About the Retreat process

By Amaité, originally written for our June 2023 newsletter

As one of the retreat guides, I was asked to write something about what retreat means to me.

Abd al Qadir al Jilani (1078-1166) would describe it like this: “When the attributes of darkness lift, light takes its place, and the one who looks with the eye of the soul, sees. He recognizes what he sees through the light of the Names of divine attributes. Then he himself is flooded by light and becomes light. These lights are still veils hiding the light of the divine Essence, but the time comes when they too are drawn back, leaving only the light of the divine Essence itself.”

These words open into the space and potential that can await us in an alchemical retreat. We retreat not only from our everyday life, but also increasingly from our usual way of exploring the world with our senses.

Seeing the world of matter through the eyes of light and love that make up our very being is one of the many possible blessings that such a retreat can bring us. Other blessings would be to feel your own soul, to know in your heart that you are much more than the sum of your parts, to be free of your own ideas and opinions, to perceive the universe as a safe place, to know the oneness of all being.

What an alchemical retreat is not is a “holiday from the self”, relaxation in beautiful nature, psychological processing, escape from the world. All this can be part of the journey, but it is not its goal.

As Pir Vilayat and Hazrat Inayat Khan used to say, it is to take a running start, before a great leap, to wind up the clock so that it can work properly again, to practice dying, to learn to be in this world but not of this world. In this light we can then also make clear decisions that are in harmony with the “symphony of the cosmos”, or accept our life as it is.

Full of trust in the inner guidance, experienced retreat guides, whom you can find on the retreat registration page, will accompany you on your journey. We will not drag you anywhere, we will only help you to hear, deepen and follow your soul‘s guidance . The responsibility is always yours.

We retreat guides look forward to seeing you in the powerful silence of the retreat area!

Love and Light,

Amaité Willand