The Fire Within Weekend Gathering

Weekend Gathering of Ceremony, Myth, and Becoming

June 12–14, 2026

Weekend Gathering of Ceremony, Myth, and Becoming

A soulful container for women at the threshold of perimenopause and menopause

There are seasons in life when who we have been begins to loosen.

Parts of ourselves we once depended on — our strength, our mental clarity, our capacity to keep carrying everything, the identities we have built our lives around — begin to shift, soften, or fall away. This threshold can feel disorienting, grief-filled, and strangely beautiful. Yet in our culture, there is so little ceremony to honour it.

This gathering is an invitation to step into that threshold consciously — not as something to fix, but as a rite of passage to be witnessed, honoured, and entered with reverence.

Over the course of the weekend, we will gather in circle to explore what it means to release what is complete, grieve what is passing, and welcome the mystery of who we are becoming.

Through myth, song, handwork, ceremony, and time on the land, we will create space to listen deeply to what this season is asking of us.

Together we will:

• sit in council and meaningful conversation

• wander on the land with guiding questions for reflection

• sing and give voice to grief, longing, and becoming

• work with myth as a mirror for the soul’s unfolding journey

• engage in simple handcraft rooted in ritual and meaning

• share beautiful meals, spaciousness, and companionship with other women in this threshold

At the heart of our weekend will be a powerful ceremonial practice: the crafting of two handmade cattail dolls.

One will represent the self we are releasing — the identities, roles, capacities, or ways of being that are falling away.

The other will represent the self that is emerging — the mysterious new shape of who we are becoming.

Through ritual, one will be offered back — released with gratitude — while the other will be taken home to tend, nourish, and deepen relationship with in the months that follow.

This is not a workshop about having answers.

It is a gathering for women willing to sit honestly in the questions — to listen for longing, and to welcome transformation as sacred work.

If you feel yourself standing at this threshold, we would be honored to gather with you.

~ For mothers ~

~ For women who wanted to be mothers ~

~ For women who chose to intentionally not be mothers ~

~ The grief and praise, and everything in between ~

Fire Within in the Quw'utsun Valley 2027

Join us for this beautiful journey:

Dates: July 12-14, 2026

Times: Friday, 6–9 pm | Saturday, 10 am–5 pm | Sunday, 9 am–3 pm

Where

In the wild on Vancouver Island and at Lila Music & Nature Centre in Duncan, BC.

Price

$375

Optional camping add-on $25 per night.
Participants may choose to camp at Lila Music & Nature Centre during the first four weekends.

Age

Approximately ages 40–60, and/or those wishing to explore perimenopause and menopause transitions and rites of passage.

Accommodation

Participants may camp on site for a small fee or arrange their own accommodation nearby. There is also a room in the main house for rent and other vacation rentals avalable.

Cancellation and refund policy

A 50 percent refund is available for cancellations made 15 or more days before the program start date.

No refunds are available for cancellations made 14 days or less before the program start date.

A Day Together

Here’s what a day may look like:

10 am – 11:15 am
Opening Connection: Song, Gratitudes, Check-ins

11:15 am – 12 pm
Voice Work* and Solo Song

12 pm – 1 pm
Myth Study*

1 pm – 1:30 pm
Lunch

1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Crafting*

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Wander

4:30 pm – 5 pm
Closing: Sharing and Aftercare

Additional Course Info

* Voice Exploration:
Cari guides a playful and supportive journey into vocal expression—blending improvisation, “song catching,” and learning songs with harmony. Participants are invited to deepen their connection to voice, presence, and song as a shared offering.
Each person carries many “medicine songs” within them, waiting to be discovered, expressed, and heard.

*Myth Study: A collaborative exploration into the hidden layers of knowledge and wisdom held within old European stories.

*Crafting and Handwork: working with different materials and plants to create offerings for the land, deepen our connection to ancestral ways, and strengthen our relationship with the sacred.

*This program does not offer medical or clinical information on (peri)menopause. We are not health care practitioners and will not bring medical information on the medical or physiological processes of menopause. It is a gathering to empower women through community and ceremony.

The Teachers

Cari is the Founder of the Lila Music Center which seeks to integrate music, nature and community building for the growth and fulfillment of those who are looking for deeper meaning and connection. Cari’s constant personal explorations have added deeper dimensions to her offerings including: Elder Mentored Deep Nature Connection, Wilderness Intensives, Ancestral Lineage and Crafting Skill, Priestess Training, Trauma Work, Family Constellations, Way of Council, Sound Healing, Improv Vocal Work, Anthroposophy and Body Centred explorations through Dance and Alexandra Training.

Cari’s warmth and dedication shines through, as she welcomes these diverse, yet richly connected elements, to the courses she offers on her acreage. Collaborating with Mythologists, Environmentalists, the Spirit of Nature and Respected Elders, Cari’s love of bringing together community to explore, heal and dive deep into the mystical realm, shines brightly.

Stephanie is the founder of Myth Club and Co-founder and Director of Fianna Wilderness School on Vancouver Island. She specializes in ancestral knowledge, earth-based skills, ceremony and myth. She has a degree in literature, and her work is informed by over 15 years of practice and study through Animas Valley Institute, Haven Institute, Wilderness Awareness School, and 12 years of study with Martín Prechtel.

Stephanie is a fiercely compassionate facilitator, mentor and guide in search of perspectives and practices to deepen the relationship between humanity and the natural world. She is dedicated to uncovering the vestiges of intact cultural origins within the body of old European mythologies, within our own bodies, and within our ancestral memory.