Florescence: A Creative Journey of Presence with the Flowers
330 Thorne Road, Sullivan, ME, USA
Up to 15 in group
August 7 - 11, 2024
Retreat Highlights
- Shamanic Drum Journey
- Sound Bath and guided meditation
- Dance and Embodied movement
- Daily guided tea ceremony
- Foundations for a daily creative + flower connection practice
- Sacred Container for community ceremony atmosphere
About this Retreat
Melissa McConnell, is an artist, mother, certified Holistic Health Practitioner, and a devotee of the creative spark. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, and facilitate creative containers which devote to the art of daily creative practice utilizing watercolors, somatics, creative writing, and connection with the heart and nature.
Over the years, she has had many people telling her they wished they could devote to their personal art practice in the ways that she does. She realized that she could share her unique blend of art, body awareness, healing, and daily creative practice with others. In 2016 and 2017, she taught Art as Ceremony at two different women's gatherings (Spirit Weavers Gathering in CA and OR, and Sisters of the Tide on Orcas Island, WA). This class was a blend of her art practice with meditative tea ceremony. These were her first times sharing her unique process with others.
For the last two and a half years, she has been teaching art classes online from her home. In these, she weaves in so much of what she learned through receiving her HHP Certificate, her BA, and her whole life's art practice. She absolutely cherishes the opportunity to help others connect with their creativity and resource nature, the elements, intuition and the body for inspiration.
Rachael is the spirit behind the Rose Light Sanctuary as her personal devotional path has blossomed through the birthing of this project. As a sacred birth keeper, a midwife, a medicine Woman and a priestess of the rose, Rachael knows her life of service in offering back to humanity is woven into the golden threads of the Rose light Sanctuary. Her deep intuitive skills in the healing arts include her service as a flower essence practitioner, a bodyworker, a sound healer, and a ceremonialist. Rachael shares her passion for prayer, ceremony, song, plant spirit medicine and wisdom exchange through many of the offerings at the Sanctuary. She is also our resident baker, gardener, and events manager. She is deeply inspired by this incredible project and cannot wait to weave her magick through the offerings available here.
Rachael is the creatrix of an online course and community called Elemental Birth Rites, which supports the reclamation of pregnancy and birth as a sacred rites of passage for families and birth workers alike. Rachael founded Elemental Birth Rites in 2019 and began training 2 other colleagues in her modality who then joined her to form the team at Elemental Birth Rites. At the core of the Elemental Birth Rites teachings is a medicine wheel that Rachael created as a synthesis to bring sacred ancestral healing and self reclamation into the process of pregnancy and birth which Rachael and her team have shared with many birthing families over the past 4 years. Rachael's commitment to weaving the sacred back into birthing rites led her to create a practitioner training that guides birth workers to treat pregnancy and birth support work as initiation preparation in 2021. She has led this training for the last 3 years with her team and they are now branching out to offer in person retreats.
Rachael brings her love of sound and frequency, consciousness expansion, wisdom teachings, ancestral healing, sacred ceremony, plant spirit medicine, and ritual into her teaching.
Details of this retreat
Join Rachael and Melissa as we dive deeply into communing with the spirit of the flowers and creativity. We will gather at the Rose Light Sanctuary in beautiful coastal Maine at the height of blossoming during the Lion’s Gate Portal.
From August 7-11, we will be in a devotional ceremony as we take the time
to sit with our full attention and come into presence with the plant spirits of summer’s most beloved blossoms. Over the course of several days, you will have an opportunity to sit with your flower of choice and go on an embodied wisdom journey of knowing its spirit through artistic expression, plant meditation, tea ceremony, and ritual space.
Florescence is a retreat co-created by Melissa McConnell of The Honeybee Temple, an intuitive painter, Holistic Health Practitioner, and devotional art teacher + Rachael Jean of the Rose Light Sanctuary, a flower essence practitioner, midwife and medicine woman.
Through ceremony, art, and devotion, we will learn the ways to attune ourselves to the spirit of the flowers as we come into resonance to request collection of their essence.
Sitting with your blossom and attuning to its frequency through painting rituals guided by Melissa, you will learn how engaging into a creative ceremony with your flower of choice will deepen your relationship to understanding its medicine and message.
In this retreat you will learn to craft your own flower essences in a ceremonial and devotional way. Rachael Jean will guide you through the step by step instructions necessary to begin crafting your own flower essences. All the supplies and materials you need will be provided so that you can continue this practice when you return home.
Each member of the retreat will be choosing a different flower so that in the end we will have up to 13 distinct essences that will create a kit for you to bring home and integrate what you received at the retreat.
We will start each morning off with a tea ceremony guided by Melissa, where we will commune with the plant spirit of Camellia sinensis flowers, followed by an infusion of a different locally wild harvested flower each day. From this space of receptivity and creativity we will choose a flower to sit with and begin our journey of presence and deepening.
From August 7-11, we will be in a devotional ceremony as we take the time
to sit with our full attention and come into presence with the plant spirits of summer’s most beloved blossoms. Over the course of several days, you will have an opportunity to sit with your flower of choice and go on an embodied wisdom journey of knowing its spirit through artistic expression, plant meditation, tea ceremony, and ritual space.
Florescence is a retreat co-created by Melissa McConnell of The Honeybee Temple, an intuitive painter, Holistic Health Practitioner, and devotional art teacher + Rachael Jean of the Rose Light Sanctuary, a flower essence practitioner, midwife and medicine woman.
Through ceremony, art, and devotion, we will learn the ways to attune ourselves to the spirit of the flowers as we come into resonance to request collection of their essence.
Sitting with your blossom and attuning to its frequency through painting rituals guided by Melissa, you will learn how engaging into a creative ceremony with your flower of choice will deepen your relationship to understanding its medicine and message.
In this retreat you will learn to craft your own flower essences in a ceremonial and devotional way. Rachael Jean will guide you through the step by step instructions necessary to begin crafting your own flower essences. All the supplies and materials you need will be provided so that you can continue this practice when you return home.
Each member of the retreat will be choosing a different flower so that in the end we will have up to 13 distinct essences that will create a kit for you to bring home and integrate what you received at the retreat.
We will start each morning off with a tea ceremony guided by Melissa, where we will commune with the plant spirit of Camellia sinensis flowers, followed by an infusion of a different locally wild harvested flower each day. From this space of receptivity and creativity we will choose a flower to sit with and begin our journey of presence and deepening.
Schedule
Thursday August 8 (Lion’s Gate 888 - 8/8/8 (2+0+2+4=8!)
7 Breakfast
8 Tea Flower + Rose Heart Tea Ceremony
9 Flower Walk + Plant Sit
9:30 Watercolor Lesson
10:30 Flower Painting Meditation
12:30 Lunch
2 Rest and optional swimming
4 Flower essence teachings + logistics for next day
5:15 Each person shares experience and flower they chose and why
6:30 Dinner
7:30 Free open
7 Breakfast
8 Tea Flower + Rose Heart Tea Ceremony
9 Flower Walk + Plant Sit
9:30 Watercolor Lesson
10:30 Flower Painting Meditation
12:30 Lunch
2 Rest and optional swimming
4 Flower essence teachings + logistics for next day
5:15 Each person shares experience and flower they chose and why
6:30 Dinner
7:30 Free open
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change
Getting Here
Rose Light Sanctuary, 330 Thorne Road, Sullivan, ME, USA
Directions
Our retreat center is located just east of Ellsworth, ME off the Route 1 towards Machias. Turn left on the Tunk Lake Road (183) and veer to the left at the fork in the road to turn left onto Thorne Rd. Our driveway is the last left hand turn on Thorne rd which curves to the left as it meets with the dirt road called Sand Beach rd. Bangor international airport is the closest and is 1 hour away, pickup can be arranged from Bangor for extra cost but if flight into Portland International Jetport is chosen, car rental will be neccessary.
Bangor International Airport (BGR) is 1 hour from retreat premises. Group pickups will be available at specific times from BGR. Portland International Airport (PWM) is 2 hours 40 min from retreat premises and would require car rental or other arrangements to get to The Rose Light Sanctuary in Sullivan.
Bangor International Airport (BGR) is 1 hour from retreat premises. Group pickups will be available at specific times from BGR. Portland International Airport (PWM) is 2 hours 40 min from retreat premises and would require car rental or other arrangements to get to The Rose Light Sanctuary in Sullivan.
Bangor International Airport (BGR) is 1 hour from retreat premises. Group pickups will be available at specific times from BGR. Portland International Airport (PWM) is 2 hours 40 min from retreat premises and would require car rental or other arrangements to get to The Rose Light Sanctuary in Sullivan.
Bangor International Airport (BGR) is 1 hour from retreat premises. Group pickups will be available at specific times from BGR. Portland International Airport (PWM) is 2 hours 40 min from retreat premises and would require car rental or other arrangements to get to The Rose Light Sanctuary in Sullivan.
Accommodation
Camping is included in all retreat costs and features open space sites as well as woodland sites available. For an extra cost, We have 5 cabins sprinkled through the woods that can be used for private stays or shared accommodation depending on your budget. We have 4 rustic outhouses available for use during your stay and 2 outdoor showers and an outdoor sink. Meals will be provided by our resident food alchemist.
Program Price
Venue & Amenities
A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi
Spa
Sauna
Pool
Towels
Free Parking
Kitchen
Tour Assistance
Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea
Cafe
Restaurant
Fitness Center
Yoga Studio
Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent
Enjoy our beautiful 6 acre retreat center in coastal Maine surrounded by woodland forests and only 3.5 miles to the Ocean. Enjoy our 100 X 50 ft garden full of perennial and annual flowers, vegetables, herbs, and fruits. Our land features beautiful open space around the buildings of the main compound surrounded by forest. Our 700 ft event and ceremony space called the Forest temple is where we gather for workshop, movement, yoga, and meetings.
Meals
Menu Types
Vegan
Vegetarian
Pescetarian
Ayurvedic
Includes Meat
Organic
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
We value organic, healthy, vibrant and vital locally grown or raised food. Our onsite food alchemist will provide you with gluten free, organic, farm to table fare and can cater to food restrictions.
What's Included
- Flower Essence Workshop and Crafting Materials
- Plant Attunement and Essence Ceremony Guidance
- Watercolor Painting Ritual instructions and guidance
- Basic Watercolor Painting Supplies, Personal journal and pencil to take home for continued practice
- Take home kit of 1oz. bottle for each essence made during retreat by every participant
- 3 Organic, Gluten Free, Gourmet Meals per day 8/8-8/10 and dinner on 8/7, breakfast on 8/11
- Intro call meet and greet and post retreat Integration call via zoom
- Camping Included on retreat premises with option to upgrade to private or shared cabin upon registration
What's Not Included
- airfare
- upgrade to private or shared cabin for accommodations
- travel to event location from airport
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