Daily practice offers us a regular pause

to dialogue with divinity,

to explore our soul's yearnings and the sacred's reply.

Molly Remer

Dear Creative Friends,

I've just returned from Nepal, where I attended a retreat led by artists Lora Murphy from Essence of Mulranny in Ireland and Dietland Vander Schaaf from Maine.

So much to still contemplate and integrate, but there were two things that really touched my soul. One was a day spent with the BIA Institute, an organization that trains people with disabilities to create thangka paintings. A thangka is a Buddhist painting used for meditation. They are extremely time consuming to paint and require you to really slow down! We were each allocated an artist and spent time learning from them. I soon realized that one needs years to be able to do these paintings! They are a practice in meditation.

The second very meaningful experience was observing the way the people of Nepal have a practice of connecting to the divine on a daily basis through their "puja", their daily ritual of reverence to show devotion to the divine. On my early morning photography walks I often just stood and watched as women and men made offerings just outside their front doors or at small shrines which were on every street corner. Spiritual practice is part of daily life in Nepal. They live life as spiritual beings having a human experience.

I love how travel expands my inner life, and I know my experiences will make their way into my retreats in some form or another. My hope is always that what I offer allows participants to return home with deeper meaning, expansion, clarity and purpose. Below are some of the retreats I'm offering this year that still have openings. To allow participants to just come and engage in playful creativity, I provide everything you need to create. It takes me months to put together the art kits, as I want to make sure you have what you need to continue your creative journey when you return home.

These are times that call for awakening and healing. As Rebecca Campbell reminds us: "We are each holding a thread for the healing of humanity, do not underestimate the one that you are holding ..."

With love and peace,

Catherine

www.creativepilgrimage.com

When your mind is calmer, when your nervous system is relaxed,

when you feel well rested, creativity will start radiating from within you.

If you are ever wondering where your creativity has gone, you should really ask yourself, “am I getting enough rest and am I spending enough time in regenerative environments?”

Yung Pueblo

CREATIVE OFFERINGS AT ST FRANCIS SPRINGS RETREAT CENTER, NC

March 30th to April 3rd, 2025 in NC

Exploring the Archetypes of Circle, Spiral, and Labyrinth through Visual Journaling



In this five day, four night contemplative retreat, we will be exploring the Archetypes of the Circle, the Spiral and the Labyrinth with paint, paper and pattern. We will be using these archetypes in a visual journal to find our rhythm as we slow down and engage with these patterns.

We will walk both the eleven circuit medieval labyrinth and the five circuit classical labyrinth at the retreat center, and use our creative practices as pathways for integrating our labyrinth walks.

In addition, we will create a set of Spirit Stones using images and words. You could also call these stones Alchemy Stones, Symbol Stones, Vision Stones, Story Stones … they are a meaningful way to bring metaphor and symbols into a labyrinth walk.

This retreat includes a 90 minute sound healing session led by Carli Webb, and an opportunity to stand inside a large singing bowl from Nepal and experience the vibration from your feet into your body. In addition you will receive an art kit which includes a journal, paints, brushes, patterns, pens and more, as well as many papers to chose from to create in your visual journal.

Many of the practices can become daily contemplations and can be used in other forms of art, not just in a visual journal. In addition, I'll be sharing the beautiful mandalas from Nepal with you (see below)

More information and registration here

Many of the hand painted mandalas that I came home with include the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum". In trying to understand the meaning of this mantra which is everywhere in Nepal I came across this explanation: "Beyond its literal and interpretive meanings, the "Om Mani Padme Hum" mantra serves as a powerful tool for spiritual transformation. Chanting or reciting the mantra is believed to evoke compassion and invoke the qualities of enlightenment. It is considered an expression of the desire to attain liberation from suffering and cultivate inner peace."

July 27th to 31st, 2025 in NC

Visual Journal as Invitation to Creative Possibility

If you are a photographer and have been wanting to use your photographs in your visual journal I will be showing you how to use Photo Apps on your iPhone to create your own unique images that you can print out and use in your journal when you get home. This is a way to bring your own photographs or copyright free imagery into your journal, along with fun techniques that add unexpected and unique creative elements to your images.

In this retreat, our visual journals will lead us on a journey of self-discovery as we play with possibilities. Unexpected revelations can arise when we allow our creative self a time of spaciousness to play with the things it loves with no expectations and with an openness to seeing things in a different way.

I’ll share with you the basics of visual journaling: creating word libraries as sources of intuitive wisdom and creating a library of painted pages without a paintbrush. Your inner artist will experiment with creative processes that will encourage it to play with the shapes, symbols and colors that express what it loves. Our focus will be on listening to our inner voice and giving it time and space to be heard.

This retreat includes a 90 minute sound healing session led by Carli Webb.

More information and registration here

I have learned that I cannot create without being recreated myself.

The process changes me, calls forth things from me

that I didn't always know were there,

leads me to passages and to places I had not anticipated.

Jan Richardson

JOIN ME IN CAPE CHARLES, VA in April

April 4th to 6th, 2025 in Cape Charles, VA

Women's Wellness Weekend

The Women's Wellness Weekend is a unique experience in my beautiful home town of Cape Charles designed to provide women with an opportunity to unwind, reconnect with themselves, and explore holistic practices that nurture the mind, body, spirit, and soul. Participants will engage in inspiring classes, workshops, and sessions led by holistic practitioners, creating a space for personal growth and self-discovery.



iI will be teaching a SoulCollage® workshop on Saturday entitled Exploring the Ebb and Flow of our Lives with SoulCollage® and will be leading a labyrinth walk on Sunday morning. Another opportunity to step into the vibration of my large singing bowl from Nepal.

More information and registration here

JOIN ME IN THE NETHERLANDS in May

May 25th to 30th, 2025 in the Netherlands

SoulCollage® and the Labyrinth as Portals of Transformation

This six day, five night retreat led by Lucy Schaaphok and Catherine Anderson is a time to pause and clarify the path you are on.

Both the labyrinth and the SoulCollage® process can be used as doorways of transformation awakening us to our unique gifts. Both modalities give us ways to access our own inner resources and intuition. Using one of them alone will make a difference in your life, but used together they amplify and deepen each other because they are both languages of the soul. They enable us to access our inner world, deepen our understanding of ourselves and expand our consciousness.

Both processes allow us to create a sense of order out of the information that bombards us from all directions, and both encourage us to develop a higher level of awareness which enables us to thrive in the complex and ever-changing world in which we live.

The early bird pricing is available until February 5th.

More information and registration here

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