Journeys Guided by the Ineffable Earth Energies of Headwaters Outdoor School
Facilitated by Jean Sage
Women’s Elder Rite of Passage
Pioneer Your Personal Pathways to Meaning and Purpose
June 16th – 20th, 2023
Headwaters Outdoor School
Teacher(s): Jean Sage
Price: $650.00
Age(s): 50+
Includes all meals, evening of the first day through lunch on the last day, and rustic lodging.
Stepping into our elder years requires courage to let go of things that no longer work. It’s a time to discover latent talents, being of service and mentoring. It’s a time to explore how our life experiences open pathways to deeper meaning and purpose and celebrate our generativity. A life review helps us to step into elder years with greater clarity.
I had the opportunity thirty years ago to study with Angeles Arrien, cultural anthropologist, who created a program “The Four-Fold Way.” She would tell us we were walking the mystical path with practical feet. The best advise she gave me was to write a life review. I was in my early sixties when I learned of her death. Deeply saddened I remembered her saying to me “dear Jean, a life review will help you immensely.” I was still immersed in my high-stress career, but I took time to write notes about my life and eventually to write that story. As I review the story I wrote fourteen years ago, it is outdated. The circumstances that I believed impacted my life were Acts leading to the end of one Play and the beginning of another.
The Elder Rites will be two full days on the land beginning the early evening of June 16th. Cell phones and electronic devices are left at the office or in your belongings, the world is temporarily left behind for you to focus on your inner yearnings.
We will incorporate some of the traditional Headwater’s exercises: a code of honor, art projects and a sit spot.
The code of honor in our elder years takes on new meaning. Exploring values that served us through much of our lives that no longer serve while others become more meaningful. We will write a group code of honor for our elder years.
You will find a sit spot on the Headwaters land, which is rich with a variety of sacred areas, where you will spend time in the mornings and late afternoons after our group meetings to sit quietly in nature and allow the earth to pull you into her rhythm. The mind calms and allows the inner mind to send gifts of what our soul yearns for in our last stages of life.
Below I am sharing Angeles’ foundational principles of the “Four-fold Way.” It’s been a guiding blueprint that has become more meaningful as I age. It’s a starting point for our Elder Rite of Passage.
The Way of the Warrior – Show up, and choose to be present.
The Way of the Healer – Pay attention to what has heart and meaning.
The Way of the Visionary – Tell the truth without blame or judgment.
The Way of the Teacher – Be open to outcome, not attached to outcome.
QUESTIONS? Call Jean Sage: (530) 227-3962
