Maybe our world will grow kinder eventually.

Maybe the desire to make something beautiful

is the piece of God that is inside each of us.


Mary Oliver

An extract from the poem "Franz Marc's Blue Horses"

Link to full poem here

Dear Creative Friends,


We discovered this field of sunflowers about ten minutes from our house. Unexpected beauty offered freely by an unknown person. There is nothing like seeing a field of sunflowers to remind me of the beauty that the earth offers us so freely.


It seems almost impossible that it is already August, and that my 2027 retreats are planned and up on my website. But my hope is that this allows you to budget and plan ahead. And of course it allows me many days of mulling over, preparing and creating materials for the retreats - my favorite thing to do!


I've just returned from a retreat in NC and it was wonderful to watch the group bond and laugh and learn from each other. There is something very special about in-person gatherings. I hope you'll be able to join me at one in 2027. In everything I offer my goal is for you to return home with materials so that you can continue creating your own kind of beauty. In this digital era, making and creating with our hands is important work. I also know you'll meet other amazing people at my retreats, and even start up your own creative group once you return home - as a group in Charlotte did. Scheduling time for creative community is a way to make time to connect to your soul.


In 2027 I've also, for the first time, scheduled two weekend retreats at St Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville, NC, in the hope that this will allow those who work during the week to attend a workshop.


Coming up this month are two online events which are free. One will be hosted by World of SoulCollage® and the other by Veriditas. Maybe you can join me online.


As always, I hope the quotes and the poem you'll find at the end of this newsletter, add some beauty and inspiration to your day.

FREE ONLINE EVENTS IN AUGUST 2026

Finding a Still Center in Shifting Times:

Using the SoulCollage® process for Balance, Resilience, and Inner Guidance

August 12, 2026 from 4-5.30pm (East Coast)


In this Zoom event, we will explore creativity as a way of returning to your quiet center in times of change. You will also be invited to create a SoulCollage® card as a path into creative dialogue with your own soul.

Catherine and Kiala Givehand will be your guides.


More information and registration link here.

Veriditas 30th Anniversary Celebration

August 23, 2026 from 5-7.30pm (East Coast)


This Zoom celebration will include a conversation between Lauren Artress and cosmologist Brian Swimme.

I'll be hosting a breakout room to talk about Creative Practices for Deepening the Labyrinth Experience. There will be other subject specific breakout groups.

I'd love to see you there!


More information and registration link here.

2027 RETREATS

Visual Journal as Living Field of Possibilities

March 21-25, 2027 at St Francis Springs, NC


In this 5 day, 4 night workshop, we will approach the visual journal as a living field of possibilities—a space where images, intuition, memory, imagination, and questions can encounter one another in unexpected ways. Through collage, mark-making, writing, contemplation, and creative exploration, we will cultivate conditions for insight, growth, and emergence.

More information and registration here.

Beyond the Horizon: Expanding Your Field of Vision with SoulCollage® and the Labyrinth

July 18-22, 2027 at St Francis Springs, NC


This 5 day, 4 night retreat invites participants into an experiential exploration of the many ways we think, feel, perceive, and create meaning. Inspired by the work of Jill Bolte Taylor and enriched by the practices of SoulCollage® and the labyrinth, this retreat offers a compassionate framework for recognizing the many aspects of self as expressions of a larger wholeness.

More information and registration here.


Walking with the Wisdom of Rumi: A Labyrinth Experience and Practice

July 23-25, 2027 at St Francis Springs, NC


Throughout this weekend retreat, the labyrinth becomes both a spiritual practice and a living metaphor for the journey inward. Guided by selected poems and teachings from Rumi, we will walk with questions of the heart, listening for what calls us toward greater presence, compassion, creativity, and love.

More information and registration here.


The Poetic Eye: 

Photography as a Practice of Wonder

October 1-10, 2027 in a Chateau near Gourdon,

in the Perigord region of France


Set amidst the timeless beauty of the Périgord in southwest France, this ten-day retreat invites you into

a slower, more contemplative way of seeing. Together we will explore enchanting medieval villages, hilltop castles, rivers, markets, and landscapes that have inspired artists for centuries.

More information and link to registration here.

Threads of Becoming: 

The Labyrinth and Circle Stitching

October 29-31, 2027 at at St Francis Springs, NC


Through labyrinth walks, watercolor painting, and the gentle, mindful practice of stitching gold thread into circular mandalas, we'll quiet our minds and center ourselves as we slowly stich sacred circles in this weekend retreat. You'll also learn how to stitch on SoulCollage® cards and personal photographs.

More information and registration here

Turkey: Craft, Culture and Architecture

November 8-17, 2027 starting in Istanbul


This 15 day experience in Turkey offers an immersive exploration of Turkey’s rich heritage. The poetry of Rumi will offer a gentle thread connecting the places we visit with the landscapes of our own hearts.

Our tour organizer is Aahilya Holidays.


More information and registration link with Aahilya Holidays here

Waitlists available for:

  • October 25-29, 2026 in NC: Exploring the Chakras with SoulCollage® and the Labyrinth - Email Catherine by replying to this email
  • May 4-11, 2027 in Ireland: The Luminous Path -
    Email lora@essenceofmulranny.com to add your name to the Ireland waitlist

Springbank Retreat Center, SC


I invite you to check out the Fall programs at the Springbank Retreat Center for Eco-Spirituality and the Arts in Kingstree, SC. They have some wonderful offerings.


I'll be offering another retreat at Springbank Retreat Center in March, 2027. I'll be adding the information to my website as soon as it is available.


More about Springbank's Fall Program here

Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter.


May the colors of summer fill you with creative inspiration.


Creative blessings,

Catherine

www.creativepilgrimage.com

As It Is


I see them everywhere, hearts.

In cumulous clouds and sunflower leaves. 

In thinly sliced strawberries 

and the dark hollow of a split hickory nut. 

I see them in white bird shit splatted on a bench, 

these symmetrical kissing curves 

designated as an ideograph for love. 

And how many hundreds of heart rocks 

have I slipped into my pockets to bring home 

like sedimentary and igneous proofs 

of love manifest in matter. 

I don’t know when I stopped collecting

the rocks, finding more joy in picking 

them up and displaying them trailside 

so others could delight in them, too. 

Later, I took pictures of the hearts 

where I found them, wanting not to disturb, 

perhaps trusting that love shows up 

exactly where it is needed most. 

Now, when I see them, 

I will most likely smile to myself 

as I walk by, no longer needing 

to stockpile or keep a record. 

Still, it surprises me every time, 

the joy of loving things just as they are, 

the joy of leaving things whole. 


Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer


Rosemerry's website