Summer Solstice (21st June)

Ritual Landscapes is a four-part series of seasonal retreat days marking the annual Quarter Points (midsummer solstice, autumn equinox, winter solstice and spring equinox). These days of ritual and retreat will invite you to step into a deeper relationship with the natural world by observing and honouring the seasons as they turn. Days can be attended individually or as a complete set.

 

The first of these is our Midsummer Solstice event: a one day retreat, offering the unique opportunity to experience the full spectrum of what we offer at New Coghurst. We will meld together an exploration of local Bronze Age history and archaeology, Intuitive Horse work, nature connection and ritual practice. All of these offerings can be experienced as ‘gateways of connection’ to the natural world and our ancestral past, and can bring us into deeper unity with our own internal landscapes and rhythms. 

 

For our ancestors, whose lives were so closely interwoven with the natural world and its seasonal rhythms, observing and honouring nature and its cycles would have been instinctual. Ritual and ceremony was a natural expression of this intimate and reciprocal relationship with nature and the land. In recent centuries, we have become increasingly distanced from the natural world, easily forgetting how much we rely on the earth and the sun for our survival and wellbeing. 

 

In these worrying and chronically disconnected times, reclaiming and reviving the ancient practice of celebrating seasonal festivals can offer us a way of renewing our sense of the interconnectedness of all life. Ritual grounds us in awareness of the present moment and creates a sacred container in which to reflect on the passing of time, the cycles of life, death and renewal, and to give thanks for nature’s generous gifts. 

 

What to Expect

During this event, we will:

• Spend a day on the land at New Coghurst Farm, a beautiful 110 acre pocket of the Sussex Weald, with wildflower meadows, ancient woodlands and Bronze Age archaeological sites of significance. 

• Spend time uncovering the secrets of the Bronze Age settlement and burial mound at New Coghurst, with lead archaeologist Cam Ross. We will explore what we can observe from the archaeology about the daily lives and ritual practices of our Bronze Age ancestors. 

• Experience an intuitive horse session led by Emma Ross. Spend time with the semi-wild herd, learning about their natural herd behaviours and daily rhythms. We will explore how the horses can help us to slow down, quieten the thinking mind, drop back into the present moment and into alignment with nature’s pace. 

• Learn about the importance of ritual practice to our ancestors and how it can help us to deepen our connection to the natural world with local animist and neopagan Molly Skelton. We will investigate the practical and symbolic significance of the midsummer solstice and explore how aligning with seasonal cycles and rhythms can bring us into a place of deeper understanding and greater connectivity with nature and ourselves. 

• Enact our own midsummer solstice ritual, to celebrate and honour the peak of the solar cycle and the turning of the seasonal wheel back towards shorter, darker days. Our ritual will draw on celtic, druidic and wiccan practices as well as dreaming into the kinds of rituals that may have been enacted here thousands of years ago, taking inspiration from the archaeological evidence uncovered at New Coghurst. 

 

Is this event for me? 

Are you...

• Curious about the power of ritual and its ancient history of practice in the British Isles? 

• Looking to deepen your connection with nature, the land and the turning of the seasons? 

• Interested in an opportunity to slow down, step into the present moment, and deepen your reflective and integrative practices - with nature as a gateway and guide?

• Interested in learning more about the summer solstice and how our ancestors have honoured this annual solar event for thousands of years? 

• Curious about rediscovering and reviving ancestral connections, by working with the land, archaeology and ancient ritual practice?

If you answered yes to any or all of the above, then we would love to welcome you to join us on our Midsummer Solstice day of ritual and retreat.