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Redeeming Darkness
December 13 – 16, 2010
Tchenka Sunderland, Lindsay Clarke & Chris Salisbury
We live in a culture that, in a desire to understand and control chaotic Nature, has deified the Light at the expense of the Dark. The consequences are becoming clear for all to see: it is arguably through our flight from the Dark that we have become alienated from Soul and from a healthy relationship with our natural environment.
Course detail
At this, the darkest time of the year, it seems appropriate to seek the redemption of the Dark. Building on last year’s course, Darkness and Transformation, this course will enable participants to reflect on how we can renew our relationship with the creative mysteries of darkness and come to understand and appreciate its powers and gifts.
We will seek wisdom by following a thread through the mysteries of the night sky and the ancient philosophies of astrology and alchemy and through the serpentine coils of the labyrinth. Tchenka will introduce practical exercises, teachings, meditation and labyrinthine ceremony which guide the search for understanding, appreciation and connection with the true Source of all.
Lindsay Clarke will work with participants to develop creative responses to the theme, taking as his starting point the insight that life itself grows in darkness. The work of various writers (including readings from Lindsay Clarke’s new novel The Water Theatre) will serve as inspiration for imaginative exercises in prose, poetry, artwork, music, dance and whatever other media may feel appropriate. The aim will be to create our own unique celebration of the nurturing powers of darkness.
Chris Salisbury will lead the group on a night-time walk, experiencing the natural world in darkness, then returning to firelight and exploring the power of storytelling around the flames.
Teachers
Tchenka Jane Sunderland has been seeking Wisdom all her life. A degree in Philosophy preceded a career of some twenty years as a professional astrologer, during which she taught, wrote, lectured and broadcast in addition to running a successful private consultation practice.
Her endless fascination with all things esoteric lead through additional studies in sacred geometry, tarot, numerology and symbolism to her deepest passions of alchemy and the labyrinth. She has worked as labyrinth consultant to The Conservation Foundation, creating candlelit labyrinth installations in both Liverpool and Norwich Cathedrals and it is her design that is to be found installed permanently in the Cloisters of Norwich Cathedral.
Her path then lead to a withdrawal from public life, during which time she spent part of each year at Schumacher College in Devon where she fulfilled such diverse roles as volunteer helper, cook and teacher to students on the MSc in Holistic Science as well as continuing her alchemical studies and creating the College’s own labyrinth.
She sees this course as providing the opportunity to weave together the diverse threads of her knowledge, hoping through that synthesis to shed some light into the dark places of Wisdom.
Lindsay Clarke is the author of 7 novels, including The Chymical Wedding, which won the Whitbread Award for Fiction in 1989. He has been Writer in Residence at the University of Wales, Cardiff, where he became a long-term Associate of the MA Creative Writing programme, is Creative Consultant to the Pushkin Trust in Northern Ireland, and tutored many courses for the Arvon Foundation. His new novel The Water Theatre is published in September 2010.
Chris Salisbury is founder of WildWise, an organisation which runs courses, camps and events to inspire and inform adults and children about the natural world. With a background in the theatre, a training in therapy and a career in environmental education he uses every creative means at his disposal to encourage people to enjoy and value the natural world.
Course Fees
£495
All course fees include accommodation, food, field trips and all teaching sessions.
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Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.