Carolyn Brigit Flynn
Writing to Feed the Soul
Bealtaine Writing Retreat
A Day of Writing & Renewal
with Carolyn Brigit Flynn
Saturday, May 6, 2023
9:00 am - 6:00 pm PST
Join us for an Enlivening,
Productive Day of Pure Writing
We will gather in a small group of writers, from the comfort of our homes, to write and to be witnessed on this special day. We will invite the muses, the spirits of our ancestors, the earth, and the protective, vital energy of the element of fire, the Sun.
Our writing will be inspired by the vitality of the ancient Gaelic festival of Bealtaine, and all that is at the heart of our lives as animal creatures of our planet and the expanding light.
You will complete the day with your notebook full, your heart opened, your personal writerly muse awakened, & a sense of opening to the full possibilities of your life, your creative work, the beauty of Earth & the gifts of Summer.
Intimate, Safe and Inspiring
New and experienced writers are welcome.
Small group of 10 participants.
Several writing sessions, breaks & time to read work to each other.
We will meet online, so writers from anywhere in the country and the world are invited.
Participants will be encouraged to spend writing time and breaks outdoors.
This is a wonderful opportunity to take a day to awaken your writing life. We will allow the energy of Bealtaine, the beauty of elegant poems and writing, and the inspiration of each other to write ourselves anew.
We will discover new voices and inner callings we have not yet articulated and bring fresh energy to our creative lives & writing.
Fee: $260-$320 sliding scale
To Register: EMAIL to indicate your interest. Payment is due upon registration.
Cancellations: Refunds possible up to April 30, 2023 if we are able to fill your spot, less a $60 non-refundable processing fee.
The Ancient Gaelic Festival of Bealtaine
The cross-quarter day of Bealtaine is a major festival in Ireland, marking the halfway point between Spring Equinox & Summer Solstice. It is considered the opening of Summer, & the beginning of "the bright half of the year."
This year, Bealtaine is exact at 11:13 am PST on May 5, 2023.
In sync with Ireland: The Irish will be gathering for their fabulous Bealtaine Festival on the sacred Hill of Uisneach, known as spiritual center of Ireland, precisely at the same time as our retreat.
(Bealtaine Gathering on the Hill of Uisneach, Ireland, 2022)
As we write together, those who are called can light their own Bealtaine candle. Participants will be invited to spend Bealtaine evening outside, under the stars, with a fire or candle lit.
Enjoy this amazing video from Ireland on the Bealtaine Gathering at the Hill of Uisneach.
The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
--Mary Oliver
